The First Ghost of Steve Jobs

Like Matthew Sobol, the protagonist in Daniel Suarez's book Daemon, Steve Jobs has come back from the dead to attempt to redefine society. Those who read Jobs' biography know the two areas Steve Jobs wanted to change was television and school textbooks. Well like how the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future changed Ebenezer Scrooge, the first Ghost of Steve Jobs wants to change a stodgy and stuck-in-the-past education with the release of iBooks 2, iBook Author, and the iTunes U app. Whether Jobs' specter will make a positive change remains to be seen.

The most intriguing of Apple's recent releases is iBook Author. This is a free application for Macs which allows anyone to create a multimedia rich book. The primary target is teachers who wish to create their own textbooks that would help their students. Now all those teachers I know who do not like to share their curriculum unless someone pays for it have an outlet to share their great secrets to turn students into super learners at up to $15 a pop. However, I can't wait to see teachers who have embraced the flipped style classroom and teachers who have their students create a book as a review project start having their work popup in the iBooks store. This is a great creative outlet for both teachers and students alike looking for ways to share or celebrate learning. This could be a money maker for schools because students can contribute to a virtual yearbook that actually relives memories and they don't have to work with yearbook publishers. I would like students to become editors of a class companion or textbook and produce updates to a review book during the school year. The only downfall is it currently works with the iPad but I am sure that will change and other other programs will come along that will cover Kindle and other eReaders.

Tech News Today said Apple's education announcement could eliminate schools. While this was an attention getting headline for the show, the iTunes U app could have an impact on schools. I have often told teachers that iTunes U was one of the best kept secrets of education. Where else can one see lectures from universities around the world with the prestige of Harvard, Stanford, and Duke. It now looks like Apple wants iTunes U to become a place where students can retrieve course materials such as syllabi, lectures, and other course materials. While this is an interesting first step to make class materials easier to get on an iOS device, the lack of interactivity will not see iTunes U replacing classroom management systems such as Blackboard, Edmodo, or Schoology.

Like other Apple products, the introduction of iBooks 2, iBook Author, and the iTunes U app are not something never before seen products but are meant to make creating mobile online class content easier to do providing you are on the Apple ecosystem. However, you can bet others will be coming out with similar tools to support Android, ePub (Apple claims to support this but iBooks Author is hazy on this), and Kindle (is it real Android?). Hopefully, like Scrooge's transformation, this offering from Steve Jobs' ghost will transform schools to be more welcoming to mobile devices in the present and future than they have in the past.

Photo credit: everwonderpowdersplunder

Personal Legacy of Steve Jobs

Like many in the world, I was saddened by the death of Steve Jobs this week. While many are going on about the contributions he made to computer and personal technology, I want to remember Steve Jobs for what he has done for me as both a person and a professional educator. No, I did not know Steve beyond what I have read about him. I did not have the pleasure or misfortune of meeting him personally and not really  sure how such a meeting would have gone because I heard Jobs could be conceited and a bit of a jerk when he wanted to be. It was Steve Jobs' vision that has touched me.

Steve Jobs had the ability to take the crazy ideas of Steve Wozniak and others and turn them into products that everyone wanted from the original Apple computer to the iPad. When I first put my hands on a computer in 1979, the machines were not nearly personal. They were too limited and too expensive to be in homes of ordianary people. Apple computers changed all that. While I never owned an Apple computer until recently, the computers I did own were certainly created because of the success of Apple in proving computers could help ordinary people.

I have used computer technology all throughout my teaching career. It was Apple, again, that opened the door to what computers could do in the classroom. Now, I could not think of me walking into a classroom as a teacher or student without a computer to assist me. Lately, Apple again will change education technology by making tablets a portable computing device. I already have started using my tablet in my classroom and cannot think of teaching again without it. Soon, students will storm the gates of knowledge armed with their own tablets, smartphones, and other pocket-sized computing devices. This could be an exciting time in education as students learn to use their devices to write, read, research, photograph, video, draw, and be more creative in ways I cannot imagine now. The fact that I currently get paid to teach computer technology to middle school students can be owed to the vision of Steve Jobs.

My personal life has been touched by the influence of Steve Jobs along with my professional one. I use devices whose creation was due to Steve Jobs' vision. Personal music players and smartphones are a constant companion whether I am driving around, walking or running, or doing other tasks. I listen to books, music, and podcasts to entertain and inform me while I do other things. Apps can track how far and fast (or slow in my case) I have gone. A library of books that would normally take up many shelves of space can fit into my pocket. Vast libraries of information at at my fingertips anytime of day or night. There have been many instances where I needed something and all I had to do was use my computer or phone to order the product I needed. If I need to get in touch with someone I can text, tweet, Facebook, talk, or video chat. As time goes on, I am sure I will be amazed at how Steve Jobs inspired devices will be more a part of my life.

The passing of Steve Jobs made me pause to reflect on how much the man has directed my life. As time goes on people will realize how much Jobs has changed society much like Johannes Gutenberg did with the printing press. As he lay dying, John Adams said "Thomas Jefferson lives!" as his last tribute to a man who gave the United States its guiding principals. Today, Steve Jobs lives through the innovations he inspired. However, somewhere in the heavens Steve Jobs is addressing a group who helped shape the world over time, dressed in his trademark black turtleneck shirt and blue jeans. After he talks about all the things he has done he says "And one more thing, it is the iWorld and it is magical." Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.

Left is Right, Up is Down

Every so often we all have to go through a technological refresh. I just seem to do it more often than others which annoys my wife. My latest one happened this past February and March when I purchased a new smartphone and computer. What I purchased would have surprised even me as early as January of this year. However, I wanted to try new things for the experience and challenge different technologies provide. Here is what I decided on and why.

photo © 2011 ETC@USC | more info (via: Wylio)
The first thing I did was replace my beloved iPhone 3GS with the Motorola Atrix 4G. I know I said I loved my Blackberry Curve when it was sent to the technological bench. Now the iPhone? My original plan was to wait for the iPhone 5 and I may still go that way when it ever appears. However, some Android users, including my son, kept after me to try Android. I was reluctant because of the apps I had invested in my iPhone and the thought of spending more money on apps. Another hang-up I had with Android was the limited memory on the phone. This was somewhat solved with Android 2.2 which allows users to store apps on the SD card in your phone. Then there was the learning curve of how the phone would work with an alien operating system. I wish I could tell you it was flawless transition. However, once I learned the basics, I found Android offered users more than iOS devices. The thing I like most is the ability to install widgets on the phone's screen which allows quicker access to apps. If I want to play music on my music app I just press the play button and I have music. Should I need to jot a quick note in Evernote, then no problem. Widgets is one thing Apple could learn to make iOS even better. I do miss some apps like Awesome Note and Netflix and it took me a long time to find a podcast player I liked but for the most part life has been good.

After shopping around and even taking the HTC Inspire home for a spin, I finally settled on Motorola's Atrix 4G. The first thing I noticed was this phone is fast! The 1GHz Dual Core processor really makes this phone zip along. When I went to do something in my iPod Touch 3GS (the iPhone without a SIM card), it seemed very slow. Some Android apps are buggy but no more so than some iOS apps I worked with. I found out that many apps need updating to work with dual core processors which explain some of the crashes. So far I have not been able to take advantage of the 4G speeds because of AT&T and they way they treat one of the fastest growing areas in the state of South Carolina. We have not had 3G in this area very long so I am not holding my breath for 4G (or AT&T's version of it anyway) but I did not buy the phone for data speeds just the processor and it has not disappointed me yet.

photo © 2008 Marco Paköeningrat | more info (via: Wylio)
My next technological upgrade actually caused some of my friends to raise their eyebrows. I bit the bullet and got a MacBook Pro. The reason was simple, I wanted a upscale performance laptop that would give me many years of service. My son will graduate high school (hopefully) in a couple of years and will need a good laptop to take to college (again I hope). While my Acer Aspire One netbook gave and still gives good service, I wanted something larger and with more horsepower. Plus, when I went shopping for PC's the selection was large and somewhat disappointing because they did not have the Sandy Bridge processor. The Mac I selected has Intel's latest processor, Thunderbolt connectivity which is Intel's answer to USB 3.0. Of course there needs to be some Thunderbolt peripherals which have not come to market yet. This is how new it is.

When I announced my Mac purchase my Facebook and Twitter sites went nuts. Some of my friends, thinking I was a die hard Windows man who would only give up his PC when they pried it from my cold dead fingers, welcomed me from the clutches of the darkside of the computer force. I don't know why people thought this because I have wanted a Mac for years. Ever since I saw Garage Band I started drooling over Macs but the machines are darned expensive. Finally, I had the money and had run out of excuses so I bit the bullet and got one. So far I have not missed the Windows system at all because I have a Windows 7 machine at work. Actually, I could lose that HP and not miss a beat thanks to inter operable programs and cloud storage. Plus, I have not had needed to make expensive software purchases. The most expensive programs I purchased was iWorks 11 and Scrivener. Garage Band is everything I expected it to be and more. iMovie has been a pleasant surprise. Safari and Chrome gave me trouble when I needed to show a full webpage I was mirroring during a presentation but the new Firefox came through. Finally, the battery life has been incredible! I rarely have to take my charger with me when I hit the library or Starbucks.

They say that change is good and I have had my share of change in the last year. I guess I needed new challenges in technology with both my smartphone and computer. Now, I believe I have the resources to tackle new challenges like learning how to program with students using Scratch and for iOS and Android apps on my own. While I still draft some writings on my smartphone, it is nice to have a larger platform to write than my netbook offered. Perhaps I can use that famous Mac creative ability to squeeze that great American novel that is supposedly in all of us or get back to producing some creative videos and audio projects. At least one can dream.

Who will program the iPad?

I heard a bit of disturbing news while listening to episode #1211 of CNET's Buzz Out Loud Podcast this morning. Apple rejected an Scratch application for the iPad because as a programing platform it could alter the functionality of an iPad.

For the sake of those who do not know what Scratch is, it is a programing language created by MIT. The purpose of this language is to teach basic programing skills to children with the hope to inspire some of them to become the programers of tomorrow. Scatch uses blocks that peform certain tasks. Children assemble the blocks in various orders to make things happen when the program is executed. I tried Scratch and to me it feels more like a video game than a programing language. I seriously doubt it could affect the functionality of an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

This is Apple being Apple which is unfortunate in this case because they like to market themselves as an education friendly company. I hope they take another look or come to some agreement with MIT to allow Scratch on the The Apple devices. With the current attitude who will program Apple devices in the future if children are learning programing on Andriod devices?

A Date Long Remembered?

Will April 3, 2010 be a date remembered in the history of education? The Apple iPad was released today and I got to take one for a test spin at my local Best Buy. I must admit it is an impressive device but is is it the holy grail of education technology?Only time will tell but I plan on waiting a generation or two before I invest in one. Also, Apple's competitors will respond with devices of their own. Prices will go down, displays will improve, and features will be added to tablet devices. It is also possible the iPad will be another failed attempt at tablet computing. These questions that will be answered in the coming months or years. However, it is possible the day of students lugging textbook laden bookbags and having their own computing device may soon be over.

Perhaps April 3rd wil continue to be the day people continue to talk about great April Fools jokes like Google changing it's name to Topeka or bemoan bad jokes like South Carolina replacing teachers with robots (Wonder who came up with that one?)