Principles of iMedia Class - Week Four Conference

Today, Manu and Fabiano led our group in a discussion about Mobility and its implications. Again this week, the class turned out to be a really positive experience and they did a great job. So first of all, well done guys! This semester we are learning in a very different way - through blogging, Moodle etc and even our ‘reading’ for these weekly conferences have included watching a film, clips from youtube etc. We are learning in a very creative and diverse way and as there are different people leading the discussions each week, i think we will find even more ways to do this. In Manu and Fabianos preparatory paper they had asked some questions such as the pros and cons of being mobile, how is mobile technology changing human behaviour can mobile learning substitute conventional learning and a lot of interesting points were made in response to this.

One of the things I found interesting while we were discussing this topic, was that everyone used personal example to help get their point across. People seemed to be more inclined to use their own personal experiences of topics to help get their point across to others and it helped to ground the topic in a more real life sense.

I don't necessarily think that the innovations in technology will necessarily make our lives more nomadic, I think that people will always find a way to be nomadic if they want to be nomadic. For me, it is not necessarily dependent on technology. People have been nomadic for centuries in both their work lives and other aspects and I don't think it is attributed to one factor, such as technology. I think that technology gives us more options to choose from on how we want to live our lives. There will always be people who will choose to be not tied to a a specific life / place and there will always be people who base themselves in one place as it may suit their lifestyles, personalities and wants. 

Personally, I don't feel that mobile learning can ever substitute conventional learning. I think it is a good option as an aid to learning or perhaps for people who do not have access to the resources required for conventional learning. It’s another dimension that can help education but I don't think it can ever replace regular face to face contact. All factors such as eye contact and body language can have a significant impact on whether someone will learn or not. For instance, in a classroom situation where people are physically present, a teacher might be able to spot that a particular student is struggling and be able to address it or students might be able to ask questions that help them relate the information to their own lives thus, helping it to stay in their memories. 

I think mobile learning can be very useful in certain situations such as distance learning but in these situations i think teachers become more like facilitators than actual teachers. This can work very well to encourage people to think for themselves and form their own opinions but it is important that the students are given the proper tools and background to help them benefit from this kind of situation.

During the discussion the idea of dead time and being able to turn it into working / learning time came up and the ability to turn any place into a working environment. While I do see the positive in this situation, I also see the negative impact that it can have. I brought up the idea that this dead-time could also be considered as downtime. We are constantly being bombarded with technology etc, sometimes it can be hard to switch off and differentiate between our work life and our personal life. It is important that there is a balance in these and that people create their own area of personal space that is not to be invaded and overcome by the other issues. One of the things that I use to really enjoy about going on holidays was that, it was in fact a holiday - a holiday from everything. You left the name and number of your hotel with people at home so that they could contact you in case of emergency but that was it. You then had solitude for a week or two, you had time to enjoy another culture, relax, catch up on reading or whatever it is you wanted to do on holidays without being pulled back into your life over small things.

Other point that I found interesting was that the technology created might not be used in the initial way it was intended. Sometimes its other uses and functions can prevail when it is actually used by human with practical needs and wants. For instance, the mobile phone was originally invented for the purpose of being able to make phone calls while not being fixed to a specific location. But how many of us actually use our mobile phone for that primary purpose. Personally, I do use my phone for staying in contact with people but i don't use it for phone calls, I use it for text messaging. This would be its primary function for me while I also use it as a day planner, a calender, an address book, a photo album, a calculator etc. I would probably say that only a very small percentage of my time is used on making actual phone calls. Ye mentioned that she uses it as a dictionary and Fabiano mentioned he used it for emails. 

Another of the points that was brought up, was the air nonchalance that mobile phone can give. Plans are never quite set in stone and people can break them easily by sending a text . The element of having to deal with the consequences is taken away and people can change their mind at the last second. One of the things I had been thinking about to do with the idea of too much technology is to do with social networking. While it’s great that you can get in contact with friends /acquaintances you haven’t heard from in years or talk to strangers about your shared interests does it not in a way take away from the time you spend talking face to face with your friends etc? There are only so many hours in the day to do all these things and you end up socializing with people you mightn’t necessarily normally do and you miss out on spending time with the people you actually want to talk to.

Principles of iMedia Class - Creative Learning

Yesterday we were talking about creative learning and Gabriela asked to think of when we might have been engaged in it in the past. For me, when I was about seven, I got really sick so I couldn't go to school for about three months. My friend use to bring me my homework which my family helped me with to keep me from falling behind so I wouldn't have to stay back a year. Instead of just doing my homework with me, my mother use tried to come up with little games. One of the ways my mother helped me to learn Irish (and keep me entertained!) was to cut up cereal boxes into little squares and write Irish words on them. We then use to play different games with them to help me remember what they meant. One game was I had to go put the card by the object it represented, another was a game of memory where we had made pictures on cards too and I had to turn them over and try and make pairs, another game was my mother would say the word and I'd try and spell it, we came up with a good few ways to play! Using these games really helped me learn, especially since I had so much fun and also a big part of it was that I was involved in making up the games. Ahhh even to this day I can remember the yellow of the Weetabix box!

Dissertation - Initial Area Development

What i have found really interesting about this project so far, is the input / inspiration you can get from others that can help to develop your idea. From talking to people in the class and also from an outside point of view, it has helped to bring more depth and options to my area of research. While looking at the area of sports performance, I wasn't sure which type of people I wanted to focus on (I still haven't decided that one!) but other ideas have been inspired.

Some of them so far are:
1) Using the iPod / other music devices to transmit / store the information related to exercise / health and nutrition
2) Using wireless earphones to transmit the music / heartrate to you
3) Creating an application to run on your iTouch / Computer like iTunes that can be used post exercise to analysis your sports performance / health
4) Use the application / device (which it may be!) to set goals / tips are suggestions to improve your exercise / see how you're progressing
5) Have the device monitor your heart rate and if you are not in the optimum zone for your goals, uptempo music could be automatically put on to help you push yourself.

Dissertation - Proposal Two

The other area I am interested for my dissertation is the area of of interactive gaming for the whole family. A lot of games nowadays are aimed at a small group of people and this creates barriers within a family unit. Children and teenagers can be playing their own games and their parents are not able to relate to them. With the creation of things like the Wii and the Nintendo DS, these barriers are being broken down and different generations can interact, communicate and have fun with each other through these devices. They can be a way for people to reconnect who might have lost touch with different age groups. I like the idea of being to bring together segregated groups through fun and play. For instance with children, when they first meet they can be quite shy but when you introduce a game or an element of fun, they tend to forget that they didn't know each other before and their differences can melt away. The same can be said for adults and intergenerational relations, it can just take a little bit longer.

Dissertation - Proposal One

For my Dissertation, I had two ideas that I was looking to propose, the first area I was looking to investigate, is the area of health and fitness in relation to performance tracking. Whether you are an athletic or just doing exercise for leisure, it can be hard to actually judge how the exercise has affected you body,whether you have performed the exercise correctly, how you can improve your performance or see your progression.

Sports equipment, in particular gym equipment can give quite irrelevant information to the user. The information that is given back can quite basic and at times not really useful. This can be said for both athletic performance or more recreational activities. People who are participating in sports more seriously will generally know the effect it will have on their body more so than people who are engaging in sports as a past-time. Sports people may have a trainer / someone tracking their progress and continually pushing them to achieve their goals, while people who are exercising as a leisure activity are generally just relying on themselves for this.

Another issue within this area that I wanted to look into, is the severed link between physical activities and active living. For example, many people now pay to go to the gym so they can run, instead of just opening their door and running outside or even just living an active lifestyle. With inventions like the car etc people are less inclined to maintain the physical health of their body with active living or outdoor physical exercise. People are compartmentalizing their lives into different areas. I would like to explore how to bring these fragments back together.