The Future of the Internet I - IV
Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Feb, 2010by Janna Anderson, Lee Rainie
The Future of the Internet III
Future of the Internet
The Future of the Internet II
Future of the Internet
The Future of the Internet I
Imagining the Internet
Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Feb, 2010
The Elon University/Pew Internet Project site Imagining the Internet: A History and Forecast is a multi-section resource containing thousands of pages. It exposes future possibilities while simultaneously providing a peek back at the past. In it, you will find the words of thousands of people from every corner of the world, from today and from yesterday, making thousands of predictive pronouncements about the future of humankind.
- This resource includes special explanatory sections on the future and past development of communications networks (Forward 150/Back 150).
- It includes videos recorded at global conferences that reveal future hopes and challenges as expressed by hundreds of Internet leaders, including Vint Cerf, Douglas Engelbart and Robert Kahn (Visionaries Multimedia).
- It has informative areas targeted to benefit children under 12 (KidZone), and to help teachers of elementary, middle school, high school and college students use the site to educate (Teachers' Tips) .
- It allows you to enjoy thousands of world citizens' discussions of our future – from top experts (Predictions Surveys) to your neighbor down the block or a computer programmer in Nigeria (Voices of the People).
- It allows you to add your vision to the collection by opening up a "Share Your Prediction" form and telling us what you think. Just look for the phrase Share Your Prediction - found in the top-right corner of every page, near the website's logo.
- The site shares a look back at what people were saying in the 1990s during the "awe" stage of the development of the internet (Early '90s Predictions Database).
- And it records a legacy of predictive statements as they are made, continuously building a historic record of lasting value that documents the way we see ourselves as we move into an explosion of changes wrought by the combination of genetics, nanotechnology and robotics as they leverage our future networks.
Does the Internet make you stupid? and "The Future of the Internet IV." From Intute blog
Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Feb, 2010Last week saw the launch of the latest Pew Internet and American Life report.[The Future of the Internet IV] Based on a survey of nearly 900 users it considers questions such as will the Internet enhance writing skills, will there be more control over access to information. Incidentally in answer to the question over 80% felt the Internet had the potential to enhance intelligence.
This is something Intute staff tend to agree with here are some personal selections of ways in which the Internet has improved access to educational content.
YouTube has many channels maintained by organisations which provide free access to interviews and promotional materials. The YouTube politics section has materials from the main political parties. More useful examples of YouTube materials can be browsed on Intute
But YouTube is not the only online moving image service. One we recommend is the ResearchChannel. ResearchChannel was founded in 1996 by a consortium of leading American research and academic institutions. It aims to provide videos and webcasts of academic events, lectures and debates covering all areas of the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Contirbutors include John Hopkins Univeristy, the Library of Congress and University of Washington. For more similar examples see the LSE Library bookmarks (via Delicious)
Another key resource are online lectures and courses. Examples include Online Yale and OpenLearn courses from the Open University. If you are interested in finding out more about these Open Course Ware initiatives a good directory and alerting service is at OER Commons
Finally another good starting point for tracing high quality Internet sites is Open Culture. Check out its lists of cultural sites online, including good video language courses and books.
ICT Prices Fall but Digital Divide Persists
Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Feb, 2010The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released Measuring the Information Society 2010 (click here
for a pdf of the executive summary). The report shows prices for
information and communication technology (ICT) services are falling,
but broadband internet is still out of reach for many (press release). UN Pulse Permanent Link: ICT Prices Fall but Digital Divide Persists