Technology Learning

In an illiterate world, who will want to buy books,
e-books, magazines and newspapers?

Reading is indisputably in decline, which upsets or
pleases people, depending upon one’s viewpoint. In the
USA, we’ve suffered a 10% decline in literacy from 1982
to 2002.

The data are clear—-people are becoming less literate,
preferring not to learn at all or to learn in other ways–hearing, visual, and touch.

Brian Tracy reports that half of all high school graduates and
one-quarter of all college graduates in the USA never read
another book after graduation.

Moreover, 70% of adults have not been in a bookstore in at least
five years.

“Text,” some sneer, is an “ancient learning technology” whose time is up. (It may be ancient, but it’s certainly not passe. The original word “text” means to “weave”–weaving newly-read information into your mental database of what you’ve read previously.)

As an avid speedreader who doesn’t watch TV or DVD’s or CD’s
or use electronic learning devices—except, of course, for the
Internet—-I deplore the decline in reading and writing
proficiency.

The academic case against reading has six points:

1. We are pre-programmed to store, retrieve and
communicate information by speech.

2. Because of our pre-programming, we are driven to
develop technologies to communicate by speech. (Sounds
good to me–so far).

3. Younger people in electrically developed countries
reject “text” as the “technology of choice.” (My
Assumption: that’s because all too many are slow readers, and
slow reading is about as pleasant as having a root canal.)

Speed reading lessons and much practice will correct this problem and make reading enjoyable to anyone. So, why not learn how to be a speedreader? Why not teach others?

4. 80% of the world’s population is functionally
illiterate. (But why should it stay that way?)

5. “Screenagers,” academics muse, are able to deftly
and “seamlessly weave sounds, words and images
into an integrated mosaic” in their minds.

(If that’s really a skill, it’s a nice skill. But you cannot
logically conclude that having this skill renders
reading unnecessary).

6. The Internet breaks down boundaries and creates
an instant global information system. (I agree. The Internet
has made me a globalist. There’s lots of good stuff to read on
the Internet, so I’m glad to be a speed reader, too).

My rebuttal against the logic-challenged case against
literacy and reading is, as follows:

1. Information is doubling and tripling every few years. You
need to speed read, even if you use digital media as well, to
keep up with the avalanche of new information and prevent
your personal obsolescence.

As Brian Tracy says, “to earn more, you have to learn more.”

We all need to read more and read much faster, which provides
greater comprehension and reading enjoyment.

Tracy says that “we should make every minute count.” In addition
to reading regular reading, I agree with Tracy and Zig Ziglar that you should always listen to audio teaching media while driving. Zig calls that “Automobile University.”

The American Automobile Association (AAA) says that Americans
drive an average of 12,000 to 25,000 miles per year, spending 500 to 1,000 hours (the equivalent of two full university semesters).

You should attend Automobile University daily as you
drive, rather than listen to music or talk shows.

Speed reading is a far quicker way to learn than viewing and
listening to videos, CD’s and DVD’s–which I consider
a boring, time-wasting way to learn, if exactly the
same reading material is available instead.

Why not speed read something in 5 to 10 minutes
instead spending 45 minutes learning the same stuff
on digital media?

Remember, every minute counts.

2. The case against reading fails to prove that it
should be minimized or dismissed. Rather, the case
against reading extols the alternatives only.
Therefore, as a logical argument, the case
against reading self-destructs. It’s a house of
cards.

It’s too bad that some academics never studied
formal logic. Obfuscation is not a manifestation of
high intelligence nor does it cover up illogical views.

Be ready to use technology that will allow you to speak
online to listeners anywhere– This includes things like
teleseminars and webinars.

3. Put pressure on public schools and politicians not
to spend billions and billions of dollars with so little
literacy to show for it.

By: John Alquist

You won’t hear 12 year old movie directors mentioned at the Academy Awards – yet. But given some time, these talented students just might make it big.

Hundreds of 7-17 year olds applied their talents in a weeklong film production course at iD Tech Camps at a Georgia summer camp on the Emory University campus the past few summers. By the end of the week, each student team created inspiring movies with special effects using cutting-edge technology, including lighting kits and green screens from Photoflex®, Canon® camcorders, Apple Final Cut Pro® editing software, and Adobe After Effects® special effects software.

“With the skills they learn in one week, these up-and-coming student directors could be ready for an internship in the movie industry,” said Kevin Painchaud, owner of an award-winning Hollywood-based movie production company and 7th year lead digital video instructor for iD Tech Camps . “The equipment and software they use is exactly what my production company uses. What wonderful exposure to receive at such a young age. One of the things that makes many of their movies so powerful is their use of lighting and special effects to evoke mood,” says Painchaud. “With the use of the Photoflex professional lighting equipment, the students’ work was elevated to the next level.”

Students used the Photoflex FlexDrop™ green screen to superimpose backgrounds, including purely digital fabrications made from Adobe After Effects. With the Photoflex LiteDisc™ reflectors, students could also easily control the sunlight when filming outside.

“We learned a lot about cinematography and special effects,” one student said. “In one scene my crew and I used the green screen to add a ghostly figure that enters a room through a closed door to pursue the main character.”

While many Emory students were “on location” at the Emory campus in Georgia, another iD Tech student, Brittany, and her group filmed the short movie “Subject #14” while attending the same program at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. A chilling tale of descent into madness, “Subject #14” won the program’s nationwide competition for Best Drama.

“We created amazing lighting effects!” Brittany said. “It was really cool. We could make the actors look brighter or darker depending on what we wanted.”

These up-and-coming movie directors quickly discovered that this technique reduced shadows and created a diffused lighting effect. To open up the room and make it brighter, Brittany’s crew adjusted a Photoflex Digital Lighting Kit so that its SilverDome™ softbox and Starlite™ light pointed toward the ceiling.

By the end the weeklong course, the digital media students gain confidence and leadership skills. Many of them say they look forward to pursuing careers in the movie industry. Getting started in Hollywood may be a challenge, but with the experience these iD Tech Camp students have gained, their journey has already begun.

By: Karen Safran

Every individual wants to take the class room experience of education. But at times, it is not possible to attend the classes for umpteen number of reasons, for example, the institute may be way distant from the place of residence; aspirant may have to engage himself or herself in untimely employment; sickness or any disease could stop the regular classes; and other miscellaneous reasons. Since learning is the thing that is a treasure for ever, one needs to to pursue certain courses and curricula necessarily. Distance Learning mode of education introduced by universities and institutes across the globe for a very long time, helps the students in learning their intended courses along with their primary work through correspondence.

Nowadays, almost every university runs its own distance learning programmes. They try to cover as many courses as possible. The number of distance learners is also great because of the availability of time and study material at their home. The advancement of technology has opened new mediums of learning like online learning and satellite learning. Now, through internet one can enroll himself in various courses around the world. Most importantly, with the help of audio and visual equipments s/he can listen and watch the lecture from the expert online.

The most beneficial feature of a distance learning course is that there is no compulsion on passing the exam in as much as time as in regular courses. Rather, there is a flexibility of at least of two years to complete certain course. This helps the aspirants to a great extent because at times they may not have got proper amount of time to prepare for certain paper. Besides, all kinds of matters are communicated through correspondence. One doesn’t need to visit the university premises time and again. Almost all of the universities keep separate distance learning directorates so that they can function independently without intervention of the regular study establishments. Every year millions of students complete their courses in distance learning mode from open universities and universities. This pattern is a great help to a great number of students around the places.

By: Rajneesh Dubey