Technology and Education: The Good and the Good

Sometimes good things happen in twos.
First, Co-hosted by MediaX and Pratham, we successfully launched the first in a series of vibrant conversations with industry change-makers and social pioneers on "Technology and Education: Creating Innovative Ways to Learn".

Second, my book chapter Digital Provide: Education Beyond Borders published in 2011 IGI Global title, “Streaming Media Delivery in Higher Education“, was recently chosen for indexing in the Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index - i.e somebody thinks its great research and worth reading!. Here is the abstract below:

In the last ten years, the world has witnessed immense advances in media and Internet technologies. Through examination of the use of social media, virtual collaboration platforms, and live streamed access to images, graphics, and video, this chapter offers a new approach to education which calls for leaders to use technology to inform and connect teachers, students, and the community. Similar to the changes in the entertainment industry, educational institutions can adopt an interactive, collaborative, and socially aware model of knowledge creation to engage more students and encourage innovation in issues of global scope. The value of making this change is examined through curricula that stress multidisciplinary projects and provide hands on experiential learning. Lacking the market forces of the entertainment industry, being primarily supported by public funds, education institutions face more legal, political and business model barriers. However, the benefits of digital media so far outweigh the risks that the next decade will see the emergence of learning environments that provide as much of a quantum leap in pedagogy as did the advent of the printing press more than five hundred years ago. Examples of the emotional appeal of digital media combined with the relatively low cost of scaling with the Internet are provided as impetus to overcome resistance to change in creating new institutions of learning.

TIE Women's Forum- May 18, 2013

Get your views heard! Do you think technology is helping or hurting education? TiE Silicon Valley is holding a Women's Forum on May 18 and my topic is Education and Technology: Bridging the Gap. I want to know what you think - email me, comment on this blog or take a poll. In my experience more women are interested in quality education than men, yet technology use in schools lags other industries. Whether it is personal or business women can make a huge impact in this field. - I will update this blog with the results of this survey- stay tuned!

The Official Union Square San Francisco blog. Follow us for shopping, local tips and restaurants. | Union Square

Winter in Union Square: Cashmere History and Tips from Pashma :  link Business Improvement District, BID Blog, Union Square

Jacquard Scarf from Pashma

Are you keeping warm in cashmere this winter? The cashmere experts from Pashma want to give you some fun info and handy pointers on how to take care of your cashmere.
**Guest Blog Post by The team from Pashma on Maiden Ln.
Delicate, beautiful, luxurious cashmere is what we specialize in at Pashma, so we thought we’d share a little bit of our knowledge on this highly prized fabric with you this week. It’s a great way to keep warm and stylish during the winter months! Cashmere’s story begins in the harsh yet serene land of Ladakh in Kashmir. The Pashm goat yields the finest fiber which is gathered by combing during the molting period in the spring.
Cashmere has been made for 1000’s of years. In medieval times, European traders found a ready market for their luxury goods in India while the splendor of the Raj influenced western ideas of art, luxury and style.  Because of their fabulous wealth, the Indian princely families had the means to possess anything they fancied. With time, western brands started integrating Indian art and style into their designs.  Pashma was born with a vision to cement a place for Indian textile art forms in the global luxury sphere. Taking inspiration from the weaving traditions of India and the extraordinarily opulent lifestyle of Indian Royalty, our love affair with cashmere commenced.
All of Pashma’s products are made in our own unique workshops that are a great example of modern manufacturing technology coexisting with primitive art forms. Spinning systems from Biella sit alongside hand-looms while digital printing machines exist alongside some intricately hand-blocked wood blocks that realize some of the most exquisite lithographs. The classic Jacquard pattern has its origins in the Jamawar shawls and blankets favored by the royals of Kashmir. Pashma has recently released a limited edition all cashmere Jamawar wrap – a Jacquard weave collection where each piece is unique and hand crafted. Unbelievably soft, warm yet light, we’re excited to continue this tradition.
Unlike other fabrics, you can’t just throw cashmere in the wash – it needs special attention. You can dry clean it, but it’s better to hand wash. Here’s what to do:
1. Use gentle baby shampoo, no harsh soaps. You can even use baby conditioner to restore pH after washing.
2. Gently agitate your garment in cool or lukewarm water - do not twist or wring it out! Rinse by dipping your garment in cool soap-free water a few times.
3. Pat yur garment dry and spread flat preferably on a netted surface for even airing.
4. Make sure to be extra careful around foods – especially acidic or fatty foods. If you do happen to have a little food accident, wash your cashmere immediately using this technique.
Pashma is a luxury brand from India that is inspired by arts and crafts from around the world. It constantly flirts with the boundaries between fashion and wearable art. We are located at 29 Maiden Ln. For more info, visit us online at www.pashma.com or call (415) 738-8806.
Post by Neerja Raman: Neerja is a retired technology executive and author who currently writes the blog “From Good to Gold” on business ventures that deliver social as well as environmental benefit. Ms. Raman is at Stanford as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar. She is co-owner of Pashma, Maiden Lane and is fascinated by new opportunities at the intersection of art, technology and sustainability.

A Burning Platform: Education- Business or Social?

Its so good to see one of my predictions coming to pass. You know what they say - if you are building glass houses be prepared to chew glass? Well I have been chewing glass for a while. So I was thrilled to read the article "Cable TV's Discovery enters classrooms with digital textbooks" in San Jose Mercury, Aug 21, 2012, by B. Barnes and A.Chozick. If it is finally making a headline in print media, page 1 even, Business section, it must be true. "Educational content is core to our DNA, and we're unencumbered - unlike traditional book publishers, we're not defending a dying business" they quote David Zaslav, strategist, Discovery Communications.

I have been predicting for a while that it is the media businesses not print publishers that will enable the transformation. But the problem, why this transformation is slow to the point of not happening, is that the spending on books, while huge, is a fraction of an industry that is publicly funded.

Change is often inspired using the image of a burning platform: better risk jumping off (into the unknown) than stay standing (where death is certain) on a platform on fire. High cost and limited reach are burning platforms for educational institutions. Conventional K-12 textbooks are a $3 billion industry with additional $4 billion in teacher guides. Big $$s you say, but taxpayers, fund the enormous education industry not markets. Converting personal risk into economic risk can work in the private sector where markets are quick to react but in publicly funded endeavors, like Education, where market factors play a subordinate role, for established businesses, the burning platform doesn't work - the image is closer to that of a frog in a pot of water that is slowly heated: the frog does not or doesn't want to, see the danger till it is too late and you know what happens then. Digital technology addresses both issues - cost and reach and it has transformed television, film-making and even print media. Yet change has been lagging in education. Maybe that is about to change.
(Excerpted from: Digital Provide: Education Beyond Borders by Neerja Raman, in book Streaming Media Delivery in Higher Education: Methods and Outcomes by C. Wankel, J. Sibley Law, IGI lobal 2011) 

Brick-And-Mortar meets Bits-And-Bytes

Good news for small business owners everywhere, local boutiques like mine (Pashma) and mega shopping districts like Union Square in SFO which rely on real people with real feet that wander around, shop, eat, laugh and play to create ambiance and a festive atmosphere.

Amidst all the hype around the benefits of e-retail, Bonobos, so far only an online clothing retailer, recently announced a partnership with Nordstrom, embracing the brick-and-mortar selling model. 

Nothing replaces touch and feel when it comes to the joy of shopping and this announcement is a sign of times to come; back-to-the-future you might say. Change often generates a mentality of replacement - video will replace movies in theaters, online ads will replace paper advertising or e-selling will replace brick-and-mortar. 

Well not so fast! To quote Mark Twain, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated".

Sorry - My disc crashed - rebuilding

This is a test post - post disc crash

Stanford E-Week : Idea to Implementation - Media X at the intersection

Get an insider view of the Stanford research ecosystem where , technology begets social transformation -   Join us during Stanford E-week:

Monday, March 5, 6:00 - 7:30 PM #100 Cordura HallIdea to Implementation - Media X at the Intersection

Media X panel during the Stanford Entrepreneurial Week

Neerja Raman, moderator

Chuck House, Chancellor Cogswell College, Emeritus Media X

Franny Lee, Assoc. Dir. Stanford Intellectual Property Exchange

Chao King and Hiroshi Tomita, Konica Minolta Systems Lab

   How does a research project evolve to a product? The Stanford Intellectual Property Exchange provides an example.

Google, SUN Microsystems, Yahoo - just a few of the highly successful companies with research roots from Stanford University. Sometimes the business community pulls ideas out of the university. Sometimes the university pushes them out. Along the way from idea to success, many organizations and individuals get involved, providing talent, information and capital. This innovation ecosystem of relationships, catalysts and resources is part of Stanford's secret sauce. 

   This panel will highlight some of the critical entrepreneurial enablers that have given life to a research idea introduced in 2006 and developed into a technology that is transforming the way people can monetize and use online content created by themselves and others.

Pashma: Textile Art Meets High Fashion

My 15 year history with digital printing had not prepared me for a career in high fashion. A trip to Delhi awakened me to the revolution digital printing has wrought in the Fashion world. Sure, at HP, we had promoted our inkjet printers as suitable for personal creative expression on various media including textiles at shows and tech gatherings. But the application seemed to me boutique, never imagining the potential for unleashing the creativity of fashion designers. While attending the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Show for Pashma, I got a chance to tour the exhibition and check out designer ware. The first thing I noticed was the profusion of color, right after that the complexity of designs and then the fact that no two designs were alike. Gone are the bolts and bolts of fashion wear made from the same polka dotted print, checks or paisley. Using inkjet technology in digital textile printing allows for single pieces, mid-run production and even long-run alternatives to screen printed fabric.

Every designer now has the option of not just designing the cut of the dress but also the print and vary the print to suit the fall line of the cloth. And India with its rich heritage of color, art and creativity has transformed this technology into fabulous fashion. Printing on textile even has its own name now - DTG or direct to garment printing, "DTG, digital garment printing is a process of printing on textiles and garments using specialized or modified inkjet technology. Inkjet printing on fabric is also possible with an inkjet printer by using fabric sheets with a removable paper backing. Today major inkjet technology manufacturers can offer specialized products designed for direct printing on textiles, not only for sampling but also for bulk production." says wikipedia.

My eulogy for Steve Jobs

I have been pondering over the many undoubted achievements of Steve Jobs but would have to stop short of any hagiographic treatment that he is now getting. The kind of media frenzy that is going on is absolutely unquestioned. I don't hear many contrary points of view. Was he perfect? I doubt it. While Steve Jobs has left the world a bit better than ever, do we have to put him up on a pedestal? I think not.

Despite the sleekness and the universal appeal of his products, I have to say I have never owned one except for the lowly Apple Touch (an iPhone-, something between an iPod and an iPhone). Frankly, I found no great value in this particular product and I suspect this experience may have put me off Apple for ever. For example, I could never get it to work with WiFi at home. Setting the WEP/WPA pass-phrase was always an extremely frustrating exercise for me because my password was often a complex pass-phrase and not a dumb password. I finally got it right when I purchased a rubberized stylus. Did that show great usability?

Since I haven't used other Apple products since then, I cannot say how much of Apple technology I might have missed out on over the years but I do know that my freedom of choice is intact!!

I developed a wireless tablet (Mobilis) way back in 2004, several years before the famed iPad. We also developed the Simputer, a wireless PDA, way back in 1999-2000 time-frame. We developed these products around the Linux operating system. From that deep personal experience I learned more than a few lessons.

One important lesson is that product development is not always about technology, but how you market a product that separates the men from the boys. On that count, I guess I am still a curious 59-year old boy, and happy to be so!!

The other important lesson is that the consumer experience must be designed in at the foundation level of product conceptualization.

On both counts, my conclusion would be that the current iPad is a great consumer product, state-of-the-art as far as usability is concerned but well behind the technology-curve.

I would certainly give Steve full marks for developing great products and I have respect for his meticulous and relentless focus on perfection. Summary: great, elegant products with great usability features, but with severe constraints on your personal freedom.

The third lesson I learned from the Simputer and Mobilis experience is that while open-source software gives a designer the power to leverage into his product, it also passes on that power to the end-user. This is a transitive relationship which enables the product to evolve in the hands of the designer and the user. What would the user do with that enabling power is not for me to say. What would I do with freedom anyway? Is that a question that merits an answer?

I have always valued my personal freedom, and enjoyed the freedom to do whatever I want with a product once I have bought it. Whether I load incompatible applications and trash the warranty is entirely up to me.

Don't we all add our own add-ons when we purchase a set of wheels or buy a new condo? Could I get such freedom from an Apple product?

While elegance and sleekness of design are highly desirable attributes in a product, I prefer the personal freedom to do what I want with the product on which I put down my hard earned money. Is that freedom available to me with an Apple product? I have so many Android choices available to me if I want to buy a smart-phone or a wireless tablet.

As a technology-savvy person, I have no fear when I load software from different sources or something I may have developed. That is the power of the open-source. I know "open-source" is a matter of religion for many and is definitely not for the faint-of-heart. But then, freedom is also not for the faint-of-heart. Freedom has to be fought for at every step with eternal vigilance.

Isn't Apple some sort of religion too?

The obvious question I could be asked is, "how is the average user constrained in his or her freedom by purchasing an Apple product?". The counter argument I would pose to you would be another set of questions, "Why do you want to be clubbed with the average user? Why not strike out on you own and experiment. Let the product evolve and be personalized for you by you, if possible. Isn't this the freedom you exercise in your social and political decisions? If so, why get constrained when you buy a product?"

Richard Stallman couldn't have put it any better. Here is an extract from a new item I recently read somewhere:

(Quote)
One of Jobs' greatest critics wouldn't even honour his business achievements. Free Software Foundation's Richard Stallman eulogised Jobs as "the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom."

"We all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing," said the high-tech renegade and father of the free software movement.

"Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective."
(Unquote)

I don't particularly care for Steve's riding roughshod over his employees and business associates but I am concerned if as a paying user I am told there are things I cannot do with my product.

So, by all means, let us eulogize Steve Jobs as a great business leader, a great human-being and a great inventor to be respected for his contributions, but let us carefully weigh the pros and cons of freedom versus constraints.

Freedom should reign supreme!!

Shashank

Magsaysay Award for Harish Hande, SELCO

Wonderful and well deserved: Harish Hande, of Bangalore founder SELCO, has received the Magsaysay Award, often described as the Nobel Prize of Asia. Congratulations. Selco Solar Pvt. Ltd,, founded as a social enterprise, is a provider of solar power technology to the poor.

Additionally from Carl Pope, Chairman, The Sierra Club:

Now two of our key India partners are being similarly recognized, and it honors us to be associated with them. The Barefoot University, led by Bunker Roy, was the first winner of the Sierra Club's Green Livelihoods Award and has now received Japan's prestigious environmental award, the Blue Planet Prize.

http://www.skollfoundation.org/barefoot-college-wins-625000-environmental-award/. 

And one of our key on-the-ground partners, Harish Hande, of the Solar Electric Company of Bangalore (SELCO), has received the Magsaysay Award. http://bit.ly/pgwoIx

It's fantastic to see the wonderful work done by these two organizations recognized, and I want to thank our India pioneers and friends for helping the Club identify and support them.

thanks Carl.