Dozen

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

A Dozen “Edutainment” Application Bundles I-Focos White Paper

By Steven Donahue [email protected] 305-318-8176 Language Magazine HTU

UTH

ABSTRACT: Search, like Rock and Roll, will never die. But it will not thrive until it diversifies and partners with Media, Not-forProfit, and aims to build new generations of users via educational application bundles. U

U

S

Definition EARCH WAS THE GREAT NEW FRONTIER. Sodden with copycats, it has become anhydrous. As Science Fiction writer, Harlan Ellison, has noted: “We are

entertaining ourselves out of existence.”

The Principia Mathematica by Russell and Whitehead would have been a thin book indeed, if it had as its base the language of the Hip Hop culture. It would have to run something like, “If I break out your front teethes, I will write my thesis,” as an if-then nest. However, the problem is not with Hip Hop—it is just faddish and entertainment. The question is more profound: How far can an illiterate market expand for the new breed of media now emerging?

1

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526 Below are described a dozen possible education application bundles for a new media model. The definition of an “Edutainment” bundle is as follows.

EDU-TAINMENT U

It is interactive instructional content, which results in: 1. Measurable and meaningful learning outcomes, 2. Engages students at the appropriate level, and 3. Adheres to standards acceptable to schools, governments, and philanthropies.”

2

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Model

Figure 1 APPLICATION BUNDLES

Search, like Rock and Roll, will never die. But it will not thrive until it diversifies and partners with Media, Not-for-Profit, and aims to build new generations of users via educational application bundles.

3

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Table 1 THE DIRTY DOZEN

Dirty Dozen Application Bundles of the Future (1)

Online Writer & Bot Reader for emailing social messages/hearing essay read back by synched avatar.

(2)

Automatic Essay Repair

(3)

Automatic Essay Scoring with club privileges

(4)

Fill-in-Blanks for breaking news stories/ earn points and prizes.

(5)

Arrange headlines in ascending order for points.

(6)

Reading Machine. Level diagnosis and spelling/pronunciation hierarchy.

(7)

Best Sentence evaluator.

(8)

Flash Games.

(9)

Drag and Drop Parts of Speech, etc.

(10) Write-By-Phone. Assorted Activities. Alliance with long-distance carrier. (11) Make your own newspaper and distribute by moving blocks of standard online editions. (12) Interactive TV DVD’s connected live.

4

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

SCHEMATICS 1. ONLINE WRITER & BOT READER. For emailing social messages/hearing essay read back by synched avatar. U

U

Figure 2 BOT READER

5

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526 2. AUTOMATIC ESSAY REPAIR. Semantically-based essay repair in automatic or semi-automatic mode. U

U

Figure 3 ESSAY REPAIR

6

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526 3. AUTOMATIC ESSAY SCORING WITH CLUB PRIVILEGES. Allows for social networking to share writing with others. U

U

Figure 4 ESSAY SCORING

7

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

4. HEADLINE PUZZLER. Fill-in-Blanks for breaking news stories/ earn points and prizes. The preliminary idea is that the user: First, arranges the headlines from most to least important. Second, they edit the opening and closing paragraphs of each article. In this manner, the scorer will evaluate their entries. And, the social community will also grade. Prizes and points, perhaps from vendors as well. U

U

Figure 5 HEADLINE PUBLISHER

8

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

5. READING MACHINE. Level diagnosis and U

U

spelling/pronunciation hierarchy.

Figure 6 READING MACHINE

9

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

6. BEST SENTENCE EVALUATOR. The user tries to create the best sentence possible, perhaps in a contest basis for a particular topic. A sentence hierarchy evaluates and scores the sentence. U

U

Figure 7 SENTENCE EVALUATOR

10

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

SOME EXAMPLES Online Writer & Bot Reader for emailing social messages/hearing essay read back by synched avatar

Figure 8 FUN ROBOTS Table 2 DISCRETE OUTPUT Usage i.e. kids many real sense

Category Contraction Possible subject-verb mismatch Possible subject-verb mismatch Punctuation placement

Usage Feedbacks Feedback When you mean "for example," use e.g. When you mean "that is," use "i.e." Use good old English "for example" and "that is" Probably better to say "children" Use many with countable nouns. Many hands make light work. Real means "actual." The unicorn is an imaginary beast, but it is made up of features taken from real ones. Sense is a verb meaning "feel" ("I sense you near me") Don|t use it when you need the adverb "since" ("since you went away,) Grammar Check Results Description Text Difference Suggestions Avoid contractions in wasn|t was not formal writing. of the of the classroom was -ORNumber agreement classroom of the classrooms were -ORerror. were of these classrooms were Singular noun thought that naps -ORthought that thought conflicts with thoughts that nap -ORnap verb nap. thought, that nap Punctuation inside learning." quotation marks.

11

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526 Punctuation placement

moment,"

Punctuation inside quotation marks. Spell Check Results

Spelling Errors Detected

Suggestions

Frere

freer

helter

welter

skelter

smelter

Heelan

heel an Slang Words

Usage

Feedback

SHIT

USE “FECES”

Automatic Essay Repair

Figure 9 READ ALOUD AND INTERACT

12

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Figure 10 COLORFUL OUTPUT BARS

Automatic Essay Scoring with club privilegesParse Essay Sentence Results

Total Score = 12.4 Total Ambiguity = 1 Score= 12.4 Ambiguity= 1 +---------------------| +------------------| | +------------+--------Wd-------+ +-------------------MVp------------------+ | +---CO---+ +-----Ost-----+ | | | | +-Xc-+ +-SFst+ +---D*u--+---Mp--+---Jp---+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | LEFT-WALL first.a , there w as.v the buildup[?].n of anticipation

+--------------MX--------------+ | +------------Xd-----------+--------------------Xc---------

Figure 11 SENTENCE PARSER

13

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Figure 12 INDEPENDENT FEEDBACK

14

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Figure 13 VOCABULARY BUILDING AND WRITE-BY-PHONE

15

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Figure 14 http://www.rxnetwriter.com

16

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Figure 15 VOCABULARY PROFILE

17

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

CONCLUSION SEARCH ENGINES HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD. However, that changed world has also mutated search engines. Looking for the next “big idea,” there are a lot of chefs in the engine, and poaching is not being done to just eggs. The time has come for a new vision, comprehensive, as outlined above, at least in a preliminary sense.

Links (1)

http://faculty.mdc.edu/sdonahue/

(2)

HTU

http://www.writenowabc.net/ifocos/ifocos.aspx HTU

(3) (4)

UTH

http://www.writenowabc.net/ HTU

http://googlescriber.com/ HTU

18

UTH

UTH

UTH

© 2007 Steven Donahue [email protected] (786) 315-8526

Author

Figure 16 Donahue holding Pashto Training CD for US Military Language Magazine Features Editor: Steven Donahue http://www.languagemagazine.com HTU

UTH

Steven Donahue is a member of The National Press Club, The Society of Professional Journalists, and The National Writer's Union. He has published over 100 articles and numerous self-published books, as well as submitted E-Testimony to the Congressional Web-Based Education Commissioner' report. He has developed sophisticated software programs, some of which provide language training for the U.S. Military in Afghanistan and American K-16 students. He has contributed to the Operation Enduring Freedom Language Task Force (OEFLTF) at the Defense Language Institute and presented before the Director of Central Intelligence's Foreign Language Committee (DCIFLC). His work has been covered in The Chronicle of Higher T

Education, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. He is a tenured T

T

T

T

T

professor at Miami Dade College in Florida. His hobbies include chess and the violin. For more information, visit www.rxnetwriter.com http://faculty.mdc.edu/sdonahue/ and HTU

UTH

HTU

UTH

www.writenowabc.net HTU

UTH

19