Google Announces "Chrome"

On Labor Day, Google announced its widely rumored new browser to compete with Internet Explorer called Chrome. Interesting they used a comic book format to show off the features and functionality of the browser. (looks like actual release/download date will be today at some point.)

Another example of how different media are beginning to take on different content. Clearly the media is not the message. This is a serious message in the browser wars and Google has chosen a format familiar with kids and one that is simple and effective for conveying a message. The art work and comic was done by Scott McCloud a well known advocate for taking comics seriously and a writer of "Reinventing Comics" and his well known "Understanding Comics."

Here are some articles on the topic:

Google Chrome Answers the GreenBorder Mystery

Google Chrome, Google’s Browser Project (this article provides a great list of features of the Chrome.)

And, as to not waste time, Wikipedia has an entry about Chrome...the beauty of Internet speed. Chrome in Wikipedia.

__

Catalog of Recommended Books, Games and Gadgets
Recommended Games and Gadgets
Recommended Books
Content Guide

Video iPod Comes to Your Glasses

Let's continue the iPod discussion. While schools are banning iPods as fast as they can (see Hire that Kid!), several companies I work with have placed Standard Work Instructions onto iPods. Actually onto video iPods.

The idea is that a worker, away from his or her computer, can quickly look up a specific work task and view a 30 second video of how to perform that task. The Just-In-Time learning allows the worker to see what he or she needs to do and then perform the task.

If you have ever tried to interpert written instructions, you know just how valuable a short video can be for helping to understand exactly what you are supposed to do. A video can show how parts work together or the correct way to move an item from point A to point B.

In fact, my son's Karate instructor uses that exact same technique to refresh his memory of Katas. A Kata is a sequence of moves, kicking, punching, dodging. So, my son's Karate instructor has 100s of Katas loaded onto a hand held video player which he keeps in his pocket. When he want to remember the exact sequence of the Kata, he pulls it out and reviews it. He then teaches the moves to the students.

In this case, he uses the video player to refresh his memory and to enhance his instruction.

In Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning, I write about the use of Visual Job Aids on a portable video player created by a company called EduNeering. Here is some of the passage.

In a recent study at a client organization, one hundred workers in a pharamceutical manufacturing facility needed to learn a new procedure. Fifty of them were given the typcial paper version of the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), and fifty were given the Visual Job Aid version. In a writen test of SOP knowledge, only 42% of those who received the paper SOP passed the test, while 82 percent of those who learened using the Visual Job Aid passed.

Now take that video iPod to the next level and create glasses that allow you to view the video heads-up. This is what a company called MyVu has done.

They have created glasses that you hook up to a video iPod and then can see a "large screen" version right in front of you. Imagine a few modifications to create a heads-up display of a piece of machinary and then provide video-based instructions on how to repair the equipment or make adjustments. Think of the learning implications of the use of a heads up video display powered by a pocket sized iPod...schools will go nuts.
__

Recommended Games and Gadgets
Recommended Books
Content Guide

Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learning about Avatars

Here is a great article from the eLearning Guild on avatars. If you are not familiar with the potential of avatars for e-learning check out this article by Raj Sheth titled Avatar Technology: Giving a Face to the e-Learning Interface. The article does a great job of defining avatars and describing the different types of avatars and provides examples of how they are used in a variety of settings.
Raj describes an avatar as:

An avatar, in the broadest sense, is an image that represents one party in an interactive exchange. In some situations, the avatar may represent an actual human being, but in e-Learning, the avatar almost always operates as an agent of the e-Learning application, and generally simulates human activity. Avatars in e-Learning are somewhat similar to avatars in online games.

Raj believes that avatars are just begining to show their potential in the world of e-learning. If you have some time, check out the article.
__

Recommended Games and Gadgets
Recommended Books
Content Guide