After being picked up at the hotel by Brian's dad, we arrived at Duke around 11:30 (a little early) and had a look at the iconic chapel (below - the photo is a bit wonky!) in the first rain of the week, well, except the thunderstorm that was on the horizon on Tuesday night. We were due to meet Amy Campbell of CIT at 11:45. I have video from this location that I may put on YouTube and link to from here...
After a brief chat with Amy in her office (I took her some Sheffield Top Trumps cards as a gift, thanks to Helen R for the idea), the next port of call was lunch, with a number of staff from Duke's Center for Instructional Technology. I talked so much I didn't finish my food! not like me at all...
Next was a trip to a room kitted out with the latest gaming technology, and a conversation with Zach (below in photo), who told us how they used the room for teaching - getting the students to talk about media, think about the issues in Computer games etc, and how they also use the room for social events and for getting industry experts in to talk to the students. (The gadgeteer in me was thrilled to see a PlayStation 3 for the first time, no time to play on it though)
Back to CIT (Center for Instructional Technology), to talk about the Duke Digital Initiative (iPod Project), my (soon to be re-ignited) Technology Bundles project, Blackboard, discussion about the LTI and CIT, and then on to Duke's DiVE 6-sided Immersive Visualisation Environment.
OK, now this might take some explaining. Imagine yourself inside an 8-foot cube, where every surface is a screen. Now, put on some imaginary googles and put yourself in a computer-generated 3D landscape, where computer generated fugures can walk towards and past you... it was quite strange, and I don't know if it was the flexibility of the floor or the 3D environment that made my balance go a bit off...
On the way back to meet the taxi, visited a new social/learning space, which I though was cool:
So it was a packed day (I reckon most readers will have seen the conversation in Paul's blog about trips away not being jollies...), rounded off with a visit to Brian's parents for dinner, with Brian's dad providing the transport in a Toyota Prius - another new one for me. I was impressed with how much energy it was creating/storing as we travelled, in massive contrast to some of the gas-guzzling beasts on the American highways. (On the Friday morning, at a shopping mall, we saw a mother and baby park up in what can only be described as a truck! a big, massive truck! no doubt it did about 1 mile to the gallon...)
The street where Brian's house is reminded me of The Wonder Years, which I never used to miss on TV when I was little. It was nice to see a snapshot of family life in America
4 comments:
The glass-covered pavilion place used to be a tiny courtyard that no one could get to easily. Certainly an improvement.
Interesting to think of my house being like the one from the Wonder Years. I think a lot of neighborhoods in the US are like that, with big front yards and a decent amount of space between them. Not the best thing for sprawl, but nice to live in.
Supposedly they will release the Wonder Years on DVD someday.
were you the big brother Brian, the one who beat everyone up? :)
The 8ft cube you thing you described reminds me of a theme park ride, but the 3-D bit is replaced with rotational room - HEX at Alton Towers. Many people don't rate it that much as it doesn't give the majority of people that "G-force buzz" they're expecting. However, the experience that you do get is a weird one that messes with your mind and knocks your sense of gravity and balance, very much like as if you're physically being moved around,upwards, downwards, sideways - but infact the whole time your sat on a bench!
Raj, I've been on the Hex and found it massively underwhelming, but as you say it is a very weird experience - I think the bench does move a little bit though! It's all about perception and illusion...I guess that theme park rides will be at the forefront of such technologies - maybe we should go on a day trip??
Anyway, I think such technologies will get technically better and more widely known/used in learning and teaching - they are ideal for allowing people to experience a wide range of situations in a safe environment
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