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Digital Natives Survey: Instructional Technology in College Courses

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Reading the Digital Natives blog as I usually do, I stumbled on an interesting post regarding a survey the group just completed about student opinions and experiences on the usefulness of instructional technology in college courses.

The survey covers all the latest technologies, from simply posting an interactive digital syllabus (with links to resources) to recorded lectures, podcasting, videos, blogs, wikis, and course websites. The overall responses were largely positive, with students who have actually been exposed to and thus used these technologies in their courses giving higher positive ratings to them than those who have not.

Rather than try to summarize it here, I suggest reading the post and viewing the report they have kindly posted for download at the end.

To learn more about the Digital Natives academic research team, visit their wiki pages.

The Video Revolution, Broadband, the Mobile Web, etc.

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What is the state of the video revolution, video internet delivery, broadband, “smartphones”, education, entertainment and the mobile web?

Here’s a round-up of some recent links on these subjects:

  • In a video-taped panel discussion, Walt Mossberg, tech writer and reviewer for the Wall Street Journal discusses the video revolution and the problem the United States has with Broadband on beet.tv.
  • iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the United States, surpassing brick-and-mortars like Best Buy and Target in 2007, and finally Wal-Mart in 2008. Through iTunes you can also watch and rent movies on your computer, mobile device, or directly to your TV with no computer required.
  • More user-friendly set-top boxes for viewing web content on televisions will be coming to market to join the likes of Apple TV and Tivo (with Amazon’s unbox content), with Blockbuster, among others, now working on devices.
  • As for the mobile web in education, mLearning, (the shortened term for Mobile Learning) research, studies, whitepapers, and initiatives have been growing, with the work of many schools and universities informing the developments and discoveries. For one recent example among many, see Abilene Christian University’s initiative and list of resources on the subject.

Hulu: Watch NBC online, Embed TV Shows on Your Blog or Myspace Page

Hulu came out of its private beta a week or two ago, and now anyone can access the site. As a private beta tester, I had been catching up with episodes of The Office ever since the series left iTunes, which I am still not happy about. I’d much rather watch these episodes on my iPhone during my commute, and the unfortunate part about Hulu is that it doesn’t offer TV shows for download. Instead, you are stuck watching them in streaming video on your computer complete with, yes, advertiser commercials.

However, the site’s layout and design is pretty user friendly, and the most ingenious aspect of Hulu (and the most fun) is that you can grab the embed code for an entire TV show, or even just a clip that you create, and embed it anywhere you want. Giving fans, viewers, and users the ability to do this without having to rip the content themselves is certainly a plus for most of us, and for NBC, who doesn’t want to see unauthorized, copyright protected clips on YouTube and elsewhere on the web. It appears that Hulu has decided not to fight the tide on this one. The commercials come with the clips when you embed them (a boon to Hulu and its advertisers), and when viewing one of their videos on a blog or elsewhere, double-clicking it brings you back to Hulu’s site (as in YouTube’s model). I’d highly prefer viewing without the commercials of this were ever a possibility, and I’d still like to see the ability to download entire episodes (without DRM) and remix the clips. Still, the functionality Hulu is providing its users is a step in the right direction.

Sadly I can’t get it to work here, but I’ve tried it elsewhere and it’s working in most places. Pretty cool!

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Digital Identity, Social Networks and Learning Communities

I’ve been thinking a lot of about digital identities lately and all of the time that goes into crafting and maintaining them. It’s work, that is for sure. And somewhat reluctant to take on more work online than I already have, I have neglected my latest Facebook account that I recently started (again). I just don’t really want to log in to and check another online space at this time, although getting around to updating and maintaining it is inevitable.

Cole Camplese had an interesting post a week or two back about all the time it required to form new identities on new sites and how nice it would be if you could import your identity from one site to another, so you wouldn’t have to constantly recreate it. I am curious what Gen Y’s think of this option. Is it a blessing to be able to recreate yourself on different sites, especially for the younger generations whose identities are still evolving? When should permanent digital identity creation begin? During high school, during college, after both? (Harvard’s Digital Natives group has some interesting posts on this topic: see The Permanent Record and the rebuttal in The Permanent Record Part 2.)

Reading more on Cole’s blog, I stumbled upon Millis High School’s Web 2.0 and 21st Century Learning Wiki. What’s most impressive about this work, aside from the excellent content on the site, is that it was put together and is maintained by students (who also incidentally read Cole’s blog… wow!). Today’s high school students are savvier than ever about social networking, 21st century learning, and digital identities, and the generation after them will likely have a much different, more integrated experience as these technologies continue to overlap, evolve, and make their way into educational settings.

When I poll (informally, on elevator rides and in cafes) our university students here and ask them what they think of social networks and learning networks being on the same platform — say for example, your Blackboard site is located in Facebook — they are vehemently opposed to the idea. They want to keep their online social networks and learning networks separate — that’s they way it has always been for them, and that’s they way they like it. And, you’ve got to understand their point. They were the generation that explored and popularized online social networking before the rest of us even knew what was happening. (And unfortunately, most of these students have yet to experience the benefits of combined social networking and learning, at least in an educational setting.)

But the next generation, the Millennials, will be much more accustomed to learning communities and social networks being one in the same. How will this change their thinking and their creation of online identities? In some ways, Gen Y had the advantage of being able to explore this space and create themselves in their own Gen Y universe, before the rest of us caught up, understood, or could guide them in their interactions. The Millennials will have (and are already having) a much different experience.

What are your thoughts?

iTunes University

We’ve been busy this past month setting up our iTunes University site on the iTunes Music Store, and it’s been a lot of work. So far, we have 10 faculty with active courses, and most of them are already podcasting and or at least learning the necessary steps. With all this work, it’s been tough to keep up with blog posts!

What I can say at this point is that things are really coming along, and the work-study students in our office and the other students I speak to around campus are really excited about the idea. What they say is Continue reading “iTunes University”

The Future of the Book

images.jpegAs many of you undoubtedly know, Amazon released its new Kindle ebook reader this holiday season. It holds over 200 titles and can access Amazon’s online bookstore wirelessly, which boasts over 90,000 titles for instant downloading. The Kindle isn’t the first ebook reader and it won’t be the last, but it is evolutionary in many ways.

I love books in their printed form, and have always been somewhat of a bibliophile. Ever since I learned to read I have surrounded myself with books and can happily lose hours on end in any bookstore or library. Many who share my fondness for the traditional book can’t see a future where digital books are the primary format. I’ve heard all the objections: “I like to hold a book,” “I like bringing it with me,” “I don’t want to read a book on a computer screen,” “I like flipping the pages; I the feel of paper,” “I write in my books,” “I like the smell of books”.

While I can’t say I disagree with any of these statements, I also cherished my album collection: flipping through a stack of albums, spreading them out on the floor, looking at the various art on the jackets, pondering which one to put in the stereo next… these were all part of the experience. Yet, I changed with times (albeit slowly), and through the various technologies as well. Last year I finally threw out all my CD cases (clutter!) and decided that I would no longer buy CD’s. Digital music was the way to go: it’s easy (no trips to the store), more portable, it doesn’t break or scratch or get lost or worn, and it doesn’t clutter up my entertainment center. I am since very pleased with both my decision and my increasing digital music collection.

It is inevitable that the older formats we know and love will eventually take a backseat, and books, like our songs and albums, will be easily accessed, shared, and carried in our pockets. Along with these changes, multimedia such as images and video are more and more becoming part of our texts, and as our ability to create, distribute and share texts keeps expanding, authorship is transforming along with it. What will become of the printed book as digital innovation moves forward? The Institute for The Future of The Book, a think tank devoted to investigating the book’s future in a networked digital world, explores Continue reading “The Future of the Book”

Two Big Media Holdouts Open Up

As a big fan of Web 2.0 and free and open access, I was excited today to see that two old-media holdouts, Sony BMG and the Wall Street Journal, took progressive steps toward rethinking their business models and opening up access to their content.

The WSJ announced today that it will open up free access to all of its editorials, op-eds, video interviews and commentary which were previously only viewable to paid subscription customers. No doubt this decision came, in part, from increased pressure and competition from the blogosphere. Although the Journal is not completely free yet, I am looking forward to accessing these free features and think the company will eventually discover what the NY Times did: although free, open access is clearly good for consumers, it is also good for business.

On the music front, Sony BMG, (Sony’s music division), announced today that it would finally rollout their music catalog without DRM, Digital Rights Management. Continue reading “Two Big Media Holdouts Open Up”

The Next Digital Decade

Bill Gates gave his last keynote speech as CEO of Microsoft this weekend at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.He had some interesting things to say about the future of technology and the last “digital decade” as well as the next one.

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The last decade was about the growth and proliferation of the PC (think about the huge success of Windows 95), and the advent of the internet: “We’ve made a lot of progress. The first digital decade has been a great success. Thousands of companies have worked together… this is just the beginning. There’s nothing holding us back from going much faster and further in the second digital decade.”

The next digital decade will be defined by the fact that: “People want to share content, ideas, community and entertainment”. The future of entertainment will be software driven and he emphasized the importance of mobile computing, and connecting, getting, creating, and sharing content on the go. Continue reading “The Next Digital Decade”