Learning, Technology & Change

Facebook status, relationship updates, social bookmarks, blogs, twitts. Why? what's the point But why? what's the point? Does anyone really care? I suppose amongst a close circle of friends sharing pictures is good, but who cares what I thought about the Bourne Ultimatum? At times I felt most of "2.0" was very narcissistic. Why should one broadcast this dear diary sort of stuff for all the word to read? After spending some time in this world i realize it's less about my need to broadcast myself, more about connecting with others. In this increasingly computer-oriented society a basic human need is to feel connected to other people. When people are spending more and more time in the virtual world, and less in the real world it's natural to feel less connected. Social media does bring us closer together. Understanding what excites and motivates our friends and family is important. Being able to share anecdotes with someone after you both saw the same movie or r...

A few months back I first heard about the environmental impact of bottled water. I had always had water as a beverage over pop or juice just as a health thing. I knew what a business it had become, but i failed to take a step back and think about the greener picture. This water is bottled at some 'special source' packaged and delivered. After you drink it (assuming you drink the entire bottle) you hopefully recycle it. More often than not that doesn't happen and the bottle becomes landfill. We haven't taken into account the resources required to ship the water sometimes across the ocean. The fact that in many locations tap water has more rigid controls is incredible. So what it comes down to is that this is just a product of convenience. It's not any healthier, many times it's much worse than what's available for a fraction of the cost. Put a nice package on it, ship it across the ocean to justify the astronomical price and Bingo - You've got a tremendou...

With the new Wii and their game development kit, this could be an incredible opportunity for learning. Nintendo has done a remarkable job already with mental fitness in the DS. The ceiling for the Wii is incredible. The ability to work in 3 dimensions, combined with tactile feedback could provide for a great learning experience. Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes will admit that this is not just another game system. Gamers and non-gamers alike love the new experience the Wii provides. Hopefully the learning community can jump on this new development kit and build something special to help take human performance to the next level.