Jan 22, 2014

Curt "World is Open" Bonk is on SlideShare! - Plus Emerging Interactive Tech Links

If you follow trends in technology and education, you've probably come across the work of Curt Bonk, an instructional technology systems  professor at Indiana University, and an adjunct in the School of Informatics. His book, The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education, came out in 2011 and still is a must-read in the field.

Zipping through my FB feed today, I learned that Curt Bonk mentioned that people follow him on Pinterest and SlideShare, even though he has nothing there. 

Things change.  

Although he's much more fun in person, Curt's slides provide historical overviews that put things in perspective, and in a few minutes, you'll know a bit more of something that you didn't know you didn't know.  

If you have a few more minutes, take a look at the links to about info about emerging interactive technologies.

Enjoy!




EMERGING INTERACTIVE TECH LINKS

How Do You Feel?  Your Computer Knows
Tom Geller, Communications of the ACM, 1/14
Brain Games: Move Objects With Your Mind To Find Inner Calm?
Amy Standen, All Tech Considered, 1/21/14
Coming soon:  Control your computer with your brain via open source
Serdar Yegulalp, InfoWorld, 1/13/14
Touchless Interaction in Surgery
Communications of the ACM, 1/14
Why Wearable Devices Will Never Be As Disruptive As Smartphones
Kevin McCullagh, Fast Company, 1/21/14
Apple envisions trackpad with sensors instead of click buttons
Lance Whitney, c\net, 1/21/14Robots test their own world wide web, dubbed RoboEarth
BBC, 1/14/14
Seeing things: A new transparent display system could provide heads-up data
David L. Chandler, MIT News, 1/21/14

I'll be writing a few blog posts about future tech and interactive technology news soon.

Jan 15, 2014

ThePianoGuys' Uplifting Music Videos: Over the Rainbow; Paradise (Peponi)

This delightful, uplifting music video from ThePianoGuys playing a rendition of Over the Rainbow and Simple Gifts showed up in my FB feed today.   Enjoy.


COMMENT
I use uplifting/calming videos in my work with students with complex special needs, including those with autism.  Although I create some of the multimedia content I use with students, my time for creativity is limited.  I appreciate coming across music videos that deliver much more than I could ever create within the confines of my day-to-day life!

The students I worked with today at Wolfe School really liked the following video, a cover of Coldplay's "Paradise".  The video featured guest artist Alex Boye, The piano and musicians were perched on the top of a 1000 ft cliff.  They also were fascinated with the "making of" video below.







SOMEWHAT RELATED
I wonder if ThePianoGuys could create a music video at the cave setting at this beach in St. Maarten!   (My husband did not want to venture very far from this beautiful refuge during a recent vacation.)





























A quick search on YouTube reveals thousands of videos created to uplift/relax the spirit.
If you need to take a few moments to relax - here is a time-lapse video set to calming music, from LoungeV Studio: