ZDNet asks if the Semantic Web can help Education. Jason Ohler is an educator who ponders this possibility on his blog. More generally, Jason poses the question of whether semantic technologies can help ease information overload by
- recognizing interesting nouns (e.g. global warming, Pink Floyd),
- deciding what verbs are applicable (e.g. define ‘global warming’, listen to ‘Pink Floyd’, ), and,
- organizing the results into a relevant and digestible summary
I’ve been meaning to write about various Use Cases for MashLogic and this gives me a good lead-in to ramble about how MashLogic can serve as an educational tool.
Education is Learning punctuated by Discovery. Learning provides the factual foundation; Discovery adds color and depth.
The English Vocabulary mash shows definitions for uncommon words. This mash was originally suggested by non-native English speakers, and by high school students preparing for the SAT. The Learning bit is easy enough – mouse over the MashLogic link to see the definition. We achieve this without disrupting the flow of content, with minimal attention shift. By preserving the context, retention is enhanced. Compared with the traditional flow of opening a new window and typing at a search engine, our approach makes for more seamless and effective learning.
The dotted blue links added by MashLogic also provide subtle visual cues that enhance exploration and discovery. The philodox administered a recumbentibus to the skybald. See what I mean? [ed: the previous bit may not come through if you are reading this through an RSS feed]
In a similar vein, the Wikipedia mash shows a summary, often accompanied by an image, for terms that correspond to Wikipedia topics. Learn about topics as you consume content and Discover more by letting your eyes wander over the landscape of the web page.
Activate the Recent Headlines mash to dig deeper into alternate sources of information. You can select categories that educate (e.g. Science, Health) and those that inform (News, Business) or personalize the mash with your own feeds.
