High-speed Internet

I recently returned from a surf safari in Central America. It was a rather relaxing trip. For the first time in many, many years, I was, more or less, turned off. For once, I was not teaching an online course, or required to support software or build a new course or software component. I even took a break from doing research. Instead, with the exception of my Kindle and my smartphone for occasional email checkups, I got to enjoy my vacation as it should be, free of social networking, blogging and, well, work!

Be that as it may, I was still somewhat shocked by the internet speeds in Nicaragua. While I was not expecting blazing-fast speeds, I was expecting moderate speeds. Yet what I encountered was bandwidth barely sustainable for music streaming through Google Music. And attempting to stream a Netflix movie was just about impossible.

Even though I was thankful for being unplugged, I found the lack of high-speed broadband disconcerting. As an information scientist, I like to think that equal access to data can be a great global equalizer, particularly for developing nations. There is such a great hope that one day all people will have access to laptops and the Internet, to be able to search and explore people and places outside their own. Unfortunately, the world still has a ways to go. I am hopeful that with such initiative as the 1 laptop per child initiative along with WiMax and cellular technologies, greater access to information at higher speeds will begin to flow to these countries. I guess only time will tell. And I’ll send an update from Peru next year!

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A Twitter Discussion Board for Education

I recently completed another HICSS paper using data I collected this past school year. HICSS, which stands for the Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences, is the premier conference in my field. It is always difficult when deciding to submit to HICSS because with a little more detail, a HICSS paper can easily be converted into a journal publication. Yet HICSS remains a great platform for sharing ideas, and I hope to continue my contributions for some time to come.

My 2012 HICSS paper is centered on a new design I implemented for online learning communities, which allows students to make Twitter posts, or tweets, and those tweets feed directly into my installation of Elgg. Elgg is an open source tool written in PHP/MySql and has been a great platform to experiment with different social media tools in the classroom. In the past I have experimented with blogging, tagging and ratings. I even developed a recommender engine based on user-generated content.

This past year I experimented with discussion boards. More specifically, I integrated Twitter with Elgg’s discussion board. The results were fantastic and students stated that the combination of Twitter and the discussion board really helped to foster interaction, community and learning.

Right now, my paper is under review and I won’t receive confirmation for another month or so, but I remain optimistic that the paper will be received well. In the meantime, I am hard at work on a more comprehensive paper that I hope to submit to an upper-level academic journal. The paper will chronicle the complete design process and include new data collected during this past spring and summer. I also hope to include an in-depth social network analysis that compares online learning and blended learning. Stay tuned for more!

Citations
B. Thoms. “Perceptions and Outcomes of Microblogging in Higher Education.” Journal of Information Technology Education (JITE), v11, 2012.
B. Thoms. “Integrating Blogging and Microblogging to Foster Learning and Social Interaction in Online Learning Communities,” Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 45), Jan., 2012, Maui, HI.

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The Facebook Debacle

Maybe Facebook should try adopting the phrase, “Don’t be evil.” Or maybe it would be better to state, “Don’t be greedy.”

My experience with the Facebook IPO comes with five-years of experience working on Wall Street. Is anyone really shocked at what happened? Well, we should and we shouldn’t be.

Wall Street is a big greasy machine (and feel free to replace greasy with just about any other pejorative term). So what happened a week ago today shouldn’t come as such a shock. But still it does, because at some level, we have to trust the capitalist markets that fuel our society.

I initially wanted to get in early on the Facebook IPO. After missing Google’s dutch auction, I didn’t want to miss another exciting technology company. However, and much to my chagrin, IPO shares are not initially available to the public, at least initially. Rather, they are offered to select account holders, possibly those with large net worth, or maybe even frequent traders.

Now, I’m glad I missed the boat, because who knew it was a sinking ship. But it’s not because of the price drop. Stock prices will rise and stock prices fall. But these peaks and troughs are usually based on earnings reports and market speculations, not because of a grossly over-valuation of a company. Shame on you Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs! And shame on you Facebook.

The entire purpose of an IPO is to acquire new funding for future growth. That said, the stock price should closely reflect the value of the company. How the underwriters handled this valuation is disgraceful and places another red mark against an already tarnished Wall Street.

In the end, I eventually purchased some modest shares of Facebook stock, but well below the IPO price (even if the stock is currently 6% below even what I paid). I think the company is innovative and has captured the interest of the entire world. And now, I would like to see what they can do with my money.

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Kindle E-Reader

I just wanted to follow up on my original post about e-readers versus tablets (here: http://blog.socialxyz.com/?p=87).

It has been a little under a month since my Kindle Touch 3G (above) arrived. And so far, so good. I am just wrapping up my first e-book and have enjoyed the experience so far.

A couple of great features…

When I read books, I often write down vocabulary I don’t know and electronically look them up at a later point. With the Kindle, I can directly access the dictionary, which is a great feature.

The size of the device is just about perfect. While I can see the size and weight a problem for some folks, for me it works really well. My hand gets no more exhausted holding this device than any 300-page paper-back book and it fits nice and snug into my back pocket (on most pants anyway). The cover does add some bulk, but I figure it is worth it for some layer of protection. And the light is critical. Whether I am reading in a dimly-lit bar, or in bed, the LED is critical for preventing eyestrain. I will say, though, that the bottom-right corner of pages is not as bright as other parts of the screen.

The experimental browser is also interesting, but I rarely use it. I was able to check my Gmail and browse Wikipedia, so that was nice, but not optimal. Wikipedia is available using the free 3G, so that was nice, at least for me, since I sometimes go to Wikipedia to read some background on current events.

Minor Design Flaws…

I have heard some complaints about the slow page turning of the Kindle Touch. Personally, I like just a little bit of lag. After all, when reading print books there is a lot of lag as we turn the page and refocus our eyes back to the top.

Additionally, I have heard complaints about the temperament of the touch interface. I definitely experienced this frustration early on. However, I was able to correct for this annoyance by adapting my behavior page-turn behavior. Now, I adopt a swipe motion.

The one thing I am very disappointed about is the incompatibility of the kindle with other e-books, including many books from Project Gutenberg . While I understand completely why Amazon does not play nice with third-party e-book formats, I wish they would. There may come a time when Google Books can compete with Amazon’s library, providing lower costs in the process. I just think it is only fair that all e-readers are capable of playing the popular epub format. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. So far I have noticed a few books marginally (5%) cheaper on Google than Amazon, which is kind of annoying.

If you read this and plan to get a Kindle, my recommendations are,

1) Get the subsidized version. The only time ads would appear are when the device is off. And, if you are like me, you have a cover so you’ll never see the ads anyway.

2) Unless you read a book a week and need access to the Kindle Store on demand, don’t bother with free 3G. In some respects, I was hoping for my reading pace to pick up, which it might after I finish a couple print books, so maybe my feelings on this will change.

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Tablet or E-reader?

Hmmm. After leaving yet another unfinished book somewhere on the wild streets of Manhattan (specifically, in between Carnegie Hall and the Port Authority), I have decided to invest in a more sophisticated method for obtaining literature. The decision, however, was tough. I have long debated the tablet and in fact purchased one last summer. After a brief stint configuring and enjoying some of the many features of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, I returned it due to a small oil-slick defect with the screen. Now, six months later I am giving it another go, but this time I am going to try the Amazon Kindle.

I’ll be the first to advocate the tablet and its ability to deliver an amazing multimedia experience, but a few things worried me. The first was with the battery life, which may provide you 8 hours. The last thing I want when reading a book or newspaper in a cafe or in the park is to worry about charging my device. And from everything I have read the Amazon Kindle Touch gets impressive battery life, which is like 24+ hours of something insane. Additionally, the goal of this device is to force me to read more ‘books’. Should I have invested in a tablet, you betcha, I would be playing Angry Birds or watching movies, which I still love, but will reserve for late night mind-numbing goodness.

All said, I have yet to receive my new gadget, but I am excited. My father once told me how he remembered my older brother, at the ripe old age of 5, say that the waiting was the best part, even if Tom Petty says it’s also the hardest. Either way, I look forward to the easy access to timeless classics out of copyright and available for free in the Kindle Bookstore. I have tried to read these ebooks on my smartphone and on my computer, but the experience just wasn’t there and my interest quickly waned. The E-ink touchscreen is supposedly marvelous and equal to the experience of reading paper. I will include a follow up to this post after I have had the opportunity to test it out…

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