Almost human: Interview with a chatbot

Almost human: Interview with a chatbot

There has been a little press with the recent competition for chat bots. About 30% of the people chatting with the winner couldn't tell whether it was a computer or human.

Please see the sample conversation in the article, but I'd encourage you to pay special attention to the comments. The commenters feel the same way I do. I can't believe that anyone was fooled by this test. We are safe from true AI for a long time to come.

Is college worth it?

Is college worth it? -- chicagotribune.com

This is a great article in that it brings home something that many educators have been saying for years, "Why go to college"?

This isn't to say, at the article also states, that there aren't great reasons to go to college, including broadening horizons, meeting people from diverse backgrounds, and a little something called education. However, the return on investment isn't what it once was. They often cite salaries of people who go into business-related fields, but not those in social services. Those in business are easily making $50,000+ relatively soon after graduate. They will pay off their debts. Those other professions, though, make much less and will likely need to get advanced degrees to bridge the gap even slightly.

We need students to begin making these calculations on their own. Return on investment isn't just about money, but to be in debt for 20 years is a terrible existence. This is beginning to drive lower-cost alternatives and will change the educational landscape over the next decade (yes, that soon).

As I near the end of my formal education (I swear I'm done after this phd), I have to say that it's been pretty good to me. I'm comfortable, I'm saving a little money, and I have a generally rosy outlook on life. In order to get this, though, I've had to go through years of graduate studies that was bartered with office and teaching work at the universities I attended.

I wish someone had sat me down when I was 17 and laid this out for me. I can't say that I would have done anything differently (I just wanted to party after high school and college was the best place to do it), but it might have saved me (more so my parents) a little money by making different decisions. By the time my own son is preparing for post K-12 life, I don't even think this will be an issue. It will be part of a well-worn system by then. At least I hope so. Having 2 of "the talks" is just too much.

Name change - a semi-sad day

It's a sad day here at the IU CALL blog, because it's no longer the IU CALL blog. I let this go for too long as the IU CALL blog. I haven't taught at IU for over a year, so it's time for a change.

I think that, for now, the name CALL from Korea is more descriptive of what I'm doing. It maybe a bit of a misnomer since I don't discuss Korean tech too much, but I hope that will also change in the near future.

I'm going to keep the URL http://iucall.blogspot.com because it's both too difficult to change (and keep all my previous postings) and then anyone who is following this blog will be lost.

Hope you enjoy the new name, but the same old postings.

OpenOffice 3

OpenOffice.org Download

I don't think that this is too extreme a statement, you are doing students a disservice by NOT at least discussing the use of OpenOffice. Don't let them grow up thinking that Microsoft is the only office software.

With that said, I still primarily use Office, but I am weaning myself off slowly. When I can no longer get it from IU for free (yes, a great student benefit), MS Office is OUT. I might even get rid of Windows, as my workhorse at least.

Cyprus Lip Dub - Don't Stop Believing on Vimeo

Cyprus Lip Dub - Don't Stop Believing on Vimeo

Not only a wonderful song, but an interesting project with students. I'm not sure what agreements vimeo has, but music videos on YouTube are ok (for many songs). Agreements have been made that allow even UCC music videos to remain up.

Show this to your students and have them make one of their own. There are plenty of possibilities for collaboration and cooperation. For instance, students need to create a storyboard, assign roles, learn the words to the songs, direct/take direction, edit the final project, present the final project, and so forth.


Cyprus Lip Dub - Don't Stop Believing from Brittany Bohnet on Vimeo.

JALT 2008

The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) contacted me about advertising their conference at the end of the month (OCT 31). I was happy to do so. It's a great organization and I just wish I could go myself. Please see the picture below for more information or go to their website at http://jalt.org/

Review of EuroTalk's Talk Now for KAMALL Newsletter September 2008

Review of EuroTalk's Talk Now for KAMALL Newsletter September 2008

This is the software review that I did for the last KAMALL newsletter. I have to admit that I'm not thrilled with it, but it is a good review of the functionality of the software.

Next time I'm going to add many more screen shots. I've been given a page limit in the past, but that just doesn't make sense, does it?

Enjoy.

Storytelling 101

Storytelling 101

I actually published this by accident the first time. I meant to push it to my presentations blog (http://snupresentations.blogspot.com). I decided to leave it here, though. It speaks not just to those giving presentations, but also those of us who stand in front of classes every day. Teaching is more than pushing information to students. It is participating with them in the quest for knowledge and creating good stories together.

Nice presentation on making good presentations. Emphasizes the need for a good story behind the presentation.

Most academics seem to think that they just need to push the information out to the audience and that these types of presentations are for business or just "non-scientists". This is certainly far from the truth. You want people to remember your presentation and, in fact, remember you (conferences are more about networking than exchanging ideas). I'm sure that you remember good speakers much better than poor ones...which do you want to be?

Storytelling 101

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: sherlock rockstar)

Downes on Connectivism - UStream Video

Downes on Connectivism - UStream video

A National Center for Edtech Research

A National Center for Edtech Research

My greatest hopes for this new Center include providing some focus to a field that seems not to have had much and encouraging researchers to continue lines of research with both large and small studies.

The field hasn't had a lot of focus in resent years. I don't include Web 2.0 as a focus :) There have been some exploratory areas of research that have seen lots of work, including the broad topics of virtual worlds, online interactions, and materials design; however, even within these areas of study, they seems to be little coherence between studies and few substantial studies.

This leads to my next point, which is that a Center for Edtech research should encourage the establishment of lines of research that focus on building incrementally on and replicating previous research. You may say, "researchers already do this, silly!" I would have to respond that they tend not to replicate previous research at all and when it comes to building incrementally on previous research, they most often vary so much from the previous research that they research hardly counts as incremental.

I'm a little vague here, but I think that these two roles will result in our work having more influence in education and throughout the sciences.

Taking the Summer Off

I'm going to be taking this summer off from Web 2.0 stuff, including this blog.

I've come to the point were my interest in Web 2.0 technologies is becoming detrimental to other aspects of my life, particularly that part about finishing my degree. Therefore, I'm going to take the summer off to focus on making the most of my indoor time and maximize my outdoor time.

Have a wonderful summer. I'll see you again some time in late August or early September.

Dan

ekkoTV

ekkoTV

This is very cool and simple to use. It enables you to do a video chat with 2 other people. No muss no fuss. No sign ups or other hassles. Flash interface with your mic and webcam.

I don't see many options at this point. There is a link that you can share with friends (anyone you want to speak with) at the bottom of the screen. I'm not sure how long this is good for. Maybe you could add it to your blog or other page and use it as a regular meeting place.

They also have a text chat box, which is wonderful for sharing that text information that audio is terrible for. Things like URLs are easier to cut and paste that having to listen while someone spells it out for you.

Very cool application. I can't wait to see it grow up.

Dan

Review of LiveMocha in the KAMALL Newsletter 2008

Review of LiveMocha in the KAMALL Newsletter 2008

The link above is for a review I did of LiveMocha. The space requirements limited what I had to say quite a bit, but I said what I needed to say.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I was asked to write such a short one. It's a Web page! I'll have to talk to them about that. Not to mention, there are no links in the final version. Glad I included full URLs for each.

Enjoy.

Dan

Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brainpower - New York Times

Memory Training Shown to Turn Up Brainpower - New York Times

I'm not going to make educational decisions based on NYT articles, but this one is certainly interesting. They report on research carried out to test the hypothesis that training working memory will increase "fluid intelligence".

They trained participants using a game, concentration, which in turn seemed to result in higher fluid intelligence scores. The interesting thing, to me, is that in this modified version of the game, they were exposed to both auditory and visual stimulation. Seems a little like most video games out there, doesn't it? So, I wonder if they'd have the same results with Grand Theft Auto? :)

In the end, they got people working out puzzles and they did better on intelligence tests that essential measure puzzle-solving ability. The brain is like a machine that does better when warmed up. Seems logical to me.

English Language Learning Software Hunt

The other day a friend asked me if she could borrow some of my CD-ROMs (or DVD-ROMs) for English language learning OR for some suggestions. I was a little embarrassed that not only didn't I have many (aside from a couple old ones), but I also couldn't think of any besides Rosetta Stone and TELL, which are a little more than I can afford.

My interests have included CALL-related topics for many years, but it's been a long time since I paid attention to instructional software. I've focused for so long on the use of ICT that I am clueless on the state of "traditional" disk-based software.

I have NEVER seen a software that impressed me. They have all been warmed-over grammatical syllabi with little other than multiple choice, fill in the blank drills to fill space between cute animations and lame texts (can you tell I'm skeptical?).

I'm not against drilling. I think that there is a place for it and a software might be the right place. However, these also don't seem to have much relevance to the average classroom. That is unacceptable.

Can anyone prove me wrong? What have you used that you loved? If you do make any recommendations, please describe why it is good.

Don't bother sending on things that can be modified for language learning. There are countless materials to do that with. I would like to know a good, dedicated software (CD, DVD, Downloadable, or even online) that learners can use on their own. If there is interaction with other students or teachers, that's great, but students still have to be able to use it on their own.

Dan

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Updates: I'll update here with suggestions that I receive.

• EuroTalk
  
• Qedoc - Quiz-maker and cache of quizzes.
  
• EduFire - Flashcards and collection of videos in various languages (mostly YouTube).