Room 3’s Blog

I’m interested in what you think of this video which explores the latest developments of the internet which will have more impact on your lives than mine!

If you win Powerball you could get one of these!

The ultimate in video gaming has arrived – but at more than £15,000 it comes in a bit dearer than a PS3 or Xbox.

The VirtuSphere is like an oversized hamster’s exercise ball that immerses the user in a 3D virtual reality world.

Players don a motion-tracking headset to project the visuals and then they are ready to begin virtual exploration.

They can run, jump, roll, or crawl over virtually unlimited distances without encountering real world obstacles.

The large hollow sphere sits on rollers allowing it to rotate through 360 degrees and move freely in any direction – without actually going anywhere at all.

The Washington-based manufacturers describe it as the ultimate computer games peripheral, but say it could also be used as a unique exercise treadmill or for simulation exercises.

VirtuSphere has already been used by the Russian Tourism Authorities to let people walk through the Red Square and the Kremlin.

Here is a great ad. What do you think the future will be like for you? What are your dreams?

Maybe this could be a theme for us next year?!!

I remember watching this video last year and found it again today. After our discussion last week about learning and what school might be like in ten years time I thought I’d put this video on our blog.

This comment comes from Boing Boing.

This YouTube video is the trailer for a documentary called “Voices from the New American Schoolhouse,” which chronicles the radical education practiced at the Fairhaven School in Upper Marlboro, MD. Fairhaven appears to be a classical free-school, in which kids self-govern, design their own curriculum, and tutor their peers. I went to publicly funded schools like this from grade four to graduation, and they were the most important factor in the way I conduct my own adult life. Attending schools like this teaches many kids to run their own lives, blazing their own trail, inventing their own careers, and trying anything. Useful skills in a world where any job that can be described is likely to be outsourced.

The documentary is narrated principally by the school’s bright, well-spoken students, who are eloquent and passionate advocates for open education.

What do you think?

I have seen this on several blogs but the information here comes from Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Computers are coming to your tables, walls, filing cabinets, doors, and oh my goodness, perhaps even that flat surface on the student desk.

“[Surface is] the first in the company’s new category of surface-computing products that it has touted as “breaking down traditional barriers between people and technology.”

Surface has a30-inch display in a table-like format that can recognize physical objects. It allows, according to Microsoft, “hands-on, direct control of content such as photos, music and maps. … through natural gestures, touch and physical objects.”Surface can also recognize objects embedded with identification tags similar to bar codes….Surface, asMicrosoft sums it up, brings an “opportunity to create technology thatwould bridge the physical and virtual worlds.”

Devices will roll out the end of this year!

The applications here for education are incredible! How about a word wall that changes depending on the class that is in your room. Think about the manipulatives potentials — use them but NO clean up — just a little Windex and wipe off the fingerprints!

This is only the beginning. The revolution is here.

Then I found this video about it,

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271552687/bctid933742930

What does this mean for future education? Please leave your comments.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I’ve just read this from Jane Nicholls, ICT U Can! and thought you might like to look at the Footprint Calculator. It may give you some more to think about on our own inquiry “Man Made Global Warming – Fact or Fiction?”

Our cluster will be embarking on a cross cluster inquiry next term and the topic is “10 Years to Save the Planet”. This is based on an article we read in the Otago Daily Times on global warming and the pressures the Earth is facing. Reading Derek’s Blog today, I came across this:Zerofootprint: Footprint CalculatorI went through the questions to see what sort of damage my lifestyle was doing to our planet and it was a bit of an eye opener. We take it all for granted and this is a good way to show the students in our classes that there are things we can do to make it better for everyone. Unfortunately NZ isn’t one of the countries listed but you can compare your footprint to the Average Australian as our closest
neighbour.

Powered by ScribeFire.

A video about how we will interact with computers in the future. Give it a look — and by the way, “Where’s the Computer?” It’s all about the information.

powered by performancing firefox

I have just received this from one of the blogs I read (Computers &21C Eduk8n). I have copied it all as I know some of you will be too lazy to look it up.

In the 1970s, I watched the Dick Tracy cartoon
where the detective, Dick, would speak into his watch and communicate
with headquarters. In the 1960s, Maxwell Smart from Get Smart was a popular show where the bumbling hero spoke into his shoe phone and had all sorts of gadgets.

Recently, Nike and Apple got together to release the “Nike +” running shoes and iPod Sport Kit, designed for use by joggers.

The Sport Kit allows your Nike+ shoe to talk to your iPod nano. The
sensor uses a sensitive accelerometer to measure your activity, then
wirelessly transfers this data to the receiver on your iPod nano. See source

With these shoes and iPod, joggers can now listen to music that syncs with their running tempo. A slow jog delivers a slower beat, a sprint changes the music to a more upbeat song. I really hate jogging, so I can’t see myself ever getting these items.

I remembered seeing an article about Levi releasing a new pair of jeans for the iPod with an “invisible” pocket to hide the iPod while it had a special controller in the watch pocket.

I also found that jackets are now available where the iPod fits to the inside of the jacket and the sleeve becomes the controls.What gadgets will students have in the future? We are getting closer to a convergence of technologies where mobile phones and cameras and GPS and voice recorders and music players and computers will be incorporated into one device. How long before these devices will replace laptop or desktop computers and become part of a student’s tools?

So if jean, shoe and jacket companies can make special items for the iPod, what will the school uniform of the future look like?

Will school uniform committees be brave enough to allow students to wear clothing that allows these new devices to be worn in such a way that they can be used in class? Will they consider student safety as they get to and from school by ensuring these devices are hidden from view?

I have a son who has trouble with handwriting and spelling. My hope is that by the time he gets to secondary school, he will be able to use a voice recorder to record his thoughts, stories, answers, essays, etc. and have his computer convert it to text for him. Imagine a uniform that had a microphone in the lapel of a jacket that was so designed to record only the wearer’s voice. This could then be turned into podcasts or text as described above.

Will classrooms of the 21st Century still be contained within 4 walls? I hope not. Imagine students taking their tools safely from learning site to learning site and using the tools at their disposal. A
camera, computer, mobile phone and GPS for safety. It is conceivable that these will be in one device in the future and small enough to fit within a sleeve or pocket or even on the student’s wrist.

What do you think? I’d love to hear some detailed replies. Maybe we could add another page to this blog and you could scan in your drawings etc. Let me know if you want to do this.

powered by performancing firefox