We did a small technology test today, the field was like a swamp and the wind was biting. The technology worked tho and everyone was happy. But this photo made me think of a new research question, perhaps someone is interested in writing a paper about this.
How many PhDs does it take to figure out how long 20 meters is in a random field?
It has been a couple of busy weeks with ECSA and Norditel both in the same week. Sadly I did not have time to attend the main ECSA conference but the Second Workshop on Software Ecosystems that I was there for was quite interesting. The workshop had some good presentations in it, even if the focus of the papers where a bit to varied. As the research field is still forming that was hardly a surprise and generally the contributions where good.
The most interesting part was the discussion moderated by Jan and Slinger that took place after the presentations however and it touched on several issues that the field will have to tackle in a not so distant future. During these discussion, someone (I can’t remember who, sorry) stated that there currently is no consensual definition of what a Software Ecosystem really is and that this something that needs to be resolved before the field can proceed forward. The way I interpret this is that the implicit definition of the research area is yet to reach a comfortable mass to draw conclusions from. Looking back at my past troubles of defining Mobile Learning, I am uncertain this one will solve itself. On the other hand, it might not need to. Looking at general conferences in TEL and Mobile Learning, it seems to me that the only criteria that you have to fill in order to be in the subject is that your contribution somewhere briefly touches on learning. I do however intend to revisit my definition of Software Ecosystems as a research area for my upcoming lic. thesis. Perhaps trying to summarize the definitions currently available in a short post and using it for discussion would bring something new to the table here. I am not sure how much has happened since Slingers last summary. All in all it was a nice workshop and I hope to see everyone again at the Third International Workshop on Software Ecosystems in Brussels.
The other “main concern” of the week was the Norditel symposium where Linnaeus University (i.e. us) was the host. Being on the organizational side of things was fun but very tiering, even tho I only did a minor contribution. The posters presented where mostly on theoretical and interaction issues which also meant that my poster on the reference model for a Mobile Learning Ecosystem was a little out of place. There was a few interesting discussions however and in general the symposium was good.
As usual there has been other things poking for my attention but I thought I would make a post about what I at least intend to read (or have already read and can recommend) during the summer. Hopefully I will update the post as new interesting things emerge. I tried to split them up by theory and pragmatic subjects but as with any folksonomy, it might be slightly misleading 
.
. It is based on the book Logiccomix which I’m seriously considering buying as it looks like a excellent beach read.I will be adding more as they come along and if anyone happens to stumble upon this, please feel free to add your own tips in the comments. As a last tip I would like to bring up a lighter reading, namely the Gentleman Bastard sequence starting with The lies of Locke Lamora. It is an excellent series and I can’t wait for the third book.
After a extended visit to Taiwan me and Didac touched down in Sweden (Kastrup is in Denmark I know but very close to Sweden) at 14isch yesterday. After a quick detour to Vislanda to visit Idas parents and grandmother I made it home and have basically been asleep since. After 12 hours or so of good sleep I feel like myself again even tho Sweden is SO much colder then I remembered it. I will post a more extensive update with our adventures later and some reflections on WMUTE are also in the pipeline. I’m still feeling the fever and cold from Taiwan however so I’m taking the rest of the day off to try to get back into health.
I guess everyone has heard about the volcano by now. For us it means that we are effectively stuck in Kaohsiung until this blows over. All is not bad news however, after the first feelings of frustration and angst, Taiwan is not at all a bad country to be stuck in. Most people, especially in Kaohsiung, are very friendly and for a Swede it takes some getting used to, random people stopping to say hello in the streets is something I’ve never seen in Sweden . It is just about as expensive as Sweden however, even if hotels generally are a bit cheaper. Luckily, we have been invited to spend some time with NCKU in Tainan which is bound to be an interesting meet. Hopefully we can set up a little lab there since most of CeLeKT have work that needs to be addressed soon.
We decided to go out and have a few beers yesterday and ended up at a bar featuring the best cover band I ever seen. For some reason they only played western music so we got to enjoy versions of bands like Queen and Europe. It was quite an experience but also a little weird to have to go to Taiwan to find a decent cover band.
Just wanted to update people and say that I’m fine here and that there is no need to worry. I’ll get home when this blows over and until then I’ll keep everyone updated here.
Been spending a two days in Kaoshiung and it is one amazing town. The tempo is crazy and the traffic is utter chaos (or just normal traffic according to Didac ). Found time to do some general touristy stuff and tasted the local cuisine which was quite different and really good. The 2010 edition of WMUTE also started today with a reception and two keynotes. Aside from a little incident with what seemed to be a combination of allergy and overheating which had me laying down for a while, it was a good first day. Sherry Hsi gave a interesting talk around education in general with focus on informal learning and how to motivate learners. Tomorrow is the first “real day” with paper sessions so it is bound to be an interesting day, Adam is presenting his paper on LEMON which is hopefully a highlight of the day .
Nightmarket in Kaoshiung
Sure took me a while but now I finally aggregated something I’m happy with design wise! Pretty empty right now but will fill up as time passes by I hope, the closest thing on the horizon is of course WMUTE in Taiwan so hopefully there will be some updates from there.
