Skip to main content

Educon 2.1: Lunch with Jeff Han at SLA

Cool impromptu lunch session with Jeff Han regarding multi-touch screens and it's possible uses in education.
Multi-touch increases accessability and allows the power-user to do much more.
The bottle-neck now is how we interact. Multi-touch allows us to match bandwith with user.
Uses:
Information rich/graphical content
Medical Imaging
Energy markets
CNN!! On elections, now ABC and Fox-Small part of the business, but large media coverage!
The anchor in control of the information, not prepared by a producer ahead of time. The key to the success CNN had was John King's knowledge of the information he was looking for and his ability to use the tool! More engaging for the audience. Maybe the closest thing to how this might be useful to education.
Parallels in the lessons learned in the media with education.
The tech he's working on is having an impact on students.

Study Math if you want to do this!!!!
There's a lot of number crunching going on here!
He's interested in collaboration and collaboration in how this can be used in education.
The current computing world is one-handed. By allowing for 2 hands, you can capture more from the user.
Scalable-8 foot wall demonstrated.
He's interested in what we think this could be used for.
Technology missused in the classroom is a negative!!!
This isn't going to replace the tools we have now.

Need to make the technology invisible-Not the teacher up at the board....
Han-maybe it's ambient, always on and students go up when they need to.
Instead of 1:1, a tool like this could be 1 to many! A synthesis tool

What if multiple people could interact with a data-base and manipulate/collaborate.

Han-The hardware isn't the big issue, it's the software and pedagogy that he's interested in.
Showed video on Wired Taxonomy Browser. WOW!!! (called it a simple example...right!)
Special Ed teacher-It removes a level of abstraction. Very cool. 2 to 3 kids "playing with ideas"
English teacher-deconstructing text, showing references.
Ownership comes from touching!!!-Need to look at the research and psychology of this. (Eye tracking software to compare with mouse use)

Lehmann-comparing to the launch of turtle, logo, scratch...Is there a model where we could put this in the hands of kids and let them develop the application, content for this?

Me-How long before desks in classrooms have screens like this built in and are all wirelessly connected to a master, projection system.

Han showed a radiology tool that can slice and manipulate images. Currently, too much data, and few radiologists who can handle it.

Han said that the manufacturing and cost issues for being able to do this are "trivial!" The key is the pedagogy and need to drive it.
What would you do with one in your classroom?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nos Chemins vers la paix: Award Winning Video!

Valley View Middle School French Imersion teacher, Heather Palmer created this award winning video, Nos Chemins vers la paix , for the Tel.A.Vision " Vision For America " Contest. Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com Powered by One True Media , Tel.A.Vision.tv allows students to create videos that share their vision for the future. Heather wanted to use this video to promote the Wiki she and her students created for "6 Billion Paths to Peace." On the wiki, Palmer states: Our project was inspired by the program " Six Billion Paths to Peace ", an initiative of the Shinnyo-en foundation. We like the challenge the program offers us: commit to making a difference in this moment, in this day, in this lifetime! Palmer received her award last week at the National Service Learning Conference, in Nashville, TN. Way to go, Heather! NOTE: A few weeks ago while looking at the copyright free music available on the site, I notice a cover of the "Spinal ...

We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint! A Reflection

Today, the New York Times ran an interesting article regarding the use of PowerPoint in the military, We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint . It was a fairly damning critique of an organization that gets most of its information or lack of information through PowerPoint slides. Here are a few quotes from the article: “PowerPoint makes us stupid" - Gen. James N. Matti “It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control...Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.” -Gen. H.R. McMaster And the following comment that I think has a great impact for us as educators: " Commanders say that behind all the PowerPoint jokes are serious concerns that the program stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making ." And this... "Commanders say that the slides impart less information than a five-page paper can hold, and that they relieve the briefer of the need to polish writing to convey an analytic, persu...