Has the Knowledge Navigator Come True with Siri or Her?

Way Way Way back in the late 80s, Apple had a vision for computing called the Knowledge Navigator.  This dream had a certain 2001 Space Odyssey HAL aspect to it because you, the user could hold a discussion with your computer as it helped you solve your problems.

I was watching an old 12-minute Apple video called the Knowledge Navigator (1987) where a professor is working with his DynaBook to plan his day. (The DynaBook is a laptop conceived by Alan Kay in 1968.) Wouldn't it be wonderful to have this type of interaction with your computer?




Did you notice that the professor said that the article he needed was 5 years old?  When his DynaBook found it, it turned out that that article was written in 2006.  Add 5 years to that and you get 2011. That's not very far away from today. Are we actually living that today?

I have been exploring the many faces of Siri on my iPhone. I have been amazed about how I can ask Siri to set an alarm, search for a recipe, add an expense to a specific note, make a call to my wife, but I was BLOWN AWAY by some of the options I found when researching this post.  Here are some of the requests you can ask of Siri: (Found these at Imgur.com)

• Show me the roster for the Giants
• Did the University of Northern Iowa win last night?
• What does the rest of my day look like?
• Where is my next meeting?
• Move my 3:00 meeting to 4:30
• Tell my wife I'll be right there.
• Open Facebook

The one that really knocked me on my ear was when I said "Phone my wife, Kathy Klink-Zeitz." Before Siri made the call, she said "So Kathy Klink-Zeitz is your wife?  I will make a note of that." Ever since, I don't need to mention Kathy's name.  Just need to say "Phone my wife."

This is VERY close to what we saw the professor doing in his office in the video above.

I just saw the movie, "Her", where a whole operating system is blessed with artificial intelligence and a specific human (Theodore) falls in love with his computer because she (Samantha) is listening to everything he is saying and responding.  Is this our destined future?  How will education be affected by such a system?

Imagine an interactive system that would listen to the voice of learners and provide learning opportunities (notice that I didn't say "Instructional Programs" because it can be SOOOO much more) that will fit our learners' needs.  This doesn't mean that these systems would give the answers.  It just means that it could provide additional challenges and scaffolding as necessary.

What do you think?  Where is this all going?  

Have we achieved the Knowledge Navigator level or is there far to go from here?

Z

What Happens in the Internet in a Minute?

We all know that the Internet is a busy place.

It is difficult to comprehend that 1,407,724,920 people use the internet each day.  Sometimes it is necessary to reduce the frequency of activities down to a more understandable level of a single minute.

What really brings it home is an Info-Graphic like the one below. This image is filled with content that you might appreciate on your own or use them to amaze your students or your next keynote audience.

 Click on the image to enlarge it.

lifehack.org

Send Dr. Z a VoiceMail

I was just reading a posting by my friend, Vicki Davis (AKA CoolCatTeacher). She was mentioning that she had been having a lot of fun with her readers sending her voicemail through her blog.  She was using the SpeakPipe voicemail gadget.

Seemed like a lot of fun so I just installed it on Dr. Z Reflects as well.
Look to the right you should see a black tab that says "Send Voicemail".

Click on the tab and you follow the directions to send me a voicemail.  I would love to learn what you would like me to share on Dr. Z Reflects.

Have a wonderful New Year and I hope that have been able to spend the holidays with those you love.

Your Brain on Video Games

How can gaming affect your brain and biological acuteness?  It is an on-going argument about the effects of gaming.  Dr. Bavelier share a laboratory analysis of how gaming can improve your sight, awareness and other biological skills.

Looking for an AWESOME Instructional Technology Masters Program?

UNI Instructional Technology Masters Program from Leigh Zeitz

If you are looking for a 21st Century Instructional Technology Masters program, Look no further!!!

Review the slideshow above and see how our program provides opportunities to engage in 21st Century Learning, Instructional Design and Research.

For further information, visit our website at http://uni.edu/itech  
Learn about our 2-year Online Masters Program that begins in June, 2014 

Horton Hears a Tweet? ABSOLUTELY!!!

What a WONDERFUL title: Horton Hears a Tweet!!!  This is the title of an EduCause article by Joanna Dunlap and Patrick Lowenthal is a comprehensive and insightful article about how Twitter can fulfill the "Challenge of Student Engagement".   What I really like about this article is that they compare the process of using Twitter for communication with the process of using an LMS.  They talk about how clunky using the LMS for communication can be. It follows the process of:

 Log In>Access Shell>Locate Forum>Post Message>Wait for Response 

When compared to Twitter's "natural free-flowing, just-in-time" connection, this is a system for documenting communication rather than fostering it.

Dunlap and Lowenthal discuss the interactivity of using Twitter with both students and professionals. They talk about the positive results and benefits for using Twitter for back-channeling and on-going relevant discussions.  They even share events where students answered their own questions using Twitter as an entre to their PLN.  They posted questions about projects and received responses in 10 minutes.   The only thing that is missing is a discussion of the negatives of using Twitter - - - - I must admit that I can't think of any either, but I thought that they might have some ideas. =-)

This article is MUST-READ material for educators and students alike.  They even include a robust list of Additional Readings and Resources.

What do you think? Have you found Twitter to be as advantageous as they say?

Z

Related articles

• The art of tweeting--Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts
• Tweet Tweet!
• How To Manage Twitter: Do It Your Way
• How I learned to stop worrying and tweet, Part 2
• The First Tweets from my Classroom.

Infants going Mobile

Are YOUR kids using technology?

Of course they are. My 2-year old grandson is continually grabbing my iPhone from me and then using it to identify animals, play songs, shake rattles, play drums, take photos and even make the occasional phone call.

While some educators argue that infants are too young to use these tools, the fact of the matter is that our kids are learning through using technology. A recent study by Common Sense Media found that 8% of children under 2 years old use mobile devices at least weekly. The numbers jump from there.  One of the reasons for this huge use is that in the past 2 years,  smartphone ownership has increased from 41% to 62%.  Tablet use has jumped from 8% to 40% in the past 2 years as well. Time spent on non-mobile computers has dropped sharply.

Read the rest of the facts on usage at the Buzzfeed article about this phenomenon, The Babies are Going Mobile.  Thanks for telling me about this posting, Zach Benton-Slocum.

Acknowledgement of these stats is not saying that technology should replace using crayons or playing on the playground or climbing trees. It is just that these mobile devices can expand their learning experiences.

What are your experiences in your students/children using mobile devices?

Z