Thursday, March 26, 2015

Algorithms Are Taking Over The World: Christopher Steiner at TEDxOrangeC...

Friday, March 20, 2015

STOP STEALING DREAMS: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Brain Myths

http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/what-neuromyths-do-you-believe-in

Interesting talk...

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Interesting Discusion regarding MOOC

Interesting discusion regarding MOOC.

http://singularityhub.com/2015/03/04/whats-wrong-with-online-education-and-how-to-fix-it/#.VPiRoVYJK58.linkedin

What’s Wrong With Online Education—and How to Fix It

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There are many things right with online education—like the plethora of free and easily accessible content developed by Udacity, Coursera and others. In particular, online education excels at teaching while using simulations and improving instruction by making sense of data submitted by the learner.

But many others have written about the power of online education. This article is not about that.

For all online education’s potential, there are still some key difficulties holding it back. And the sooner we tackle these challenges, the sooner we’ll be able to unleash its potential.

Here are the three most difficult challenges facing online education today.

Feedback

Learning online is good at multiple-choice questions. While this technique works well for the test makers, it is generally not effective at pushing learners to think of new ideas.

Online education currently lacks the ability to pose open-ended questions.

Open-ended questions are encountered in the workplace on a regular basis and any effective learning space will simulate conditions for students to practice such inquiries. Online education, however, has historically been terrible at providing feedback on questions like “How will you break this problem down?” and prompts like “Do you agree with this argument?”

The tension, of course, is that the greatest strength of online education—that one or few educators can reach tens of thousands of students in a single class—is also its greatest weakness. There is simply no way for the teacher to interact with every single student.

Technologies like natural language processing have not matured to a point where feedback on open-ended responses is satisfactory. So, as it turns out: an attentive teacher, providing timely comments in the classroom, is still our best technology in this space.

But there is hope.

Recently, I discovered some techniques that can provide effective feedback to open-ended explorations at scale. Of particular note is Prof. Scott Klemmer’s work with peer assessment. His research at Stanford University suggests that students armed with a robust rubric can provide feedback and grades that “correlate highly with staff-assigned grades.”

Isolation

Students are a key asset of massive online open courses. Currently, however, learners in an online class work mostly on digital islands quarantined from all other landmasses.

Online education needs to get better at connecting students to each other.

By connecting students, who are either geographically close or online concurrently, leads to explorations like “Does someone else have this same problem?” and “Can I see how an expert would solve this challenge?”

I think an ideal online learning space would resemble Samba schools in Brazil, where learners of different ages and expertise work together. The closest I have come to experiencing this was in grad school when I collaborated with teaching assistants and peers in the library.

As an industry, we have started to make a few attempts at bringing learners together. Discussion forums on Udacity are a reasonable start; Coursera is experimenting with learning hubs; and NovoEd requires learners to take courses as a group. The challenge for our industry, however, remains in figuring out how to connect learners in an asynchronous setting.

Expert’s Blind Spot

Think of a skill you have been practicing for years; this could include addition or programming or building rockets. Now, while this act of deliberate practice helps us become an expert in those subjects, it also separates us from recalling what it felt like to be a novice.

Internalizing new ideas until they are almost intuitive, it turns out, is a key component of learning. But unpacking these ideas for novice learners, laying out every concealed gear and spring, is a key component of teaching. It is in this unpacking of ideas where many experts fail.

Educators might use data to better address topics students find challenging.

The expert’s blind spot is a hypothesis that suggests that instructors are not always good at predicting the difficulty level of new ideas for students. This hypothesis was first established in a study by Koedinger and Nathan. The study showed a deviation between how math teachers rated the difficulty of problems and actual student performance on the same problems.

In other words, the teachers tended to believe certain problems were easier than they actually were.

This is a challenge for teachers everywhere including those teaching online. There are two potential resolutions.

The first would use data collected in an online course to identify and resolve such events. Candace Thille, a professor at Stanford University, talks about using student quiz responses to help instructors identify points in the course where their “students are struggling.”

Prototyping online courses with representative learners is another way to help identify blind spots. Stanford University’s d.School offers some effective strategies on how to implement low-fidelity prototypes that can help capture relevant feedback to improve courses.

No Silver Bullet

These are my top three challenges for online education, but they are by no means the only ones. And while there are no silver bullet solutions, I believe that if we move beyond the hype and discuss these challenges frankly, we can realize online education’s full potential.

I also want to hear from you.

What do you think is wrong with online education, and how would you go about improving it?

Kunal has years of experience as a software developer and teacher. In his current role as a course developer for Udacity, he combines these passions by building online courses to teach others how to program. His recent course on object-oriented programming was featured on the cover of the New York Times Technology section and he has been interviewed by Class Central and others about the future of MOOCs, online courses, and computer science education. Born and raised in India, Kunal taught grade 6 science, helped build Google’s online education platform, and worked on an education enterprise with rural students. He holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MA in Learning, Design and Technology from Stanford University where his work on tangible programming and tactile learning earned him a Core77 Design Award. You can follow him@professorkunal.

Overview - BrainBuddy & MindAtlas

BrainBuddy© & MindAtlas©

real time progress tracking of your brain

Resume

My idea goes in the same direction as what has been happening in the MOOC (Edx, Coursera, Udemy, etc.) world but brings it a few steps further. BrainBuddy (intro version) & MindAtlas (advance version) would be an online brain companion that organizes and evaluates one's knowledge and abilities. It serves as a hub where you can have a snapshot and even a ‘video’ of ones learning. When someone has a passion or interest in a certain subject, he would then simply input this information into the hub (or it would automatically be sorted) and then it would eventually create a MindAtlas of one’s brain.

This information would be organized automatically and a search engine such as Google could create essays, exams, tests or quiz to confirms one`s knowledge in a particular subject. This would be in conformity with their mission statement: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. It could also be used as brain exercise such as what Luminosity is currently doing.

Here`s a ways to monetize this venture, a Guru community would also serve as a sounding board to one`s progression.

Introduction

My name is Ken Biddington and I’m an adult educator in a French community college in Eastern Canada. I teach in the business department but I also have a great interest in psychology and education. I have a dream and I want to share it with you. You can do whatever you want with it. I don`t have the network nor the resources to develop it; I would just love for the idea to gain traction and I am willing to help in anyway I can. I firmly believe it will eventually be the future of education and it will not exclusively come from the current educational institution but from the passion of the learning community. I know I can’t do it on my own, and why keep this idea to myself? I’m an educator at heart, so I need to share this so others can benefit even those in impoverished situation.

Here it is, I`ll do my best to explain it to you in a simple manner.

MindAtlas I see it as a Mind Atlas, meaning a compilation of different ‘maps’ of the mind. I will explain where this idea was born. I love to learn anything and share it with others. I`ve taught different courses in the past 5 years at the college, some of which I didn`t have any formal training, but did have practical on-the-job training. I would have loved to be able to organize, confirm and evaluate what I’m learning online and by other traditional means, e.i. books. Wouldn’t it be great if when watching a YouTube video you could press a button and this video would automatically be added to your own online educational profile, similar to a ‘like’ button on Facebook? This information would then be organized automatically.

For instance, I was looking at some video on anatomy (far from my area of expertise); it was from the Berkeley YouTube channel. The old (65+) lady was great! Then the thought came to my mind, how could I organize this information and then be evaluated to confirm if I understood it? And that`s where it started. With the technology we have today, it`s surely possible.

KnowledgeMapping The user would initially open up an account with his personal information (interest, education, goals, psychometric test, etc…) this could also be linked to his social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twiteer, Blogger & Youtube). When the learner would ‘like’ something he watched, this notion would then be automatically categorized (MindMapping * Science – biology – anatomy – level 1). While studying this notion, he would continue this process and eventually many videos and information would be organized in the ‘folder’. He would then press a button and a quiz ,test or exam would automatically be produced via Google, based on the information in the folder. These tests would be compiled and an autonomous learner could eventually get a ‘diploma’.

GuruMapping Here`s the complementary approach that would help to confirm the information. The learner could then ‘hire a guru’. The platform would give the opportunity to someone with knowledge in a specific area to offer his/her services to learners. I call this ‘GuruMapping’. It would could be done in a dissertation approach. He could then do it with a panel. So these are 3 levels of confirmation of knowledge. These gurus would gain status with implication, and then be recognized for the contribution. This would be one of the ways to monetize this venture.

NeuroMapping Here’s where it gets a bit interesting. The learner could find a way to get an fMRI for a snapshot of his brain. (I believe this technology will be cheaper in the future and will evaluate the whole brain - ei grey and white matter- including astrocyte, glia, oligodendrocyte, myelin, etc.) This data would be sent to the system and analyzed. Six months or a year after, he would then go for another one and see if there is any difference and identify those areas. The system would then try to establish a correlation - the structural changes of the brain with the knowledge acquired. The student could then ‘see’ where the information is stored.

IdeasMapping What`s the use of learning without real world situation. This next map would include ideas. Let me clarify, I’ll start with a question. What is the difference between an idea and information? Don`t you think that we've been giving out information without much opportunity to think out ideas. Students should be given ideas to think about in real world situation. Let`s have a map of different ideas and solutions attached to them. For example: world poverty, war, famine and on the positive side: the marvels of the brain, computer science and going to mars. Many have great ideas but no platform to share them and many have enduring questions and they’re at a dead end and would love to have a idea sent their way.

WitsMapping Now here`s the last map. The program could also check the strength of the brain, like what Luminosity is doing. It could even partner up with them for this application. You could even try to measure yourself against another brain on the other side of the globe.

PeopleMapping This section would try to correlate personalities with educational preference and attainment taking into account the multiplicities of ethnic background and cultures.

Ideas & Solution Mapping We should all be given ideas to think about in real world situations? Ideas and solution should marry each other to create impactful innovations.

KEYWORDS to describe this concept

Simplicity
Debtedness
Knowledge
User-Friendly
Adaptable
Recognition or certification
Progressive

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH

Educational psychologist would have access to data

ex. adults and education - motivation & progress
change in brain structure in time & area

Sociologist, Anthropologist & Economist
Government agencies

Dept. of education

OPPORTUNITY TO MONETIZE

Collaboration with online course provider
Hire a Guru
Replace traditional approach
Ads
Advice
Corporate development
Research

SECURITY ISSUES

The personal data generated by this software and/or company will need to be protected. In all circumstances, consent will have to be given in order to use the data.

I hope my explanation was clear. If you need more information, please contact me and I’ll be glad to share more of my thoughts. You can do what you want with this information but your input and frank response would be appreciated.

BITS & PIECES

PROFILE CONSTRUCTION - the foundation

First, the user must create his profile by adding general information about himself. For example, he would add his preferences, aspirations and interests, his degrees and/or diplomas, his current employment or field of studies. It would look like an electronic resume. This could also be done by importing his resume, or linking this software with LinkedIn for instance.

Once this is done, several paths would open up for him in order to construct his profile.

He could take a psychometric test to determine his personality. This could also be imported if one is available such as a DISC assessment test or one from MyersBridges.
Set up a progress map for his personal learning objectives.
This program could work in sync with a system like Luminosity.

MINDMAPPING - the walls

At this point the user will construct the basis for a mind map that will enable him to know more deeply his knowledge, aptitudes, potentials and his future opportunities. Here’s a glimpse of how it works. Information can be gathered for a variety of sources.

The most obvious one would be from all the MOOC courses offered on the Internet.

For examples, a partnership would need to be done with a company like Coursera, EDx or Udemy for instance. Any courses followed through them would build the mind map for this individual.

We all browse on the Internet and we indirectly learn by this experience.

ex. We read or look at a news reporting on a situation which is going on in the Middle East. This helps us understand many subjects such as geography, sociology and religion. In the background we would need the analytical assistance of a search engine like Google to produce some data. This data would then be automatically synchronized with the software.

We learn also indirectly through our day to day activities. By keeping a personal diary, the user would register personal information about his daily experience with life in general. The search engine would scan this information to track progress and insight in a field. It could be as complex as mapping ones understanding of empathy or ancient wisdom.

We spend, for many people, allot of time watching videos. Some are not that instructive, just funny and sometimes a bit stupid. But we also watch some instructional videos on a variety of topics. The information could be registered by different methods.

It could automatically generate information about this video and send it to our profile and start building a map on the topic or topics the user is considering.
The same thing could be done as stated above, but instead the user would advise that he wishes that this information would be shared to his profile.
Here’s an example, let say someone is interested in biology. He watches a video on YouTube named Biology 101. In this video the principles of biology are considered. In order to get the data, a search engine would need to perform an analysis of the content of this video by voice recognition, by the category of the video, by the provider of the video and even by the comments on this video.

Many of these technologies are already in existence but they would need to be aligned with a purpose for the user. The knowledge map would already be divided and subdivided into knowledge area such as Science-Biology-Heart-etc… This subdivision would need to somewhat replicate the structure of our physical brain.
As the user considers this subject, either by watching more videos, reading on this subjects, the ‘area’ of this knowledge map would start to take shape and try to electronically replicate what’s in the users brain.

INSPECTING THE KNOWLEDGE - The tests

Many would like to know where they are in a certain knowledge area. And others would like to pretend they know by falsifying their documents. The software would enable to automatically position the learners in his knowledge by generating quiz, tests and exams to certify the knowledge he possesses.

Certain knowledge area are easy to evaluate such as the basis of geography of general knowledge of math.
Others are more complex and would necessitate a hybrid model in the evaluation. e.i. The user could pay to get a panel to evaluate his knowledge or skill in a certain area.
I do realize that this might shake the status quo, but eventually it will, no matter what.

Important links:

Info sent or shared:

Sent info to Google (24-12-13)
Sent info to Khan Academy in jan 2014
Want to send to Udemy, Knewton (sent) & Sebastian Thrun (Udemy)
Sent to Edx 27-12-13

Didaskom offers educational tidbits to passionate learners.

Blue Brain Project - Brain Waves Simulation

I'm halfway in the book (Creating a Mind), he bring out some good points but up to this point I can see that he seems to be omitting some important factors in order to simulate a real brain, ei. the role personality (including values & morals) in learning & the role of the glia. He might cover this point in a latter chapter. The Blue Brain Project is very ambitious, but it seems that they want to represent the brain by only considering the neuronal activities, ignoring the chemical activities and other internal/external influence.

Monday, March 2, 2015

I'm reading a book at the moment that I find very fascinating : How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil.

http://www.amazon.ca/How-Create-Mind-Thought-Revealed/dp/1491518839

The way I found the book is interesting... I thought, while driving to Chapters, it would be great to find a book that could help me explain what I have in my mind in regards to this project, ei MindAtlas, and VOILA! after 5 minutes in the store, there it was. He's got a good grip on how the mind works and he's a specialist in AI (Artificial Intelligence). I just read two chapters in the book, up to this point, its a good read.

I'll keep you posted...