Watching TV on two screens

Because one screen is not enough, even more people don’t only watch TV passively anymore. Laptop on the knees, it became normal to surf on the web while watching intermittently TV.

Nowadays, the so-called Second Screen applications appear on our tablets, giving additional informations linked with the TV’s main program. Useful ?

A familiy watching religiously at TV in the 50’s. Past times. Nowadays, one screen is not enough anymore.

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What does the Second Screen brings to us viewers ?

The second screen provides additional informations, in link with what you’re watching on your TV. An international example are the 2012 London Olympics, an event during witch several main TVs transmitted content about the results of the athletes during the broadcasting on the Second Screen.

The Guardian Second Screen, on tablet

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/2/1343916747800/Second-screen-experience-fo.jpg

Second Screen experiences in Switzerland

A swiss example : the RTS “deuxième écran”

In February 2012, the Radio Télévision Suisse launch its own Second Screen system. Up to now, only one program uses the application : the daily evening news “19:30”. During the program, each time a report is broadcasted, complements become available on the application.

Lets have a look at how it works :

From the RTS website mainpage “deuxième écran” section can be found in “Les plus du web”

Or, it’s possible to acess to it directly following this link.

How does the RTS “deuxième écran” looked like for today’s 19:30 ?

Want to know more about Christian Varone topic ? The second screen gives you more elements.

The second screen doesn’t only proposes texts, but also graphics (for the elections periods for example), videos, pictures galleries, and all wich supports the web can provide.

A video made by the RTS about the “deuxième écran” at the moment of it’s launch :

http://www.rts.ch/video/emissions/grand-angle/3956695-le-deuxieme-ecran-du-19h30.html

Playing with Second Screen

 

In December, the RTS will launch it’s new general culture game “Les Imbattables”.

The game itself isn’t very innovative (teams composed by a kid and a senior try to answer questions in a quiz). What’s new is the possibility for the viewer to answer actively to the questions on a tablet, trough the Second Screen. As the question is displayed on the TV screen, it appears also on the tablet with the possibility to answer to it.

RTS future game “Les Imbattables” will use since December 2012 the Second Screen technology.

Usefull, the Second Screen ?

Looking at the swiss example of the 19:30 “Deuxième écran”, it certainly provides some additional informations. The graphics are for example interesting, since they appear quite quickly on TV, sometimes too fast to be analysed properly.

But it appears that most of the content of this RTS Second Screen remains quite light, with just short texts, and the videos simply come from the swiss television website. There are no additional videos coming from youtube or dailymotion, no links : nothing that can really bring the user to new way of knowledge.

The Second Screen is but quite a new born. Some time more should be needed in order to see the concept further developed in the future. The TV broadcasters believe in the future of this technology. As does for example David Wertheimer, president of digital at Fox :

The second screen discussion we’ve been having is just one piece of a strategy that’s all about giving our audiences an opportunity to talk about the shows and share thoughts with the showrunners and the talent. To us, that’s what television in the 21st century is all about.

From : http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/15/showbiz/tv/second-screen-tv-our-mobile-society/index.html

David Wertheimer, president of digital at Fox, believes in the future of the Second Screen.

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And you,

Are you using Second Screen ? Or do you want to stay an oldschool « couch potatoe » ?

Before Second Screen: couch potatoes. What’s the best ?

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Professor iPad: Apple meets education

Jessica Richard 

I don’t have an iPad nor children, for the moment. However during my random train path, in a queue or watching popular videos (lolcats, babies, puppies), I couldn’t miss the fact that many mini-humans already owned an iPad and were very comfortable with it. It seems natural in their small skilful hands, like they have been using them forever: scrolling, zooming, switching applications and so on. 

This scene seems more and more natural for me but,

• What implications does it have on the education of the kids at school and at home?
• How does this technological tool reshape education?
• What are the advantages and the downsides of “Professor iPad”?

This is a vast controversy subject and still currently debated. Blogs articles unleash parent’s passions, which are always very reactive when it comes to their heirs. My purpose is not to defend the iPad invasion in the classrooms or to cry wolf but to give an overview of the possibility of an interaction between traditional education and a virtual one.

Mummy, can I have iPad for breakfast please ?

Amazing isn’t it? These kinds of video are blooming on the net for the delight of our zygomatics. What to think of the intrusion of the iPads in our home? A New York Times blogger, David Pogue, has already asked himself: iPad or not ipad that is the question? In his article “A parent struggle with a child’s iPad addiction” the journalist questions his son’s addiction (in his definition of an addiction) for his iPad. After analyzing the benefits and the dangers of the interaction between his son and his tablet, Pogue concluded as follow:

For now, I’m trying to live by the mantra, “Moderation in all things.” As long as iPad use is part of a balanced diet of more physical play and non-electronic activities, I think my little guy will probably be O.K.

The article gave rise to no less than 947 comments…

Source: David Pogue’s blog

Following the impact of the post, David Pogue got interviewed on that subject:

So, a key seems to be parental mediation between the kids and the tablet, which is also recommended for television, video games, telephony, internet access and so on.

The pedopsychiatrist Pierre Delion explains, in an interview, that the traditional games shouldn’t be replaced by screens. However, he doesn’t deny the importance of digital tools in our daily routine. He argues in favor of a support of the parents in the children’s discovery of the virtual games so they could understand the relationship between the real and the virtual. Children with communication problems or anxiety could also find a more comfortable relation in the virtual games than in the traditional ones. Professor Delion reminds us that :

Un enfant ne s’éduque jamais tout seul et l’iPad à mon sens ne doit pas être laissé aux enfants avant 9 ans. N’oublions pas que cette tablette reste un portail vers Internet.

The solution would be found in a balance in the private educational environment. The educational games participate in the development and in the creativity of the children. However, time spent with the iPad has to be clearly limited and controlled by the parents. So the relation between the children and the tablet does not fall into an addiction. In addition, Pierre Delion underlines the fact that the interactive games do not improve young children intelligence.

Source: Techcrunch, Timbuktu application.

Daddy, can I take my iPad at school?

According to Apple, the iPad seems to be the revolution that the education was waiting since Plato’s Academy, revealed by this official video:

iPad is showing up in peoples’ lives all around the world. Now, when we set out to create the iPad, we set out to create not just a new product, but a new category. Tim Cook

It is obvious that this video shows a 100% positive record of the arrival of theirs tablets in the classrooms. It is shown that the iPad can be used from the maternity to the university. Everything is a matter of application(s). At each age its applications. But what evidence is there of this? Some studies have already addressed the issue.

One of the main studies was carried for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a textbook publisher. The aim was to compare the performance of two groups of children at the Amelia Earhart Middle School in Riverside, California. A control group used the traditional Holt McDougal Algebra 1 textbook, while an experimental group used iPads with an interactive version of the same coursework. According to The Economist, at the end of the year: 78% of pupils using the interactive text scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the California algebra test, compared with only 59% scoring likewise with the standard textbook.

Students’ interaction with the device was more personal. You could tell students were more engaged. Using the iPad was more normal, more understandable for them. Coleman Kells, principal of Amelia Earhart Middle School.

Moving textbooks to mobile devices will reinvent learning. Marita Scarfi, CEO of digital-focused marketing agency Organic.

However, the major downside has been enlightened: the cost. The Apple iPads are still a $500-plus investment per unit. Funding is still a problem, particularly for public schools, explains Christina Bonnington for Wired. She says that one of the solutions would be sites like DonorsChoose.org which can provide funds for schools. Anyway, the cost shouldn’t stop us from thinking education in that way.

Source: book cover, Tony Wagner, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World.

The first iPad summit this year supported that of point of view. As a young student present at the summit reported: participants gave all their attention to a single piece of technology and how it might be applied in the realm of education. Tony Wagner, Ph.D. Harvard professor, highlighted the themes of the conference:

We must change the framework of education to reflect what our students need in the world today. Tools like the iPad allow educators and students to be creative, flexible, and innovative in ways never before seen. The same-old-same-old approach in education has only been driving the failure of the American educational system. If we want different results, we need to do something different.

Three main conclusions emerged from this First iPad Summit:

1. iPad is simply a tool and not the magical, miracle object that will innovate education by itself
2. iPad in the classroom must be linked with professional development
3. iPad in education must be more than a replacement program

Bye bye Candy shop, Hello Apple store!

What are the educative applications? There is a certain numbers of applications destined to teach, develop, train, create and so on. Most of these apps have a recreational side which can transform the learning process into a less painful and boring experience for the children. From the most rudimentary to the serious Khan Academy, the Apple store proposes numerous applications for all ages, free as well as charged. Most of these apps work on the logic of a serious game: software that combines a serious intention, like pedagogical, informational, communicational, marketing, ideological or drive with fun. The vocation of a serious game is to make the serious side attractive with an interaction, rules or possibly with play goal.¹

Source: Apple Store

Switch off your iPad, it’s time to go to bed now !

To conclude, the iPad isn’t a magical solution nor will it replace the contribution of a teacher. However, E-learning may allow developing certain abilities in children who are in an environment where the virtual is increasingly present. It’s central that children learn how to use the tools that they will find later in their studies or in their daily life/routine. Like David Pogue reminds us, the secret is in moderation. The iPad summits will certainly improve the knowledge, in a collaborative aim, of the utility and danger of this esthetic tool. The cost can clearly be a barrier to the spread of that product. We shouldn’t forget that education is profitable new market as well as a good way to attract future customers.

Even if there is still a lot to do and to develop around the perspective of e-teaching, I wish all the best for the collaboration between the teacher and the “Professor iPad”.

Education needs you !

read more: http://www.ipadpd.com/blog.html

1: Wikipedia, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeu_sérieux

How the iPad can change the newspapers industry?

Since Gutenberg, the paper industry hasn’t been so disturbed. In April 2010, Apple launched a new product called iPad. They presented their tablet like a new electronic product which will change our daily life.

The iPad is midway between the phone and the traditional notebook and its price starts at $ 499. Like the iPhone or the iTouch, the iPad is multi-touch. This means that you touch the screen in order to do actions. Without a keyboard the iPad isn’t a real production tool.

This tablet is primarily oriented on consumption of books, magazines, digital newspapers, movies and Internet with the 3G access. You can also download applications on the Apple Store. With this new product category, some media society saw an opportunity (or an obligation) to focus their attention on digital content.

But how such an object can pretend to change the newspaper industry?

Indeed, there are many questions. Let’s take a deeper look at the advantages of the iPad:

• Memory: Compared to a standard book which takes almost the same space, the iPad 2 has got 16, 32 or 64 GB of storage. With 16 GB you can store more than 10’000 digitals books. This means that you can have the library of your town just in your bag.
• Media convergence: With the iPad all types of media are used. We can have text and photos like on a traditional newspaper but we can also have songs and videos. With the Internet access you can use the hypertext links to deepen your knowledge.
• Interactivity: The iPad also provides the ability to interact with the content: Scrolling through images, zooming into a photo, playing or stopping a video, commenting an article, moving into a 3D photo, looking for a place on a map, etc.
• Price: Finally a digital book is necessarily cheaper than a book. In the digital word, there is no distribution, no needs of paper and so no impression costs. The removal of theses intermediates allows media companies to revise their prices downward.

We could also name other advantages like the luminosity, which helps you to read in the dark or the possibility to zoom into the text.

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corporation, launched the first daily newspapers of the world on the iPad simply called The Daily on the 2. February 2011. Rates are proposed at 14 cents per day, 99 cents per week and also 40 $ for per year. The creation of this newspaper costs nearly $ 30 million. Since its launch the newspapers application has been downloaded 800,000 times. If this is a correct figure, it seems that few readers have become subscribers after the free trial period. The Daily would need about 600,000 subscribers to become truly profitable. In this case, the 30% of commissions that are paid back to Apple is also counted. Currently, official figures have not been released but there are about 120,000 daily readers of the newspaper.

The newspaper, however, faces major obstacles. Indeed, today only a little part of the population has an iPad. The sales of the iPad 2 are relatively good, with 15 million sells, but it will takes more time to reach every family. This means that the market is currently booming but is relatively small for a newspaper’s ambition.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, Apple takes 30% of the selling price of applications sold on the Apple Store. This constraint is relatively difficult to maintain for most companies wishing to sell their application to an extreme low price.

Currently, 83% of tablets sold are iPads. However on Android, the operating system from Google, applications are much free because they are not charged with 30 % by Google. The Daily announced to open his digital newspaper on Android tablets soon.

Are people really ready to read newspapers on a tablet?

On this graph from observatoire-bd-numerique.com, only 25.8% of the websites users say they use the iPad for reading. The major part, 46.2 % uses it rather for Internet and e-mails. This means that reading books or newspapers on screen haven’t become an habit yet.

Most of the people are still very attached to the paper. Actually, we don’t know if people really want all of these technologies. Some people just want to read something which is easy and don’t care about interactivity. On this video we can also see all the advantages of a book.

People also argue that the screen tires the eyes seriously. This problem could be solved in the future. Companies are working on new type of screen which is called “amoled”. These screens are foldable and extremely thin (about 1mm). These screens would be also less aggressive for our eyes.

In conclusion, it is relatively too early to say if the iPad is able to change definitely the newspapers industry. Furthermore, I think that people’s mentality has to get used to digital content. I used the iPad during one day and I am still skeptical about it because I feel more comfortable with a real newspaper. However, the tablet is still likely to evolve and it would be possible to imagine that the arrival of new AMOLED screens will even more upset the newspapers industry and truly give a boost to the tablets.