Why Does Google Need So Many Robots? To Jump From The Web To The Real World

by John Biggs, Tech Crunch

Robots, then will be the driver for a number of impressive feats in the next few decades including space exploration, improved mapping techniques, and massive changes in the manufacturing workspace. Robots like Baxter will replace millions of expensive humans – a move that I suspect will instigate a problematic rise of unemployment in the manufacturing sector – and companies like manufacturing giant Foxconn are investing in robotics at a clip. Drones, whether human-control or autonomous, are a true extension of our senses, placing us and keeping us apprised of situations far from home base. Home helpers will soon lift us out of bed when we’re sick, help us clean, and assist us near the end of our lives. Smaller hardware projects will help us lose weight and patrol our streets. The tech company not invested in robotics today will find itself far behind the curve in the coming decade. That’s why Google needs robots.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/14/why-does-google-need-so-many-robots-to-jump-from-the-web-to-the-read-world/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/a0Vg66Cz7Es/

Six laws of tech adoption (part 3 of 7)

By Gary Shattuck, CIO Advisor

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In my last blog, I began explaining the first of what I call the Six Laws of Technology Adoption in Education. This first law was the Law of Scarcity. Today’s blog is about the second of these six laws: The Law of Change. In 1970, Alvin Toffler in Future Shock predicted that in the 21st century accelerating change would become endemic. This eerily prophetic prediction is causing and will continue to cause major disruptions in education beyond any of our imaginations. The best we can hope for is to learn to quickly adapt to our fast-changing societal and educational issues. For example, in 2001, Marc Prensky described what he saw as a different type of student emerging in our society: the digital native. As Prensky articulated, these new type of students were born into the digital age and know nothing else but a digital world. In fact, Jane Healy described in Endangered Minds that these digital natives’ brains have been structurally changed by this digital technology. As a result, 90% of today’s students are visual learners. This is an example of the accelerating change that is disrupting education.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=6667

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/4VmD6lXnPuo/

A Compendium of MOOC Perspectives, Research, and Resources

by Judith A. Pirani, EDUCAUSE Review

Debates about MOOCs and their attendant controversies continue to proliferate. What administrators and IT leaders in higher education need, however, is an overview of MOOCs and information resources to help fathom what they mean for institutions. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) remain higher education’s hot and sexy topic, influencing discussion and media, and creating conjecture and controversy. Nearly every publication and pundit has offered a view on the subject, resulting in an avalanche of information for busy IT leaders and others who want to discern what all this means for their institutions. This compendium attempts to lend a helping hand, recounting perspectives, research, and resources gleaned from a search of EDUCAUSE and other published sources. It is by no means absolute, but rather aims to provide a starting point of discovery for interested parties.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/compendium-mooc-perspectives-research-and-resources

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Experts say education needs a technological and cultural change

BY SARAH SEXTON, McClatchy

While some technology enthusiasts celebrate new gadgets as the solution to the many challenges faced in the classroom, some educators say the answer is not the shiny new devices themselves, but how teachers use them. Education experts met Thursday in Washington to discuss both the potential of technology as a tool to help redesign teaching and learning, and the challenges of innovation in a static system with set routines. Among the panelists at the conference sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research was Superintendent Mark Edwards of North Carolina’s Mooresville Graded School District, His schools have captured national attention, as well as a visit from President Barack Obama, lauding the technology-infused curriculum.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/31/3723538/experts-say-education-needs-a.html

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/FrQ-Kmpp3EY/

Florida education needs a tech surge

BY JOHN LEGG, The Tampa Tribune

Per the 2012 Cyberstate report, Florida is ranked 1st in computer training; 2nd in space and defense high-tech industries; 3rd in engineering services; 4th in Internet and telecommunication services; and 5th in tech employment. It is imperative that our education system equips Florida’s students with fluent digital and technological skills so they will be the leaders of this changing economy. Many of Florida’s business and education leaders have seen firsthand the need for policies and investment in technology in our schools. We are working with our universities for short-term and long-term investments in technology. We must continue to march swiftly to excellence by equipping our students with the skills they need in order to lead in an ever-increasing digital economy.

http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/education-needs-a-tech-surge-20131027/

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