March 23, 2011
FitFu Turns Your iPhone Into an Exercise Motivation Tool
Ben Parr,
Mashable, March 23, 2011.
A fitness iPhone app may seem a bit chintzy, but it's worth taking a few seconds to ponder where this is headed. The application allows you to set up a fitness schedule and goals, then calls you to remind you when to do some exercising. It uses the iPhone's built-in accelerometer to count your reps out loud and cheer you on when you meet your goals. Yes, it all sounds corny. But it's also a nice blend of input and feedback. How long before apps are included in devices you want to work with, like guitars, golf clubs and fishing rods? We are much closer to ubiquitous learning than you may think.
No one uses the phone anymore
Jason Kottke,
Kottke.org, March 23, 2011.
Finally, the world is catching up to my own perspective on telephones. Kottke: "They text, they email, they IM, but increasingly the phone call is too intrusive of a communication option for many... "I remember when I was growing up, the rule was, 'Don't call anyone after 10 p.m.,'" Mr. Adler said. "Now the rule is, 'Don't call anyone. Ever.'" I have always hated that aspect of phoning people, that you would be interrupting whomever you called, no matter what they were doing.
Rushkoff to Google: Don't Give Up on the Humans
Douglas Rushkoff,
Weblog, March 23, 2011.
In this 55 minute presentation, Douglas Rushkoff tells Google employees, "Don't give up on the humans." He writes, "It was a very strange experience for me – being in the belly of the borg itself, a true corporation in its own right, but a place that feels almost idealistic when I compare it with what I've experienced of Facebook."
How Learners Can Be On Top of Their Game: An Interview with James Paul Gee (Part One)
Henry Jenkins,
Confessions of an Aca-Fan, March 23, 2011.
James Paul Gee is one of the better-known experts in games in learning. This interview by Henry Jenkins is short but useful. Part One, Part Two. Here's Gee: "The principles of "good games" and of "good learning" are the same, by and large. This is so, of course, because games are just well designed problem-solving spaces with feedback and clear outcomes and that is the most essential thing for real, deep, and consequential learning."
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