Sixth Sense Technology and A New Way of Thinking

So there's this technology we heard about in my Educational Technologies class called "Sixth Sense Technology." At first I geeked out and thought they'd invented a way to see dead people. But sadly/happily-- no. this technology is SOOO much cooler than that.

Here it is:



This technology involves a camera (like a webcam), a tiny projector, a little mirror, a few colored caps, and your phone. Lemme see if I can sum this up: It projects an image out which allows the user to interact with it. That in itself is sa-WEET. You can interact with something that is not there. Ok, that sounded cooler in my head. It's still cool. The technology interfaces with your cellphone and the internet available there. With colored finger pointers (think marker caps, fingernail polish, or eraser tips) the user can interact with a the information presented through a projected image and have access to all sorts of relevant information:
-book reviews
-cell-phone numbers
-ecologically friendly toilet paper brands
-maps
-pictures
-directions
The thing I found coolest and jaw-dropping-est was the picture function of this technology. The system recognizes what the speaker refers to as "iconic gestures," such as the forming of a square with one's fingers, and automatically takes a picture. WHAT?! Yeah. Flippin' SWEET! The saying "there's an app for that" goes SOOO much further here. This is future stuff, people. This is Star Trek TODAY.

I think the really cool thing about this technology isn't necessarily what it can do, though. Phones can take pictures and perform internet functions, smart boards can interact in similar ways with colored markers. The really stand out feature of this technology is how it adapts to the user rather than the user having to adapt to it. This technology does not require the user to learn anything a whole lot different from what one would do normally. This is technology without sacrifice, or with less sacrifice. You can use it anywhere, and do not anything, but a lot with it, doing what you normally would do but with greater access to information resources.

I feel like this is a central concept to educational technologies. I think teachers have hesitated to embrace technology in the past because of the sacrifices, real and perceived, they felt they would have to make to integrate that technology. Going to a computer lab means not having access to group work; it might not work just when you need it to or if you don't do it just the right way; teachers do not have the know-how to run technology effectively, or even know what options are available to them currently; using a WebQuest or other internet assignment means you have to take time to learn how to use the technology effectively which takes time from your core subject area. This last grievance is one that I've heard touted and felt more acutely as a student throughout my school career. But here's the beauty of this approach to technology: technology is supportive rather than constraining or limiting. It is used to supplement an already existing experience rather than create a new one entirely. This technology adapts to you and thus makes possible more options within a preexisting framework, rather than creating a new framework entirely. This is what educational technologies have been looking for. This is what we've needed.

To sum up: sa-WEET!

Beauty in a Tech-World

Cute, right? Adorable. Half smile, hair clip, golden locks and all, she's just too cute.

Little does she know what will meet her today. The media is waiting for her around the corner, on TV, at home, at school, telling her what to be, how to look, what to think about herself. As she gorws up, she'll read more, get out more, see more, and realize more inadequacies according to the media's perception of beauty. who knows if she'll be lucky and naturally adhere to that standard? Maybe she won't-- maybe she'll have cankles, a thyroid problem, or a slower metabolism and hate herself from seventh grade on. Maybe she'll take matters into her own hands and become one of these statistics:

-Nationwide, 12.3% of highschool students had gone without eating for 24 hours or more to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight during the last thirty days.

-6.2% of girls have vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight over the last 30 days.

-4% of college-aged women have bulimia. (SADD.org)

-12% of teenage boys use steroids (teenbodybuilding.com)

The people at DOVE (yep, the soap and doederant people) have launched a campaign to celebrate real beauty and expose the media's propagation of unhealthy and falsified perfection. (AWESOME.) The video above I pulled from YouTube; it's called "Onslaught."

I heard today in my Teaching of Writing class about a lesson plan a teacher develpoed in which the students watched this and other DOVe YouTube videos and responded to them in writing. This is writing from a place of passion. "Powerful stuff," the teacher, Suzie, said of the activity. Yeah! These teens deal with this everyday and have been for years, since they were this girl's age! There is and has been for some years a huge pressure on todays youth (girls AND boys) to be something they are not and do not need to be. Let them talk about it!

I love the idea of using YoutTube videos like this (and other thought-provoking clips) to encourage and inspire REAL writing in the classroom, something the students care enough about to really WRITE about, from the heart. (Might have to get past some schools banning of YouTube, but hopefully I will be thech-savy enough by then to bypass that business.) Use technology, YouTube, which students relate to very well, to talk to them about isses they relate to-- media influences, teen problems. Let them vent, rage, storm, cry out. Use something real and potent to them-- technology-- to get something real and potent from them-- writing.

Behind the Scenes: the making of "Masterpiece Theatre (sort of)"

Konnichiha! (Yep, that's how it's spelled. Pronounced "knnichiWA," though.) THIS (follow the link to YouTube to watch the video first and continue reading) is a video I made for my educational teaching and technologies class just a few weeks ago. I want to talk about some of the rewards I got and challenges I faced while producing this film.

First, this vid is designed to be a part fo a lesson in which students learn about and then demonstrate their knowledge of literary devices, such as the "framed narration" I discuss in the video. The lesson will go like this: we learn about literary devices, the students will break into small groups to put together a short in-class skit to help illustrate the literary device they are assigned, I show the video, then the students generate and share their own interpretations of their individual literary devices. It uses collaboration, some technology (on my part), some creativity (for all), and a healthy dose of fun. What could be better?

This was actually a fun project to work on. I like playing Steven Spielberg, not gonna lie. And James Lipton-- didja notice the smoking jacket and cravat (that's the scarf)? I had a pipe, too (that had been used-- gross!), but I figured if I ever do want to show this to my students, I might not be able to justify the use of tabacco-smoking apparatus in a classroom teaching aid. So I left it out. But for the record, I had a pipe. I really enjoyed all aspects of it... the filming, the editing of film, the splicing of clips, the finding and editing of sound clips, all of it. The least cool part was probably the making of the pictures for the actual story with Marlow and the two others. That was tedious. Never thought I'd here myself say that the art was tedious and the technology was fun. I think I'm coming around :)

And I have such a feeling of accomplishment now. *brushes off shoulder* Yeah, I'm kind of a big deal when it comes to movie making. Anywho, you can also find this video on YouTube HERE.

I think that I'd actually like to make more of these teaching aids. Maybe Masterpiece Theatre (sort of) could be my claim to fame as a teacher. I could be famous yet! I'd be like Muzzy for literature, adored accross the globe. Or like Dora, but less Spanish. Like Elmo but less fuzzy and more cuddly. Like- like- LIKE BARNEY! .... Alright, I've gotten carried away. But I could be... Cool. I'd settle for cool.