There is little incentive for them to equip us with the critical and the technical capacities to run our own servers, to build our own applications, to use and contribute to open source software, to claim our place on the open Web, and ultimately here, to challenge their business models.
It's hard to remember sometimes that capitalism affects education. This is an excellent reminder.
Perhaps because academia doesn’t have the resources.
I feel like this sentence sums up the life story of every teacher I've ever had who had a cool idea and no way of doing it.
ed-tech: it is acceptably behind-the-curve.
I would say ed-tech is unacceptably behind-the-curve! I was lucky enough to go to school in an area that was very high tech so we had smartboards by middle school and they introduced iPads to the classroom in high school. My brother's class had chalkboards and computers that were at least a decade old. While free software is nice to get from Google I wish educators could have access to better hardware across the country, especially considering how necessary it is to know and understand technology today.
Has Techcrunch written about it?
It would have been more effective to reference a website that is more widely known, I've never heard of this due to the fact thats its most likely just common in the tech enthusiast community.
learning on the Web and with the Web, learning that is of the Web
This is really general and seems like filler that doesn't really make a point but sounds cool.
ed-tech: it is acceptably behind-the-curve.
I haven't fully understand the meaning "ed-tech" is it the technology/programs utilized in various academic institutions? and if so, it seems like every class I take the technology and programs being used are constantly changing and advancing so I don't understand how its behind the curve. Maybe this author just expects too much.
This is innovation. This is innovation.
Saying it twice for dramatic effect?
Perhaps because academia doesn’t have the resources. Perhaps because of a focus (real or perceived) on theoretical, rather than applied research. Perhaps because of a disregard or distaste for the commercial. Perhaps because academia — some parts of it at least, and some institution
this dude definitely has some sort of personal vendetta against Google. He's definitely right about this, this type of innovation isn't possible in "academia" because individual universities don't have the billion dollar revenue like Google does.
Dammit, I’m here to talk about the “Domain of One’s Own”!
took him a while to get to it...I found myself thinking..what is this article about again?
It’s also interesting to consider why some people balk at a “Domain of One’s Own” being innovative and yet clamor over MOOCs as the greatest and newest thing education has ever seen.
did he ever mention what MOOC is or am I just oblivious?
“Is this idea ‘the next Google’?"
People always hype websites by saying it's "the next google" but we've all seen firsthand that its going to be a very long time, if ever, that any search engine surpasses google. Nice try, Bing.
What you search for on Google. Your Gmail. Your Google Calendar plans. Your friends on Google+. What you’ve bought with Google Wallet. What you’ve downloaded from Google Play. What you’ve watched on YouTube. Where you head on Google Maps (and by extension, where the Google Self-Driving Car would know to take you.) What you spy with Google Glass. So much data.
Most people would feel that there privacy is violated by this fact, but I don't think I have anything to hide so I've never really cared.
the number of Internet-connected devices in US homes today now outnumbers the number of people in the country itself
'merica.
Our social connections mapped. Warrantless spying by governments – not just on suspected terrorists, but on all of us.
Big brother is watching.
It mines this data purportedly to offer us better products and services and, of course, to sell ads.
My father has a home-remodeling business and he buys lists that give him data about homeowners in the DMV area, like the price of their homes, the last time the home was remodeled, if it they have a pool, what car they drive, etc. These lists provide him with the information he needs to market to those who are most likely to pay for his work. This reminded me of that.
We agree to the Terms of Service without reading them
The cure to cancer could be hidden in the terms of service and we would never know.
Jim Groo
the founder?
And that, if anything, is what’s magic about technology.
I think that is so important because technology has allowed people to connect with others who they never had the chance to connect with before and it's an enriching experience. Not only that but it lets us stay connected with others and to do things we never thought we could before.
A “Domain of One’s Own” builds literacies so that the technology of the Web is distinguishable from magic, so those who understand how to manipulate its symbols are not high priests or magicians, so that carving out and operating your own little piece on the Web is manageable.
That is really cool because honestly, I use the Web but it mystifies me.
the number of Internet-connected devices in US homes today now outnumbers the number of people in the country itself.
I do not doubt that at all- I personally have three such devices.
The “Domain of One’s Own” initiative grows through the hard work of community-building and capacity-building
It seems like this helps people express their individual creativity which seems to be overlooked.
Google X seeks to be an heir to the classic research labs, such as the Manhattan Project, which created the first atomic bomb, and Bletchley Park, where code breakers cracked German ciphers and gave birth to modern cryptography.
I suppose in theory that sounds good but having read that quote it doesn't leave me worry free.
And it’s free!
It is and isn't free because if a website for like a business wants people to go to their webpage for their products, they have to pay Google to have their company show up on the first page or even pages depending on price, for certain words or else they could be on the 2,000th page and go out of business because of no sales.
It highlights the importance of learner agency, learning in public, control over one’s digital identity, and the increasing importance of Web literacies.
Again, I think that Domain is something that will continue to grow because the concept of it makes students more independent in their learning but also teaches students valuable skills in this digital age.
“Domain of One’s Own” offers a resistance to the silos of the traditional learning management system and of traditional academic disciplines.
That quote is fantastic but so important because I think students, at least most of all those in public schooling, hate school. The way that the educational system is makes learning not enjoyable so the concept of Domain is super important.
“What the hell is ’Domain of One’s Own’?”
Another great question because before this class I had never heard of it!
“What in ed-tech is exciting?
I think that is a good question.
And they are global.
Google is an internationally known brand and its name is recognized worldwide. Its made finding and discovering new information easier for everybody no matter what their age or their level of technological knowledge is.
Perhaps it’s what makes education so susceptible to this too — learning can be a moment of such vulnerability and such powerful connection.
Education is so susceptible to this because communication and connections are so important in the learning process.
These were the early days of academic blogging, when there appeared to be very little support for the sorts of public scholarship that we see now via blogs.
New methods of learning and teaching, and most new innovations don't always take right away. They need time for people to really see what they are all about before people will trust them, and make them really useful.
Our technological world necessitates thinking in and working in and expanding at scale. Or that’s the message from the tech and business sector at least: scale is necessary; technological progress demands it.
This method of thinking could be a possible hinderance of innovation. If when thinking and creating ideas, one shouldn't be bogged down with wondering "Does it scale?".
Perhaps because academia doesn’t do that good a job at promoting its scholarship to the public — you know, “in organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful.”
Wouldn't this be a good thing for academia? I feel like the organization of the information could only be used as a tool.
Google looks less and less like a library card catalog, if you will, that helps us find what we’re searching for on the Web.
There has been a shift in original product produced from Google. Previously used as a means of finding things on the web, there has been a sort of "rebranding" of Google into producing technological innovations.
There is little incentive for them to equip us with the critical and the technical capacities to run our own servers, to build our own applications, to use and contribute to open source software, to claim our place on the open Web, and ultimately here, to challenge their business models.
This poses an interesting point.
But plenty of this data is human-generated — if not specifically as what we call “user-generated content, “ then as “data-exhaust,” that is all sorts of metadata that many of us are often quite unaware that we’re creating.
The topics given do not explain what exactly Domain of ones own is; rather what it is not or what other companies are.
Andrew Ng, one of the researchers on Google Brain, who also happens to be a Stanford artificial intelligence professor, who also happens to be the co-founder of Coursera, another online education startup.
I feel that the article focuses so much on other products without giving enough up front informations on what exactly domain of one's own actually is.
Google X
Why is Google X so secretive if we know most of what is happening in it?
Much of this data explosion comes from various types of sensors — indeed, the number of Internet-connected devices in US homes today now outnumbers the number of people in the country itself.
Now with the knowledge of Google X and the number of Internet-connected devices brought to the forefront of my mind, I'm certain Google will be responsible for when the robots take over and become the dominate species.
generate about 5 million search results, delivered back to you in .16 seconds
This article keeps reminding me of this comedy bit by Ben Bailey. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7wsPARyCo]
The Domain of One’s Own initiative prompts us to not just own our own domain — our own space on the Web – but to consider how we might need to reclaim bits and pieces that have already been extracted from us.
Is this talking about collaborative work between domain users? I feel like these types of internet formats promote sharing of information.
the number of Internet-connected devices in US homes today now outnumbers the number of people in the country itself.
Its very eye-opening to realize how important technology has become and evolved in a relatively short amount of time.
“Scale” is important too in how many of these new technologies work — how they work practically and how they work ideologically.
Is this implying a range of scales amongst different forums on the internet? Whereas some are more private, where others are open to the entire web?
Perhaps because innovation is increasingly defined as something that comes from industry and not the university, something that is fostered in the private sector and not the public.
I don't believe innovation should be described as "coming from the industry" rather than the academia itself. Innovation, to me, is the utilization of these new technologies alongside the university.
As Arthur C. Clarke once famously said, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
That's an intriguing way of putting it.
“Domain of One’s Own” offers a resistance to the silos of the traditional learning management system
Our generation is lucky enough to be exposed to this new way of thinking and experience. It's crazy to think of attempting to further our education without all of these new technologies.
No doubt, these are new ways, new products that use “the world’s information.” Often, that use our information. We’re told this exchange — this extraction, if you will — fosters innovation.
Innovation is definitely one of the main focuses that the web forum is achieving.
Yet unlike technologies that are specifically geared towards classrooms, Google doesn’t really suffer from its association with ed-tech, does it? Instead, it’s credited with bringing a long-overdue technical boost to schools. And it’s free!
I have always carried a great appreciation for everything Google has done for education, in terms of all of the free services they provide that help me link with other classmates and workers.
Being free and universal is what I feel makes Google ahead of the game.
“Domain of One’s Own” one of the most important and innovative initiatives in ed-tech today
The domain pushes the boundaries of traditional education.
Instead, I wrote a blog.
Moments like these, where you do what you feel is necessary instead of what everyone else tells you is necessary, are often the defining moments of our lives.
But mostly, I think, educators are optimists because we believe in people.
I know that I made the decision to become a teacher because of that look in a student's eye when the knowledge clicks into place, and everything finally makes sense. That expression of victorious triumph facilitated by none other than yourself is absolutely fulfilling, and makes the daily endeavors of education worthwhile, for those one or two students who actually appreciate what you do. Those are the ones I will teach for.
A “Domain of One’s Own” builds literacies so that the technology of the Web is distinguishable from magic, so those who understand how to manipulate its symbols are not high priests or magicians, so that carving out and operating your own little piece on the Web is manageable. From there perhaps teachers and students will feel empowered to explore more of technology’s terrain
When we take the time to truly focus on how it works and the most effective ways to manipulate the web's power for our benefit, we will be more capable of realizing we have more ability to control our identity than we once thought.
A “Domain of One’s Own" asks us to consider the infrastructure. It asks us to understand the Web and our place on it. It asks to us to pay attention to the content we create — as teachers and as students — and to weigh where it best resides — who has access to it, and for how long.
This program basically puts you in charge of how you present yourself in a digital space, whether it be for professional or personal reasons.
the number of Internet-connected devices in US homes today now outnumbers the number of people in the country itself.
This is an overwhelming realization of the exponential growth in the role technology now plays in our lives over the course of only the last 10-20 years. Instead of a luxury for the wealthy, it is now a daily necessity to prosper in the modern world.
The “Domain of One’s Own” initiative grows through the hard work of community-building and capacity-building, not simply through technical replication.
This program is a human-fostered development, on the contrary to a naturally flourishing program that requires little human effort to prosper greatly.
It’s also interesting to consider why some people balk at a “Domain of One’s Own” being innovative and yet clamor over MOOCs as the greatest and newest thing education has ever seen.
This idea highlights the idea that people are somewhat selective in what they consider "innovative"; mainly only that which outwardly replaces a current service.
ed-tech: it is acceptably behind-the-curve.
Most semesters, I have a practicum where I go into a classroom and observe how a licensed teacher, somewhere in the area, runs a productive class. Every time that the class I was in last semester tried to use laptops, they wasted over 10-15 minutes trying to get the computers running, because they are so old that all of them can barely make it through the class without the battery dying. If we want to facilitate proper technological education in our schools, we must provide our students with the proper resources.
increasing importance of Web literacies.
As an education student, 21st Century skills are highly emphasized. This is one of them! We are becoming an increasingly digitalized world and if we want to be able to survive in it, we must become comfortable with digital communications
“Domain of One’s Own” offers a resistance to the silos of the traditional learning management system
This program is an innovative way to wake up the sleepy routine of writing paper after paper in college and really provide students the opportunity to connect their thoughts to others around them.
“Why is having a blog a big deal?”
I would say this is probably the biggest question most internet users have. Isn't a blog a little "out of the way" in terms of convenience for others to view? Anymore, can't we just see what others post on social media and feel fulfilled? (These are just some of the common threads of thought users have about the web)
And when we ask “Does it scale?” we often mean, “Can we replicate this across systems in an orderly, standardized way thanks to Internet connectivity and proprietary software solutions and venture capital?” Or we mean “Is this idea ‘the next Google’?"
I had a hard time understanding what she meant by "scale" but this rephrasing makes it more understandable. With that understanding, it is so hard to think of something replace Google. Google seems to becoming a black hole the spans over everything, even more so after reading about Google X.
Nor do I want us to move away from a world of wonder to a world of technocracy, to simply reduce what we do and what we make to terms like “user generated content” or “personal data” or “code." How cold and empty these sound. Love letters reduced to a status update, love songs, their associated metadata. Human communication as a transaction, not an expression.
This reminds me of Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World.
What you search for on Google. Your Gmail. Your Google Calendar plans. Your friends on Google+. What you’ve bought with Google Wallet. What you’ve downloaded from Google Play. What you’ve watched on YouTube. Where you head on Google Maps (and by extension, where the Google Self-Driving Car would know to take you.) What you spy with Google Glass. So much data.
For lack of better words, this is creepy. Not only does Google retain this information, but we allow them to because the products we buy work more efficiently this way.
Perhaps because innovation is increasingly defined as something that comes from industry and not the university, something that is fostered in the private sector and not the public
I can see the use of this definition in many aspects of my life. Something is only innovative if it can be trendy enough to market.
What’s magic: the ability to connect to other people — and connect in deeply meaningful ways — even though separated by physical space.
A very emotional and strong comment because we connect with more people online than we do in everyday life, and this allows us to meet people who have similar interests without the awkwardness of physical interaction.
even though neither of us are doing now what we thought we’d be doing in academia a decade ago.
This is interesting because a lot of other people struggle to obtain a degree, only to do something completely different than what they thought they would be doing. The internet really opens up more options for those who struggle with revelation, and who are still trying to figure out who they are as a person.
Most of us think little about this. We shrug. We agree to the Terms of Service without reading them, often meaning we’ve agreed to hand over our data, to give up control over what’s done with it.
I try to actually read the Terms of Services, but it's so extensive that it takes me literally an hour to fully read and process the more shorter content ones. If only they made it more easier to read, but also still understand what we are basically signing away when hit the "I accept" button.
Google knows a lot about us. What we search for. Who we email. And when. Where we live. Where we’re going. What we watch. What we write. What we read. What we buy.
I know I've heard this method of describing Google very often, it makes you evaluate how much Google actually knows about, and the pros and cons of that fact. On one hand: it's more efficient and less time consuming, but on the other: it's very invasive towards our privacy. Makes you wonder if Google would still be as efficient if privacy rights were more restrictive with costumer privacy.
By that I mean that “scale" and this business-technological lens is increasingly framing the way we view the world, so much so that we must ask
Does this mean its function is to tell us how the company does in our technology-ruled world?
Has Techcrunch written about it?
I have no idea who Techcrunch is, but I can relate to the question "has it been on such and such media outlet? Because if not, I haven't heard about it." I fall into this category at weird times. For instance, if everyone hadn't been posting about the death of David Bowie on Facebook, I would not have known.
We’re told this exchange — this extraction, if you will — fosters innovation.
I feel the exchange does foster innovation. Instead of looking at the whole entire web, just think of Pinterest. It is a site completely filled with people's creative ideas, and one person can see an small idea and run with it for 50 miles. Compare that to a bigger scale.
"to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
I completely agree because knowledge should not be priced, but as a right to every human being.
how the tech industry and the ed-tech industry today define and market “innovation” — and how in turn we teachers and students, we consumers, we "users" — are meant to view and admire such developments.
Way for people to learn about different varieties of lifestyles in the the world.
It highlights the importance of learner agency, learning in public, control over one’s digital identity, and the increasing importance of Web literacies.
So basically, it is about making a name for yourself and to establish individuality in the form of posts. Maybe this is a way to make, not only your life interesting, but also others as well? A way to make yourself famous without going through the music or television industry?
"A Domain of One’s Own” is so important and so innovative — learn to seize these tools and build something for ourselves.
will help in the future
It prompts us to ask “what data are we creating” as learners and “who owns it.” Who tracks us. Who profits.
in a way it challenges us
Google knows a lot about us. What we search for. Who we email. And when. Where we live. Where we’re going. What we watch. What we write. What we read. What we buy.
although this is very obvious, it is very mind opening and i feel like people forget that sometimes. there is not a lot of privacy when it comes to the internet
Most of us think little about this. We shrug. We agree to the Terms of Service without reading them, often meaning we’ve agreed to hand over our data, to give up control over what’s done with it.
I'm not following this logic. The point of agreeing to the Terms of Service is giving permission to your provider to use whatever data you provide for collection. If you are uncomfortable with a free service using your data, don't agree to the terms of service. It's an understandable, reasonable boundary and if their data collection is something you disagree with, then don't use their program.
Google Contact Lenses, an experiment to see if tiny sensors on contact lenses can offer a non-intrusive way to monitor diabetics’ glucose levels.
interesting
market “innovation” — and how in turn we teachers and students, we consumers, we "users" — are meant to view and admire such developments.
good transformation
Love letters reduced to a status update, love songs, their associated metadata. Human communication as a transaction, not an expression.
Although the idea of human connection has been changed because of technology, that doesn't always mean that it can't evolve or contain emotion in its own way. Emotion and opinions can be expressed through the Internet, maybe not in the same way as a face-to-face interaction, but it is not entirely lost on the screen. Personally, I think that a letter and a status can hold the same kind of emotion through the way that words can still reach us, written in pen or typed. Any time I have ever written a more heartfelt post online, it seemed to have reached many of my friends on Facebook and their friends if the post was shared. Words on any given platform do have impact and the Internet and the way we use it has evolved to better articulate what we are experiencing or feeling and it can be seen by many. However, there can be times when there are problems with reaching an audience based on the time you post or when others are online. This can diminish one's desire to express emotion if there isn't commentary or "likes" on the post, allowing the poster to think that their work or words are unappreciated. This does, in turn, make people rely on validation from others on the internet to feel that their words matter and this inhuman interaction or lack of can inhibit negative feelings such as this.
the company positions its products as a benefit for educational institutions, but Google is not really of educational institutions. Google clearly brands itself as a tech innovation, a Silicon Valley innovation, even though you could argue it’s surely a Stanford University-born one.
Although Google may not have been initially geared towards educational uses, that doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be a useful tool in that field outside of technological innovation. The way an application can be utilized depends on the user and if it is helpful to them then what exactly is the problem?
“Deep Learning” this is called.
This is a very interesting section. It's the first time I've ever heard of Google X and its projects. Are most of their projects underground or secret since they are still in the process of development or would there be another reason behind that?
We acquiesce more and more of our privacy. In doing so, we’re assured, technology will give us access to better stuff, to more “innovation.”
The tone here is clearly implying that we are some uneducated mass just slowly giving away our privacy (aka freedom to be anonymous online) and not caring about the consequences. This is a perspective i strongly disagree with. Privacy online is not a real thing. It never has been. When you're using googles tools, why shouldn't they have a right to collect that information? You're using a tool they gave you for free. If I went into Starbucks and bought a drink, I wouldn't then be upset if they asked me if I wanted the same drink the next time I went into that same Starbucks. They are trying to improv my experience, just like google is by collecting my information. I am definitely over simplifying, I'll admit that.
defined as something that comes from industry and not the university, something that is fostered in the private sector and not the public.
This shift has been happening for years and is inevitable. People will debate endlessly on whether of not this is a good thing, but thats not stoping it from happening. Research and innovation are absolutely slowly being claimed by private tech companies. If you start to do great research while attending university you will be scouted by one of these companies and given a job offer almost immediately. The money is with the private industries now, and the innovation will absolutely follow.
Who tracks us. Who profits.
I feel like as a whole, people who use the entire google interface profit from getting data collected. Data is important to figure out how and why people do the things they do. We can use this data to change what isn't working and to reinforce what is. It may just be because I'm a psych major and I've had the importance of data shoved down my throat, but I don't feel like I lose importance or individuality by being a data point on a spreadsheet. My tiny contribution to the population of Internet users helps improve its functioning.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is one of the biggest browsers that we rely on. I could not imagine life without it.
Google’s “innovation”
I may not be fully understanding, but how is google not innovative? Why the airquotes? One may say that organizing content on the internet isn't incredibly innovative or scholarly, but I feel like it definitely is. Innovation is, in my opinion, changing a flawed design for the better. Organizing basically the entire internet is groundbreaking to me, even though it sounds quite simple.
Google Chrome, Google Chromebooks, Google Hangouts, Google Helpouts
Never realized how many useful tools google has created for people to use for free. They have made communicating and working together in class drastically easier.
What technologies have you seen lately that you like?”
Very interesting question.