{"id":873,"date":"2017-06-08T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/?p=873"},"modified":"2017-06-08T10:14:07","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T18:14:07","slug":"the-ibm-cloud-of-unknowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/the-ibm-cloud-of-unknowing\/","title":{"rendered":"The IBM Computer Cloud of Unknowing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/it-online.co.za\/2017\/06\/07\/ibm-watson-sesame-workshop-do-learning-in-the-cloud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press release<\/a> is making the rounds this week, announcing a collaboration between\u00a0Sesame Street and the letters I, B, and M. Big Bird and Big Blue are teaming up to do &#8220;learning in the cloud&#8221; with <em>Jeopardy!<\/em> champion <del>Ken Jennings<\/del> Watson the Super-Computer. Their first project together\u00a0is called a &#8220;cognitive vocabulary learning app&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Watson\u2019s augmented intelligence capabilities are designed to enable the app to provide digital assistance in the classroom. Teachers can monitor children\u2019s vocabulary development in real-time through a <strong>secure dashboard<\/strong> and adjust lessons, pacing, and curriculum to each child\u2019s needs. The app will use <strong>adaptive assessments<\/strong> to determine a child\u2019s current vocabulary range, and <strong>then deliver vocabulary learning experiences that focus on specific words<\/strong>. Continuously learning as a child engages with the app, words and areas that require additional focus are refined to deliver content and experiences that are engaging, fun (sic) and inspiring.<\/p>\n<p>I admit that it all does sound\u00a0engaging, fun, and inspiring, not to mention\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/the-existential-fallacy-if-it-exists-it-must-be-taught\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sufficiently complicated<\/a>\u00a0enough to require one of the world&#8217;s most powerful computers. I mean, how on Earth\u00a0did kids learn new words before the teacher got her hands on a secure dashboard with real-time monitoring and adaptive assessments?<\/p>\n<p>No one will be left out on these advances. The robots will of course be coming soon to your home as well. We (and stockholders) are assured that the:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">cognitive vocabulary learning app is <strong>only the beginning<\/strong> of what\u2019s possible with this technology. IBM and Sesame are customising Watson for early childhood as well as developing new capabilities for it. Educational toys, apps, and games enabled with Watson\u2019s speech- and image-recognition capabilities are expected to take the platform\u2019s personalised learning <strong>beyond the classroom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>One of the listed advisors to the project is\u00a0Dr. Todd Rose, Director of Mind, Brain, and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He says he is &#8220;encouraged by the program\u2019s progress in just one year,&#8221; but no actual research reports or results are referenced. (I&#8217;ve emailed to ask.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This press release is making the rounds this week, announcing a collaboration between\u00a0Sesame Street and the letters I, B, and M. Big Bird and Big Blue are teaming up to do &#8220;learning in the cloud&#8221; with Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings Watson the Super-Computer. Their first project together\u00a0is called a &#8220;cognitive vocabulary learning app&#8221;: Watson\u2019s augmented [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backseatlinguist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}