The Turn
Aaron Silvers, Weblog, December 27, 2012.

Interesting post from Aaron Silvers describing the (potential) benefits of ADL's Experience API. "My pledge to you was that Experience API would be able to do everything SCORM does, but better. That is still absolutely true. The turn is that doing this isn’t so much a benefit in and of itself — the benefit to the organization is different than you’ve been able to realize with the tools most of us use today." Still waiting for the Prestige.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: SCORM, Metadata]

MOOCs – The revolution has begun, says Moody’s
Sarah King Head, Universit World News, December 27, 2012.

According to this article, "A new report by Moody’s Investors Service suggests that while MOOCs’ exploitation of expanded collaborative networks and technological innovation will benefit higher education in the United States as a whole, their long-term effect on the for-profit sector and smaller not-for-profit institutions could be damaging." I think they under-estimate the power of inertia.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: United States, Networks, Paradigm Shift]

This Is How Lytro Takes 'Living Pictures'
Bob Al-Greene, Mashable, December 27, 2012.

The phrase 'living pictures' is nice marketing, but the development of light-field photography is genuinely revolutionary. The concept is actually fairly simple: where you would normally make selections when you take a photograph - you might focus on a specific object, for example - the light-field camera captures all the light available at the time, allowing you to make these selections after you've captured the image. Digital photographers make numerous selections when they take a picture - they select depth-of-field, white balance, focal point, and more. It's easy to mae a mistake (trust me). Light-field photography allows you to make the right choice later (somehow Future Shop obtained an exclusive license to sell them in Canada, and naturally they're sold out).

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Marketing, Canada, Paradigm Shift]