The experience is a little different (from the PC version) with the mobile app creating 3D panoramas rather than the navigable worlds you can build with photosynth. When exported you get a flat image (which you can upload to Facebook or email) which looks kind of like a planar world map, but when viewed embedded in a website with Silverlight (see below) or in the mobile app itself you can pan around and get a real sense of the space where the synth was made.

Stitching images together

The method of image capture is brilliantly conceived. You simply pan around your environs and the app automatically identifies points of overlap in the scene from the camera collecting images it needs to build a panorama (above). You can also capture manually. When you’re finished capturing the app will stitch it all together and give you some options for sharing. It is simple to use, but the results are stunning – a triumph of interface design and usability.

Stitching the images together

The mobile version of photosynth is a great step forward which really makes sense. Everyone with a iOS device has a camera in their pocket so further empowering people with a tool like this is such a good fit. Photosynth for iPhone is, simply put, amazing.

As a side note, Microsoft have, to date, only released this app for iOS devices – apparently WP7 currently doesn’t have the low level hardware access available to apps which photosynth needs, so WP7 users will have to wait. You can read more about this here if you’re interested.

Is the iPad a genuine alternative for schools? Source: Apple

From the outset it is important to provide some context for the exploration that follows. A conversation with a colleague from another school today revealed how important this is. Our school is an independent school in inner Melbourne. Our 1:1 computer program began in 1993 and requires all students from year 5 to 12 have their own device. How the program operates and the machines we have recommended has evolved as times have changed. In 2008 we transitioned to tablet PCs (we trialled slates before that and staff started with tablets in 2007) and have found these to be great devices when used to their potential.

Our program requires that all students have a machine which meets a set of requirements. Each year the school runs a tender to select a device to recommend to parents and until recently families had the option of purchasing any machine they liked as long as it met a set of minimum requirements.  The vast majority of parents (between 85-95% depending on the year) select the recommended model with the remainder opting to go it alone (we don’t support “non-standard” machines at all aside from connecting them to our network). We are now transitioning to a school purchase approach as experience has shown that those who have a non-standard device considerably disrupt teaching and learning of not only the student with the alternate device, but also those in the same class.

A little over a year ago the first iPad was released and I dismissed it as largely a media consumption device which removed scope for tinkering by its users. I wrote that prior to getting my hands on one and although I’ll admit it is (much) more than just a media consumption device, I’m yet to really find a way of getting under its skin while keeping the warranty intact – the tinkerer in me remains largely unsatisfied.

What follows is my list of pros and cons for the iPad as a tool for education (from our perspective) and a comment about the state of technology use generally in education. At times I have cited studies rather than just making statements as I’ve always found this useful when following up other people’s work. I hope you find it of use in your context.

A new kind of device

iPads represent a revolutionary step forward in the way people think about computing. Apple is referring to the iPad as a “post PC device” (despite having to be connected to a PC to be setup/maintained) and although not quite “post PC” yet it has definitely changed the way people think about and use computers. In my experience and observation of how people are using the iPad (in education and more broadly), this change in thinking stems from the immediacy of the device: The battery life ensures that it there when you need it and the switch from sleep state to active is seamless and immediate.

An intuitive interface and perfect size and weight

iPads are light, have a convenient form factor and have a great battery life making them available with immediacy. The interface mirrors that of the iPhone/iPod touch which has meant that users of these devices (of which there are many) have been very comfortable with the iPad interface immediately – the learning curve is virtually non-existent for many people (it wasn’t steep in the first place) and has resulted in confident users with little to no need for training.

The price is right (even if it may be wrong)

The price of iPad 2 in Australia (from $558-$898) has recently been announced and it is pretty cheap for what the device is. There has been some media speculation about whether it may in fact be too cheap and whether the conditions workers who make these and other devices is ethically sound. This may not be a deal breaker for schools and Apple are certainly not the only one using cheap labour in China to manufacture its wares, but it is something to keep on the ethical radar as we move forward.

All stylus, no substance?

A significant limitation (or benefit if you look at it from Steve Jobs’ point of view) is the use of a capacitive touch screen in the iPad rather than an active digitizer. As explained in detail here, the lack of an active digitizer on the iPad makes note-taking difficult even when dedicated third party applications and stylus devices are used. Note-taking using a pen-based tablet device (or on paper for that matter) is significant and different from an educative point of view. The act of note-taking is a process which has been shown to promote learning (Bauerand & Koedinger, 2007). Professor Gordon Sanson of Monash University articulates the contrast between being presented with professionally formatted notes (either in PowerPoint slides, textbooks, or any other form) and notes and diagrams constructed by a learner, with a clear benefit derived by those who construct their own understandings. This seems obvious, but the iPad can’t do this very well, making it less suitable (than other tablet devices) for a learner wanting to construct their own knowledge. Of course, users of an iPad could revert back to pen and paper to take notes, but that defeats one of the key benefits of the iPad – size and weight, not to mention the capacity to search across your notes both written and typed. I should say that I think the capacitive touch screen is perfect for what the iPad was designed for – but clearly note-taking was not high on Apple’s list of requirements for this device. For those who haven’t tried the different technologies, here are two samples:

Using a Pogo Sketch stylus on the iPad. Note the marks left by my palm - this is the touch interface confusing my palm and the stylus.

Using a stylus with a digitizer tablet (Toshiba M780ES)

On-screen keyboard

Another limitation (or great benefit) is the on screen keyboard. While note taking by hand is great for a student processing concepts and constructing their own understandings, a keyboard is excellent for fast text entry. The on-screen keyboard of the iPad is simply not as good as a physical keyboard in my experience and this is an obvious limitation for students required to produce and manipulate extended quantities of text. The convenience of the keyboard as part of the iPad is excellent from a portability point of view and is ideal for short bursts of text entry, so while a limitation in some respects, I think in a different context the onscreen keyboard is an enormous advantage.

Device management and software licensing

Management of iPads (from an institutional point of view) is half baked via iTunes. iPads have been targeted at the consumer market where users manage themselves. Education (and corporate) environments tend to want to manage devices and the software on them and this presents a number of issues. A simple solution may be not to manage the device as an institution and let users manage themselves.  There are a few issues with this in a school.

A 1:1 program implies that students have 1 device each. The iPad unfortunately requires students and staff have access to another device – so a 1:2 program or at least an implied requirement that students have access to another device to manage their iPad is, I think a limitation when viewing them from an institution’s point of view (at least our institution).

I also think that the cost of app purchases would quickly add up and the transfer of ownership of devices (when students or staff leave the program) and software is likely to become difficult and onerous.  Apple have devised a volume purchasing scheme (not available in Australia at the time of writing) to assist with the purchase of software on mass, but it doesn’t address the ownership transfer problem and frankly seems like a bit of a hack hastily cobbled together. I also think iPad licensing is expensive (for education). Looking at the iWork toolset which many suggest as viable alternatives to the standard office suite of tools, the prices seem quite reasonable (local volume prices not available at present):

• Pages: $12.99
• Numbers: $12.99
• Keynote: $12.99

By contrast, education volume licensing of MS Office including OneNote and all other MS licensing is $30 per student/year – the 3 apps listed above (granted they are perpetual licenses – or are they? I wonder if/when they’ll start charging for app updates?) add up to nearly $40. Of course there are free cloud based alternatives for the iPad (Google Docs), but similarly there are free alternatives for PC/Mac users with OpenOffice.

Does this imply that one day they may no be free?

A further licensing issue is born of a restriction imposed by Apple to apps listed in the App Store. Apple controls the App Store and approves which apps can be bought and sold in that marketplace. Apple seems to be trying to control competitors with these restrictions, but a consequence has been that programming environments like MIT’s Scratch (even the Scratch player) cannot run. This may sound insignificant, but if you want students to create apps rather than just use them, then you need a different device for that. For those think that programming is “just for nerds” I would suggest a visit to Scratch’s website (or Microworlds, or GameMaker, or Alice, or Kodu, or …) and a bit of further analysis of what programming can do for developing minds.

That said, the existing applications and the large development community writing software specifically for the iPad is a significant (if not the most significant) factor in the suitability of iPads for education. There are many education specific apps to achieve all kinds of tasks from basic note taking to musical composition – sad that they are all viewed through Apple’s lens and the restrictions inherent with that.

A few other bits and bobs

Security

Some cite security concerns when discussing iPads for the classroom, but the way we manage our environment I wouldn’t envisage this being a concern. Several people have raised it as a concern with me: “How would you control what applications students run?” “How would you manage which websites they visit?” I don’t think these concerns are real obstacles to iPads in schools – if it were our existing 1:1 program would be similarly affected and we manage this well now I believe.

Window to The Cloud

The cloud does promise to make devices like the iPad even more relevant and desirable, but the issues of cloud in 2011 still limit what is possible. Browser constrains, latency and data security make SAAS (Software as a service) less viable, at least for now.

Seek and you may find it

Search is pretty restricted on the iPad as it is limited to Apple’s pre-installed apps. Any notes you take in Pages or with Penultimate (or indeed any app) aren’t indexed for searching which I find problematic. I have become accustomed to the way PCs index materials which essentially allows you to find things quickly.

Servicing

The repair side of iPads in schools seems to be a little sketchy. Speaking to resellers they explain that they don’t actually repair iPads (or phones), they just swap them out for refurbished machines. This may work quite well if schools were able to have a cache of hot swaps to deal with issues as they arise, but I suspect that this won’t be how the system will work unless the school funds it themselves. Resellers don’t seem to have much of an idea how this would work at scale either and this is an aspect of a school iPad program I would want resolved before moving forward.

Connectivity

The iPad is trying to be a cloud device with everything connecting to it via the Wi-Fi, 3G or Bluetooth. Apple’s decision not to include a USB, enable a user to expand the storage capacity or even replace the battery is not ideal in 2011. Similar to my comments about the cloud, I suspect this issue will progressively diminish as a concern – at least the storage and connectivity via USB.

In conclusion

The iPad represents a complete rethink of what computing is to everyday people. The computer in the form of an iPad is no more complex to operate than a television.  The difficulty for a school context like ours is that it has some limitations which make it less of an alternative tablet device and more of an augmentation device. The 1:1 approach that schools like ours have implemented and run with for many years may be nearing an end - perhaps we may soon see 1:many programs evolve – maybe we already have them with the iPods, Nintendo DS and phones kids bring to school already. The notion that students should have multiple devices is a luxury the vast majority won’t be able to service and perhaps why my feeling is that as much as the iPad may be close to what we want from a computer for education, it’s not quite right – yet.

By way of example, let us consider we’re discussing the Western Front and the involvement of Australians in the First World War.  You find a description of the campaign and the places the Australian’s fought and died. Wouldn’t it be good if you could map these locations and illustrate the scale of the front? It’s easily done using  GeoMaker.

Step 1 – Go to GeoMaker and either paste in the URL where your text is located or simply paste in the text you want to mine for location data. I used this URL: http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/journey.html

Text input: Cut and Paste or direct from a URL

Step 2 – Filter out mismatches by un-ticking places.

Filter out mismatches

Step 3 – Hey-presto: a map of the front.

The map of places mentioned in the text - quick and easy

I know there are many maps of the Western Front and perhaps this isn’t the best one around, but it illustrates how easy it is to turn something into something else – a great thing for learners of different kinds everywhere.

Juxtaposing datasets (mashing) to form visualisations is a marvelous way of extracting a deep understanding of an issue or topic from students. To create a meaningful visualisation students must know the data they wish to represent. They must understand its origin, collection method and any manipulation it may have undergone. This intimacy with data lends itself to an exacting grasp of the issues involved and a broader understanding of complex problems and theories which might surround the topic.

My interests in data visualisation was roused around 2003 with a demonstration of a tool to narrow the search for an appropriate digital cameras. Iokio, now call “Visokio” allowed you to manage large datasets in an intuitive and visual way. Creating unique and useful visualisations (beyond charting in Excel and the like) was always challenging without specialist tools like Visokio, but with the power of web applications at our disposal it isn’t nearly as difficult as it once was. With a few discerning clicks anyone can create new a meaningful visual representation of data.

“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff…”  Harvey Pekar

Understanding complex problems, theories and ideas is often easier when presented visually. Professor Gordon Sanson at Monash University explains why the use of Tablet PCs in educational environments is so compelling for teaching for understanding (as opposed to simple regurgitation of fact). He articulates succinctly why building an idea up visually in front of students is so powerful: Taking students on the journey to understand a concept is better than presenting a finished concept and asking students to “learn it”. Even though the finished concept may not be as professional or polished in its presentation, it is far more useful and meaningful for understanding the concepts being conveyed. Similarly I believe that the process of sourcing data, understanding that data and then re-interpreting it in a visual way is an incredibly powerful mechanism for learning.

Check out this Metaweb description – it not only illustrates the point about building up an idea, but also explains the power of open data.

Where do you source data?

Roll your own:

Collecting data couldn’t be easier with the web tools available these days. Survey tools (Survey Monkey and the like) provide quick ways of writing surveys, but I find the Form feature in Google Docs a quick and easy way to gather data.

Personal data collection is a very popular activity amongst athletes, the health conscious and increasingly the average punter attempting to understand themselves better. There are a myriad of tools from sleep cycle monitors, GPS run and cycle tracking tools and if you want to track how many cups of coffee, phone calls or anything else you do in your day, maybe your.flowingdata is for you.

Download from reliable (and free) sources:

Governments are increasingly opening access to taxpayer funded datasets on sites like data.gov, data.gov.au, data.gov.nz and data.gov.uk and media agencies like the Guardian have started to leverage these datasets for the burgeoning field of data-journalism with their DataBlog and they’ve even created a one-stop-shop for data seekers with their World Data Search.

Another amazing (and growing) collection of data has been compiled by the Gapminder Foundation – a non-profit venture which seeks to promote a “fact based world view”. They also have a magnificent tool for visualising datasets called Gapminder World of which there are online and standalone versions.

The World Bank offers a wide variety of data and even has an iPhone app for exploring data when on the move: Goodness knows how many times I’ve wanted to visualise global life expectancy against income per person while I was waiting for the bus – no doubt it has occurred to you too.

Here’s a few more:

• The World Health Organisation also offers data it has collected here.
• Australian Census data can be obtained from here.
• Climate data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
• American Census data can be accessed here.
• OpenStreetMap –“ OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.”
• Economic data can be found on timetric.

And for the more technically savvy these services (amongst others) can be programmatically interacted with:

• DBpedia -“The DBpedia data set currently describes 3.4 million ‘things’ with over 1 billion ‘facts’ (March 2010).”
• FreeBase – “is an open, Creative Commons licensed repository of structured data of more than 12 million entities.”

Data can also be bought:

There are also many commercial entities which flog their (and others) data for profit. I won’t focus on these in this piece, but by way of example check out this or this.

How do you visualise that data?

So now you’ve go some data you’ll want to make something pretty – pretty useful. There are a myriad of tools for taking endless tables of data and representing it in a visual way. One of the best online tools for visualising data is IBM’s excellent Many Eyes service which can create treemaps, tag clouds, bubble charts or a string of other visualisation types from data you upload.

IBM's Many Eyes

Another tool is Gapmider World which, as mentioned above, not only provides great datasets for use in mashups of your own, also has a magnificent tool for visualising data published on that site with just a few clicks. Have a go – it is easy to create a discussion provoking viusalisation!

Gapminder World - easy, but powerful visualisation

TimeTric contains not only data, but tools for visualising that data. This short clip shows how you can filter datasets to alter a chart on TimTric.

Google Fusion Tables is an application from Google which allows you to import data from Google Docs or to upload data from your computer and then visualise it with a few clicks. It’s main trick is its capacity to Geo-code address data into longitude and latitude and then export a KML file (Keyhole Markup Language) which can be read/plotted by Google Maps and Google Earth.

Fusion Tables - Export Geo-coded data as a KML file

Google Maps is also a great tool for combining data. As an example, I’ve written a how-to here which takes Australian Government stimulus spending data from data.gov.au and mashes it up with Australian federal electoral boundaries using  Google Fusion Tables and Google Earth.

Related information on the art and science of visualisation:

Some cool (and useful) visualisation tools can be found here:

• www.visokio.com – not free, but the one that started it all off for me – ahead of its time in my opinion.
• howbigreally.com – allows you to visualise the scale of “things” over landscapes you’re familiar with. For example – how big really is the International Space Station? - this shows a scale drawing of the space station layered over any address or location you enter – cool huh?
• wolframalpha.com – most have heard of this tool, but many, particularly in education circles seem to have forgotten (or maybe didn’t realise) its power. For teachers and learners of business – what about this? If you’re a PE teacher or a personal trainer, maybe this would be of interest.
• www.getpivot.com – a tool (essentially a new type of browser) which allows you to explore massive amounts of data in a visual way – very cool.
• icant.co.uk/geomaker – this little beauty takes text, scans it for geographical information like placenames, then maps it for you. Ever wanted to make your own custom map of Burke and Wills’ expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria? Simply by cutting and pasting a text description into GeoMaker you can do just that.

Watch some clever people unveil the impact visualisations (and the data on which they’re based) can have:

• Experience the enthusiasm of Hans Rosling at TED 2006 as he uses Gapminder World to explain the changes in the world over 40 years.
  
• Watch Tim Berners-Lee at TED 2010 explain the impact of raw data.
  
• David McCandless explains how data visualisations can help us understand complex and massive problems and ideas.
  

Related books and articles I’ve found useful:

• Information is beautiful by David McCandless
• The back of a napkin by Dan Roam
• Clive Thompson on Why We Should Learn the Language of Data
• Clive Thompson (again) on the Power of Visual Thinking
• Wired magazine cover story: Living by numbers

There is plenty more to say and do on this topic, but I hope this serves as a useful taster and toolset on the subject of data visualisation in the classroom.

Step 1 – Get some data

The stimulus data we’re going to use can be found here. It comes in Exel format (XLS) and includes: “Economic Stimulus Plan projects for the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program and for Rail and Road projects from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government”.

Download the file to your computer.

The data itself looks like this:

Included are columns detailing longitude and latitude of each stimulus project

Step 2 – Import the data into Google Fusion Tables

Next, go to Google Fusion Tables – you’ll need to log in to your Google account. Once logged in, import the data you just downloaded by clicking on New Table > Import Table.

Google Fusion Tables is good, but it has some limitations. You are limited to 1mb XLS files, so we have to save our file to CSV format in order to achieve the upload – CSV files are limited to 100mb. To do this, open the XLS file in Excel (or other OpenOffice if you don’t have that) and save it as a CSV file by simply choosing File > Save As and then change the “Save as type” to CSV.

In the “From this computer” tab click the “Choose File” button and then select the converted stimulus data CSV file you just downloaded and converted. Click Next and the table will be uploaded.

The Import Table process then shows you a sample of the data and allows you to choose the columns you need: Just click next. The final step in the process asks you to name, attribute the source and describe the dataset. Fill this in and then click Finish.

Import Data

Step 3 – Geo-code the locations of the stimulus projects

Once the data has been imported into Google Fusion Tables you’ll see it listed on the main page: Click the table name to open the dataset and see the data presented like a spreadsheet. Choose Map from the Visualize menu. A world map will appear where the data was. To start geocoding the data, change the “Location” dropdown menu to Latitude. See below. The geocoding will commence and after a little while you’ll see all the stimulus projects marked on the map. Clicking on a marker will show the details of the project – cool huh?

Geocoding data is easy in Fusion Tables

Step 4 – Export the Geo-coded locations of the stimulus project

So now you have a map showing the locations of all stimulus projects – it’ll look something like the one below. Click on the “Export to KML” to get this mapped data in a format we will use to mashup with electoral boundary data in Google Earth – save it to a place you’ll remember on your machine.

Export the Geo-coded data as a KML

Step 5 – If we’re going to juxtapose, then we’re going to need some more data…

We’ve got the stimulus project data mapped, now we need to get the electoral boundaries. Fortunately, the good folk over at Google made a useful page to track voting progress for the 2007 Federal Election. This data is provided in, what do you know, KML format! All we need to do is download the data and we can mash it up with our stimulus data and we’ve created a very useful little discussion starter.

An interesting side note is that they(Google) also did a page for the 2010 election, but didn’t provide the same, very useful, mapping data. Check it out though, as it has some cool stuff.

Go here: http://www.google.com.au/election2007 and download the KML data (KMZ actually – KMZ is the compressed form of KML data) to the same location you saved the stimulus project KML file in Step 4.

KML (Keyhole Mark-up Language) data of the Australian Electoral Boundaries

Step 6 – Combine in Google Earth to produce something like the map below.

To do this, you’ll obviously need Google Earth installed. When you have it installed, KML and KMZ files are automatically associated with Google Earth – so double click on the “earth.kmz” file you downloaded from the Election 2007 site. Once Google Earth has loaded and the election boundary data has been been displayed you can do your mashing: Go to File, Open and then browse for the stimulus data KML file you made and exported from Google Fusion Tables. Open this file and hey-presto you’ve got a mashup of electoral boundary data and stimulus projects.

Step 7 – Optional de-politicising of the map

One last thing: you’ll notice that each seat is colour coded for the Australian political party which won the seat in 2007 – red for Labour, blue for Liberal etc. This is nice, but might be distracting if you’re trying to promote discussion about election pork-barreling or something similar. To change this is easy – Right Click (sorry Mac folk – I assume you’ll know what to do here instead) on the “Seat Boundaries” heading in the places panel and choose properties from the menu. Click on the Style/Color tab and then click the “Share Style” button – this changes shading on all seats to the same colour. Under the Area heading, tick the Random checkbox. This picks a random colour to shade each electoral seat. As a final touch I’d up the opacity to around 65% – this makes the boundaries stand out more.

The implementation of IWBs in schools polarises people. There are many who get very hot under the collar pontificating about whether they are teacher-centric tools or the best advance in classrooms for the last hundred years. My view, like Chris Betcher’s is a little less black and white.

IWBs certainly aren’t the first piece of technology I would introduce into a schooling environment – far from it. However I have seen electronic whiteboards used well by both teachers and students and, rather than being superfluous in a tablet pc school, they augment the environment splendidly.

IWBs are no educational panacea, no silver bullet, but they work for us and in ways we didn’t originally intend.

My predecessor implemented the IWB program at our school. We had been a 1:1 environment since 1993 and this new technology (in 2005) seemed to make sense in our environment. The implementation process plan was to ensure that an IWB was installed in every classroom as quickly as possible – the rationale being that if a teacher couldn’t rely on having an IWB at all times it would make it difficult to prepare lessons which took advantage of the new facility. This philosophy mirrors our approach to our 1:1 computer program. That is, you shouldn’t have to plan to access the resource/tool – anytime, anywhere.

The installation of the boards took place rapidly and a torrent of professional development was unleashed on staff to skill them up in the operation of these new tools.

At first, usage was difficult to gauge, apart from what you saw walking past classrooms peering through doorways. However, about the time I took over as Director of ICT I noticed something interesting in our intranet logs: curriculum development at an accelerated rate and scale and a corresponding level of use.

Since the inception of our intranet (portal as many schools call it) in 1999 our school had always had a strong culture of resource/course creation online. As tools improved and collaboration became easier, development continued to grow. What we saw in the logs when the IWBs came along was accelerated development driven by a larger group of teaching staff collaborating than ever before. The staff developed materials for use in class (on the boards), but [presumably] with the growth in confidence teachers collaborated on more and more online projects and interest in other forms of ICT professional learning increased. Like I said – not what we intended, but I’ll take enhanced interest in the use of technology to educate any day!

What I see when I walk past and peer through doorways now is a computer connected to the IWB and the wall transformed into the class’ computer – everyone on the same page. I’m not sure if that’s teacher-centric or just a good classroom dynamic which is using technology in a way that makes sense.

Not for tinkerers?

OK, so they launched the iPad the other day and I must say it was with some trepidation that I waited for the reveal (how Extreme Makeover of me). This anxiety manifest itself not because of the hype surrounding the launch, but because I wondered what this device might mean to a school (my school) who has committed to tablet/slate devices for nearly 5 years and associated infrastructure (Windows based) for more than 15?

I was prepared, as much as anyone could be, to accept that Apple may produce something which was undeniably better for education purposes than what we are using currently and I would have to consider how we might transition to an environment which supported Macs natively instead of just as bolt on oddities.

As it turns out, the device isn’t a replacement for what we have at all. It is a media consumpt

ion device and it looks to be a pretty darn good one. The iPad may have a place in education, but it doesn’t appear to be a device for creators or tinkerers – certainly it has not been designed with the constructionist learner in mind with most avenues for “doing it my way” cut off by all controlling Apple.

What the iPad (and its pricing) does signal to me is that one-trick ponies, like my recently acquired Kindle, have a limited lifespan. I love reading from the Kindle, but Amazon are going to have to start giving them away to beat this competition. I appreciate that they are different things, but I’m not sure the buying public will be so discerning when choosing what kit to buy and lug about.

I’ll wait for Australian pricing and no doubt acquire one for review purposes, but the iPad in its current form is no replacement for the flexible devices our boys currently enjoy.

By way of a quick update with regard to the “Adobe Situation” : I received an email from an Education Marketing Manager (at Adobe) yesterday stating the following:

The education team at Adobe in Australia totally understand your frustration. We have recommended the changes but we are not getting agreement with corporate. What they don’t seem to understand is that Adobe has the highest amount of 1:1 schools globally and we need to have an offering to support this segment, they just don’t have the same issue in other parts of the world. We are building a case to hopefully change this, but I cannot guarantee anything at this point.

I did read your comments but I wanted to be able to respond to you directly. Please understand that the lack of noise from Adobe does not mean we are inactive, but working away to try and find the best solution for our market.

I will be happy to update you as we move forward so you are abreast of this, we won’t be putting this one back to the table until early next year, but I can promise you we will address it again.

This email came after some intense badgering (some thought spamming – oops!) of Adobe via Twitter before and during John Paull’s Adobe’s Australian presentation at the VITTA conference. The spate of tweets prompted a colleague (to shut me up) to put me in touch with the person who wrote the email above.

While I’m obviously disappointed at the lack of anything useful for my school (and others in the same boat) for the foreseeable future, it does at least offer some much needed clarity on the situation.

Up until now Adobe representatives and resellers had insisted that it (an addendum to the license) was “about to happen” – this isn’t helpful. We are working on our SOE for 2010 now and I need to know now what I can include and what I have to leave out. I praise this marketing manager for being up front about the situation so I can get on with my job preparing the software image and my teachers can get on with planning their curriculums for 2010 with a clear idea of what tools will be available.

It is disappointing that I ended up going to some extreme lengths to extract this tiny piece of information from Adobe and even now others like @questdig are being promised changes in January. Phil Callil tweets:

Spoke with Adobe re pricing, insists an addendum 2 existing EULAs will be in place end of Jan. Problem in US.

So consistent to a point, but the assertion that it will happen at the end of January confuses the issue and makes it hard to plan.

Time will tell – I hope it does happen in January, but until the SKU actually exists we’re all a little stuck.

This presentation, originally delivered in 2006, explores serendipity on the web and folksonomies as organisational structures. I also touched on Connectivism (Social Constructivism?) and some of the learning theory associated. Still seems relevant in 2009 – the wheels turn slowly…

Here’s a screen grab of this page with the Wave:

This is what the post looks like for those without a Wave account

And for those with Wave – here is the embedded Wave:

Clearly this kind of post isn’t going to change the world, but I’m interested in how this will work and what better way to get handle on things than giving it a go. What got me so excited about Wave when I watched this video was the potential to bring all of the disparate bits of the web together in an accessible format for all.

Goodness knows where this will go, but it’s interesting to speculate and probe what the next communication platform might do/be for us all.