OLDaily

A Taxonomy of Blockchain Technologies: Principles of Identification and Classification
Paolo Tasca, Claudio J. Tessone, Ledger, 2019/02/15

This paper (39 page PDF) doesn't talk about the applications of Bitcoin or Ethereum, nor even about the specifics of particular currencies. Instead it looks at blockchain (aka 'distributed ledger') technologies in general, identifies major types of features, and creates a taxonomy using them. Features include, for example, identity management, consensus, or fee and reward systems. As such it's a good overview of the underlying technologies, though it will require some familiarity with blockchain to read. The taxonomy looks good to me and accords generally with what I've seen extant. The circular diagram used as an overview in the paper isn't very readable; it would have been nice had they produced a table.

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Augmented Reality based Educational Design for Children
Minghui Sun, Xinyu Wu, Zhihua Fan, Liyan Dong, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 2019/02/15

This paper (10 page PDF) considers several aspected of augmented reality (AR) design: the sort of detection needed (which, in this case, does not use depth, but merely focuses on fingertips), and the sort interaction that should be supported (based on interviews with children). This is framed in the context of work with a motion controller called Leap Motion, "which can specifically recognize fingers and interact with gestures." The paper's results should be considered prelimiary only, but it does offer a good example of where the domains of AR and human computer interaction (HCI) come together.

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Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Education. Myth or Reality?
Noureddine Elmqaddem, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 2019/02/15

This paper (9 page PDF) makes the very good point that virtual relaity (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have been around for decades and haven't produced any great revolution in education to date. So why should we believe recent pronouncements about the coming ascendancy of these old technologies. Noureddine Elmqaddem argues (with examples) that recent advances in these technologies will move them from educational myth to reality. "What has been said till now about these technologies does not show their actual potential. It is just scratching the surface of what they will allow us to do in the near future." Image: Wikipedia.

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Future Skills Centre awarded to Ryerson-led bid
Ryerson University, 2019/02/15

This is a press release from Ryerson. "Ryerson University, the Conference Board of Canada and Blueprint were selected to partner and operate Canada’s new Future Skills Centre. The Future Skills Centre will operate at arm’s length from the Government of Canada to fund projects across Canada that develop, test and measure new approaches to skills assessment and development. ... The Council will provide advice to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour on emerging skills and workforce trends including national and regional priorities related to skills development for Canadians." See also: Future Skills, Future Skills Council, Future Skills Centre, Government of Canada news release. Image: Narcity.

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