google chrome OS

What a time to be a teacher, especially in the area of Digital technologies, first the opportunity to use Microsoft Kodu on a PC and now announced today Google Chrome OS, I bet the people who wrote the Unit Standards for computing never thought of these developments.

Introducing the Google Chrome OS

7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM

It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.

Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director

Unit Standard 5968

Unit Standard 5968 Social Implications of Information Technology

I have had a look at the Unit Standard, in the special notes it lists aspects of society as

"For the assessment of this unit standard aspects of society can be selected from the following: copyright, crime, privacy, security, ethics, culture, economics, education, employment, health, politics, organisation, international affairs, leisure, safety, public morality, social interaction. At least three aspects of society must be considered."

Being able to look at the past and compare with the future aspects of society, I tend to look at this and think about the Internet and its predecessor, (BBS) Bulletin Board Services, or Web 1.0 versus Web 2.0 in the way of privacy, culture and social interaction.

Cell phones versus landlines, with they way communication has changed, social interaction through txt, no more conversation, one on one, txt language and the changes that has brought to grammar and spelling (nzqa allowing text speak in nzqa exams, November 2006), leisure (always on 24/7 and the impacts it has on the family) and safety (txt bully)

Computer gaming, copyright, crime, culture, health, leisure, public morality, social interaction. Gaming addiction through WOW and other MMORPG and other first person shooters i.e. counterstrike and what impact they have had on society. Also how computer games are now being used for training for employees, this is not a plug but looking at Marc Prensky's book Digital Game-Based Learning, looks at how organisations are utilizing game-based techniques for there business and training of employees.

All of these have social impacts and the research is out there. It is how you look at it.

I would probably get them to think about a specific issue in there life and then research what was available in the way of the past versus the future.

It doesn't state in the Unit Standard what the future is, whether it is 6 months, a week, a year, a decade. The choice I believe is yours.

As for assessing it, verbal versus written, integrate it with another unit standard in presentation: US 5940 Produce a presentation using a desktop presentation computer application level 3 worth 5 credits and have the student present there findings to the class using presentation software. You might have to video tape it to provide evidence to the moderator.

Sorry not resources or assessments, but you have me thinking that I could use this in my course.

I would not like prescribed unit standards on what you had to do for the context, made by someone else i.e like buying them, this allows for teachers and students to pick ideas that relate to what they are being taught and teaching at that time. I look at the unit standard I have just written about and think about the gaming addiction assessment that I gave to my year 12 programming students earlier this year and think, have they reached the standard, even though at the time I did not write the assessment for any standard. It was just a task to get them to do that they loved researching and making there argument about “Computer games are addictive and violent. They should be banned.”

Also reading the original email below about computers and people and that every needs to learn to drive a computer I think back to a commentary that I read called aardvark, the author for a number of years has tried pushing for a license to operate a computer on the internet.

Original email details...

Some of my year 13ICT class are just about to start US5968 - Discuss the social implications of information technology. L3 Credits:3

Just before starting I thought I'd scour out some extra information to help them along the way as I'm not happy with the amount I currently have specifically in a New Zealand context. The unit standard refers to the NZQA website at: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/for-providers/resources/index.html so I thought I'd have a look.

Below are the resources on computers and people... (don't blink)
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Computers and people

Everyone needs to learn to drive a computer, and many of the standards in other areas reflect those skills. Computers also have social effects on our community, and there are units relating to this as well.

Page updated: 20 May 2004
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Yep folks that is it. Is it any wonder our subject area sometimes has issues with standardising to the same material, level and assessments.
This section was right at the bottom of the page. I also noted the last update on the page - 20 May 2004. I guess any developments in our area are definitely not a priority.

So what's the point of my email? In a nutshell DISSAPPOINTMENT. But, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I did buy some commercial stuff, but that has also been a disappointment. Given that a teachers life is now so busy with assessments, documentation, ero, moderation etc. Oh and teaching.
I do wish we could look to somewhere for some support materials and always come up trumps. Oh well, maybe I should check out some UK government resource sites.

Is anyone able to point me, (and my students) to some wonderful, (preferably free) resources in this area.