Globalism, Diversity, and the Future....

"The future arrived; it just wasn't equally distributed." -William Gibson



I cannot begin to tell you how this quote gave me pause and started 'wheels' turning in my head. This is so true in the world of technology as well as many other cross cultural categories. From socioeconomic status to education and beyond, our world is imbalanced.

After listening to the resources for this week's discussion and blog post, I begin to think about ways that I could help to bring about change in my community. Being an online instructor, I do not have as much access to the public education system and structural facilities. However, I thought about just the one aspect of using Linux as an operating system in our local public schools and how much money that would save to put towards upgrading technology and providing more computers per student. As a resident of a state that remains on the bottom of the educational ranks, I believe changing the operating system and support would be a saving and effective way to increase our statistics and bridge the learning gap for our children and young adults.



Since I still have connections with my former elementary school, I would like to explore the possibilities of creating change in the department of technology to bring about more revenue for the schools and increase the resources available to enhance the learning environment for students. Open source software is a means that should be implemented in this country as in other countries. I know that monopolies from Microsoft often hinder these implementations, but it is time to help increase awareness of our options rather than going with the majority.

One thing that also came to mind after reviewing our resources, is the options a charter school would have if implementing Linux and other open source software and the decrease in expenditures this would bring about, so that start up costs would be more effective in providing needed technology and instructional resources.

As I said, wheels are turning in my mind and the fact that "the future is not equally distributed" in my community makes me want to get out a shovel, move some dirt around, and smooth out the surface!

Cynthia Harrison

All copyrights to this video belong to the original owner. This video is located at the following URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnAqi9JWR3g

Module Five Post

Red Queens and Increasing Returns Blog Post

This week, we are continuing to talk about the different forces that affect emerging and mainstreamed technologies. Once again, we will focus on the science fiction assignment that we completed in Module Four and take a look at how completing this assignment connects to the forces of Red Queens and Increasing Returns discussed in Module Five.

For my science fiction DVD assignment, I must say that I didn’t stop at one of the titles based on the Philip K. Dick books. I have an Amazon.com Prime Membership and I immediately called a friend who is a techie, to ask him which of the movies he would recommend. I remember watching Total Recall in the past, but I knew I would need to review the title for the assignment. However, after talking with him, and realizing that Nicholas Cage had starred and helped produce Next, I decided to focus on that particular movie.

I did purchase Total Recall, Next, and A Scanner Darkly, new, on Blu-Ray, from Amazon.com, to view at my convenience and then I found Blade Runner, Next, and Paycheck at our local Big Lots store for about $3 to $5 each, previously viewed. I did check to see if any of the movies might be on demand via my cable provider, but they were not listed. I thought they might be under the “free movies” since they are older productions.

I watched the regular production of Next on my computer because it was more convenient for me just to pop it into the CD/DVD port and play it while I worked and took notes. The others are still in their shrink wrap and await the time when I actually have a spare minute to view and enjoy them.

Increasing returns applies to the DVD and video technology in many ways. For instance, the “winner takes all” model for the high definition DVD is Blu-Ray (Laureate, 2009). It won out over HD DVD and monopolized the DVD world for high definition. I didn’t think I would buy Blu-Ray, but I really believe that the “Red Queen” of the Disney parent company gave Blu-Ray the advantage and they made HD DVD players and movies almost obsolete (except for those of us who purchased them before they were discontinued).

Although I have not yet subscribed to any of the computer-based movie subscriptions, my techie friend, who is a Mac and Linux man, is usually my source for viewing movies, and he uses Apple TV to download all seasonal episodes of various series or movies that he wants to purchase. This is a great space saver and I find that we spend more time watching the trailers to various movies and being more discriminating in our purchases with this technology.

While DVD’s are not obsolete, I believe most VHS formats have reached pretty much reached that stage in McLuhan’s tetrad and are only found in used condition on eBay or Amazon and purchased when they have not been formatted for sale on DVD. I can see Apple TV, Netflix, and other on demand services eventually obsoleting regular and high definition DVD’s, but before that, I see Blu-Ray working to obsolete regular DVD’s. These technologies are both mainstreamed and they are progressing rapidly with the on demand services gaining more ground since they eliminate the space needed to store Blu-Ray.

On a side note, I think that Blu-Ray and high definition DVD’s remind me of a past technology that would apply to McLuhan’s tetrad, being that it enhances the quality and viewing of the movie. This makes me think back to those days of enhancement to black and white films and those “re-mastered” versions of classic movies that were marketed in “Technicolor.”

Personally, I believe that multimedia formats are headed toward the downloads and live streaming as the emerging Red Queen, although it may take some time for it to progress to that stage of the tetrad. There will be laggards and I may be one of them because I still love the feel of a book and I still love to pop in a DVD when I have the time, especially those classics. I think I laugh more at Buster Keaton than any modern actor, except maybe Rowan Atkinson. (smile).

I think we will hear a shout of “Off with her head!” from on demand services sometime in the future that will be the diminishing of the physical DVD and may eventually obsolete movie rental businesses due to overhead and rental prices not being competitive. Change is good, but sometimes sad because that will eliminate jobs and change the face of society in a lot of ways for the sake of convenience and progress.

Cynthia

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging and future technology. Baltimore: Author.

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Would you like a Second Life? (Disruptive Technologies)

I fell in love with Second Life about a year ago. At first, I was introduced to it by a friend who had explored the virtual world and had begun to attend classes to learn about building objects and creating textures for various virtual world activities. His Halloween haunted house and animated decorations were totally awesome! He has since built a couple of houses, boats, chairs, designed clothing, and assisted others in their journey to learn the skills of creating animated objects.

After seeing what he was doing, I automatically began to wonder how Second Life could be used for educational purposes. Since budget cuts were beginning to have a major effect on field trips and other extracurricular activities, I decided to investigate Second Life as an educational tool and Library Migpalion (my avatar) came into existence.

I must say that I was overcome by the social aspects of Second Life and the escape and maybe the reverting back to childhood feeling that I had upon entering the world. I went shopping! My friend bestowed some Lindens (money) upon my avatar account, so that I could purchase some clothing and not look like a "newbie." I was able to create my own personality, walk, body shape, hair, eye color, and anything else you could imagine. I can not only be a human, but I can change to other forms as I wish. The possibilities are unlimited!

But, I digress. The educational prospects are also unlimited and I began to explore those. I was taking one of the previous Ed Tech courses at Walden when I began to really think about Second Life as an educational tool. I created a video for my final project in the course with my avatar and a compilation of other information that presents Second Life as an educational tool and introduces a keynote speaker.

As a disruptive technology, Second Life brings more to technology than the original gaming idea for which it was intended. Linden Labs has created a community that is ever evolving and the possibilities are amazing. Second Life is disruptive because it incorporates so much more than an interactive game or 3D experience. It is a place to socialize, work, explore, and learn.

Many major companies have a presence in Second Life, and as you will see when you view my video, there are virtual field trips that allow you to view the inside of a Dell computer and many other similar experiences. Colleges have locations within Second Life. You can attend church with live streaming video. Conferences and classes are available. You can set up a business. There is no way for me to list all the qualities and opportunities that Second Life offers.

As for the world of Education and other opportunities that Second Life makes possible, I would like to refer you to another video that I found that is touching and thought provoking. This video focuses on those with special learning needs who may not be able to leave their homes. For them, Second Life allows the opportunity to live as they may not be able to live in the real world. It opens doors for social interaction they may not have without it.

I believe the following video explains how special Second Life is and how it does so much more than other similar applications. I don't think that Second Life will be replaced for a long time. I believe it will be enhanced and continue to grow, but I don't think it will become obsolete for a while.

A Second Life in Second Life


Cynthia Harrison