learning
Latest
Apple revamps iTunes U and intros dedicated app (video)
A facelift for iBooks wasn't the only change on Apple's agenda today, as the company's SVP Eddy Cue has just announced an overhaul of iTunes U. The service, mostly used as a means of delivering lectures to college students, has seen over 700 million downloads since its launch and is now gearing up to offer full online courses from the likes of Duke University, Yale, MIT, amongst others.As an example of this new remote method of learning, the company demoed a Chemistry course at its event, showing an overview, syllabus, credits and even the professor's office hours. Tabs are placed along the right side of page with options for Info, Posts, Notes and Materials, allowing teachers to send updates direct to the app and students the ability to jot down important highlights. Wondering about integration? A simple tap on these pushed assignments will transport students direct to iBooks, where their specific coursework lies in wait and, once completed, can be crossed off on the provided task list.The app can even be used for course registration, eliminating the frenzied rush typically associated with such events. It's all available to download on the App Store right now at no cost in 123 countries. So, if you're on Apple's participating list of schools and you're rocking an iPad, go ahead and get to virtually cracking those books.Update: We've got our hands-on video up of the new iTunes U application!
Chegg's online textbooks hope to captivate minds, market share (video)
Someone's about to get schooled, and if it's not the youth of America, then it'll be one of the companies rushing to release educational products this week. While Kno takes the interactive approach, and Apple typically keeps us guessing, Chegg hopes its new online reader will capture students' imaginations. The HTML5, cloud-based platform clearly thinks it's portability the kids want, working on almost any connected device. There are interactive features, such as an "Always on Q&A" where questions about material can be answered by the community and -- for the lazy -- a "Key Highlights" option, which uses crowd-sourced data to spotlight the popular sections -- much like on Amazon's Kindle. We all know, however, that the tech-ucation battle was convincingly won some time ago. Hit the PR after the break for the full rundown.
Hands-on with ION Audio's Guitar Apprentice and new iCade models
We first saw ION Audio's really impressive iCade followups at the beginning of CES last week during CES Unveiled, but that little taste at the crowded event wasn't really enough for us, so later in the week we went by the company's booth to get a better look and actually hold and play with the new products. Of the various iCade implements on display, the most impressive was undoubtedly the iCade Mobile -- that's the (mostly) PSP-based Bluetooth controller setup which your iPhone or iPod touch can plug into. The company had the great Mos Speedrun working on the device, and the buttons felt great and were very responsive. The one issue with the controller is that the "triggers" (normally L2 and R2 on PS3 or Xbox controllers) aren't really triggers -- they're just buttons, and a lot of gamers, especially those who play shooters, often prefer the Microsoft style trigger controls rather than just wide buttons. The model we played with had buttons that were actually just an extension of the metal around the side, so they sort of "bent" in as you pressed them, but the ION rep told us that the final version will be separate from the side metal, which means they'll press in straight. Still, just having buttons back there might not be quite as nice as full triggers, if there are games that make heavy use of them in the future. Given that developers step up with compatibility on their apps (and ION has had a lot of success with that on the original iCade cabinet), this device could be a must-have for a lot of hardcore iPhone gamers. Of course, it bears mentioning Apple doesn't really provide a great deal of support for gaming peripherals. In fact, all of these devices are simply sending button presses (like a keyboard would), so until iOS supports more input controls, Ion will similarly be limited. he handheld launches sometime this spring, and will be available for $79.99. I also got to play with the iCade Jr., a much smaller version of the iCade cabinet that's designed for iPhones or iPod touches rather than the iPad. The model on display wasn't a working version, but it was enough to feel what it was like to hold the device and press the buttons on the backside. Unfortunately, the whole thing felt about as gimmicky as it looked -- I'm sure the games will be playable when they're finally released, but obviously the mini cabinet isn't built for comfort so much as it is a cute little version of the larger thing. That one will also be out in a few months, for $49.99. And finally, we checked out ION's other big iOS product this year at CES, called the Guitar Apprentice. This one is huge -- it's a "guitar controller" for iPad, so it's a plastic guitar-shaped device with dozens of little buttons on it designed to serve as the frets on a guitar. Your iPad is actually inserted straight into the frame on the guitar's body, and eventually (though this wasn't yet working at the show), the idea is that you'll press buttons on the guitar controller's neck, and then "strum" by swiping across your iPad. It was an interesting idea, but the app wasn't done by CES, apparently, so all that the Guitar Apprentice did so far was when you pressed any of the fret buttons, the iPad would play the appropriate musical notes. It actually worked well -- I could play chords or "pluck" specific frets with ease, though the mechanics were obviously different than playing a real guitar. Hopefully, if ION makes a solid app for the iPad, the controller will serve as a nice set of training wheels for anyone wanting to actually learn a little bit of guitar. The controller itself will be $99 when released, and the app will be available for free. ION had some really excellent offerings at CES this year -- the company seems bolstered by the iCade's success, so we can probably expect to see even more cool iOS products from ION Audio in the future.
Kno adds new smart textbook capabilities: Kno Me, gets to know you (video)
Remember those iPad textbooks from Kno? Well, conveniently in advance of that other education announcement this week, the company has added two new features to the edu-party: Kno Me and Kno Flashcards. The former is an interactive graphical dashboard that details your learning habits, such as time spent in a book, understanding of key terms and test grades -- perfect for nosey moms. Kno Flashcards, on the other hand, puts a new spin on the classic analog memory-jogger. Key points are automagically drawn from the book and compiled into cards, the software then uses metacognition, spaced repetition and episodic memory -- three terms that need flashcards right there -- to help you learn. Both are detailed in the video and PR after the break. Yes, there will be a quiz later.
What to expect from Apple's education event: Digital textbooks, 'GarageBand for ebooks'
The Wall Street Journal and Ars Technica have weighed in with information about Apple's upcoming education event. Both outlets cite the usual "people familiar with the matter" for their information, and their sources have generally given accurate info in the past. With those caveats out of the way, it's worth looking at what the WSJ and Ars have to say about Thursday's event. The Wall Street Journal confirms most of the past week's speculation and says Apple's education event will indeed focus on the launch of a new platform for digital textbooks. According to its sources, Apple has been working with textbook publishers on this new platform for quite some time; McGraw-Hill has been collaborating with Apple since at least June of 2011. Cengage Learning, a major player in textbooks for higher education, has worked with Apple in the past and will also attend the event. Reportedly the event will focus on a new type of digital textbook providing a greater degree of interactivity than has been offered in the past. The iPad is of course the perfect medium for consumption of such content, and the iTunes Store is a ready-made outlet for delivering that content. Apple has already provided all the tools for digital textbooks to get into the hands of teachers and students, with one exception: an easy way to create that digital content in the first place. Tools for creating ebooks from scratch or converting standard books into digital versions have traditionally been confusing to use, delivered inconsistent results, and haven't played well with anything more than basic multimedia integration. Speaking from my personal experience in trying to create a simple text-only ebook using iWork, I've longed for a simpler and more user-friendly tool; I can only imagine that textbook publishers have been clamoring for such a piece of software even more stridently. According to Ars Technica, Apple is set to deliver that final piece of the puzzle in crafting digital textbooks, which the site characterizes as sort of a "GarageBand for ebooks." Apple is expected to announce support for the EPUB 3 standard -- it currently supports EPUB 2 with some HTML5-based extensions to allow grafting of basic multimedia content onto ebooks. While this may render such ebooks incompatible with other ebook platforms (Kindle, most notably) it should also make it much easier for textbook makers to deliver interactive content in their ebooks. Both Ars's sources and people within the digital publishing industry agree that Apple is set to introduce a tool designed to make the process of creating digital content for ebooks as easy as GarageBand makes it to throw together a song on your Mac. While this lowering of the barrier for publishing could have some unintended consequences (I shudder to think that these kinds of tools might mean my ex-girlfriend's Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan fiction might reach a wider audience), the implications for bigger publishers like the major players in the textbook market are disruptive -- and lucrative. If The Wall Street Journal and Ars have it right, Thursday's event looks like a fairly big deal despite the lack of any new hardware. For the past 25 years (at least) we've been promised that technology would eventually revolutionize the classroom entirely, but it's only recently that the tools and means of delivery have existed to supplement or supplant the traditional dead-tree textbook. It sounds like that might be coming to pass at last.
Engadget Primed: What is aperture, and how does it affect my photos?
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. Last week I wrote a piece for Engadget Primed on image sensors -- arguably the most critical component of any digital camera, having a direct influence on the quality of each and every photo. In a completely different way, another component that controls and changes the look of your photographs is the aperture. To create amazing photos with impact takes much more than the will to capture them -- sadly we can't all be like Ashton Kutcher, snapping away at well-lit parties overrun with models. It's a multifaceted process; to have the desire to work for a shot, to make the effort to put yourself into position, and to know how to utilize the equipment you have in the best way possible. None of these skills are easy to master, yet just like a painter who knows how to use their brush, mastering the photographic tool that is your camera yields more opportunities to plaster that Google+ page with shots you're proud of. In this Primed installment, we'll define the mechanism, explain the concepts and share ways to better convey messages in our two-dimensional stills -- just by adjusting the aperture. Ready to dive in? It's all after the break.
MIT to launch MITx learning platform, offer free teaching materials in 2012
Want a degree from MIT without the expense or notoriously selective application process? Well, you're still out of luck, we're afraid, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's new MITx online learning system will at least give you a chance to access a variety of course materials for free. The institution will also make the MITx platform available to other schools for publishing their own content, and will even offer assessments with the option of earning a certificate of completion -- issued by a not-for-profit entity with a "distinct name to avoid confusion," of course. Naturally, "online-only non-MIT learners" will not have the same level of access as MIT students, who will also use the platform to access their own course material, but won't have the option of replacing an on-campus experience with exclusively online classes. MITx is scheduled to go live next spring, but you can get a head start on that fictional MIT degree by checking out OpenCourseWare, which has been serving up similar content for the better part of a decade.
YouTube launches education-only site, won't teach evolution of dance (video)
The bandages are barely off after a recent nip-tuck and the internet's biggest time sink is going under the knife again with its new YouTube EDU initiative. Imagine your favorite video site with all the fun stuff stripped off -- it's essentially that. Gone are comments and related videos, and all the non brain-enhancing stuff, leaving just what's good for the grey matter. Why? Well, in the VHS era teachers had control, but now it's a minefield. With its wealth of knowledge, YouTube is an obvious choice for educators, but with so many ways to get RickRolled, or catch-up on the latest keyboard cat, pupils' attention can be lost in seconds. The project has content provided by over 600 educational outlets such as TED and the Smithsonian, with subjects broken down into more than 300 teacher-friendly playlists. We're not sure if "national constitutions"is going to be one of them, but hit the promo video after the break to find out more.
Daily iPad App: Motion Math HD
Motion Math HD is an iPad-based learning game for elementary children. Developed at the Stanford School of Education, the learning game teaches your child the basics of fractions and the number line. To advance in the game, the child has to place fractions and decimals in their proper position on the number line. Unlike other learning apps which are more like flashcards, Motion Math is an immersive game with a story line and a goal. Unlike traditional games that require the player to collect gold or points to advance, Motion Math makes the player solve math problems. It requires him or her to think and move the iPad to play the game. You play as a fallen star who must return to its place in the sky. The star bounces along a number line and the child tilts the iPad to control the position of the bounce. During the game, fractions appear and the child must bounce the star near the fraction's place on the number line. The 1/2 requires you to bounce in the middle, the 3/4 towards the end, and so on. As you progress, the child has to solve problems like, "Is the fraction greater than or less than 1/2?" In some levels, the star is a pie that's partially filled. The child has to convert the fill to a fraction and bounce it on the number line. The child has to think quickly and move the star even faster which makes the game fun. Children earn points for correct bounces and they level up on a regular baisis. Each new level gets progressively harder and faster which makes the game challenging for both younger and older children. There's also three difficulty levels, so parents can customize the game to meet the learning level of the child. If the child has a hard time solving the problem, there's an arrow to help them pinpoint the bounce and divider lines to improve the accuracy. Motion Math HD is a clever learning game for kids. The game combines learning with action which challenges both your child's brain and their motor skills. It's fun to have to think fast about the fraction and move quickly to place the bounce. The game also has a variety of difficulty levels so you can find the perfect one for your child. This is a much overlooked feature, as it's frustrating to play a game that's too hard or too easy. My only complaint about the game is that it doesn't seem to save your child's progress. When I paused the game and exited, I had to start from the beginning. There's also no support for profiles, so all players share the same data and high scores. The game would be ideal if you could create a new profile for each child to follow his or her progress. Even without progress tracking and profile support, I still highly recommend Motion Math HD to parents of elementary school children. You can give the iPad to your child and not have to worry about them mindlessly tapping on a game. With Motion Math HD, your child is learning while playing. Motion Math HD is available for the iPad and costs US$2.99. There's also an iPhone version that costs $1.99.
Daily iPad App: Wild Chords
Wild Chords is a really amazing app -- at its absolute base, it's an excellent and easy-to-use guitar tuner, perfect for kids or adults. But the real magic of Wild Chords is in actually playing the guitar along with the main game; this game will teach you, chord by chord and string by string, how to strum away some really excellent tunes. The app very colorful and well-made -- its simplicity hints that it's for children, but even as a beginner-to-medium guitar player, it was never condescending. The app starts easy, with a quick tune-up and then just an open chord test, and things get harder from there. The basic idea is that you're playing along to tame animals, so you need to play the right chord as your in-game character passes them while walking down a street: Eventually you'll be playing the A chord to tame an Ape, and a C chord to tame a crocodile, and so on. The game even shows a really nice sense of musical wit: The A minor chord is portrayed by a sad ape, the A major is a happy ape, and so on. The other level type, meant to teach individual string plucking, features birds sitting on five different telephone wires, with each of them given a number. On that game, you're mean to hit the fret marked by their number, and then strum the string they're sitting on. It's a very nice visual way to show tablature, and it works great. The feedback isn't perfect -- strumming the birds just puts them to sleep, and that's not too instinctively positive. But once you get the feedback whether you're doing it right or not, it works. The best part of this is that all of the animals you're collecting and taming are all attached to real songs, so as you strum to hit the right notes, you're actually accompanying an original song on the iPad as you play. Even the first lesson of the open chord is included in this, so Wild Chords pulls off the impressive feat of going from no guitar experience to being able to play along with a song in seconds. The later songs are really great too -- unfortunately, there are no lyrics, and these are all original songs, not pop hits or even the "traditional" tunes most people learn early on in guitar lessons. But they're all very catchy across a nice variety of styles, and given that the game doesn't ever punish you for experimenting (as long as you hit the notes you're supposed to hit), you can improvise and play in between the beats all you want, and it all works great. That said, if you're already a guitar expert, this might not quite be challenging enough. While the levels do get tough (you can even demo the more advanced levels, just to see what they're like), expert guitar players might not find much to learn until the very last few areas. Still, I think what's there does fit in with what most amateur players would want to learn, and Wild Chords does a lot with very little. I don't know what note detection system they're using or how it was designed, but considering that I was simply using the iPad's microphone in a quiet room with no special connection or setup, I was impressed by how well the app detected what I was playing and rewarded me accordingly. And here's the real kicker: The app is completely free to play. There are a few in-app purchases for extra content, but there's enough content in there already that you'll know after downloading and playing with it for a while if you need any more levels. I haven't done a lot of shopping for guitar tuner apps on the App Store yet, so I'm sure there are more advanced or feature-filled tuners out there, but in my mind this tuner is nice and works well enough that it alone is worth downloading the app for. Wild Chords is a really excellent app for the iPad -- it has already won awards in Europe, but just recently arrived on the North American App Store. If you've got young ones who've been looking to start learning guitar, or wouldn't mind figuring out a few chords for yourself, grab a five-string and the app, and see what you think.
MIT unveils computer chip that thinks like the human brain, Skynet just around the corner
It may be a bit on the Uncanny Valley side of things to have a computer chip that can mimic the human brain's activity, but it's still undeniably cool. Over at MIT, researchers have unveiled a chip that mimics how the brain's neurons adapt to new information (a process known as plasticity) which could help in understanding assorted brain functions, including learning and memory. The silicon chip contains about 400 transistors and can simulate the activity of a single brain synapse -- the space between two neurons that allows information to flow from one to the other. Researchers anticipate this chip will help neuroscientists learn much more about how the brain works, and could also be used in neural prosthetic devices such as artificial retinas. Moving into the realm of "super cool things we could do with the chip," MIT's researchers have outlined plans to model specific neural functions, such as the visual processing system. Such systems could be much faster than digital computers and where it might take hours or days to simulate a simple brain circuit, the chip -- which functions on an analog method -- could be even faster than the biological system itself. In other news, the chip will gladly handle next week's grocery run, since it knows which foods are better for you than you ever could.
Robot dragon teaches kids language skills, battles impulse to terrorize city
Did you have trouble learning language skills at a young age? It's probably because you didn't have the right teacher. And by "the right teacher," we mean the right robotic dragon, naturally. This cuddly little mythical beast is the joint creation of researchers at Northeastern University, MIT and Harvard -- some of whom were behind the decidedly creepier Nexi bot. It's part of a National Science Foundation-funded program to help young children learn language skills, suggesting that forming a bond with a teacher plays an important role in the educational process. The dragon will be brought to preschool classes to help test out this hypothesis. Hopefully a robotic knight will also be on-hand, just in case.
Daily iPad App: iBuild ABCs
iBuild ABCs is a children's game that helps youngsters learn their letters and improve their fine motor skills. It's designed for young children and its gameplay is appropriately simple. There are 26 letters that are exploded into three to five parts made of different building materials like wood, pipes or steel. The child must build each letter by arranging the parts on a virtual blueprint. Each part of the letter will match the blueprint diagram perfectly and there are holes to help the child line things up. There are also hinges and bolts that must be placed on the letter to hold it together. The iPad learning game has nice big interface that's perfect for the small hands of a two to four-year-old child. And it has just enough sound effects and verbal rewards to keep the game interesting, not loud and annoying. It's a great game for the pre-school child, as long as you don't mind handing over your iPad to your three-year-old. iBuild ABCs is available from the App Store for a very reasonable 99-cents.
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about AFK progression?
AFK progression is an accepted part of many MMOs these days. Crafting in Fallen Earth can be set up, started, and done while you're logged out. Come back after a certain amount of time and you've got a new vehicle and a load of XP. The newly-launched Glitch is another example -- you can learn your skills while you're doing other things in game, and learning continues while you're logged out. There are various other methods set up by developers here and there for players to advance while they're afk and logged out. On one hand, it makes quite a bit of sense. If crafting a vehicle in Fallen Earth takes over a full calendar day, for example, it can seem a little unreasonable to expect a player to sit there and work on it the entire time. On the other hand, many players argue that it's unreasonable to reward players for not playing the game. What do you think? Hit the comment button and let us know!
Scientists prove that active exploration isn't required to create memories, +1 for 2D learning
In a small victory for gamers and TV junkies everywhere, scientists found that viewing 2D images helped create long-term memories, meaning that visual media can help your learn. To form lasting memories, nerve cells normally experience "long-term potentiation" and "long-term depression" -- both essential for learning. Researchers found that long-term depression was achieved when they let rats actively wander around a new environment. When they replaced the explorable area with a computer screen, the same memory-making phenomenon still occurred. The study's conclusion? Video games and TV shows can help us learn, similarly to traditional non-electronic methods. Of course, there are concerns that visual media overload could lead to shorter attention spans, interfere with lessons taught at school and... oh look! A cat! Check out the full findings by hitting the source link below.
Reading Rainbow roaring back with RRKidz iPad app, 'disruptive' ebook technology in tow
LeVar Burton may best be known 'round these parts for his role in Star Trek, but he'll soon be known as the guy who made childhood reading relevant again. It wasn't that long ago that today's up-and-coming adults were soaking up all sorts of useful knowledge during their summers, glued to a PBS station and doing their darndest to climb inside of mum's CRT television. And now, their kids will be doing likewise -- but with an iPad. Burton has plans to produce an educational RRKidz iOS app that enables readers to "explore topics of interest in a multimedia-rich environment, with voice-over-enhanced children's books, familiar videos of Burton at real-life places, and games." In order to do so, he's planning a "disruptive" technology that'll bolster a conventional PDF book with basic animations, voice-overs and games "in a matter of hours." There's no specific time table on a release, but we're guessing Burton's moving along as usual pace: Mach 5.
iPad-enabled students get performance boost, says ACU study
From special-needs classrooms to textbook publishers to free lesson movements, anxious IT administrators to Irish principals to K-12 thought leaders: education loves the iPad. Apple has even taken up the learning banner in an iPad TV ad. For all the enthusiasm (and budget resources) focused on the "magical and revolutionary" tablet, however, there's not much rigorous research yet on how, or if, the iPad is helping students learn more effectively. One group that's trying to quantify these benefits is the ACU Connected mobile learning program at Abilene Christian University, which has been working for more than three years to identify the specific advantages of student mobility with a new generation of devices. This week, ACU will announce some of its study results for the iPad while welcoming seven new research fellows studying the impact of digital mobility on education. The research results, previewed exclusively for TUAW, are uniformly positive. In one study, students who annotated text on their iPads scored 25% higher on questions regarding information transfer than their paper-based peers. In a separate project covering iPad usage patterns, two researchers studying ACU's first all-digital class discovered that the iPad promotes "learning moments" and helps students make more efficient use of their time. Grad students working in an online program reported a 95% satisfaction rate for online iPad-based coursework. As far as the ACU studies are concerned, the iPad in education is a success story. Of course, no two learners are exactly alike, and the iPad isn't ideal for every education challenge; nevertheless, the ACU teams have found a lot of upside so far. We'll be checking in with them this week for a full interview about the research programs and the opportunities for educational transformation around mobile computing.
Dublin City University adopts Chromebooks -- time to go streaking through the quad!
Instead of handing out cheap mugs (or iPads... or iPods) and sending students on their merry way, administrators at Dublin City University will be showering incoming freshmen with free Chromebooks -- in doing so, it'll become the first European higher-education institution to adopt the device. As you probably recall, Google's always-connected laptops have gone through various incarnations throughout the years, but they've always included a dash of WiFi or 3G and a pinch of hasty boot -- intentionally ditching local storage for the cloud. The Google Chromebooks for Education partnership is said to support DCU's commitment to make 80 percent of its classes partially or fully online by 2013, allowing coeds to stay in their Scooby Doo pajamas or attend class from Pi Kappa Delta HQ. Now, if only the dining hall supported online ordering...
IBM's cognitive computing chip functions like a human brain, heralds our demise (video)
After having created a supercomputer capable of hanging with Jeopardy's finest, IBM has now taken another step toward human-like artificial intelligence, with an experimental chip designed to function like a real brain. Developed as part of a DARPA project called SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics), IBM's so-called "neurosynaptic computing chip" features a silicon core capable of digitally replicating the brain's neurons, synapses and axons. To achieve this, researchers took a dramatic departure from the conventional von Neumann computer architecture, which links internal memory and a processor with a single data channel. This structure allows for data to be transmitted at high, but limited rates, and isn't especially power efficient -- especially for more sophisticated, scaled-up systems. Instead, IBM integrated memory directly within its processors, wedding hardware with software in a design that more closely resembles the brain's cognitive structure. This severely limits data transfer speeds, but allows the system to execute multiple processes in parallel (much like humans do), while minimizing power usage. IBM's two prototypes have already demonstrated the ability to navigate, recognize patterns and classify objects, though the long-term goal is to create a smaller, low-power chip that can analyze more complex data and, yes, learn. Scurry past the break for some videos from IBM's researchers, along with the full press release.
Discount education-only iMac appears, makes you wish you'd opened that institute of higher learning
A new $999 iMac popped up on Apple's site this week -- great news if you or someone you love owns an educational establishment. The cheap education-only all-in-one boasts a 21.5 inch display, a 3.1GHz Intel Core i3 processor, and 250GB of storage. As MacRumors points out, however, there's no mention of a Thunderbolt port amongst the specs listed, so maybe this whole running a school thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.
