Is the tortoise winning again? JavaScript is beating its more glamorous competitors

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tortoise and hare

For a number of years JavaScript, and in particular, web browser support for it, was not seen as being up to the task of delivering highly interactive and engaging content to users of the Web. Not only this, but we were sold the story that it likely never would be, and that plugins like Flash and Silverlight were the way forward in terms of rich web-based applications.

Educationalists in particular invested heavily in Flash-based learning objects, or for areas such as science, in Java (not at all related to JavaScript) applets. At the time, this seemed liked the obvious and sensible thing to do. Then, along came the iPad and iPhone, which lacked support for either of those formats — and guess what tablets and phones educators preferred!

Meanwhile, slowly plodding along the road to web success was the good old JavaScript tortoise, ignoring all the heckling about how it was too slow and just not up to the job.

I was recently very lucky to attend a conference that focused on the “Web Platform”. If you still use the phrase “Web 2.0” you are seriously out-of-date, but only out-of-date enough to be plain sad sorry, not retro and cool!  The “Web Platform” is the “in phrase” for 2014. This conference was a showcase of just how far JavaScript and HTML have come as a platform for the delivery of interactive content. A preview of the Unity 3D gaming engine running in Firefox with no plugins was just one example of the level of interactivity and immersion that is now possible in the humble old web browser using open web standards.

So what does it mean for education?

First, if you are looking at buying or developing any sort of interactive educational content, HTML and JavaScript should be the underlying format if you want to ensure that it is as open, portable, and future-proof as possible. If someone tries to sell you on a different format, then make sure you ask him or her lots of questions about how open and cross-platform the format is. If you can’t run the content on at least a web browser, an iPad, and an Android device, then by default it probably isn’t a future-focused option. Performance issues on low-end Android devices aside, an HTML/JavaScript-based solution will work across all these platforms.

Secondly, if you are looking to get your students into programming, then JavaScript is a reasonable option. Demand for experienced JavaScript developers is only likely to increase — not to mention all the problem-solving skills that students gain, even if they don’t move into a programming career. At the conference mentioned above, Pamela Fox from Khan Academy’s computer science section gave an interesting keynote on the ability of quite young students to successfully complete their JavaScript programming tasks.

Khan Academy is sometimes looked down upon by the Vygotskian Social Constructivist puritans among you. However, I would recommend giving their Computer Science section a go. If you don’t, you just might find that your students are there anyway, learning, and constructing meaning without you.

I would love to hear from anyone that is already using JavaScript as a language for introducing students to programming. It would also be great to hear from anyone that is using HTML/Javascript to build his or her own interactive educational apps and content.

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Yet another Apple launch

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iPad mini

So, Wednesday this week NZ time saw yet another round of Apple product updates and announcements. Was there anything of interest to New Zealand schools in amongst the hype?

The most important part, in my view, was the release of the iPad Mini with retina display. In a post from last year when the mini was first released I outlined how the iPad mini was a much better form factor for a tablet than the standard iPad, with the one downside being the lack of retina display. Well, that downside is no gone, so I would say that the iPad mini would have to be top of the list as a tablet device for students and teachers.

The new mini will probably be more expensive than the current model, but should still be a $200 or so less than the larger iPad 4 or iPad Air. If you are looking at buying bulk tablets for your school, the savings from buying minis means more iPads for your dollar, while providing a device that a lot of people will actually prefer using. It is not often that you can pay less money for a better option! Don’t be tempted to snap up remaining discounted stock of the non-retina iPad minis, you won’t regret spending a few extra dollars for the new model.

It was also great to see Apple’s move to make the latest major upgrade to OSX Mavericks free, which will make it a much easier decision for schools on whether to upgrade or not. There are no major must-haves in OSX 10.9 from my point of view, but the reported performance and battery life improvements can’t go astray, if they are to be believed. And hey! at least you won’t have to look at the tacky fake leather border on the calendar and address book anymore—that has to be worth the 5.9GB download in itself.

Quick tip if you are upgrading to Mavericks—given the 5.9GB download, you don’t want to run the upgrade on every school computer. So upgrade one machine, and once the download is finished, but before you run the upgrade, copy the “Install OS X Mavericks” that will appear in your Applications folder to a USB drive. You can then copy this file in the Applications folder on any other Mac and run it (as long as the hardware is new enough). Also, don’t forget to backup before you do run the upgrade—we have had at least one laptop that did not come back to life after going through the upgrade process.

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Google Glass – the technology to watch

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Google Glass
Photo by Antonio Zugaldia (creative commons)

While the tablet and smartphone market has buzzed with developments over the last few years, the level of innovation seems to have temporarily plateaued. New releases from the big players have been limited to making things longer, wider, thinner, higher resolution, or minor operating system tweaks—none of which are gaming changing. Apple are said to be working on a watch, but in fact the real technology to watch is Google’s Google Glass project. If you haven’t done so already then check out the demo videos.

So how does this technology work? The following infographic provides a nice simple explanation.

How Google Glass works infographic
Creative-Commons-Lizenz CC-BY Martin Missfeldt http://www.brille-kaufen.org/en/googleglass/

Why is this a technology to watch?

You might say this is interesting, but who really wants to talk to their glasses and have that information hovering in front of your eye, or given that they are $1500US a pair, they are not going to impact on my classroom any time soon. But, consider how quickly smartphones, tablets, and BYOD policies in schools have taken hold. It is likely that this technology will be in the $500 or less price bracket within the next two years, and how many of your students already have phones in that price bracket?

This technology takes ubiquitous computing to a new level. Mark Weiser, the father of this concept, defined four key concepts of ubiquitous computing:

  1. The purpose of a computer is to help do something else
  2. The best computer is a quiet and invisible servant
  3. Computers should extend the unconcious
  4. Technology should create calm, ie., inform but not demand focus of attention

The iPad and other touch surfaces have helped to bring these concepts, and the tabs, pads and boards that Weiser imagined in 80s and 90s to life. The Google Glass concept, however, takes it to a new level. The computer blends further into our everyday environment, a quiet invisible servant that can be called up with a word in order help us do something, to inform, but not to demand our attention. Just take the GPS function showcased in the Google Glass demo video. In a smartphone context, it too can be called upon to help with finding our way, but it demands our attention, it is difficult to navigate while at the same time looking at the device. In contrast, Google Glass merges the information into our field of vision rather than directing our focus elsewhere.

What is the potential impact on education?

At this stage it is anyone’s guess what the real impact will be on your average classroom. In fact, will your average classroom still exist by the time this level of ubiquitous computing is truly ubiquitous? But following are some things that educators will need to think about before this technology does start to drift in the school gate:

  1. Is it too tricky to know how to handle these devices so should they just be banned from the start in the same way that cellphones were?
  2. Is it a problem that a student could be videoing your entire lesson without you knowing it?
  3. What sort of cyber citizenship education and acceptable use policies will you need to deal with the level of capturing and sharing of photos and videos that these devices allow?
  4. Do you ban these devices from exam situations or do you rethink your whole assessment practice to, instead, integrate the use of them?
  5. Why would your students need to come anywhere near you or your classroom when you can be streaming your reality to them wherever they might be?

 

What are your thoughts about the impact of this technology on teaching and learning? Share them

below.

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Ten Trends 2012: User + Control

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Ten Trends 2012: User + Control from EDtalks on Vimeo.

So we arrive at the final trend for 2012. Some would say last but not least, but in this case it does turn out to be the least in some ways as we got this one wrong. Instead of being a trend this is proving to be an anti-trend. Oh well, you can’t be right all the time. Having said that it is still a crucial area for educators to be thinking about.

Is the desire for control increasing or decreasing?

We said “Users of technology are increasingly seeking to find ways to program what they are using and exercise control over what it does and how it performs”. Perhaps we should now rephrase this and say “We wish users of technology would increasingly seek ….” Nevertheless, you only need to look at the number of DVD recorders, etc., with the clocks flashing on 12:00 to see that the average person has no interest at all in trying to work out how to program even the basic functionality of the device they own. There seems little likelihood that this will change in the near future. Technology companies such as Apple are also pushing this trend in the reverse direction by locking users into an increasingly closed ecosystem with ever simpler plug-and-play architectures that reduce further the need for users to tweak or tinker with the setup.

The demand for programming experience

We stated that one of the drivers for this trend would be a “demand for programming experience”. While there is an increasing demand for experience in this area, this has not resulted in an increasing number of people wanting to move into this type of work. In fact, there are increasing concerns about the lack of skilled workers in the IT sector, and a reduction in the number of students deciding to train in related fields:

These shortages are such that companies like Google will sometimes opt to purchase a software company purely to get access to their talented developers.

Education's role

What are the implications for schools?

Some schools are running some excellent programmes to encourage students into programming and development, including getting students to establish their own development companies to deliver real products and services to customers. Many schools, however, still follow a very 'consumer’based ICT curriculum which does nothing more that teach students how to be users of applications. All schools need to be asking how they can engage more students in computer science related subjects and activities.

Schools don’t need to be responsible for developing content around this, or even providing the subject expertise. There are now a number of free MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) available from well-known universities like Stanford and MIT that students of any age can enrol in. For example:

It is not only schools that need to try and reverse this trend. Universities also need to get students engaged in order to reduce the trend of falling numbers in their computer science programmes. The likes of Canterbury University are doing some good work in this area with the STAR courses that they offer into secondary schools, and also in the work of one of their lecturers, Tim Bell, and his Computer Science Unplugged programme. If you have not seen it already, then this resource offers great hands-on activities that teach computer science using cards, string, crayons, and lots of running around.

The IT industry's role

The IT industry also has a part to play. If IT companies want students to chose programming and related fields as a career, then they need to also help reverse the trend and change the face of the industry to make it appealing to more young people. The New Zealand Institute for IT Professionals has recognised this need and has launched the ICT Connect Programme to try and achieve just that.

So, with schools, universities, and industry working together, hopefully, in the near future we can list User + Control again, and this time get it right as an upward trend.

And you? What do you think?

What do you you think educators should be doing to encourage young people into computer science related fields?

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iPad Mini: Review

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iPad Mini

Glen Davies, CORE’s IT Manager and a member of the New Zealand Institute of IT Professionals, couldn’t wait to get his hands on the new iPad Mini when it hit the stores on Friday 2 November. The following review was printed in the New Zealand Herald on Saturday 3 November.

Initial scepticism

I was sceptical about the new iPad mini, and have had a few debates with my son, who was convinced it was a good thing when Apple released it recently.

I couldn't see the need for a smaller version. Why wouldn't you pay a little extra and get the full size one?

Today I purchased one for work, as CORE is obviously involved in the integration of technology into education, and we wanted to evaluate how the iPad mini might compare with the full-sized iPad as far as a student-owned device goes.

How it stacked up..

I am now in the unfortunate position of having to admit to my son that he was right. The smaller form factor just seems much less cumbersome – not that a normal iPad seemed all that cumbersome before having a play with the mini. As it was passed around the office the response was that it seemed much easier to hold and use than a regular iPad.

Speed and responsiveness are not noticeably different to a full sized iPad, and the built-in speakers are pretty impressive. The one downside is the lack of a retina display, if you are moving from an iPad 3 you will notice the difference – if not you will probably think it is just fine. The strange thing is that when you are working with it you don't really notice that the screen is significantly smaller than a full size iPad.

It looks like Apple may have slipped on standards slightly in the rush to get these out of the door though. The final finish on the first one tested is not quite up to Apple's usual standards, with the very edges of the screen appearing just slightly unfinished and sharp. However, looking at another unit the finish is what you would expect, so maybe the first one was a Monday or Friday model!

Although these units come in at about $100 cheaper than an iPad 2 and $250 cheaper than the retina iPad, I think it is the size rather than the price that is going to make these a hit with students if the reaction from my teenagers is anything to go by. "This is way cooler than an iPad" was the response after 30 seconds of playing with it.

Although I would like to spend a bit more time working with different apps, my initial view is that the reduced size in no way reduces the usability or usefulness of the device. From a school perspective this means you can potentially look at getting more devices into students’ hands for the same money. For example, for $10,000 you can get 13 retina iPads or 20 iPad minis.

Others agree, but we're taking the Mini into schools to test it there

It appears that others are agreeing with me,  if the Business Insider review is anything to go by!

But, how well will the Mini go in schools? Over the next week we are hoping to get an iPad mini into the hands of some students and teachers in early childhood and primary settings, so watch this space for a follow up post written by e-Learning Facilitator Tania Coutts in the coming weeks with some more feedback from the coalface.

We'd love to hear from you about your experiences with the iPad Mini

Have you had a chance to try out the new iPad Mini yet? What are your initial thoughts?

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