19
Apr 12

Elementary

AT&T demoed something remarkable that it calls Watson – and made it available as an API for developers today.  To quote Engadget, since they were on-hand:

“One day AT&T hopes to make this a standard feature of its services, eliminating the language barrier once and for all.”

Learn more by reading “AT&T Translator app hands-on: smashing the language barrier” (video included).

I hope AT&T does both make this a standard feature and smash the language barrier, because this is the kind of sci fi wonderfulness that makes me excited for the future and glad to be in the field of instructional technology.  Some might say that eliminating the need to learn a language may diminish the nuanced understanding of other cultures that language skills unlock.  To the contrary, I think Watson pulls down the barriers that prevent many people for getting curious enough about other cultures to even want to learn the language.  Were more people able to connect human to human with a mitigating tool to bridge the distance between tongues, it would bring the world just that much closer together.  Watson, then, is a beautiful thing.


18
Apr 12

Very Inspiring (and Validating)

What I love about this image above is what it’s actually depicting:  three game developers working together on a delightful new iOS title, Waking Mars, that their company, Tiger Style Games put out recently.  All without ever actually sharing an office space or any set of company resources.  

The workplace is changing dramatically and the fact that top-notch, critically acclaimed products can be created without ever actually sharing any physical meeting space is proof.  Having worked on several freelance projects with clients in multiple separate states, I know just how well this model works.  And continuing to work remotely with clients at 9 Penn State campuses in all corners of the western half of PA shows me daily just how well it can work.

(Wired)


09
Apr 12

Unexpected Classroom Inspiration

I think there’s a lot to be gleaned from this dim sum focused travel guide for Hong Kong, especially with all the community-based, student storytelling going on across the Commonwealth. What better way to get to the heart of a place than through the stomachs of its residents? With so many food traditions in the ethnic enclaves of Pittsburgh in particular, I could see this being a boon for faculty hoping to get their students out amongst the local business people.

In particular, I really liked the added layer of history attached to the ritual of eating the food in question and the places that the citizens eat that food.  The writing is crisp and concise and imparts all of the information while weaving a story. The only way to achieve such great results is to have a thorough understanding of the background material so the subtle connections can be made. The tie-in with our Scholarly Storytelling workshop does not escape me here…

Another thing I really liked about this clip is that – despite being decidedly high budget – many of the effects and devices are entirely approachable. Making paper cutouts of letters and using stop motion animations are both very accessible to first time filmmakers and add a certain charm to the finished product that would be missing otherwise.


06
Apr 12

Encouraging Exploration

Lauren had an idea the other evening.

Following the rush of activity that was the TLT Symposium this year, we met up for a drink with other equally exhausted-but-happy coworkers.  She ran this idea past me as she handed me a vodka tonic (always the best way to ply me) and I loved what I heard.  Basically, the concept was to share inspiring content – the sort of thing we each naturally gravitate towards while browsing between tasks – in a way that also connected the physical space we all work in to the online world.

What we came up with Snewokolis.  The site (a WordPress-based installation) is the home of what we termed the Snewoks, creatures of pure inspiration, creativity and curiosity who will curate the content.  Each posting or “Wok” highlights something that the human behind the avatar has deemed worth sharing.

Where this gets fun is in the sharing, though.  The posts will be tied to QR codes and one of each code will be printed out and hidden somewhere in the ETS areas of Rider Building.  The preference is for the code to be stashed somewhere that either adds meaning to the media artifact it links to or vice versa.

An example of how this could work is found in my avatar’s first posting.  My Snewok, Trill posted a music video that explores the concept of the creatures of inspiration that live in each of us (an apropos first posting, to be sure).  I stashed it around the side of an information kiosk that displays the latest news about projects in our unit and from other departments and institutions.  A bit of a play on the creativity coming from within to be put on display and also a link to the video nature of the object to be found.

We wanted to make it really easy to take part in this activity, too so we took active steps to ease the migration to the Snewok’s home.  Lauren put together a default avatar, Fedault as well as a PSD file with other options for his appearance, should anyone want to customize him.  We also opted to do basic QR codes on nothing more than regular office paper held up with tape because we want to make it simple to quickly share posts and to ensure that they are a non-permanent, ever-changing part of the office.  We also assembled a Migrate page of the Snewokolis site to get everyone up to speed quickly.

Lauren’s hope and my own is for this to grow legs really quickly and to be adopted by others in the building.  The more unique viewpoints that can shape the course this art project/game takes, the better as I’m sure there are lots of directions Snewokolis could be taken that we hadn’t even the remotest inkling of.


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