Growing Up Google

I am kinda at a lose for why we are writing up a summary of this reading because the majority of it was in previous readings. I actually found that reading the bios of the authors to be more interesting than the first 10 pages. This book was written by a fairly diverse group with backgrounds that were surprising to me. PhDs, EdDs, and a doctoral student from fields outside of ITEC. I know that Dr. Beatty has a PhD in Inst. Systems Design and I assumed that many if not most respected faculty members in the ID field would have similar degrees; however this was not the case amongst the authors of this text. A few were in the Human Systems Interaction field which I never really thought related to the field of education outside of aeronautics(i had contemplated getting a doctorate in HSI at one time). After, seeing their backgrounds I really drew a connection in my mind about how HSI and ID really compliment each other very well. As we have been learning the tools that can be used to design curriculm HSI really focuses on how people interact with these technical tools. Research and SMIs in the HSI field will be extremely valueable when when teaching/training with new or advanced technology.

Ok now into the reading. I really liked the example of the augmented reality learning method. Where the student who missed a outdoor field trip could recreate the learning experience on her own with a PDA. I really find the use of mobile technology to be a great resource. Prior to this course I thought that the mobile education was primarily podcast/vodcasts that were able to be heard/viewed on mobile devices. But this example combines all of them with tagging, mapmashups, and GPS. Using a PDA device could be so beneficial for the students and the teacher. As long as the students were able to use the technology with ease, I could see them being more interested in the field trip especially because they could add their experience to that of all of their classmates(via tagging with notes).

One note: how does one use their laptop as a backpack or locker? can laptops now conceal coats, lipstick, and sweaty gym shoes?

The last point that interested me was the redesign of learning spaces. It makes makes sense when reading it but I had never thought about augmenting the learning space. During my education I have seen computers increase in my schools, from a computer room to classrooms with computers everywhere, but changing a library into a socialization arena...WOW! I do think that this will be important as the size of peoples social networks increase over the web. Students and faculty alike will require human contact and a place to share what they have been learning.