The Digital Facelift

At the 2006 SUNY CIT Conference there was a session by a group of faculty from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). It was entitled, "Does Technology Imperil the Academy?". At this session, Steven Zucker, Beth Harris and Eric Feinblatt first introduced me to the idea that the "cloud" (Web 2.0, social networking tools, or whatever you want to call it) was going to change education is a way that was different from what previous technologies had done. That a dark cloud was gathering in the distance and the storm it was bringing to higher education could be more than a gentle breeze.

Ever since then, I've read, watched and listened to everything I could find about the new "cloud" of software services and what people thought their impact on higher education would be. It has been a long and winding road (or a long strange trip if you like the Dead better.) Hardest along the way has been trying to articulate this gathering cloud. Today, I feel its cool breeze coming. I can see its clouds growing larger and darker, but I can't find the right words so others at my campus see it. Sure there are a few sympathetic ears, but for the most part no one is paying attention. As we start another strategic planning process for the campus, I struggle with how to get this issue on the radar of the strategic planning committees. (I hear your laughing.)

Hope springs eternal and my failures at being able to articulate this issue received an incredible spark from Gardner Campbell at Baylor University. Gardner, IMHO, masterfully articulates the issue first introduced to me years ago in this talk. I am so impressed with this talk that I am using it as the "text book" for my course on "Communicating Using Social Media" here at SUNY Oneonta. Watch this, it is well worth it.

I am not someone to jump at the next techno marvel that will "fix" education. I have studied the history of education and know from experience that "we have heard this before." This only makes me worry more deeply. I fear our experiences with failed promises that technology has too often produced will make us so skeptical as to ignore these clouds. We so do at our own peril.

What About Rite of Passage?

I've lived and worked in higher education for 30 years now and I found THE IMPENDING DEMISE OF THE UNIVERSITY [6.4.09], By Don Tapscott interesting but missing something I think I see every summer orientation. As a parent of three boys (two in College now) and one to go next fall, one of the REAL things College is doing in our culture is providing a "rite of passage." It is the postmodern world's way of ceremonially moving young people into adulthood. All cultures have them, and don't be fooled, they are very powerful things. I agree technology is impacting education in ways we don't understand, but until another rite of passage comes along ,I don't think Higher Ed. is in trouble. What do you think?

Some Scientists Modify Views on Singulartiy

Tom Mitchell, a professor of artificial intelligence and machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University, said the February meeting had changed his thinking. “I went in very optimistic about the future of A.I. and thinking that Bill Joy and Ray Kurzweil were far off in their predictions,” he said. But, he added, “The meeting made me want to be more outspoken about these issues and in particular be outspoken about the vast amounts of data collected about our personal lives.”

Read the entire story in the NY Times at:

Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man

Also check out the long list of reads and resources at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence's page on ethics and technology.

Bb and NBC - Everyone is OK with this?

Let's see now... Blackboard now owns the CMS market (except for those in the OpenSource world) and they (Bb) just partnered with NBC. NBC folks... are we paying attention? NBC News President Steve Capus was recently heard saying about this new partnership, "At NBC News, we have made a big commitment to working in the education space, and this project is the most substantial one yet. There is tremendous opportunity to combine our vast resources of information with an audience that is hungry for it in an environment they are comfortable consuming it. That, combined with the technology of iCue which dramatically alters how video, digital content and peer networking can be used to support student learning in a safe, engaging virtual environment, makes this an incredibly exciting project."

Given who owns NBC and what their motivation is, are we all really ok with this is education? Are we all ok with NBC's "vast resources of information?" I for one feel a bit uneasy. Can anyone tell me who NBC answers to and what their motivation is?

ANGEL and Bb Merge... Running Just as Fast as They Can

Yesterday two major players in the Learning Management Systems game merged saying, "Now we have the opportunity to join these strengths together with our Project NG vision for a more flexible and engaging learning platform." Hmmm, I hope they can move much more quickly than they have been, or at least recognize what is REALLY going on and change to take advantage of the intermediaries that are rising from the haze of Moore's Law.

When I see an environment out of them that allows aggregation and flexibility I'll believe they are paying attention. Until then, they are just moving along incrementally giving in to the loudest voices (or largest customers) in education and this may be a bad idea given how much those of us in education are paying attention.

Speed of Assembly - Software

Much is being made of "cloud computing" these days. I've read a number of papers and essays about it (see some references below). What strikes me about this recent meme is that for the first time (that I can remember anyway) software advances are now being talked about in the same way as hardware advances have been. Exponential growth in the tools to develop software, is lowering the cost and time to assemble applications. Because of this, we are starting to see a dramatic rise in the number of applications that are coming out and the applications are becoming more and more numerous and loosely fitting. See widgetbox.com and others. I believe this may give rise to the era of intermediaries and the "end of the middle" so to speak in support. (That's me!!)

References:

Armbrust, M., Fox, A., Griffith, R., Joseph, A., Katz, R., Konwinski, A., Lee, G., Patterson, D., Rabkin, A., Stoica, I., Zaharia, M., “Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing”, Available from: http://d1smfj0g31qzek.cloudfront.net/abovetheclouds.pdf. Feb. 2009.

Hayes, B., “Cloud Computing”, Communications of the ACM, July 2008, Vol. 51, No. 7, Available from: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1364786

Katz, R., “The Tower and The Cloud. Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing”, EDUCAUSE, Available from: http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandthecloud. Feb. 2009.

Pence, H.E., “The Classroom in the Cloud” Powerpoint presentation, SUNY College at Oneonta, Spring 2009.

Schaffhauser, D., “Free Cloud Computing Environment Launches”, Campus Technology, Available from: http:// campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/04/15/Free-Cloud-Computing-Environment-Launches.aspx. April 2009.

Warner, B., “Building the Enterprise Corporate Cloud”, WaMu/Chase, Available from: http://tinyurl.com/cr9nca, 2009.

Rapture for the Geeks

I recommend Richard Dooling's Rapture for the Geeks as a beach read this summer. He covers the theme of this blog much better than I ever could with a lot more wit too. I laughed out loud time and time again while reading it. You know Richard, you've got a bit of Kurt Vonnegut in you.

Oh BTW (I'm practicing for the Singularity) I put Emily's poem into this post using a text editor, not a word processor.

The brain is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side,
The one the other will contain
With ease, and you beside.

The brain is deeper than the sea,
For, hold them, blue to blue,
The one the other will absorb,
As sponges, buckets do.

The brain is just the weight of God,
For, heft them, pound for pound,
And they will differ, if the do,
As syllable from sound.

- Emily Dickinson

I wonder if the machines of the future will have an Emily Dickinson poem to calm us whenever we get thinking about who is in control?

LOOK back on time with kindly eyes,
He doubtless did his best;
How softly sinks his trembling sun
In human nature’s west!

- Emily Dickinson

Richard, if you're out there and by chance reading this, I've finished your book. Do I have permission to give it to my friend to read without erasing my mind (although old age is slowly doing that - if this is good enough for you)?