robopocalypse delayed

Robot apocalypticists often presume that artificially intelligent beings will be all-too-eager to cooperate to destroy humanity. Which is why this video is so reassuring.

[via Mark Frauenfelder]

are you ready for the revolution? tracking engagement with technology

I'd argue the primary concern most teachers have with technology-based learning is the removal of the human element. It's not that we fear losing our jobs--robots aren't that smart yet--but that learning isn't just about memorizing facts. You have to have an emotional investment in the content and the process. As it stands, a computer can't tell if a user is bored, and can't adapt to make her unbored.

That may soon change. Researchers are developing technology to monitor student engagement, and reflexively adjust programs to spark interest when a student gets frustrated or unattached.

The system keeps track of students' attention by measuring physical signs of emotion. It then varies the speed and content of a lesson based on an assessment of their level of interest. Ultimately, it could improve electronic tutoring programmes, say the researchers involved, thus helping developing countries deliver education to remote areas that lack educational institutions....

To use the new learning software, a student wears a ring fitted with sensors that monitor heart rate, blood pressure and changes in electrical resistance caused by perspiration. This data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to a computer that assesses the wearer's emotional state. It judges whether they are interested and keeping up or bored and struggling.

"We've built a prototype that can moderate the flow of educational information as a result," Callaghan told New Scientist. For example, it can slow down or change topic if a student seems disinterested, or appears to be falling behind. The software might also try a different mode of delivery, switching from text to video, for example.

The system is being tested in China and Great Britain, and is perhaps only a couple years from wider integration into the e-classroom.

I, for one, welcome our new robot pedagogues.

techno-wizardry for the coming year

Maybe it's not entirely relevant to education, but Popular Mechanics' list of ten to-watch technologies is still fascinating. ("Video on the Net" and "Data Clouds" have the most potential to directly affect education; see here.)

[Link via Instapundit.]

are you ready for the revolution? Google evangelizes in the classroom

As I noted before,

Simply put, the Google PC is any PC that will soon be able to access the massive computing power of Google's servers, running network-based software at speeds far greater than allowed by puny Pentiums....

At Capital, we use a scaled-down version of this setup. Our computer labs are full of dummy terminals, screens with keyboards and mice that run software from the network server. They have no hard drives, so they're cheap and relatively fast. The Google PC goes a step beyond, so schools wouldn't even have to host software on their own networks.

We've taken the initiative, since our tech guys are fond of low-cost software. Elsewhere, though, Google is bringing its technology directly to teachers.

In October, the company posted an online guide to provide instructors with ideas on how to incorporate the applications into their curricula. In November, Google invited about 50 Northern California teachers to spend the day at its Mountain View headquarters to learn more about the advantages of the program.

Google plans to host similar programs in other parts of the country as it tries to recruit more teachers to proselytize its online software.

Some students are already learning about the advantages of Google's word processing program, which enables people in different locations to collaborate simultaneously or view and edit documents at different times.

Palo Alto High School junior Danielle Kim said that flexibility was particularly helpful when her debate team jointly worked on a presentation earlier this year. But she also saw a downside to Google's approach. "It requires you to have Internet access," she said. "What happens when you are in a place that doesn't?"

Google expects that issue to become less of a problem as high-speed Internet connections become as commonplace as electrical outlets. Wireless access would enable information to be delivered to cellphones and other mobile devices as well as PCs and cable boxes.

The gap still exists, but it's rapidly shrinking as governments and foundations broaden access to wireless internet, or the more traditional tubes. Where's your school on the road to techno-topia?

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling
Part IV, rapid growth
Part V, Olympia goes virtual
Part VI, Microsoft's "School of the Future"
Part VII, multi-touch interface technology

are you ready for the revolution? multi-touch interface technology

I don't link to a lot of YouTube clips, but this one has to be seen to be drooled over. Demonstrated is a multi-touch light table setup, a two-dimensional version of the interface seen in Minority Report. You use your hands to manipulate images. It's fully intuitive, seamless, and magical to behold--and if its spokesman, Jeff Han, is right, will "change the way we interact with machines."

Hat tip: my 5th period techno-geeks.



[cross-posted at my other blog]

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling
Part IV, rapid growth
Part V, Olympia goes virtual
Part VI, Microsoft's "School of the Future"

are you ready for the revolution? Microsoft's "School of the Future"

The future, of course, is digital.

Up on a hill, overlooking the Philadelphia Zoo and a West Philadelphia neighborhood where 85 percent of the people live in poverty, sits a sleek, shiny brand new High School. It is called the Microsoft School of the Future and it is the first one in the world.

The 170 freshmen about to start classes here are not only ready for school, but for the future. They will not use pens, paper or textbooks. Instead, each one will be given a wireless laptop computer, with software created by Microsoft specifically for this school's needs. The programs allow each child to learn at his or her own pace and educators and parents to monitor their progress.

Microsoft has a special interest in this Philadelphia school. It partnered with the school district to design the building and the curriculum, a first for the software giant.

No more teachers (they're called "educators"), no more books (laptops, smart boards, wireless internet, and more). The public school is a multimilliondollar facility, state of the art, Clifford Stoll's worst nightmare.

If it works--Microsoft is investing in these projects worldwide--it's just one more route to the revolution.



Previous opinionating:

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling
Part IV, rapid growth
Part V, Olympia goes virtual

are you ready for the revolution? virtual learning hits the Olympia school district

It was only a matter of time.

One K-8 distance learning program would reach out to students receiving home-based instruction. That program - one of two in a new Olympia Regional Learning Academy - likely will begin in late October or early November.

A second program mostly focused on high school and some middle school courses would allow students to learn online and would be open to existing Olympia School District students.

That program likely will begin shortly after a teacher is hired and could appeal to students who have dropped out of school or can't attend school during regular hours because of family or work obligations.

"We're really going to be listening to what families say they need and build on that," Joy Walton, administrator of the Olympia Regional Learning Academy, told the Olympia School Board on Monday.

The floodgates are open.

Previous opinionating:

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling
Part IV, rapid growth

are you ready for the revolution? the Virtual Academy takes off

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC
Part III, homeschooling

Steilacoom's "Washington Virtual Academy," discussed in Part I, has triple the students its administrators expected.

Applications to enroll in a new Washington Virtual Academy have ballooned to more than 600 students....

And there’s slightly more than a month until the 2006-07 school year begins Aug. 31, meaning more students probably will apply to enroll in the free statewide K-8 public school between now and then.

The advantages are obvious: flexible times, individualized pace, freedom from the classroom's limitations. Parents, too, are happy with the curriculum offered.

Kerri Lund lives within the Olympia School District's boundaries but educates her two daughters at home. The girls will be in the fifth and seventh grades this fall. For six years, Lund has used the K-12 curriculum offered through the Steilacoom academy and has had her children enrolled in the district's online program since it started in 2004.

"After researching the different curricula out there, we decided this was the most thorough and comprehensive foundation we could give our kids," she said. "It was the most up to date and the most cutting edge."

But now the district has to figure out how to provide enough instructors to meet the demand, something neither Olympian article mentions. I'm going to contact the Virtual Academy to see what they say about their embarrassing riches.

are you ready for the revolution? part III, homeschooling

Part I, online academies
Part II, the Google PC

Homeschoolers and school districts have a new way to strengthen their sometimes uneasy alliance, through the continued expansion of online learning. It's happening right here, right now.

The Olympia School District plans to start a distance learning program late this fall that would reach out to students receiving home-based instruction.

The district is exploring ways to start an online learning program that would be accessible to all Olympia students, starting with those in middle and high school....

Avanti High School Principal Joy Walton is working to develop the distance learning program, which initially would join up with parents who are educating their children at home.

It’s likely parents could seek a range of educational options, from simply receiving materials or guidance from an Olympia teacher to having their child receive regular instruction at a school learning center.

Some homeschoolers see it as a threat to homeschooling, but I see it exactly the other way. It's the potential homeschoolization of public education, an increasing emphasis on individual learning fostered by IEPs, alternative schools, and now, viable online programs. (Note that the new Olympia initiative will eventually be available to in-district students.)

The Skyward program we use for attendance--or something bigger and/or better--will someday be the place to post grades and comments on student performance, with access for parents, possibly linked to other online programs. The software and hardware are already in place, and the wider culture is ready for it. Are you?

are you ready for the revolution? part II, the rise of the Google PC

If schools are one day phased out and replaced by individuated online instruction, we'll look back and see the rise of the Google PC as an essential step in the transformation.

Simply put, the Google PC is any PC that will soon be able to access the massive computing power of Google's servers, running network-based software at speeds far greater than allowed by puny Pentiums. As Paul Boutin writes,

You could still run Windows on a Google PC; it just wouldn't matter if you did or not. Most Google PC rumors imagine a low-priced, Windows-less, entry-level computer for the Wal-Mart set. That could be part of the plan, but it would just be one more option. Instead of trying to convince every consumer on the planet to buy a new machine, it makes a lot more sense for Google to build a super-service that you could log into from any computer, phone, or television, or car and airplane seatback. You would be able to access your files anywhere by logging in, calling up your desktop, and popping into Google's array of Gmail-like applications for word processing, photo editing, and anything else you can think of.

At Capital, we use a scaled-down version of this setup. Our computer labs are full of dummy terminals, screens with keyboards and mice that run software from the network server. They have no hard drives, so they're cheap and relatively fast. The Google PC goes a step beyond, so schools wouldn't even have to host software on their own networks.

Are these pie-in-the-sky techno-utopian fantasies? Perhaps. I enjoy teaching in a traditional classroom, with all the advantages and difficulties of seat time and face-to-face instruction, and I'm sure those who are entrenched in that format aren't going to let it disappear without a fight. The technological capability is there, though, waiting for the right social and political context. (As a hypothetical, think how readily people would accept online instruction in the advent of an avian flu pandemic.) When it happens, will you be ready?