Author Archive

Ayahuasca mindfulness

Psychedelic Ayahuasca improved mindfulness and cognitive flexibility significantly in the 24 hours after use. from r/science

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-019-05445-3

Results

Mindfulness (FFMQ total scores and four of the five mindfulness facets: observe, describe, act with awareness, and non-reactivity) and decentering (EQ) significantly increased in the 24 h after ayahuasca use. Cognitive flexibility (CFS and WPCST) significantly improved in the 24 h after ayahuasca use. Changes in both mindfulness and cognitive flexibility were not influenced by prior ayahuasca use.

Conclusions

The present study supports ayahuasca’s ability to enhance mindfulness and further reports changes in cognitive flexibility in the ‘afterglow’ period occur, suggesting both could be possible psychological mechanisms concerning the psychotherapeutic effects of ayahuasca. Given psychological gains occurred regardless of prior ayahuasca use suggests potentially therapeutic effects for both naïve and experienced ayahuasca drinkers.

fake news prevention

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-12-27-fighting-fake-news-in-the-classroom

PISA scores were recently released, and results of the international test revealed that only 14 percent of U.S. students were able to reliably distinguish between fact and opinion.

according to Pew Research Center, 68 percent of American adults get their news from social media—platforms where opinion is often presented as fact. While Facebook and other social media outlets have pledged to tackle fake news, the results are lackluster.

Even on seemingly-serious websites, credibility is not a given. When I was in middle and high school, we were taught that we could trust .org websites. Now, with the practice of astroturfing, responsible consumers of information must dig deeper and go further to verify the legitimacy of information. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astroturfing

Experiences like these, where students are challenged to consider the validity of information and sort what’s real from what’s fake, would better prepare them not only to be savvier consumers of news, but also to someday digest contradictory information to make complicated decisions about their own health care, finances or civic engagement.

freely available resources to help educators teach how to vet information and think critically about real-world topics.

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more fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=%23fakenews

Education and New Developments 2019

International Conference on Education and New Developments 2019
27 to 29 of June, 2020 – Zagreb, Croatia
http://www.end-educationconference.org/

  • In TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Teachers and Staff training and education; Educational quality and standards; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Vocational education and Counselling; Ubiquitous and lifelong learning; Training programmes and professional guidance; Teaching and learning relationship; Student affairs (learning, experiences and diversity; Extra-curricular activities; Assessment and measurements in Education.
    • In PROJECTS AND TRENDS: Pedagogic innovations; Challenges and transformations in Education; Technology in teaching and learning; Distance Education and eLearning; Global and sustainable developments for Education; New learning and teaching models; Multicultural and (inter)cultural communications; Inclusive and Special Education; Rural and indigenous Education; Educational projects.
    • In TEACHING AND LEARNING: Critical Thinking; Educational foundations; Research and development methodologies; Early childhood and Primary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Science and technology Education; Literacy, languages and Linguistics (TESL/TEFL); Health Education; Religious Education; Sports Education.
    • In ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: Educational policy and leadership; Human Resources development; Educational environment; Business, Administration, and Management in Education; Economics in Education; Institutional accreditations and rankings; International Education and Exchange programmes; Equity, social justice and social change; Ethics and values; Organizational learning and change; Corporate Education.

= Types of Contributions =
All submissions are subjected to a blind-review refereeing process and are divided in these categories:
– Oral Presentations
– Posters
– Workshops
– Virtual presentations
– Company Presentation
Corporates can also showcase their products or services in the conference exhibitions area by contacting the secretariat or publicity email (provided below).

= Conference Date and Location =
END 2020 will be held in Zagreb, Croatia (Hotel Dubrovnik) and will occur from 27 to 29 of June, 2020.

= Contacts =
Conference email: secretariat@end-educationconference.org
Publicity email: publicity@end-educationconference.org

 

IM 690 Gear 360 tutorial

IM 690 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

https://stcloudstate.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/home/4819732

Jan. 21, MC 205 (how to get to the PDR room:

Plan: learn to create, edit and use still 360 degrees images and videos.

#scalability

  1. What is 360 degrees video and how does it fit in the Virtual Reality concept?
    https://www.academia.edu/41628237/Chapter_12_VR_AR_and_Video_360_A_Case_Study_Towards_New_Realities_in_Education_by_Plamen_Miltenoff
  2. Video 360: existing materials versus materials we create
    1. how to find existing materials
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOHM8gnin8Y
      https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=360+videos+education
    2. how to decide if we need to create materials
      https://poly.google.com/u/1/view/epydAlXlJSw
      https://poly.google.com/u/1/view/elo1OtpgzHP
      https://poly.google.com/view/8HB4l4zGSbv
  3. Tools and apps for Video 360
    1. Cameras:
      1. Samsung Gear 360: https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-360/
        1. 2016
        2. 2017
      2. alternatives: https://filmora.wondershare.com/virtual-reality/samsung-gear-360-camera-alternatives.html
      3. Vuze: https://vuze.camera/
        https://youtu.be/peu-OavRcd8 
        Video 360 3D
    2. Samsung Android (Galaxy) phones app
      https://youtu.be/AKhfoJjcZBM?t=66
    3. Editing
      1. Gear 360 Action Director
        https://youtu.be/c2bcz77y3UY
      2. Photoshop CC

https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/how-to-edit-360-photos-in-photoshop/

https://tonyredhead.com/adobe/360-photoshop-advanced-editing

Phot

 

      1. Premiere CC
        https://youtu.be/8g4DhBEWvak
      2. Others
  1. Issues and solutions
    1. issues connected to Windows and Apple
      https://youtu.be/2Fok2YcyNSw
      (explains all the quirks between the 2016 & 2017 cameras)
    2. issues connected to Gear 360 camera
    3. issues connected to Gear 360 ActionDirector
      in version 2.0, drag and drop, export etc.
      https://youtu.be/c2bcz77y3UY
  2. Upload
    1. local
    2. social media
      1. Facebook
      2. YouTube
        1. resolution
        2. live stream
  3. Viewing, goggles
    1. Google Cardboard
      1. why do we still consider it?
    2. Low-end goggles (examples)
      1. Pansonite 3D VR Headset
      2. Gearsone G1 VR Headset
      3. Utopia 360 VR Headset
      4. TaoTronics 3D VR Headset
      5. Destek V4 VR Headset
    3. Hi-end goggles
      1. Oculus https://www.oculus.com/
        1. Go
        2. Rift
        3. Quest
          1. haptic devices https://youtu.be/6IhQnWb44zk
      2. HTC Vive: https://www.vive.com/us/comparison/
      3. Daydream Lenovo: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/daydreamvr/
  4. Creating content
    1. Polly Google Tour Creator: https://poly.google.com/creator/tours/
      https://poly.google.com/view/8HB4l4zGSbv
      (turn ambient audio on)

Error messages working with Action Director

Gear 360 Action Director Error Msg

Gear 360 Action Director Error MsgNVIDIA error msg

 

 

More on VR in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/11/01/vendors-for-vr/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1efFVsOIwxlTO2Qy-onKbG0dgr8qum3onq3bgFkaVfec/edit?usp=sharing

blockchain against college admissions scandal

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-12-19-companies-say-blockchain-could-have-prevented-college-admissions-scandal

the service can be used for a variety of functions at schools and colleges, including verifying credentials, tracking donations and payments, or handling other student records.

a K-6 educational app called SpoonRead

Blockchain is a decentralized system where every record is linked and transparent, and any alterations leave a trail that supposedly can’t be hidden.

Some have questioned whether there is a need for blockchain in student records, considering that other kinds of encryption techniques already exist to protect and verify things like credentials.

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more on blockchain in education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=blockchain+education

digital agility

Digital Agility: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Digital Literacy in the Liberal Arts

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/1/digital-agility-embracing-a-holistic-approach-to-digital-literacy-in-the-liberal-arts

A 2016 Pew Research Center study indicates that the digital divide in the United States is not solely about access to technology; it also is about the ability to use technology to get what we need.1 What does digital readiness mean; applying cumulative knowledge to real-world situations. Having a tech or STEM-related degree does not ensure digital readiness.

How Can We Encourage Digital Agility in the Liberal Arts?

Digital pedagogy often creates opportunities for instructors to create non-disposable assignments—assignments that are not designed to be thrown away but rather have a purpose past being required.3

“We need to marry the best of our academic work with the best of edtech. In other words, what would it look like if education technology were embedded in the everyday practice of academic disciplines?”4

Project-based learning fits well within the curricular flexibility of the liberal arts. In project-based work, students apply what they are learning in the context of an engaging experience.

Building off frameworks that are already in place, like the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy,

External-facing work offers students real situations where, if we imagine what digital agility looks like, they have to adjust to possible new digital environments and approaches.

Reflection provides a way for meaning-making to happen across individual assignments, projects, and classes. Without the chance to assemble assignments into a larger narrative, each experience lives in its own void.

How Can Institutions Build Systems-Level Support?

Liberal arts colleges in particular are interested in the ways they prepare graduates to be agile and critical in a digital world—as seen in the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) Rubrics.

he Bryn Mawr Digital Competencies Framework5 was followed by more formal conversations and the formation of a working group (including Carleton College,

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more on digital fluency in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=digital+fluency

10 years in ed tech

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-12-31-when-education-giants-stumbled-and-data-ruled

The tools that have delivered are specific, targeted solutions that are easy to use and provide teachers and students delight. Simple solutions, like Read 180, which helps accelerate learning for struggling students, still deliver 20 years later, now under Houghton Mifflin Harcourt instead of Scholastic. Accelerated Reader, a product that started more than 30 years ago, still motivates kids to read.

Companies that aim to provide student data in a usable fashion, like Schoology, still provide value.

the promise of data in education is still proving itself. It has taken awhile, but we’re getting to a point where data is more actionable. Renaissance just acquired Schoolzilla, which was launched in 2011, for this reason.

When it comes to devices, many kids today have access to iPads or Chromebooks. Although one-to-one computing hasn’t been as transformational as some predicted in 2010, we’ve certainly seen a huge shift

Most of these [textbook providers] companies tried to re-platform every unique product into one monolithic model, but the promise didn’t pan out—the products proved clunky and hard to use

Predictions that educators would want more assessment data to drive instruction have proven true. https://www.renaissance.com/

The prediction that digital reading would be simple and easy to implement has also proven true.

Virtual reality hasn’t panned out yet.

The rise of gaming in education was another prediction that has largely faded.

started to solve the challenge of data interoperability and portability.

Alongside that, privacy and data responsibility are still a problem

The role of the teacher, however, is still critical. Rather than take over responsibility for educating students, technology’s role should be—and increasingly is—to put multiple options into educators’ hands to easily solve different types of challenges for individual students.

 

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more on technology for the last decade
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2020/01/02/100-tech-debacles-of-the-decade/

Charter schools

A charter chain thinks it has the answer for alternative schools

Critics complain that the schools lack rigor and often use software programs vulnerable to cheating, such as Edgenuity. https://www.edgenuity.com/login/

Bixby also pushed back on the idea, expressed by some alternative school critics, that students in traditional classrooms, with teachers who each see over 150 pupils a day, are assured a more meaningful experience. Altus students are assigned to one main teacher who becomes responsible for each of their students’ progress throughout their time in the program. The network aims to assign no more than 40 students to each teacher so that they have time to get to know them. And all instruction is delivered one-on-one or in small groups.

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more on charter schools in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=charter

Facebook deep fake

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/07/facebook-bans-deepfake-videos-in-run-up-to-us-election

Some news organisations, including the BBCNew York Times and Buzzfeed have made their own “deepfake” videos, ostensibly to spread awareness about the techniques. Those videos, while of varying quality, have all contained clear statements that they are fake.

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more on deep fake in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=deep+fake

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