gOS – Tiny Computers Take Over Market

I have been a fan of the gOs for a while, but the most recent announcement of this super small laptop for $399 is just awesome (coming January 20th in Walmart).  I have always wanted a smaller Sony Vaio notebook, but the price tag (usually at lest $1500) was more than I could swallow.  This looks very promising.  I think it is time to rebuild my Linux test box and put gOS on it to see how I like it. 

Check out these awesome specs for this little device:

• $399
• 2 lbs
• 7″ screen
• WiFi
• 3 USB ports
• 4-in-1 card reader. 

I want, I want, I want…

Google Enabled Televisions Coming Soon

Okay, I saw this article this morning and although this technology is probably a long way off for us poor educators, the technology is pretty awesome.  

Japanese manufacturer Matsushita (Panasonic) has signed a deal with Google that will see the company launch flat panel television sets that allow users to access YouTube and other Google services such as Picasa Web Albums.

This is the technology that is moving us toward ubiquitous computing… 🙂  information everywhere! 🙂

Embed Google Presentation

Yeah… I love days when Google announces new functionality for stuff I use.  Today Google announced some new features for Google Docs, including an embed function for presentations. 

Nice easy way to keep all your presentations on one course page.  How else would you use this?

7 Ways Google’s new Mobile Android Platform Could Impact Education

So the release of Google’s new mobile Android platform is a couple of days old now, but I just finally found some time to read up about it and see a demo. Let’s start with that. (Note, you can skip the first minute and just go onto the demo…)

Well… I’m sad there is no gPhone… but on the other hand… Wow! I must say I am impressed. Just the design alone is awesome and reminds me a lot of the iPhone with one difference… OPEN SOURCE! I am more and more converted to educators using Open Source… not only for the cost, but the ability to make what ever you want. Imagine having the capabilities of the iPhone, but without the iBrick tendencies. 🙂 So without further adieu, here is my list of 5 ways Google’s new Android Platform could impact education:

1. Cost – FREE… what more needs to be said?

2. OPEN – With an awesome Software Development Kit that is totally open (you can even change the dialer and home screen). You can pretty much build any application you want!

3. Multiple Platform Capability – This is not one device that everyone has to have… it is a platform that will be able to run on all mobile devices!

4. Virtual/Distance Education/Gaming – Open GL capabilities and AWESOME graphics! Imagine navigating a virtual world using mobile devices and interacting with your hands for those with multi-touch screens! Takes experiential learning to a new level. (Just FYI… Croquet uses Open GL… 🙂 )

5. Collaboration – Education is more and more about working together in a GLOBAL community. With built in notifications and mapping software, it would be easy to write an application to notify a group of friends where you are all at once for an impromptu meeting.

6. Mobile Learning – It is becoming more important to have access to information where ever we are. Imagine being out in the field studying zoology and looking up a new bug you have never seen before on wikipedia. Nice.

7. High-Speed Capabilities – One of the BIG problems with the iPhone is the slower cellular network. It made video impossible. Now that functionality can be added in as well.

And this is just the beginning. The sky is really the limit with a product like this. Once again… thank you Google for pushing the envelope!

GPhone and Education – Better than the iPhone?

Okay, first off I apologize for the long delay in writing. The beginning of the year is a terrible time for everyone in education. Us techies are no exception. 🙂 Things are somewhat under control so I took a couple of minutes to scan through my reads.

Google Phone Rumors

So there have been rumors of a Google-Phone for over a year now. There was even a picture of one circulated earlier this year (to the right). As an avid Google evangelist, I pictured a free device that ran all the programs I love! Everything from Google is free… right?

Well, I am not so naive to believe that is actually the case, but this morning TechCrunch posted an article rumoring that the GPhone (nice name, huh?) might be coming out in as little as two weeks. It is worth a read.

GPhone vs. iPhone

In my office a colleague of mine and I constantly battle over who is better, Google or Apple. He is all aflutter about the iPhone, so now I have something to talk about. 🙂 I especially love the last paragraph of the TechCrunch article:

“Any Google phone will also be immediately compared to Apple’s
iPhone. Whilst the iPhone provides an attractive package, it has so far
only taken a small marketshare in the US cellular market, and is yet to
have been released anywhere else in the world. A 3G (and therefore
quicker) internet focused GPhone with a broad release worldwide could
well present a strong competitor to Apple.”

GPhone vs. iPhone in Education

Yeah, how will it compare? I wrote an popular article several weeks ago about how the iPhone will impact education. There are some great things about the iPhone… don’t get me wrong. I still want one. 🙂

But, one of the major points I brought up was the lack of a true high-speed network connection. The other was the cost. If Google get’s the 700mhz spectrum it is rumored to be bidding on, they can (in classic Google way) build a super fast network and hopefully develop a cheap device that could actually be feasible/free to us educators.

Google and Education

If nothing else, history has proven Google to be nice to educators. Look at Google Apps for the domain and the way it has taken off! 🙂 (Free for educators!) And all the awesome programs they have! If you want to see some examples of Google’s benevolence, check out this Trailfire trail I built a while ago. Good stuff!

So what do you think? Does Google have something brewing… and if they do, hypothesize with me for a moment… what WOULD it be like?

Here’s to hoping…

Do Research in Languages you Don’t Speak

Today Google Translate launched a nice side by side search engine that might be useful for those researching in languages they don’t speak.  Just type in what you are looking for in English and what language you want to search.  There are 11 languages right now including very difficult languages like Chinese, Arabic, Korean and Japanese (not to mention the typical ones). 

The search results display in a nice double column format that is easy to compare.  I think that if we give this one a little more time it is going to become more and more prevalent across Google search products.  Keep your eyes out… and until then enjoy looking up the stuff you always wanted to know in other languages.

Still haven’t converted over to RSS… watch this!

I ran across this great video this morning (on a blog in my RSS reader) for those of you who aren’t using RSS yet… now’s the time. Get on board!

Click To Play

 

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don’t. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don’t know where to start.

A while ago I also blogged about why RSS is going to change the academic community. That might be of some interest to some of you too. Cheers!

UPDATE: Just in case you were wondering… I do have a feed for my blog too. You can see several ways to subscribe on the right… and even see that 77 (as of today) others have subscribed as well.

Create Your Own Google Maps Mashup!

I came across a great new find this morning in my reads! Combine maps and spreadsheets with Google’s new mashup tool | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone Annotated “Google has put together an experimental wizard for creating your own Google Maps mashup using data from Google Spreadsheets.”

The best part is… “you won’t have to know a lick of code, or anything super technical to use it.”

I’m sure we can find an educational use for this one…

Research 2.0 Wiki – WOW!

I have been absolutely amazed at the way my research habits have changed since I became familiar with the web 2.0, RSS feeds, Google alerts, social bookmarking sites and so forth.  I am learning more, learning it faster, finding it easier, and in most cases, just waiting for it to come to me. 

I have long wanted to write a blog entry about how to do some of these things and I probably will still do that to some extent but tonight I came across this AMAZING Research 2.0 wiki (Thanks to Vicki Davis).  This is probably the best resource I have ever seen to show how the internet has changed research.  I particually recommend the Changing your Research Mindset section.  There are links to everything!

[On a sidenote… I am still amazed at how much blogging and instructional technology has motivated me.  Here it is 12:30 at night.  I should have been in bed a long time ago, but I couldn’t go to bed without writing about this… and this… and this…  There is so much out there! Man, I love technology!  🙂 ]

Burgers Paid for by Mobile Phone – Mobility Matters!

There was an article in the BBC News Today entitled “Burgers Paid for by Mobile Phone.”  It basically outlines a system that is going into place in Japan that allows people to pay for their orders at McDonalds with a cell phone.  This doesn’t have much to do with instructional technology, I just think it is cool!

The article points out the benefits of a program like that for marketing and tracking consumer’s.  While I don’t believe McDonald’s isn’t already tracking what is most popular, I do think that there is a lot of potential there. 

I attended a Educause Webinar last week given by Ellen Wagner entitled “Mobility Matters: Why Learning Professionals Should Care.”  The seminar itself was great, packed with all sorts of great data and information.  But what stood out to me was two points she made during the seminar.

1. Productivity and Immediacy

The point was made that a lot of times mobile learning is about immediacy.  We want to get to the information anytime, anywhere.  This in turn has the potential to turn many of those less productive times immediately into learning opportunities.

As I think about our burger scenario I see all sorts of potential for productivity.  If customers can use their cell phones to pay for dinner, why not order it in the car on the way there, pay for it and pick it up all through an easy to use/easy to navigate web portal.  The technology is certainly there.  It would save the company money on production and certainly make us happier… I get my food faster!  Win/Win!  I imagine this won’t be too far off. 

2. Killer Applications

At one point in the presentation Ellen said something to the effect of “What is it that we can’t do now that mobile [devices] will allow us to do better.”  She goes on to say that killer applications are the ones that are derived out of practice.  The ones that chance our entire pedagogical approach because it just works better. 

I think that we spend too much time making applications to do something we can already do in real life.  I have reached a cross-roads of sorts in my digital life in which I realize a lot of what I am doing with technology is counterproductive because it takes longer.  The point is to save time and increase learning, not spend hours making something that takes even more time for students to understand. 

There are those applications out there that are going to revolutionize both education and the world, but we have to sort through dozens and dozens of apps that are just mimicking what we are already doing in real life.