Connections February 2010 PDF

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EDTECH News 

TREND WATCH: eREADERS

EdTech NewsBy Amy Monaghan
Manager, COL Information Resource Centre

While Kindle and the Sony Reader continue to dominate the market for digital reading devices, a number of new eReaders have hit the market in recent months.

  • The Nook from book retailer Barnes & Noble is the first colour eReader. It allows for book lending.
  • The Skiff Reader, a partnership between Heart and Sprint, is the thinnest eReader on the market to date.
  • The Plastic Logic Que is aimed at business professionals.
  • Alex is a dual-screen eReader that
    provides access to one million Google Books online.

We can expect the flurry of new eBook reader launches to continue in 2010, including a solar-powered eReader from LG. And of course Apple’s new iPad tablet (launched on 27 January) is expected to have a dramatic impact on this market.

Three issues come to mind with regard to eBook readers:

  • Do people want another device that only does one thing?

Current eReaders such as Kindle only read eBooks. An eBook-like tablet, such as Apple’s new release and Microsoft’s eagerly anticipated Courier booklet, will have greater functionality.

  • Do eReaders accommodate different formats sufficiently?

Formats for many of the readers can hamper the owner’s ability to build their eBook collection. For example, the Kindle uses the proprietary format .azw, which is not transferable to any other device. And the Kindle will only read a few other formats such as .txt, .Mobi and .prc (and only if they do not have DRM attached). PDFs can be read on the later model Kindle DX, whereas the earlier models require a conversion process and payment. Many of the cheaper readers such as Foxit and eSlick only read PDF and .txt. This is fine for reading on computers, but PDF graphics do not transfer well to dedicated eBook readers and the print can be so small that when it is enlarged it does not wrap well around the smaller screen.

The open standard format epub is gradually being adopted by some of the bigger players like Sony and Google’s public domain collection (currently only available to US residents), but converting documents from PDF to epub is still not technically straightforward.

  • Do eReaders respect copyright restrictions?

Copyright is an important issue to consider when deciding whether to convert from PDF or other formats to epub. If the copyright is not held by the person wishing to convert formats, then changing formats is usually breaking copyright. So unless the original publisher (or copyright holder) issues the publication in the epub format, then the user of the eBook reader will be unable to view that particular publication on their dedicated machine. One open access journal in our field, the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, very considerately offers their articles in a variety of formats, including PDF, HTML, MP3 and epub.

MOBILE PHONE BANKING IN AFRICA

A service that allows people to transfer money using a mobile phone is rapidly growing in popularity in Africa. M-PESA (M for mobile; pesa is money in Swahili) is available to Safaricom mobile phone subscribers, even if they don’t have a bank account. The M-PESA application is installed on their SIM card. Originally developed to enable microfinance borrowers to conveniently receive and repay loans, M-PESA is now being used mostly by migrant workers sending remittances home and for bill payments.

There are more than 2.3 million registered users in Kenya, where M-PESA was first launched in 2007. Previously only one in five Kenyans had access to banking facilities due to high transaction fees. M-PESA is also being deployed in Tanzania. A similar system, Wizzit, is available in South Africa.

www.safaricom.co.ke

www.wizzit.co.za

A LOOK AT … VIRTUAL SERVERS

Organisations that previously had a separate server to host each computer application are discovering the flexibility and cost savings of a “virtual” server system. Also known as virtual machines, a virtual server system is part of a larger trend of IT virtualisation. COL is virtualising its IT infrastructure by replacing 14 traditional physical servers with three powerful new servers and a Storage Area Network (SAN) that will host all applications on virtual servers. With a life span of about five years and an average replacement cost of $5,000, traditional servers can be expensive, especially since each server optimally only hosts one application.

A virtual server offers several advantages including:

  • Cost savings: In COL’s case, the group of three physical servers and SAN can host 15 to 20 virtual servers.
  • Flexibility: The servers give-and-take with each other to ensure that overall demands are met and, while it can take hours or days to deploy a new application on a traditional server, a virtual server can respond to a new application in a matter of hours. A new server can be created in a few minutes rather than having to buy a new one and then set it up.
  • Improved back-up: Virtual servers can be backed up as a complete machine rather than a series of files that would need to be restored to a new server. In the virtual infrastructure, you have a complete machine back-up and can then restore a complete working machine just by copying it back again.

Organisations considering a virtual server system need to know that specific skills are required to maintain these systems. If your IT system consists of only one or two servers and you have no capacity issues, a virtual server system probably doesn’t make sense.
To find out more, search “virtual servers” or “server virtualisation”. Vendors offer tools for capacity planning that can help you assess the resource utilisation of your current system, as well as future needs. 

THE LEARNING POTENTIAL OF GOOGLE WAVE

Google Wave is a new service that combines email, instant messaging, wikis and social networks. Still in development, it offers the promise of real time online communication and collaboration. Users initiate “waves” that communicate directly and instantly with selected people.
For an excellent discussion of the potential benefits and drawbacks of Google Wave as it relates to education, read Johanna Hane’s article, “A Study and Analysis of Google Wave and its Potential Impact on Education and Collaboration”.

http://web.nmc.org/files/google-wave-revolutionary-tool.pdf

“The complete guide to Google Wave” is an unofficial guide of tips and insights written two Wave enthusiasts and a community of contributors.

http://completewaveguide.com/