Intel Pins Hopes on Tablets, Wearable Tech -- ScienceDaily

Intel Pins Hopes on Tablets, Wearable Tech -- ScienceDaily

Virtual Realities,
the questioning of  what is “real,” and Mayan traditions overlap. This article explains how. by Devonee Trivett

Sarah Jackson, an anthropological archaeologist and an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati is discovering how Mayans held a concept of “partible personhood,” a belief that material objects have their own 'identity” (some may call it a soul). Mayan belief also held that the human identity can be divided in parts live outside and inside the body simultaneously. "These things start to occupy this uncomfortable space where we question, 'Is it real, or is it not real?' “ (University of Cincinnati, 2014, April 24). Sound like virtual reality?

I am excited about the next Mayan virtual reality, myself. Who will be the first to take this idea and really go with it?

REFERENCE

University of Cincinnati. (2014, April 24). Ancient Maya and virtual worlds: Different perspectives on material meanings. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 26, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424151833.htm

Chernobyl's birds adapting to ionizing radiation -- ScienceDaily

Chernobyl's birds adapting to ionizing radiation -- ScienceDaily



Some animals are adapting to nuclear radiation. According to a recent
study, "results revealed that with increasing background radiation, the
birds' body condition and glutathione levels increased and oxidative
stress and DNA damage decreased. They also showed that birds which
produce larger amounts of pheomelanin and lower amounts of eumelanin pay
a cost in terms of poorer body condition, decreased glutathione and
increased oxidative stress and DNA damage." (British Ecological Society BES, 24 April 2014).

The implications are far reaching in my mind. What will this mean for the future?

REFERENCE


British Ecological Society (BES). "Chernobyl's birds adapting to
ionizing radiation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424223057.htm>.

Second Life as a Disruptive Technology

(www.secondlife.com)
What does it mean to say that Second Life is a Disruptive Technology? 
A disruptive technology is a technology that interrupts and thus changes the evolution of other emerged technologies (Thornburg, 2010).
Rosedale (2008) explains how Second Life is a disruptive technology today. The virtual world, Second Life, is creative outlet for inventors and people who find virtual worlds as appropriate environments for their design experiments. Virtual worlds, such as Second Life, allow people to simulate a world with the same laws of physics and build things in a “practice “environment. This allows for creative people to try out ideas in a tangible way that never before existed. Anything is possible with Second Life. This represents a way to reinvent ideas, selves, identities and society. The amount of content and people involved in Second Life is expanding by about 5 percent every month. It's a really large world, co-created by millions of people today. Second Life is very exciting for people today, and will likely create a shift (or disruption) in our paradigm that will be even bigger than the impact that the Web had on our world today. The reason for this is that Second Life is built with symbols rather than text (as with the Web), and images are inherently a universal language. Also, Second Life, allows for socializing in real time among participants. This will create a connected, simultaneous experience for human beings online (Rosedale, 2008).
Based on this information, Second Life, has the potential to be a disruptive technology and make the Internet obsolete.
References
Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks    /the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.

Second Life (n.d.) www.secondlife.com

 Thornburg, D. (2010). Disruptive technologies Vodcast: In Laureate Education, Inc. Emerging and future technology. image credit: Second Life @ www.secondlife.com

Tablet Appropriate for Use in Today's Classrooms

Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2014) Alcatel One Touch @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/

Example of Hand Held Technology Appropriate for Today's Classroom

Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2009) Dynavox Xpress Hand Held Device @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2009/08/15/dynavox-xpress-handheld-device/

Hand held devices in today's classrooms by Devonee Trivett

Image Credit: Lozano, V. 2014 Alcatel One Touch PXL @http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/ One device that is quickly emerging in classrooms today are hand held devices. This new tool creates new ways of defining and teaching literacy. “Hand held technologies have initiated new ways to think about books, course packs, and problem based learning” (Ochola, Stachowaik, & Bills, April, 2013). This new way of thinking about what exactly learning and literacy is also creates a disruption in the way things are done in the public school classroom. The students are, by and large, comfortable with the change. Often the teachers need more training and support to help them transition into their distinctly new roles. The traditional classroom, not the teacher, is what is going to be made obsolete by the access these devices provide to greater levels of learning. This said, it is important for us all not to take a “teacher vs.technology” stance when ushering in this new era of learning. These devices are found to create higher levels of student engagement, critical thinking, and knowledge construction in the classroom. Experts in education also see these portable computers as a window for creating a more highly informed, culturally sensitive and collaborative classroom. And if that's not enough to convince those resisting change, learners with disabilities are positively impacted by access to these technologies. (Ochola, et al, 2013). Unfortunately, the most significant barrier to adoption of these devices in all classrooms today is cost. “Because of the expense of hand held devices, many classrooms across the nation do not have access to them.” (Ochola, et al, 2013). In considering the cost of technology, however, the benefits far outweigh the price tag. Reference Ochola,E., Stachowaik, J., & Bills, D. (April, 2013). Learning environments and rapidly evolving handheld technologies. First Mind: Peer Reviewed Journal on the Internet.18, 4-1 Retrieved @ http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3932/3643 Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2014) Alcatel One Touch @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/