Salman Khan: Image by O'Reilly Conferences via Flickr

A recent article in Inside Higher Ed looks at the work done by Salman Khan‘s team of analysts at the Khan Academy, an online learning site that covers a huge range of learning topics from basic maths to advanced calculus, economics, biology, physics and others too many to mention.  I’ve been following the development of this site for several years now and watched a couple of the maths videos to understand the teaching methodology used – and, as a side bonus,  to refresh my understanding of basic maths principles.  Salman’s teaching style is renowned for its relaxed yet clear delivery.  He manages to make even advanced, complex topics seem obvious and easy to understand.  But as Salman himself says; “I think too much conversation about Khan Academy is about cute little videos …”.  For him, the real action is in using data collected from learners who access the Khan Academy to construct LA applications that can ultimately predict their future performance and adjust the learning materials accordingly.

Khan engineers are attempting to promote genuine mastery and to distinguish it from “pattern-matching” exercises, which form the basis of  a large proportion of summative assessments used at all levels of learning and teaching. To accomplish this, they are tracking and analysing student interactions when logged in to one of the Academy’s online courses. Using algorithms developed to predict stock market movements, they can predict  a student’s likely future performance in solving different problem types. If the prediction is that a student is highly likely to correctly solve problems of a similar type, then the inference is that mastery has been achieved.

In my opinion, the Khan Academy’s approach is a great example of LA used for good – as opposed to evil. By that I mean that using LA as a means of summative assessment of a student’s understanding is currently not achievable in any reasonable sense and may amount to an unfair summary of their true comprehension of a topic.

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Socrates teaching - Image via Wikipedia

Philosopher Richard Garlikov advocates use of the Socratic Method as a teaching tool, where the teacher asks leading questions of students rather than telling them facts to be recalled at a later time, such as during an exam. In an experiment conducted with 22 third graders in an elementary school (presumably in Birmingham, Alabama), he used a socratic approach to teach the basics of binary arithmetic over an afternoon teaching session.

Richard explains that there are four critical points about the types of questions asked during a socratic method session, i.e:

1. “they must be interesting or intriguing to the students
2. they must lead by incremental and
3. logical steps (from the students’ prior knowledge or understanding) and seen to be evidence toward a conclusion (not just individual isolated points), and
4. they must be designed to get the student to see particular points.”

This method is complemented by task or discovery-based learning approaches where students are driven by curiosity to discover knowledge, sometimes in order to solve a task or complete a quest.

In a related display approach Google has also created a Mobile maps 3D view  for Android 5.0 systems that morphs from a 2D overhead map into a dimensional view with 3D buildings and landmarks that re-orientate as you pan around the scene in “Compass” mode.  Here’s an introductory video:

Image via Wikipedia

Just because you can’t visualize or describe something to someone else doesn’t mean it can’t exist. Philosophers are still debating the existence, or otherwise, of qualia – sensations that you can certainly experience but may not be able to describe with words (e.g. describing the perception of the colour red to someone blind from birth).  Psychologist Donald Hoffman describes a cognitive disorder he calls prosthetomegethy which gives some individuals the ability to imagine or perceive a fourth spatial dimension, where the normal visual world is enhanced with an extra dimension of probability or hypothetical space. The actual existence of such a condition is rather questionable (the author admits to using some “artistic licence”) but it’s not hard to imagine that some individuals might possess such an insightful gift.

If, as some thinkers have suggested, the fourth dimension is time-related in the sense of a time-space continuum, perception of events that are yet to occur begin to make some kind of sense as an added ability to discriminate events that might involve both past and future time.  Perceiving events that occurred in the past need not only involve recall of things that an individual has actually experienced, as “remembering” past-lives episodes can supposedly place someone in a time period that precedes their actual lifespan. Critics of therapies that are based on the “recall” of past lives often attribute the resulting outcomes to the therapists’ subconscious or deliberate implantation of false memories in their subjects, creating a dramatic narrative of events based purely on imagination.  We shouldn’t discount the power of imagination, however.  It is, after all, the basis of creativity and has some connection to perceptions experienced in dreams or dream-states. German chemist Kekule’s dream of a snake swallowing its tail that lead to his description of the benzene ring is a classic example of how dreams can have an impact on original thought.

The phenomenon commonly known as déjà vu (already seen), where a person has the strange feeling that they’ve “been here before” is experienced at random times by most people.  Sometimes the sensation can present as a déjà vécu (already lived) variant where there is a strong sense that what is happening in the present has already played out identically at some time in the past.

Most humans draw on past experience when faced with an initially novel or threatening situation.  The mind immediately begins a pattern-matching search of memory, trying desperately to find a past experience that is a close match for the current situation and that can provide reassurance for a survivable outcome.  Somebody approaching the podium to give a public speech in front of a large crowd probably does this, thinking back to the last time they were in this situation and recalling that it wasn’t so bad once they got started.  In one sense, that person is projecting their past onto their (immediate) future, visualising a positive, survivable outcome that has a high probability of coming true.

A step beyond the concept of the probability of something happening as we imagined it would is the idea of certainty that an event will occur in the future. This is where the idea of an extra fourth-dimensional perception kicks in.  Someone who could “see” in the fourth dimension could possibly perceive (as opposed to visualise or imagine) the end result of a visual sequence before it had actually occurred, in effect “pre-experiencing” what seems to be a real event. To them, the future occurrence is never in doubt because it’s been experienced already and is therefore seen as a past event.  The concept of such premonitional episodes is hardly a new idea, but the statement “I have seen the future and it is … (good/bad/awesome)” might be a statement of visual fact in the minds of people who are absolutely certain that what they have “seen” will really come to pass.

So is the fourth dimension, if it exists at all, a spatial phenomenon such as a hypercube that we can crudely sketch in 2 or 3 dimensions or does it only exist as a time-related mental event?  One neurological explanation for the sensation of a déjà vu event is that it’s the result of an “overlap between the neurological systems responsible for short-term memory and those responsible for long-term memory (events which are perceived as being in the past)”. These events are “stored into memory before the conscious part of the brain even receives the information and processes it.”  This explanation is inadequate, however, when well-documented accounts of accurate predictions that subsequently proved to be correct are considered.  For example, psychics who predict exactly where a body will be found sometimes days before its subsequent location are obviously not suffering from a momentary “mis-wiring” of their memory systems.

“But if perception is construction, and not restricted to being merely reconstruction, then it’s an open possibility that some human observers might learn to perceive 4D worlds.”

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Neurotypicals may well be able to function smoothly in most social situations but such interactions imply a certain amount of conformity to social norms.  Creativity, on the other hand, implies stepping “outside the box” or dispensing with conventional ways of looking or thinking about something. Koestler’s seminal work “The Act of Creation” (1964) explored the notion of creativity from both philosophical and comedic points of view.  It’s precisely the non-conformist or unexpected conclusion that gives a joke its power to make people laugh – hence the term ‘punchline’.  Creativity often involves throwing away the expected viewpoint of a problem or situation and trying to see it from a new angle.

Neurotypical behaviour for a mediator in a potential conflict situation would be to try to read the body language of the protagonists in the context of what they’re actually saying so that their short-term future behaviour can be predicted.  Words can then be chosen that will deflect the aggression and avoid an all out brawl, and hopefully get each side to see reason.  A non-typical and perhaps more creative approach could be to draw their attention to an outside threat that affects all parties and encourage them to join their efforts in defending themselves.

When a majority of Iraqis realised that the leader of the Al Qaeda group that had conducted a protracted suicide bombing campaign against Iraqis from all walks of life and had positioned itself as a patriotic defender of Iraqi freedom was actually a Jordanian named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, tacit support for this branch of the insurgency melted away. Zarqawi was eventually denounced by former supporters and assassinated by US Special Forces in 2006.

Distraction in conflict can be a powerful thing.  A two-year-old’s tantrum can be stopped in its tracks by quietly whispering into one of the little person’s ears.  Apparently a 2-year-old’s brain has yet to develop the ability to simultaneously balance input and output streams, so the screaming is put on hold while the little dude struggles to hear what’s being said, preferably spoken at a level just below the threshold of comprehension.

Derek Paravicini - Image via Wikipedia

So are neurotypicals less likely to be creative than ‘others’? Depends  on the level of ‘otherness’ for the most part. Certainly autistic savants often express their creativity in unexpected ways, such as UK artist Stephen Wiltshire’s ability to produce detailed cityscape drawings from a single viewing, or Derek Paravicini‘s keyboard skills in creating compositions in a variety of a styles from a single tune audition.

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I’ve downloaded a few instrument apps and tried them out – with varying success. Virtual keyboards such as Virtuoso Piano 2 HD feature a lot, but for someone used to playing weighted keys, I find flat multitouch keyboards a little uninspiring.

Virtual drums such as OutOfTheBit’s iCongas Lite work just fine because the iPad surface simulates the flatness of a drumhead without trying too hard.

A favourite app of mine is the Celtic Harp – one of the few apps I’ve paid for (I usually go for the Lite version first).  The Harp has 31 strings spaced just wide enough apart so that you can pluck them individually or strum different tunings easily.  Volume and sharpness of notes are determined by where you touch the string. – bottom for soft and quiet, top for loud and sharp attack.  It’s just such a clever use of the interface and makes playing the Harp a lot of fun.

Here’s a performance at Macworld 2011 by Jordan Rudess, a keyboardist with Dream Theater.  His earlier experience playing a keyless keyboard called the Haken Continuum (now there’s a keyboard I could play …) lead him to create the MorphWiz app for iPad and iPhone:

And here’s a vocals/electronica mix featuring Jordan and Project RnL using MorphWiz and a few other instrument apps  on several iPads.  It’s a piece that sounds (weirdly) a little like 70s rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer crossed with Queen:

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Virtual sites such as the above have opened up the field of archaeology to students who may not have the resources to visit a dig site, but can experience some of the excitement of exploring it at their own pace.

Check out my other blog dedicated to virtual archaeology at: http://virtualarque.wordpress.com

Shutter Glasses NOT required ...Image via Wikipedia

The current paradigm shift in display technologies – i.e.,  the move to 3D -  took a further step into an unknown future when Sony demoed its RayModeler technology at SIGGRAPH 2010 three days ago.  Sony’s “Sonystyle Blog” discusses the technology, termed a “360-degree autostereoscopic 3D display” and also contains a short video demo.  The display consists of a cylinder 27cm high and 13cm wide – obviously not the biggest display around. It’s not quite small enough to carry around in your pocket, but just big enough to show off the technology. The  interface is gestural, giving users some control over the display with hand movements, and the really great thing is no overpriced shutter glasses are required.

Obviously this is a first step for Sony, testing the water for future (presumably larger, or even scrollable) displays.  The unknown and intriguing aspect is not the technology itself, but how people will respond to it.  I can immediately think of dozens of disciplines where volumetric displays could add a new and exciting dimension to learning materials and our perception of them.  One problem that suggests itself is the concept of scale, however.  Currently when we see a non -3D television broadcast of, say, a Friday night football match our brains accept the idea that the small figures running across the screen are players who are obviously far away from us (and therefore not life-size).  Once we introduce displays that include 360 degree views, that perception is immediately compromised, so the scale adjustments made in our cortexes become rather harder to make.

I’ve always believed that true 3D displays would need to be glasses-free to qualify for inclusion in a Jetsons-style future.  Maybe Sony is going to get us there.

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The reason the ADS phenomenon caught my attention is that I’ve been thinking about the affective effects of immersive technology a lot lately.  A colleague of mine is currently researching the impact of immersive-technology induced motion-sickness (think 3D roller-coaster rides) on cognition. There’s no getting around the fact that as we move from a flatscreen monitor world to immersive 3D environments we’re going to have to deal with this technological phenomenon sooner or later.

Hip geeksite EPIC FU’s  commentator Zadi Diaz asks: “If people are sad because this movie is so immersive and rich, then what does it say about our REAL world?” EPIC FU’s discussion page on this topic attracted a wealth of responses, generally a mix of dismissive and sympathetic posts, with some armchair psychologist musing thrown in for good measure.

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Kaizen

The Japanese word kaizen generally translates into English as “improvement”.  When used in the context of technology or management practice it usually means the process of continuous improvement to a product or process, and has been applied to manufacturing industries,  health-care, banking and government departments, with varying success.  Wikipedia’s entry on kaizen mentions that it was “first implemented in several Japanese businesses after the Second World War, influenced in part by American business and quality management teachers who visited the country”, the best-known being W. Edwards Deming who introduced quality assurance methods to several Japanese industries.

Toyota probably qualifies as the company with the greatest success record in the introduction of kaizen approaches to car manufacture, as evidenced by its current dominance of the world car market. The company developed a management philosophy known as Lean management which turns some traditional management processes on their heads. Toyota’s Lean approach to car production lines can be summarized as: “getting the right things to the right place at the right time in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow, while minimizing waste and being flexible and able to change. (Wikipedia)”.

So how does the above relate to the development and use of educational technologies? I think some of the processes in play when building this year’s (Toyota) Lexus sedan can be mapped onto the way tools that can assist the process of learning and teaching are developed. Both initially identify a need or market, produce a design, prototype it and test it with a sampling of end users. Both rely on feedback to provide a basis for improvement, echoing a simple learning process we can all recognize.  Once an educational technology is implemented, helpdesk operations represent the feedback loop that can potentially allow for continuous improvement to the technology itself, or the way people are using it.

The Lean management approach has also been used in the health-care industry to improve the efficiency of health services delivery.  Mark Graban’s Lean Blog define the Lean concept from a health delivery point of view, and discusses how this management style is being implemented in a number of different health-related settings.