It's About Learning

Why Guy Kawasaki Ditched iOS For Android

Dwayne Harapnuik — December 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

http://readwrite.com/2012/12/11/shock-and-awe-apple-legend-guy-kawasaki-has-become-a-hardcore-android-fan

ReadWrite – Shock And Awe: Apple Legend Guy Kawasaki Has Become A Hardcore Android Fan via kwout

Guy Kawasaki was the original Apple fanboy who was most responsible for starting the “cult of mac” so one could be surprised to hear him state:

“I fell in love with Android on the smartphone, and then I got a Nexus 7 and started using Android on the tablet as well. To me the great irony is that Apple’s slogan was `Think Different,’ but today if you think different you’re looking at Android.”

Thinking different is really just a matter of expecting a smartphone to support LTE (which is up to 20 times faster and 4G), Near Field Communication (NFC), true multitasking, the ability to sort apps alphabetically and something as simple as a standard micro-USB cable that can be used on any device. To be fair to Apple, Kawasaki switched to Android prior to the iPhone 5 which now supports LTE but he isn’t willing to switch back. The iPhone 5 just doesn’t offer any advantages. Similarly Kawasaki isn’t willing to switch back from his Google Nexus 7 tablet to the iPad Mini because there are no advantages.

When you take into account that Android now has 75% of the smartphone market share compared to Apple’s 15% it is clear that many people are also moving in this direction. I have held off on upgrading to the iPhone 5 and am currently trying to decide between the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the Google Nexus 4. If the Nexus 4 supported LTE I would not even be considering the SIII because of it slow operating system upgrade cycles. BUT… LTE coverage in Canada is not the greatest and the Nexus does support HSPA+ 42Mbps speeds which much better supported in Canada. The remaining challenge with the Nexus 4 is getting one. Google has been sold out perpetually and without the ability to pre-order it is difficult to order a phone without constantly monitoring the Google Nexus site.

I have repeatedly stated that I really don’t care who makes the device, I prefer to use the most powerful, fully featured and effective phone or tablet that I can purchase. Right now Android is taking the lead from Apple. As soon as I can order a Google Nexus 4 I will be making the switch. Since my oldest son has assumed control over my iPad 2 and left me with only an aging iPad 1 I will be joining Kawasaki and will be moving to the Google Nexus 7 as well.

Read the full article…

In mobile android

Power of Outrospection

Dwayne Harapnuik — December 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

In Video - Wednesday Watchlist Empathy, Introspection, RSA Animate

Redefine How You View Education

Dwayne Harapnuik — December 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

“There’s a saying which says, ‘If you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs.’ Redefine how you view education. Understand its true meaning. Education is not just about regurgitating facts from a book or someone else’s opinion on a subject to pass an exam.” [4:13]

In Learning 2.0, Video - Wednesday Watchlist Education, Learning, school

A Domain of One’s Own – A Learning Portfolio by Any Other Name

Dwayne Harapnuik — December 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

https://chronicle.com/blogs/techtherapy/2012/12/05/episode-101-giving-everyone-at-college-a-domain-of-ones-own/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Episode 101: Giving Everyone at College a ‘Domain of One’s Own’ – Tech Therapy – The Chronicle of Higher Education via kwout

Jim Groom the director of teaching and learning technologies at the University of Mary Washington has a propensity for creating great names for some very common things. Several years ago Groom referred to the approach to teaching and learning practices that results from a do it yourself (DIY) attitude as “edupunk” and the name stuck. Groom latest great name is “A Domain of One’s Own” which refers to a net presence or space that faculty and staff are given to experience the full power of the web and create a net identity that they control and own even when they leave Mary Washington University.

Groom argues that this is more than just an eportfolio or learning because there is so much attached to this portfolio idea and unfortunately, due to poorly designed commercial software this generally refers to a repository of artifacts that are collected in a digital folder. A domain of one’s own goes well beyond this limited notion and challenges the students and faculty to create their own space and choose the tools and resources that they wish to use to set it up in the way they desire.

Taking ownership of one’s learning space should be central to the learning environment in higher education and it is refreshing to see institutions like Mary Washington promoting this important aspect of the learning environment.

Hats off to Groom for yet another great name for a simple but fundamental idea.

Listen to the full podcast…

In 21st century learning domain, portfolio

How to Face the Digital Future Without Fear

Dwayne Harapnuik — December 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

Ben Hammersley editor-at-Large for Wired magazine and guru of the digital age points to the realities we must face as a result of the impact of Moore’s Law. For example he discusses the impact of disruptive innovation and the Kodak example of inventing the digital pictures but not seeing how the initially substandard technology would grow to eliminate film photography.

If you see something coming down the line and you are dismissing it because it is not very good it is going to kill you in 10 years time. The inevitability of the tides of Moore’s Law make this so.

Hammersley argues that this very rapid rate of change puts us in a position of alway having to prepare for a future that we won’t be able to fully imagine. This rapid change is a fundamental force that is driving society forward. He offers the following example and challenge:

These weird fundamental forces are of the fact that every time you get a new phone it is out of date, every time you get a new laptop it is out of date… this is a fundamental driving force for the future of humanity. For those of us who understand it or learn to understand it, it is our responsibly to go out to other people, to go to our friends, colleagues relatives and specifically go to our politicians and our elected officials and tell them about these changes in the way we have to think.

These fundamental forces of change are part of our present reality and Hammersley argues that we are not doing a good job of preparing for the future because most of our leaders are confused by the present. His closing statement summarizes this challenge that we face: