The Singularity is near

I have been reading The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil This has been a fascinating read and I have been really challenged in my perceptions about what the future may hold.  It is particularly interesting to read it almost 10 years after publication, because I am seeing many of his predictions shown wrong, but only in the timing.  He predicted Google Glass but was off by how soon it would be available and adopted.  He predicted ubiquitous broadband WiFi which is getting there but hasn't quite reached it.  His is only wrong in the very minor details of timing.

Today I was reading the chapter about trading in our bodies for Human 2.0.  I have joked about when the robopocalypse happens, I am switching sides.  I will ask them to download me into a machine and I will join the robots.  Kurzweil says I am not far wrong, but the biggest idea that hit me today was the concept of Virtual Reality and Real Reality as he refers to it all the time in the book.  Some might want to juxtapose Virtual Reality with Physical Reality.  As we spend more and more of our time in virtualized experiences of movies, games, and social networking sites, we are developing communities friends and experiences that are no less real for having taken place only in our mind.  Even physical reality is our minds interpretation of the molecular and energetic reactions around us.

But I like the terms Cognitive Reality versus Corporeal Reality.  If what Kurzweil argues comes to pass by 2040 or 2050 many humans will have transcended mere biological intelligence. I see this happening already.  I have a much deeper memory than my ancestors because I have thousands of photos recording specific moments with clarity that my ancestors could not have.  I have in essence expanded my intelligence/memory by offloading it to digital space.  Kurzweil predicts that this will happen with our bodies as well.  We will exist as individuals in the cloud, to use today's term, and when needed will use a variety of nanobots and holograms to generate a corporeal presence for any number of reasons.  This really highlights the contrast between Cognitive Reality and Corporeal Reality.  Something I experience only in my mind is no less real than something I experience with a body.  This could include our communities and other experiences.  It makes me really wonder how we will value all relationships and experiences when we can download them.

UEN.org

This week it's all about the overhaul on the UEN website.  As a disclaimer I do work for UEN which is a non-profit state agency.  That having been said, I would promote this resource regardless if I worked for them or not.  UEN provides and curates some of the best resources for education in the world not to say anything of the state. UEN has worked hard to be a recognizable presence in Utah.  The site has long had a recognizable Purple and Green color scheme. One that has been maintained in the new site.  But with a fresher and newer feel.  Additionally there are new features like auto resizing as you shrink the window and enhanced mobile features at m.uen.org

But since the change has moved around a few favorite pages. Here is a list of some of the hottest UEN pages, maybe there are some here you haven't seen:

1. The UEN Resources Page, a list of resources built by and for UEN: http://www.uen.org/k12educator/uenresources.php 
2. The UEN Multimedia Resource page: http://www.uen.org/general_learner/multimedia_resources.shtml 
3. The UEN Curriculum Search page: http://www.uen.org/curriculumsearch/searchParams.action
4. The UEN Student Interactives, a curated list of great interactive websites, see a problem, see a site that should be there Contact Us and we will get right on it: http://www.uen.org/k12student/interactives.shtml 
5. The UEN Homework Help page: http://www.uen.org/k12student/homework.shtml

These are just a few of the great pages provided as part of the UEN.org site.  Visit the site and plan on spending some time getting reacquainted after the remodel.

9 Tools for Back to School

Here are my 9 suggestions for things you need for back to school:

1. Your own website: Try my.uen.org as a good too for building a free website, or one of my other favorites, Google Sites, Weebly or EduTecher.
2. Cloud Storage: again, my.uen.org where you can store up to 3GB of files depending on your status.  You can also store files in SkyDrive, Google Drive or DropBox
3. Twitter: A Twitter account as a way to get connected to fellow teachers.  Follow #edchat, or any of these. Also follow @uenpd and @uennews and #uennews. Try Paper.li if Twitter feels a bit overwhelming. You can create your own "Newspaper" based on hashtags you like.
4. A tablet: If your district hasn't provided a tablet, then you can pick one. At this point you can pick your flavor. Make sure your district is ok with you bringing in your own device. But then a Kindle Fire, Android Tablets, Nook and iOS devices all allow you to interact with students, keep track of data and generally make you more efficient.
5. Class Dojo: This is fast becoming one of my favorite suggestions.  Since so many people have a
   
   smart device (see above) thiswebsite and accompanying App is a huge favorite. You can add in your students and then use the app to give both positive and negative points.  You can then share a code for parents and students to login.  Students can then track their behavior.  I saw one teacher who had a posted a rewards list from 10 points to 250 points. 10 points to change your Avatar to 250 points for a week without homework BONUS: The default avatars for your kids - Little Monsters!
6. Evernote: The ultimate in notetaking apps. There
   
   are alternatives to his and there are some good reasons to use them.  Microsoft's OneNote is an exceptional Tool and allows you to keep in Sync with SkyDrive and a variety of Apps. But EverNote has quickly become my favorite because it has an app for the desktop on both Mac and PC also lots of other tools will let you do just about everything you want.  My favorite technique is to use the Page feature to take a photo of physical handouts.  Using Optical Character Recognition Evernote's servers will let you search the contents of the photo you just snapped.
7. Easel.ly:  This is a great tool for creating visual resources.  It can make a great disclosure, procedures or even a graphic organizer for taking notes, both teachers and students can create with it.
8. Online Multimedia: Prezi, Glogster, Google Slides, and PowerPoint Web App all allow you to create multimedia presentations and share them online.  Check them out for some great resources.
9. Finally, Check out UEN.org for a newly updated look and feel and visit one of my favorite pages: http://www.uen.org/k12educator/uenresources.php for a list of all that UEN provides for teachers.

Gravity Defying Beads

What are some ways you might be able to use this in your classroom?

mapsengine Lite

Google Maps has been undergoing some changes and improvements over the last little while.  For years, I have used the My Places features in Maps to create maps and geospatial learning activities.  It has been wonderful.

It currently looks like it is changing.  Google recently release https://mapsengine.google.com/map/ which allows users to generate simple 3 layer maps for personal and non-profit purposes.  Now don't be mislead by the term 'simple' these maps are simple in comparison with what some complex and expensive mapping systems can do, but they are more capable than the features in the My Places currently available.  While My Places allows multiple maps to be displayed at the same time and it currently appears that Mapsengine will not allow multiple maps.  This means that before I could create unlimited personal Layers, but now I can create multiple layers to share with others.  There are also features available in Google Earth and the Google Maps API for business that can be paid for.  There are options for getting some of these on an educational grant basis

The big take home here isn't actually the features or a comparison, but it's the fact that we have a tool that far exceeds what any previous generation has had for creating maps.  Like so many other things, the skills, tools, and capacities of the everyman(and everywoman) have been expanded.  In generations past it took vast training, high level skills both technical and theoretical to create accurate maps.  Now like photography, video editing, mathematics, arithmetic and web design, there are freely available tools that allow each of us to do more.  It is wonderful to live in a time where more and more is created to allow everyone to do more.