Wearable Computing

Picture yourself as a teacher, in a classroom or lecture theater. A student walks in wearing what appears to be a pair of very cool, trendy sunglasses and sits down in his/her chair.

You welcome your student and note that he/she has completed their collaborative skills project in your Sports Science project via the presence monitor in your Google Glass. The attendance roll updates and you proceed to address your virtual and physically situated learners adding additional voice notes for your asynchronous MOOC online learners.

On the trip home from the University your car licence plates are obscured by a stray plastic bag as you drive through an ANPR camera. Shortly after you are pulled over by a Highway Patrol Police Officer who informs you that everything that you say and do will be recorded and may be used in a virtual court of law.

Context

It is 2013 (your not trapped in a science fiction movie) and it's very real. Wearable cameras, augmediated networked technologies and internet enabled smartworld conveniences have social implications that are impacting upon educational practices around the globe. Your data is what consortiums, governments and a myriad of commercial providers are now trading in. Where does it go? Who owns it? Do your care? What risks do we invite when we expose our shared personal data across online social media? If you paid more attention to your own data would it be more valuable for you?

A recent short article I wrote speaks to the convergence of these ideas from an everyday, a professional educator and from a philosophical perspective - http://socialinterface.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/cyborg-cops-googlers-and-connectivism.html

Your Invitation

It would be an honor and privilege if you would consider and accept my invitation to contribute to my PhD research project.

You have been directed to this page with an invitation to formally engage in this research project as a Participant. Your contributions, with permission, will be published in 2015 as a component of my Thesis. 

Your Contribution

Everyone is, in some way, now using computers and almost all of us have over the last decade come to rely upon wearable technologies including the most pervasive and ubiquitous of all - the smartphone. We are seeking your candid and informed response to the research questions from your own perspective. Your contribution is sought due to your role, experience and our careful potential Participant selection process.

Your Participation

You can participate in one of two ways:

  1. Interview - f2f or by telephone - a one (1) hour interview - recorded & fully transcribed or;
  2. Online Response - email transcript - a written response to the Interview Questions

Please do not view the interview questions as being definitive and absolute. You may answer the questions in any number of ways, in any order, in combination with each other or with new questions that you compose as a result of contemplating answers.

You are entitled to retract your contribution at any time up until the point of publication.

Documentation

Please download the following documents:

Research Focus

My PhD research contributes to a better understanding of the implications of using emergent technologies in educational settings.

In less than a decade, in many parts of the world, we have moved from an outright resistance to personal handheld and wearable technologies entering or "disrupting" the classroom or workplace learning setting, now to a state of mediated tolerance. A recent short article I authored for the Social Interface, an interdisciplinary blog on the social implications of technology, titled Cyber Cops, Googlers and Connectivism draws together some of the key themes that underpin my studies in the social and human computing domains.

The Technology

Point-of-view (PoV) or body-wearable-video (BWV) technologies are already having an impact upon curriculum development, assessment practices and prior learning accreditation practice across a wide array of sectors and industry based applications.  My research examines the impact that these technologies are likely to have upon teaching and learning as they become as common place as cell phones or perhaps even replace them entirely.

A comprehensive literature review, interviews with key stakeholders, intensive case studies and data intensive scenario development provides a picture of the effects these emergent networked technologies are likely to have on individuals, the community and more broadly on society. I welcome contact from like minded individuals, cross-sector networks, related interdisciplinary domains and transdisciplinarity research practice that informs the research topic.

Methodology

Research participants will be engaged in:

  • Semi-structured interviews (or written responses to interview questions) conducted with key stakeholders provide a valuable insight into the benefits, risks and solutions that have emerged from the use of these technologies in their workplace or other learning settings or;
  • Comprehensive case studies with select projects / individuals reveal the extent to which these technologies have been deployed and in what ways they have been implemented widely referencing cross sector use cases or;
  • Scenarios that are extrapolated from reliable data sources that pose/picture what we might expect to see appear in this research space in the not too distant future.

Supervision

  • Supervisor -  Associate Professor Katina Michael - University of Wollongong, NSW Australia
  • Co-supervisor - Professor Teemu Leinonen, New Media Design & Learning, Aalto University Helsinki
  • Co-supervisor - Professor Michael Keppel, Executive Director, Australian Digital Futures (ADF) Institute, University of Southern Queensland.

Background

Examples of these technologies include:

Some references to get acquainted with this area include:

Research Interests

  • information communication theory
  • social computing
  • wearable technologies
  • flexible learning
  • mobile learning (mLearning)
  • networked learning (education)
  • connection dependent educative arrangement
  • emergent technologies research
  • data management
  • project management

Thank you!

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Please contact me at any time by:

    alex@alexanderhayes.com



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