Wolfram Alpha - Making the world's knowledge computable - Now What?

See ya later great knowledge memorizers of the world, and hello great knowledge appliers of the world. Is it me or are the people inhabiting this third rock from the sun, connecting, computing, and collecting knowledge like nothing we've ever seen before. Well, except for maybe the time we humans tried building that Tower of Babel, which ended up not working out so well. Introducing.... Wolfram Alpha, a powerful computational knowledge engine that seeks to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by ANYONE. Connect this to a mobile device and we become walking and talking systematic knowledge carriers. We've had access to knowledge via the internet for quite some time, but this immediate access to systematic knowledge is something a little newer and worth pondering. I wonder if teachers will FINALLY stop creating tests that assess our students ability to memorize facts and start testing the application of those facts to solve real world problems. I'm especially looking at Universities to take up this challenge. With tools like Wolfram Alpha and Google Squared available to us, educational institutions should start building curriculum with the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in mind. Maybe instructional designers could start with the fact that humans have access to just about all the available knowledge in the world and build from there. It sounds kind of funny, but it's true. This doesn't mean everyone understands the knowledge, but for the first time in history we do have easy access to it. Therefore, it is crucial we teach students where to find the knowledge, and then help them develop the skills to apply, analyse, synthesize, and evaluate it. We need to re-think assessment and skill acquisition for this day and age in this Knowledge Economy. It's time for schools to build curriculum that challenge us to really engage in the application of knowledge and not the memorization of definitions, forumulas, and factoids. That's lazy instruction. Yes, there is a place for memorizing in education...It is a good idea for teachers to memorize their students' names and interests. Personally, I don't care how great of a memorizor my accountant is. I want to know if that person can think about whole systems and solve financial problems that can save me money. What does it mean for you to have access to the world's systematic knowledge? How will you apply it? What does it mean for schools? How can they apply tools like Wofram Alpha and Google Squared to their curriculum. What does it mean for businesses? What do you think?

Do you want to know how people learn? Watch them play Little Big Planet

Little Big Planet (LBP) is a wildly successful game for the PlayStation 3 and at this point, it is one of a kind. Think Web 2.0 for gaming. The game unleashes the creative power of the user and enables worldwide collaboration. Gamers can play a variety of levels that the game developers created and compete with PS3 gamers worldwide, but that's not the best part. LBP also enables users to create their own games within little big planet and share them with the worldwide community, thus enabling an infinite amount of games since everyone is connected via the PS3 network. The creativity of the games you can create are pretty much limited to your own imagination. I have seen people replicate versions of Mario Brothers, Zelda, and even Metal Gear. I think there are over 300,000 worlds to explore at the time of this blog post. Some are awesome and others are junk, but just like Web 2.0 there is a way to filter the good from the bad (think digg). You can heart your favorites, tag the levels with key words such as "weird", "fun", "dumb" "beautiful", etc. You can also search for levels by name, category, ranking etc (think google). Also, you can report levels that are hateful/inappropriate and the game developers will remove them. Adding this functionality to gaming also gives motivation for users to build awesome levels and become a well known LBP designer. Not to mention it is a great outlet for aspiring game designers to get some practice, get noticed, and show the world what you got.

Web 2.0 took the world by storm by empowering the user to not only consume content but to become a content creator. In addition Web 2.0 harnesses the collective intelligence of communities to make things better (ie. ebay ranking system, amazon reviews, etc). The "we is greater than me" mentality. The genius of LBP is that they have been able to apply this concept to gaming. Yes, you can become a content creator in LBP. You might be wondering how people could possibly create their own games in Little Big Planet? That's got to be incredibly complex and time consuming! Right?

Well, this is where educators really need to pay attention. It's not just about entertainment, it's about engagement, motivation, and creation. Users do have a LOT of information they need to learn before they are able to create a game of there own, but learning in LBP is fun, exploratory, interactive, engaging, and empowering. Here is their learning road map. First, they tell you the story of Little Big Planet and have you perform a few basic moves such as run, jump, smile, frown, etc to set your expectations. (the best communicators are always good story tellers). Then, they have you play about five levels of LBP that the creators made so that you get a feel for what the worlds look like and what you can do in the worlds (play, interactive examples, deeper understanding). Third, they give you a planet of your own to create your own levels on, but before you can do everything, they have you complete interactive tutorials along the way to obtain the tools necessary to create the world (learn by doing). For example, if I want to add music to my level, I need to know how to place a music box on the screen and tweek the settings so that it plays when I want it to. LBP scaffolds your learning as one experience builds on the next experience and each gradually becoming more complex than the next. I think the game has been a successful experiment in exposing the stregths of ideas such as connectivism, creative problem solving, and participative pedagogy as is fact that it is the most popular PS3 game available and it very learning intensive. I think Michael Wesch should get a bunch of PS3's for his classroom and do some major experiments with this game ;-) (on a side note: I'm looking forward to his keynote at the University System of Ohio LLT Conference as well as giving my own presentation at the conference titled, "University 2.0: How BGSU Leveraged Open Source Technologies to Create a Web 2.0 Learning Landscape." Hope to see you there.)

People really have fun exploring, learning, creating, and sharing their worlds with other people. Users spend much time playing, learning, and creating. Maybe this is model of explore/play > learn >create >share does not have to be limited to video games but could actually be applied to education in general. What do you think? How can this be accomplished?

Google goes 3D with Google Lively

Google Lively is Google's move into the 3d world. One thing that is neat about google lively is that after you download the installer, it runs in the browser and allows people to place their virtual rooms on their blog or websites. Therefore, I could put a link to my virtual world on TerenceOnline and you could meet me in the 3d realm of my blog. That's kind of neat. Another neat feature about the system is the kind of animation the characters can do, specifically fighting moves. It's kind of funny to watch a bunch of avatars throw each other around in a virtual space, though I'm not sure there is much educational value in it. If you are interested in 3d worlds, go ahead and check it out. This is Beta so they are working out the bugs. How do you think it compares to other virtual environments such as Second Life and Small Worlds? What educational advantages do these environments provide for students? Let us know what you think.

Info from the website:

Create an avatar and chat with your friends in rooms you design

Requires Windows Vista/XP with Internet Explorer or Firefox
By using Lively you agree to these Terms

Create your own virtual space

Chat and interact with your friends in rooms you design

Express yourself

Customize your avatar and stream personal photos and video

Add your room to your site

Invite your friends to chat and help decorate

[an island in google lively]

Small Worlds - A simple yet powerful MUVE

Small Worlds is a simple, neat, fun, and "potentially" educational virtual world that doesn't require any downloading and installing of special software such as in Second Life. According to the developers, "SmallWorlds brings together the best aspects of online games, instant messaging, social networks and digital media, and wraps them into a persistent 3D virtual world." It's very easy to use and the graphics are pretty cool too. It kind of reminds me of the Nintendo Wii in some aspects. You can play mini golf, shoot pool, watch youtube videos, import your flickr photo album, etc. It might be an easier way for online students to hang out in a MUVE (multi user virtual environment) because there is no special software and getting around is quite easy. Plus, it might be cool to have office hours with your instructor over a game of pool or mini-golf. The gaming aspect of Small Worlds has great potential since the entire site is Flash based. Plus, they are opening up their API to flash developers so the games and widgets will probably be pretty cool; and if educators get a hold of it, I think they could develop some pretty neat educational materials as well. Go ahead and check it out and let us know what you think. My avatar's name is Ter Rock. I think a lot of research still needs to be done to discover what educational scenario's are most beneficial in the MUVE environment. What are your thoughts?