Tag: augmented reality

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VALA 2010 – I wasn’t there, but I learnt from you

I followed the Twitter hashtag from the VALA 2010 conference that happened here in Melbourne a week or two ago, but somehow I missed this gem of a video about what libraries need in today’s world. Thanks to Chris Betcher for posting it on his blog. We are in the process of reinvention with a new building due for construction this year. These are exactly the kind of things we need to be ingraining into our practice to make us the institution we need to be.

Despite what this young lady would have you believe, many of our students are not up with what augmented reality is, or geospatial and semantic tagging. But they just might be after we get stuck into their heads with the new space we are soon to create! That will require learning on our end too; time to get into it!

For those of you interested in a good summation of the ideas explored at the VALA Conference, take a read of Mal Booth’s post. Worth reading. Then take a look at the Library of the Future in Plain English video that he created with Sophie McDonald and Belinda Tiffen from UTS Library (University of Technology Sydney).

Another of the UTS videos I enjoyed was ‘The Library… OF THE FUTURE! With Mr. Hank and his good friend Chad…’

I’m impressed, UTS Library. Think I need to tap into your thinking a little more. I like what you have to say.

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TED 2010

TED 2010 (Technology, Entertainment, Design – ideas worth spreading) took place over the last four days in Long Beach and Palm Springs. Thanks to the magic of the Twitter hashtag #TED, I’ve been able to keep track of some of the talks that have sparked enthusiasm and discussion.

Jamie Oliver was the recipient of the TED prize. It’s awarded to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and ‘One Wish to Change the World’.  Jamie’s wish was this;

Jamie Oliver

“I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

He delivered a talk entitled, ‘Teach every child about food‘, and in true Jamie Oliver style, he delivers his message passionately.

The other TED talk that’s been released is Blaise Aguera y Arcas’ demo of augmented-reality maps, Microsoft’s development available through their Bing search engine. It’s very cool; definitely worth watching.

Sir Ken Robinson delivered a talk about education that received much praise in the Twitter stream. A quote from his talk came through from an attendee;

“Our education system is impoverishing our spirits as much as fast food is depleting our bodies.”

His talk not yet been released; one to watch out for on the site.

TED would be a wonderful experience, I’ve no doubt. It’s invite only with 1000 or so people attending. Talks are released on the site every week. Bookmark the page – it’s worth visiting for inspiring talks to show to the students you teach and the colleagues you work with.

A TEDX event is being organised for New York  (TEDxNYED) on March 6th. TEDX events are independently organised and Alex Ragone from Collegiate School is one of the organisers. The line up is brilliant and they will be streaming the event live. Worth staying up for I think. One for the calendar.