History of Adobe Photoshop

As an avid user of Adobe Photoshop I found this an interesting infographic as it gives a nice overview of the history and the development of Adobe Photoshop.

Personal Metadata: Some articles

As someone who educates in the realm of Digital Media and Computer Science I have found it interesting to follow the developments of a recently published article about an individuals request to gain access to their personal metadata from a major Telco. The concepts explored in this article, Me and my metadata, relate closely to an article from 2011published by Zeit Online, Betrayed by our own data. There are many implications that these articles identify including privacy and personal profiling.

These articles provide valuable stimulus for students to explore real-world scenarios on topics that they need to be made aware of. This is particularly pertinent for senior students in High School studying Computer Science courses.

Your brain on video games : TED

I have just read a fascinating article by Saga Briggs titled, ‘This is your Brain on Games‘.  Her article explorers the benefits and positive impacts of video and computer games on the human brain.  There are many great resources that are referenced and linked to including the TED talk below.  A great article to read

Here is an interesting talk on research into the impact of playing video/computer games on the human brain that produced findings that challenge assumed thought.

AQA A2 ICT Unit 3 – Developing Methods

 

AQA A2 ICT Unit 3 – Managing ICT

 

AQA A2 ICT Unit 3 – Information and Systems

 

AQA A2 ICT Unit 3 – ICT Strategy

I have been asked several questions by my A Level students for help with some theorey topics as we prepare for their exams later in the year.  Whilst performing some research I can across some excellent resources including presentations shared online.  There are great.  This one includes information about the ‘Technology Life Cycle’ which has eluded the text book notes….

 

History of Social Media – Timeline

As is always the way with the Internet and the discovery of resources and stimulus, the best are found by chance and this is a prime example of that. I find this infographic especially interesting as it both made me reflect on how young digital technologies really are, and it made me feel old as I can remember when much of these started. I can still remember signing up for a Hotmail account when it first started, not to mention using the Bulletin Board System. Anyway, reminiscing aside, this infographic will be a useful stimulus piece when exploring the emergence of technologies and studying their impact. I am sure that this will help most students to better understand the rate at which the technologies they use and mostly take for granted have developed.

Image Source: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/12/an-amazing-timeline-chronicling-history.html

Tablet technology for Ohio State Marching Band

Recently I have been shown examples of the amazing performances from this marching band.  Their performances alone are awe-inspiring, but it was the underlying research and use of technology that I was most impressed with.  To describe it in brief, some students from the band recognised financial and environmental impact that the constant development and use of paper-based was having.  From here they pursued a project to use digital technologies, iPad’s, to replace the paper elements of the band’s music, marching performances and choreography.  The clip below provides an outline of the process that was undertaken by the students, the band and other aspects of Ohio State University that were involved.

Where I find this particularly interesting is in how I could use this case scenario to promote and stimulate students in my classrooms.  The biggest use I can see here is in how I can get students to explore how they can find and utilise technologies (in time to make technologies) both existing, like Apps, pad-based technologies and smartphones, then on to emerging technologies, such as making solutions to identified problems that function on existing devices.  There are many more ways to examine this scenario in education, just be creative.

Imagine, new interactive learning desks

I am always amazed by the innovation that emerges from MIT and this one called ‘inFORM’ from the ‘Tangible Media Group’ is sure to promote imagination and questioning. To describe my thoughts is hard but to start I would say it is like a smaller interactive display device (IWB) on steroids. As a tool to promote learning and understanding I see that there are an endless number of uses. From modelling mathematical and scientific equations, to developing fluid artworks through augmented reality, and through to all aspects of computer science.  So back to the title of this post, imagine this amazing technology as learning desks in your classrooms.  The creative use of them would be limitless.