It’s said that when we drive, we can’t quite recall where we’ve been.  Minutes pass too quickly, and landmarks are hardly remembered because our attention is on the road ahead and hopefully the cars in radius. Could this imply that our driving experience is seamless?  The physical interaction with pedals, signals, mirrors; our cognitive processing of street signs and speed limits – all become subconscious, why?

I’m shedding extra attention on this note because I am intrigued by the design applications that could be unearthed from studying an interface as mundane as your pavement. Seriously. I know I take for granted the positioning of street lights, speed limit signs, different dashed lines with varying thicknesses.  Was it really common sense that drove (no pun intended) the design of our roads?  How did we know that at certain distances and with certain symbols our cars would be positioned in such a way we can quickly process instructions to successfully get from point A to B?  In real time, we are expected to have command over a powerful and robust machine such as a car, and be able to navigate it around planes and hills, in different weathers and conditions.

So my fascination really boils down to this: how can I translate how our roads are designed to how to better design software/web UI?  Because I know when I navigate around 2D mediums, it is NOT seamless.  When I took driving school, within a weeks I was equipped with enough knowledge to adapt to varying driving environments, regardless if I am familiar with them or not.  But with software, I can get training for one app, but it’s not directly applicable to another app’s required learning curve.  I recognize different apps have varying expertises, but what if we could design software to play upon our subconscious as well as road signs do?

I also find it strange that a multi-dimensional medium such as a driving experience is easier than learning how to drive a typical 2D app. What does this imply for future interaction design?  Do we need to expose more dimensions in our software to offer a more in real time experience to users?  Do we need to limit a required instruction sets for user interface navigation so that users can focus on getting from point A to B with a task, rather than focusing on the interaction itself?

I hope I’m driving home a valid point here .

It seems that there is an uprising against the new Facebook design.  The Facebook user and developer community, the blogosphere, and even employees hate it, at least if you believe Valleywag.  There is even a Facebook application designed by a third party that lets users vote on how they feel.  Of course, users must install this application to vote and there is likely a selection bias in that people who are angry often are willing exert more energy to express their point of view.

When Facebook launched the original News Feed and Mini-Feed there was a furor over the features.  This time is different, many people argue.  The News Feed was great while this change is so clearly wrong, right?  Perhaps.  But, other than having the benefit of hindsight on the older features, how do you know?  In 2006 Facebook had a fraction of its now 175MM user base — any major UI or functionality change will trigger a massive quantity [in absolute terms] of change antibodies even if the relative number of unhappy users reamins constant.  Such is the double-edged sword of usage growth.

Facebook has access to usage data that most, if not all, critics lack.  Are a larger percentage of users now providing updates on “what’s on your mind?”  Has the number of updates increased in frequency for those using the feature?  Have click-through rates on the News Feed increased or decreased?  Has usage of the site gone up or down?  Has the torrid rate of new user acquisition slowed?  Has the rate of change of the density of friends within the current user base gone up?

How can critics be so certain that the design is a bad thing for Facebook without empirical evidence?  Critics may be right, but they may be wrong, just as they clearly were with the News Feed and Mini-Feed.

The irony of all of this is that I discovered this furor through the Facebook News Feed itself, thanks to the new design.  The old design offered me about 10 feeds per 24 hour period.  I now have a stream of news from my network which delivers a much richer flavor of what’s going on in my network right now, including displeasure with the new design.

Perhaps the naysayers are right, but they may be wrong.  Usage data [and time] will tell the real story, but Facebook has an information assymmetry in its favor on this question.  I applaud Mark Zuckerberg for having the courage only a founder has to do what he believes is right in the face of all of this criticism.  Hopefully his courage is supported by the data.  If it is, he would be well served to highlight some of the favorable changes to temper his critics.

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       Aprendizagem móvel ou m-learning, isto é, a aprendizagem com um aparelho de mão, que cabe na palma da mão e que permite uma aprendizagem activa. Este novo tipo de ensino ou forma de aprender auxilia no aumento do conhecimento em geral, permitindo aceder a esses materiais quando, como, onde se quiser.

      Este é o poder das novas tecnologias de hoje em dia, que facilitam estes tipos de ensino!

Retirado da página: http://www.slideshare.net/linade/mobile-learning-aprendizagem-mvel/

       As tecnologias projectaram e melhoraram o ensino à distância, sendo que nos tempois de hoje, temos quase tudo ao alcance de um simples toque, de um simples link!

         Elas são importantes para o desenvolvimento de tudo o que é relacionado com o ensino, principalmente o ensino à distância, o qual benificiou com o desenvolvimento e aparecimento de novas tecnologias como o computador ou a Internet.

       Sem estas novas tecnologias nada seria igual!

Vídeo retirado do YouTube

Nos dias 30 e 31 de Outubro realizou-se em Lisboa na Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, pela Universidade Aberta, o primeiro simpósio sobre o Ensino à Distância, intitulado “1º Simpósio de Educação a Distância dos Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa”, o qual mereceu uma mensagem de apreço de sua Excelência o Presidente da República.

“Felicito a Universidade Aberta pela realização deste 1º Simpósio dedicado à Educação a Distância dos Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa e pela comemoração dos seus 20 anos de actividade no âmbito do ensino superior a distância.

Saúdo os ilustres representantes dos Países de Língua oficial Portuguesa e todos os participantes neste encontro.

Estou certo de que a relevância do tema em discussão, a qualidade e diversidade dos oradores e o objectivo comum que a todos aqui juntou são uma garantia do reforço da cooperação ao nível do ensino superior e do desenvolvimento de uma rede de partilha de conhecimentos científicos.

Como Presidente da República, tenho chamado a atenção para a importância da valorização da língua portuguesa como um factor de desenvolvimento e veículo de progresso dos povos que a partilham.

Com mais de 220 milhões de falantes nativos, o português é a quinta língua mais falada no mundo e a terceira mais falada no mundo ocidental, beneficiando das numerosas comunidades de emigrantes espalhadas em todo o mundo.

A língua portuguesa é, pois, um poderoso instrumento para afirmarmos a nossa presença e a nossa capacidade estratégica de intervenção à escala internacional, e deve ser valorizada como uma vantagem competitiva e como um meio de combate ás desigualdades sociais.

Neste sentido, o potencial formativo do ensino superior a distância deve ser aproveitado plenamente. O ensino e a divulgação da língua portuguesa terão muito a ganhar com a presença em todos os meios que hoje reflectem a interacção e o conhecimento, incluindo o meio digital.

A Universidade Aberta é uma instituição dedicada ao ensino a distância e foi pioneira na utilização das tecnologias de informação.

Ao longo das duas décadas de existência, contribuiu de forma muito expressiva para a qualificação, ao nível superior, de muitos jovens e muitos adultos, em Portugal e em todos os Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa, para os quais esta é a única forma possível de investir na formação e na procura de novas competências.

constante aperfeiçoamento e a disponibilização das ferramentas técnicas em formato digital tornam o ensino a distância uma oportunidade de relevância crescente, sendo de destacar o significado estratégico da produção de conteúdos educativos em língua portuguesa e na formação de plataformas educativas que reúnam os países da CPLP.

Saúdo mais uma vez esta iniciativa e formulo votos de que professores, alunos e todos os que se envolvem no apoio e estímulo ao ensino a distância possam rever-se com orgulho nos progressos que, por sua mão, for possível concretizar.

Lisboa, 30 de Outubro de 2008
Aníbal Cavaco Silva”

Neste simpósio foram entrevistadas várias entidades e pessoas relacionadas com a àrea, tais como, Drº Carlos Reis, reitor da Universidade Aberta, Domingos Simoes, Secretario Executivo da CPLP, Alfredo Matta, pertecente à associação Brasileira de Educação à Distância, entre muitos outros.

Os temas que foram apresentados e discutidos foram:

Foram retiradas algumas conclusões retiradas deste simpósio e após discussões, debates e trocas de opinião, que proximamente aqui iremos colocar para debater com os nossos colegas e possíveis interessados.[1]

Penso que o Instituto Politecnico do Porto ou até a ESEIG deveriam realizar simpósios, seminários ou debates como estes e com o mesmo assunto/tema, pois é um assunto interessante, que será bastante importante no futuro e que acarreta muitas discussões.

 Aqui fica o site para visualizarem o que foi aqui escrito e transcrito: http://www.univ-ab.pt/eventos/simposio_ead/

Richards, J. C.   2001 Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Page 26: This was accompanied particularly during the 1960s by the introduction of new methods. But this took little account of the motivation of the learners: it has been about HOW people learn and WHAT language is and not WHY people learn.

Thus, there was a reevaluation in the 1970s to determine such things as which foreign languages should be taught in the school system at what year languages should be introduced…

Page 27: One important response was initiated by he Council of Europe, which proposed that a ´unit-credit` system be used as a framework for developing language teaching programs (Threshold Level). It was during this period that Communicative Language Teaching emerged.  

English for specific purposes:

During the 1970s the ESP approach drew on register analysis and discourse analysis.

An ESP approach starts with an analysis of the learner´s needs — an imp. factor in the developing of current approaches.

The 1970s was a period when everyone was going communicative. The capacity to use language appropiately in communication based on the setting, the roles of the participants, and the nature of transaction was referred to as communicative competence.

What would such a syllabus look like? Wilkins described the traditional type of grammar-based syllabus as a synthetic approach, which is contrasted with an analytic approach.   

CHAPTER 3: Needs analysis.

The purposes of needs analysis:

Procedures used to collect inf. about learners’ needs are known as needs analysis, which was introduced through the ESP movement. NA may be used for different purposes as for example to ascertain what cognitive and academic skills students have acquired i English. In some cases, needs also includes students´rights. In other cases, learners´ needs may not be so immediate: students learning English as a secondary school subject in an EFL context. NA can take place prior to,during, or after a language program.

What are needs:

Teachers, learners, employers, parents and other stakeholders may have different views.

The users of needs analysis: 

Poitical dimension…

Stakeholder: (Connely and Clandinin, 1988,124): a person or group of persons with a rigt to comment on, and have input into, the curriculum process offered in schools.

The target population:

Procedures for conducting needs analysis:

Since any one source of info. is likely to be incomplete or partial, a triangular approach (i.e., collecting info. from two or more resources ) is advisable. Info could be taken from different sources…

You have the IDEA and you have the core TEAM, which hopefully includes a great designer (at least as a contractor, but preferably a co-founder or first hire).  So now what?

BusinessWeek had a great post on Apple’s design process a few months ago.  Here is a snippet from the interview:

10 to 3 to 1
Apple designers come up with 10 entirely different mock ups of any new feature. Not, Lopp said, “seven in order to make three look good”, which seems to be a fairly standard practice elsewhere. They’ll take ten, and give themselves room to design without restriction. Later they whittle that number to three, spend more months on those three and then finally end up with one strong decision.

People wonder why Apple continuously builds such great products.  How is it possible?  A big part of the answer is that Apple starts product development with pixel perfect mockups.  Many would argue that the 10 to 3 to 1 process which lasts months is too cumbersome for your average startup.  However, the likelihood that a random design will hit the mark is near-zero.  Isn’t spending several years of your team’s time and [and possibly, your investor's money] on a crappy product quite a bit more cumbersome?  As Microsoft has learned, it’s incredibly hard to fix bad interaction design after the fact.  

You needn’t copy Apple’s approach “pixel for pixel.”  But doing several rounds of INTERACTION DESIGN and VISUAL DESIGN mockups is well worth the cost.  Just make sure that you hire a great designer who gets interactions.  Interaction design does not equal visual design — but you can find individuals who get both.

Visual design is important, but the best overall design is the one that goes with the grain of human nature — that’s interaction design.  And very few product managers and engineers get interaction design.  

Once you have click-able (HTML mockups) ready, run a quick and dirty usability test.  Invite friends over and ask them to do a few key tasks.  Videotape their behavior.  How many clicks did it take for them to accomplish your desired task?  How can you improve your product by cutting clicks to achieve a task in half?  How long did it take them to find the link they wanted on a page?  How can you improve that?  Then iterate at least once more…

Once you have something that you are proud of, you are ready to START writing code.  

Hace ya tiempo que este blog y en paricular yo  no hacia tutos sobre custom firmwares… pero en esta  ocacion quede sorprendido!!!  debido a que  este  custom firmware esta escrito y desarrollado  por miriam si, es  una  chica!!!! 

Novedades de este Custom Firmware:

• General:
• Kernel actualizado a 3.95 (nuevos nids, patches, etc.)
• Recovery
• Opción añadida en el recovery para elegir entre el VSHMenu y el recovery in-XMB.
• Opción para elegir de el menu recovery entre odos de actualización de de red de Sony, GEN o M33

en fin…  ya tambien existe  una utoinstalador  hecho por   My_P.s.p: (visita su pagina click aqui) ,recominedo ampliamente este auntoisntalador ya que te lleva d e la mano para la instalacion de  este  nuevo  c.f. para poder instalar el Custom Firmware 3.95 GEN se necesita al menos el Custom Firmware instalado 3.71 M33.

D E S C A R G A   A Q U I BY : L T