next decade, this 30 million will grow to 100 million. To meet this staggering demand, a major university needs to be created each week" (1996). 
"Our ancestors sailed across a vast ocean, one third of the earth's surface, and to accomplish this great feat they needed the vision to see islands over the horizon, the ability to plan intentional voyages of discovery, the discipline to train physically and mentally, the courage to take risks, and a deep sense of aloha to bind the crew together during the voyage. These are Hawaiian values but they are also universal values. They worked in the past and they will work today" (
instead of seeking radically new opportunities to develop school-as-it-can-be" (Seymour Papert and Gaston Caperton, in 
matter. What matters to me is the determined space and time where determined tasks are accomplished. Social historical and political tasks, not only individual ones. . . . The two main tasks of the school: to get the already known knowledge and to produce the knowledge not yet in existence" (In Seymour Papert's 
and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own, is equivalent to breaking down barriers of class, race, and national territory which kept men from perceiving the full import of their activity" (
Before today, the last time I had that behind-the-neck, hair-prickling sensation was when Lisa Kanae sent me the URL for her blog. One look, and I saw the future, a freeway on a cloudless Sunday afternoon stretching all the way to the horizon and beyond. I had another one today, at noon, in Guy Kellogg’s office.
He saw me in the department’s outer office, stressing over some long overdue forms, and invited me in to check out a new video emailing technology that he’s been using. He turned the screen toward me to demo TokBox. Instead of a text list of inbox mail, he had a list of video thumbnails. Clicking on one produced an instant video message.
To video mail (v-mail) someone, he simply clicks on the avatar of a contact (right sidebar). He can choose synch or asynch. If the former, he can request a live two-way video chat. If the latter, he faces the webcam mounted in the top of his screen and records his video + audio message. The receiver clicks on it and views the streaming video message. Just as in text email, s/he can choose to reply, forward, etc.
Simple. Intuitive. Straightforward. Amazing.
This is clearly the next step in emailing. It gives this ancient technology a completely new dimension that’s wide open for an infinite number of purposes. Instead of an email text announcement to your class or colleagues, for example, send a video message. The process is actually simpler and quicker than typing a message. I haven’t gotten around to buying a webcam so I can’t give you a firsthand account of exactly how to compose and send a message, but from what I saw, it’s a snap. Hopefully, I’ll be able to persuade Guy to take some time away from his department chair tasks to do a quick write-up.
Anyway, I asked him to send me a v-mail. When I returned to my desktop, I logged in to my mailbox and found his message. When I clicked on the video thumbnail, I was taken to the TokBox site where I needed to register for an account. The steps are very simple — name, email address, and password. After logging in, I was in my TokBox mailbox, with a list of v-mail to view. Just like email, but a completely new dimension.
This service, BTW, is completely free.
Click here to visit the TokBox site. You can register for an account, view a demo, etc.
Filed under: Uncategorized
