Why every education leader must be a tech visionary

Education, like many industries before it, is now having its internet moment.There are two great phases unfolding. The first is the shift to digital materials for use either in blended learning courses or as a replacement for the printed textbook. This shift is now well underway in the U.S. Before long, there will be no more printed textbooks.The second phase is the shift of part of every student’s coursework to purely online formats.There are so many implications of all these changes that one can be forgiven for thinking it is hopeless to make sense of them. But the alternative — not worrying about it at all — probably isn’t the right answer either.

Leadership positions in education, whether at universities or learning companies, have recently undergone a crucial change (though not everyone has realized it yet). Namely, every education leadership position must now include as part of its skill-set the role of “tech visionary.”By “tech visionary,” It doesn’t mean that education leaders must dream up their own new tech-enabled products. Far from it. But it is absolutely critical that a leader in education has a strong, informed opinion about where technology will lead the industry in the next few years, and that he or she plans accordingly.

Another big change: as education content migrates from printed textbooks to tablets and smartphones, the efficacy of any particular set of education materials will become accurately measurable for each student. Gone are the days when education courses and products of middling quality could be compensated for with stronger execution in sales and marketing. In an industry as high stakes as education, transparent outcomes will create intense competitive pressure on product quality.

The education ecosystem is just beginning to be transformed by this new wave of digital technologies. Education leadership today tends to be strong in areas like campus management, fund-raising, brand management, textbook sales, etc. These men and women are good at running huge, asset- and Human-Resources-intensive operations. These are extremely valuable abilities to be sure, but these leaders must now add technology vision to that mix.

Having a technology vision is tough, but it’s possible. Managing to that vision is even harder. You have to be smart and fearless. It takes years to know for absolute certain whether a major tech bet — a university’s course delivery ecosystem, a publisher’s platform, a company’s training tools — was the right one. You have to have a strong opinion today about where the world is headed, make your bets accordingly, and live with them until past the point where success or failure is predetermined.

That  takes real vision

Are Ghosts Real? Science Says

If you believe in ghosts, you're not alone: A 2005 Gallup poll found that 37 percent of Americans believe in haunted houses, and about one-third believe in ghosts. Tens of thousands of people around the world actively search for ghosts as a hobby. Researcher Sharon Hill of the Doubtful News blog counted about 2,000 active amateur ghost-hunting groups in America.
Ghosts have been a popular subject for millennia, appearing in countless stories, from "Macbeth" to the Bible, and even spawning their own folklore genre: ghost stories. Ghosts are perhaps the most common paranormal belief in the world. Part of the reason is that belief in ghosts is part of a larger web of related paranormal beliefs, including near-death experience, life after death, and spirit communication.
The idea that the dead remain with us in spirit is an ancient one, and one that offers many people comfort; who doesn't want to believe that our beloved but deceased family members aren't looking out for us, or with us in our times of need? Most people believe in ghosts because of personal experience; they have seen or sensed some unexplained presence.

 Why many believe
Many people believe that support for the existence of ghosts can be found in no less a hard science than modern physics. It is widely claimed that Albert Einstein suggested a scientific basis for the reality of ghosts; if energy cannot be created or destroyed but only change form, what happens to our body's energy when we die? Could that somehow be manifested as a ghost?

It seems like a reasonable assumption — unless you understand basic physics. The answer is very simple, and not at all mysterious. After a person dies, the energy in his or her body goes where all organisms' energy goes after death: into the environment. The energy is released in the form of heat, and transferred into the animals that eat us (i.e., wild animals if we are left unburied, or worms and bacteria if we are interred), and the plants that absorb us. There is no bodily "energy" that survives death to be detected with popular ghost-hunting devices.

While most ghost hunters engage in harmless (and fruitless) fun, there can be a darker side. In the wake of popular ghost-hunting TV shows, police across the country have seen a surge in people being arrested, injured, and even killed while looking for ghosts. In 2010, a man died while ghost-hunting with a group of friends hoping to see the ghost of a train that crashed years earlier. The ghost train did not appear — but a real train came around a bend and killed one man.

The evidence for ghosts is no better today than it was a year ago, a decade ago, or a century ago. There are two possible reasons for the failure of ghost hunters to find good evidence. The first is that ghosts don't exist, and that reports of ghosts can be explained by psychology,misperceptions, mistakes and hoaxes. The second option is that ghosts do exist, but that ghost hunters are simply incompetent. Ultimately, ghost hunting is not about the evidence (if it was, the search would have been abandoned long ago). Instead, it's about having fun with friends, telling stories, and the enjoyment of pretending they are searching the edge of the unknown. After all, everyone loves a good ghost story.
 

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Interesting facts about technology

When we think about technology we might think about NASA, lasers, computers, the internet, energy, electronic gadgets or even certain types of transportation but technology has been around long before these inventions. The Gutenberg printing press is one such example. The gutenberg printing press appeared in the 15^th century. It revolutionized the world and it’s a great example of world changing technology. Another technology we take for granted today is the invention of the wheel, thats right ‘the wheel’ as in a circular rotating wheel. The wheel has changed life for all human beings by just making life easier and most technologies, tools and most products including some types of pottery just couldn’t exist without it.

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Scientists use brain imaging to reveal the movies in our mind

BERKELEY — Imagine tapping into the mind of a coma patient, or watching one’s own dream on YouTube. With a cutting-edge blend of brain imaging and computer simulation, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are bringing these futuristic scenarios within reach.

Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and computational models, UC Berkeley researchers have succeeded in decoding and reconstructing people’s dynamic visual experiences – in this case, watching Hollywood movie trailers.As yet, the technology can only reconstruct movie clips people have already viewed. However, the breakthrough paves the way for reproducing the movies inside our heads that no one else sees, such as dreams and memories, according to researchers. The approximate reconstruction (right) of a movie clip (left) is achieved through brain imaging and computer simulation

 
“This is a major leap toward reconstructing internal imagery,” said Professor Jack Gallant, a UC Berkeley neuroscientist and coauthor of the study published online in the journal Current Biology. “We are opening a window into the movies in our minds.”Eventually, practical applications of the technology could include a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of people who cannot communicate verbally, such as stroke victims, coma patients and people with neurodegenerative diseases.It may also lay the groundwork for brain-machine interface so that people with cerebral palsy or paralysis, for example, can guide computers with their minds.

However, researchers point out that the technology is decades from allowing users to read others’ thoughts and intentions, as portrayed in such sci-fi classics as “Brainstorm,” in which scientists recorded a person’s sensations so that others could experience them.

Previously, Gallant and fellow researchers recorded brain activity in the visual cortex while a subject viewed black-and-white photographs. They then built a computational model that enabled them to predict with overwhelming accuracy which picture the subject was looking at.In their latest experiment, researchers say they have solved a much more difficult problem by actually decoding brain signals generated by moving pictures.

“Our natural visual experience is like watching a movie,” said Shinji Nishimoto, lead author of the study and a post-doctoral researcher in Gallant’s lab. “In order for this technology to have wide applicability, we must understand how the brain processes these dynamic visual experiences.”

Mysterious UFO spotted on India-China border by Indian Army troops

Indian Army troops have sighted mysterious unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the Ladakh sector along the Line of Actual Control with China. On August 4, the UFO was sighted by Army troops in Lagan Khel area in Demchok in Ladakh area in the evening and a report has been sent to the Army headquarters by the local formation, sources said here.

There have been over 100 sightings of UFOs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the last several months but this sighting has come after some time-gap, they said. Asked about the UFO sightings by the Army troops in Ladakh sector, Defence Minister A K Antony had told Parliament that there is no conclusive proof of sighting of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) over the Sino-Indian border. The UFO sighting on August 4 comes after reports suggested that a top-level science research institute had found that the UFOs were actually planets Jupiter and Venus, which are clearly visible from the high altitude and thin atmosphere terrain of Ladakh.

The reports said that the research institute had found out that the Army troops deployed in the area had mistaken the two planets as UFOs. However, it is not clear whether the conclusion arrived at by the research institute has been accepted by the Army and Government or not. Last year, the 14 Corps, which looks after military deployment along Kargil-Leh and the frontiers with China, had sent reports to the Army Headquarters about the sightings of UFOs by an ITBP unit in Thakung near the Pangong Tso Lake.

Reports suggested that these yellowish spheres appear to lift off from the horizon on the Chinese side and slowly traverse the sky for three to five hours before disappearing. The officials had confirmed that these UFOs were not Chinese drones or satellites.

Human Body Facts

Read some fun human body facts for kids and find out more about bones, skeletons, eyes, blood, muscles, the brain, heart and much more.

The brain uses over a quarter of the oxygen used by the human body.

Your heart beats around 100000 times a day, 36500000 times a year and over a billion times if you live beyond 30.

Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body. They are created inside the bone marrow of your bones.

The colour of a humans skin is determined by the level of pigment melanin that the body produces.

Those with small amounts of melanin have light skin while those with large amounts have dark skin.

Adult lungs have a surface area of around 70 square metres!

Humans have a stage of sleep that features rapid eye movement (REM). REM sleep makes up around 25% of total sleep time and is often when you have your most vivid dreams.

The smallest bone found in the human body is located in the middle ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 millimetres long.

Your nose and ears continue growing throughout your entire life.

Infants blink only once or twice a minute while adults average around 10.

As well as having unique fingerprints, humans also have unique tongue prints.

The left side of your body is controlled by the right side of your brain while the right side of your body is controlled by the left side of your brain.

Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, they won't help in fighting off a virus.

It takes the body around 12 hours to completely digest eaten food.

Your sense of smell is around 10000 times more sensitive than your sense of taste.

Latest Trends in e-Learning!

Elearning is constantly evolving, and so are its uses in both academia and the corporate world. Looking at the trends of elearning provides useful insight into what is working and what is not. Every year, Elearning Magazine administers a survey to their readers asking for their input into some of the more key areas of elearning. Their study has shown that over the past year, the most important training programs are as follows:

Compliance

Product Training

Professional/Industry Training

Desktop/IT Training

Number one doesn’t surprise me much as it is often the easiest to create elearning for (and ultimately the most cost effective given that they are pretty change adverse). There is still very much a need for compliance training to be developed as some organization still rely on dated methods. I would estimate that professional/industry training begins to gain some ground though as more people are looking for certifications through distance learning.

Another part that I found interesting from their survey is that  respondents indicated that they plan to invest nearly 240% more into elearning in 2013. This was a similar pattern found in the previous year’s report, and the data is backing it up as a reported $1.46 million was spent in 2011 compared to the $3.5 million spent in 2012.

I’m going to make a guess that we’ll see somewhere in the realm of $4.1 million in 2013. This is merely speculation though as I anticipate the mobile learning industry will drive much of the continuing growth. New technologies and specifications (such as TinCan API) are leading the charge, giving the rise to a boatload of startups all over the world.

As many instructional designers and elearning professionals know, this industry is growing every year, it’s really starting to turn heads. The likes of Google are now entering the elearning industry, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see others follow, and the overall demand for skilled instructional designers and technologists to grow. Exciting times we live in! 

by Justin Ferriman

source:  http://www.learndash.com/elearnings-latest-trends-and-what-it-means-for-you/

Interesting Rain Facts !

• Rain falls from clouds in the sky in the form of water droplets, this is called precipitation.
• Water can also fall from the sky in the form of hail, sleet or snow.
• Rain is an important part of the water cycle. Learn how it works with our page explaining the water cycle for kids.
• Rain occurs on other planets in our Solar System but it is different to the rain we experience here on Earth. For example, rain on Venus is made of sulfuric acid and due to the intense heat it evaporates before it even reaches the surface!
• Weather radar is used to detect and monitor rain.
• Rain gauges are use to measure the amount of rain over a certain period of time. Try making your own rain gauge.
• The highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in 24 hours is 182.5 centimeters (71.9 inches) in Foc-Foc, La Reunion. This occurred during tropical cyclone Denise on January 8, 1966.
• The highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in one year is 25.4 meters (1000 inches) in Cherrapunji, India.
• Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth.
• Heavy rain can cause flooding and landslides.
• Rain allows us to create electricity through hydro-power.
• Plants need water in order to survive, they receive much of this water from rain.
• Forests that experience high levels of rainfall are called rain-forests.
• Rain with high levels of acid (a low pH) is called acid rain. Caused by the release of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air (often from factories and power stations), it can be harmful to plants and animals

Source : http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/weather/rain.html

How is Electricity Generated From Water

There are two primary methods for generating electricity from water. One method uses the energy potential of trapped water in dams in a more sophisticated version of the water wheel, and the other captures energy from ocean waves. Electricity generated from water is entirely renewable, since water is an abundant natural resource and no water is expended during the electricity generation process. For this reason, many nations rely heavily on hydroelectric power because they want to promote sustainable energy production.

When a dam is used to generate energy, tunnels are installed in the dam when it is built. These tunnels are lined with turbines which are turned when water flows through the tunnels. As the turbines turn, they create electricity which can be fed into the grid or stored. Dam operators can determine the amount of energy produced by regulating the flow of water; most dams are capable of generating far more power than they do on a daily basis, which can be useful when there are problems at other power plants and facilities.

Electricity generated from water on the ocean is known as wave power or wave energy. This method of power generation uses changes in the air levels of sealed chambers to power turbines. These chambers are floated on parts of the ocean with high wave activity, ensuring that a great deal of electric energy can be produced. Not all areas of the ocean are suitable for the generation of wave power, but some seaside communities have taken advantage of the technology to power themselves.

Electricity generation is a major concern for much of the world, since demand is only rising with the growing human population. The benefit of electricity generated from water is that once generation facilities are built, it is easy to maintain and operate them. Electricity generated from water is also clean, since it doesn't involve the burning of fossil fuels to generate power. People can also generate hydroelectric power themselves, if they have access to a fast-moving body of water so that they can install waterwheels.

There are some drawbacks to electricity generated from water. Dams, for example, can be quite destructive when they are installed, as water will flood the regions behind dams. This has been a cause for controversy in the past, especially when dams flood valleys used by native peoples for burial and religious ceremonies. If a dam fails, it also cause catastrophic flooding, and people downstream of a dam tend to experience a reduction in available water after it has been installed. Concerns have also been raised about wave power, since it can be quite noisy and it may prove damaging to marine life. 

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-is-electricity-generated-from-water.htm