December 2008
2 posts
15 tags
Video games for cognitive power
Slashdot reports on an incredibly interesting and unique study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The results show that strategic game playing for adults over 60 and 70 had significant across the board effects on a variety of cognitive functions.
Strategy Games Improve Cognitive Functions In Older Adults
It’s not Pac Man we’re talking about. These are strategic...
10 tags
Beyond the Diploma Mills. Online Education Key to...
It’s nice to see the global media picking up on a key value of technology to bridge the global devide of haves and have nots in education.
From the article: “The only hope of closing the literacy gap in developing countries lies in extending the reach of online education.”
View the Newsweek Article
November 2008
2 posts
15 tags
Fight Alzeheimers one master's degree at a time
A recent study indicates that the higher the level of education we pursue, the better our chances in fighting or slowing the effects of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
16 tags
Are blogs passé? Wired article says maybe so.
Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004
from Wired.com, By Paul Boutin, 10.20.08
While we never like the absolutist approach of some futurists to simply kill valuable technologies off and place them in the shelves right beside the Betamax VCR, there’s some real merit to the ease of Facebook and Twitter in comparison to the more formal “blogging” tools. This...
October 2008
2 posts
14 tags
We are our smartest at the age of 39.
According to a new study, our brain power peaks at age 39. So say the scientists at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
If the economy and global issues were not enough, now we’ve got a stopwatch on our brains!
Read the actual article from UCLA’s new release.
Read the Slashdot posting and discussion
11 tags
Dear Professor, Students Want to Chat With You
A new study was just released by technology supplier CDW-G, called “The 21st-Century Campus: Are We There Yet?
Some of this is “ok-no-duh” stuff, but some interesting feedback regarding student wish list items:
More than 80 percent of faculty teach at least some of their classes in “smart classrooms,” yet just 42 percent of those faculty use the technology during...
September 2008
4 posts
10 tags
What learning organizations should learn from the...
An end to MTV’s Total Request Live (a.k.a., “TRL”) is another lesson to learn about the new way media is distributed and how people now prefer to consume content.
This interesting article points out that TRL died, much like newspapers are dying, because people are prefering to control their viewing experience. Yes, TRL was based on viewer ratings of music videos but the...
13 tags
Google Chrome: is this the libertarian entry in...
…. if so, it only hurts Mozilla for market share and initially those technologists (like us) who build for the web and already must account for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and a fast rising Safari (especially for iPhone). In the short term, it’s going to be a challenge and the clear benefits of working in the highly flexible Google framework may not outweigh the pains. However… . if Google...
8 tags
Smart building design education goes mainstream
“The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced that starting in January 2009 it will require its members to complete four hours per year of continuing education focused on sustainable design, constituting half of the eight hours required for topics in health, safety, and welfare.”
It’s important to note that this traditional membership organization is incorporating...
9 tags
Google launches Video for Google Apps
No, it’s not You Tube, but similar functionality of video sharing but for the companies and organizations using Google Apps (paid version).
An interesting move and a potentially valuable resource for an increasingly mobile workforce in need of training and support videos on-demand.
Read the story from newteevee.com here: Google Launches Video Sharing for Business.
August 2008
8 posts
8 tags
To unleash the wisdom of crowds or not
Great, insightful stuff on the decisions and factors to consider before implementing user commenting and discussion. Great quotes and good examples.
Maintaining brand quality and integrity while opening to the valuable perspectives of the masses is the million dollar question. And the answer is really dependent on the organization and the intent, in our view.
How Media Brands Invite, Manage, and...
9 tags
Kindle powering college textbooks? Rumor mill
Amazon’s Kindle hasn’t blown up the gadget world as many anticipated, but it seems it’s creeping along with new versions and making strides in its offerings. Here this article references some rumors that Amazon Kindle will soon offer college textbooks.
This is a significant step that can impact students, universities, and publishers. Not to mention the college book store that...
7 tags
Whatever happened to the mlearning craze?
British journal Trainingzone.co.uk technology editor John Stokdyk wonders what happened to all the fanfare?
Here the writer talks about the current challenges and success stories.
We remain bullish on mobile and continue the push.
Whatever happened to the mlearning craze?
The Trouble with Twitter
An interesting read on the market value of Twitter and possibly other social networks that have implicit value due to the sheer numbers using them. Article exposes potential weaknesses in the model and ways Twitter and others could actually make money. We agree with the ending statement that it will eventually end up as a “hood ornament” on a larger service - like a feature- not a...
7 tags
Leave it to Oprah to teach us how to do elearning...
Oprah’s work with Author Eckhart Tolle is not recognized enough in our space for the ground breaking scope and quality. They have really done a great job in the delivery of a powerful learning experience to hundreds of thousands. And they’ve done it all with the quality and thoroughness we’d expect from Oprah. When we talk about “impact” learning, just checkout the...
12 tags
edutainment and brain skills
Who says learning is not seeing popular uptake? The popularity of games like Brain Age is pushing the gaming industry into our world of learning. In this recent report from Ambient Insight (who does some pretty cool work to analyze the business value of learning) there’s some encouraging numbers for the growth of brain sharpening games.
Snapshot of the US Market for Mobile Brain Trainer...
A hammers throw into the screen of monotony
hello world. this is the first posting on tumblr