I had the pleasure of spending today with Prof. Sudhir Misra (Co-PI of the IITK-VT Partnership), during which we held a number of meetings with senior faculty at Virginia Tech focused on the future activities of the IITK-VT Partnership. Prof. Misra also provided a guest lecture in the graduate course on Advanced Urban Infrastructure Planning (UAP5854) – the first course at VT to be associated with the IITK-VT partnership. In between these events, we were able to find ten minutes during which I asked Prof. Misra several questions about what the IITK-VT partnership has accomplished and where we plan to take the partnership in the future. The video below captures our conversation that I recorded using Google Glass and edited in Camtasia.
Category: Google Glass
Teaching Using Google Glass and Apps
The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy has just published a Tool Tips article I wrote on how I’m using Google Glass and Apps to support my teaching at Virginia Tech. The multimedia format of the journal offers a unique opportunity to embed pictures and videos in the article that provide a rich context to the platform I’m using and what students thought of the experience.
CAUS Reception at Smithfield Plantation
Below are a few pictures taken through Glass this afternoon at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS) Champagne and Strawberry Reception at the Smithfield Plantation.
Talk at the Table – Binary Economics
On Sunday, May 4, a conversation between Robert Ashford, Joyce Rothschild, Woody Crenshaw, and I aired on Talk at the Table with Andy Morikawa. During our conversation, we explain the basic idea of binary economics and how it relates to critical issues such as growing income inequality and sustainable development.
First Meeting of the DAC – University Libraries
This morning, the Dean’s Advisory Committee (DAC) for the University Libraries had its inaugural meeting in the new multipurpose room in Newman Library. Over the next year the 22 DAC members from across the university will work to identify opportunities to put Virginia Tech at the leading edge of library services. The images below were taken #throughGlass.
Using Glass at VT
In the video below, Brian Mathews and I provide some insight into how faculty and students are using Google Glass at Virginia Tech.
[Acknowledgments: I’d like to thank Carlos Waters for his help in editing the above video. I’d also like to thank Virginia Tech’s Networked Learning Initiatives and InnovationSpace for the resources they have made available for members of the VT Glass team.]
For additional information on how faculty and students are using Glass at Virginia Tech, see the recently published Tech Teams White Paper.
Developing Glass Videos
This past week, I enjoyed working with Carlos Waters (VT InnovationSpace), Shelli Fowler (Director, Networked Learning Initiatives – NLI), and Jacques Walker (NLI) on developing the outline for several videos that will document how I’m using Glass to advance learning in my courses. I will post these videos as soon as they are ready for distribution.
Carlos Waters (InnovationSpace) 
Jacques Walker and Shelli Fowler (NLI)
#IfihadglassVT Competition
The VT Glass Explorer Team recently received a number of invitations to invite new people to join the Google Glass Explorer program. We have at least nine invitations available and will offer them to the best response we read to the hashtag #IfihadglassVT
This competition is open to all VT students, faculty, and staff. To be considered for one of the invitations, you need to post your #IfihadglassVT response to Twitter or Google+ by 12pm on Friday, March 7. If selected, you will be responsible for covering the cost of the Glass device ($1,500 + tax and shipping).
If you are a VT student, I encourage you to “pitch” your Glass-related research ideas to your advisor with the objective of securing research funds to cover the cost of the device 😉
We look forward to growing the VT Glass Team and seeing how you would Invent the Future!
Tech Talk Article on Google Glass
Last year, I was interviewed by Wes Brandi for the Tech Talk section of the Social Scene Magazine (SSM). A copy of article is provided below courtesy of SSM. 
New Google+ WASH Community
This semester I’m going to use a Google+ community to support my course on Water Supply and Sanitation in Developing Countries. Whereas the community I created last semester for my sustainability seminar was private, this WASH (water, sanitation, and health) community will be open for anyone to join.
My transition to using Google Apps is fueled by my interest in using Google Glass in education. While the VT Glass Team is still working on an App that I can use during my class (more to come on this), I have had some initial success in recording assignment-feedback videos for students. This semester I have teamed up with Mary English in VT’s Network Learning Initiatives, to formally evaluate my video feedback process. I am aware that there are many ways in which video feedback could be provided, but the Google Apps and Glass platform does make the process easy and therefore doable. I also believe that this use of Glass is one area where the device can add real value in an educational setting.
Since the assignment-feedback videos are privately shared with each student (via their Google+ account), they will not be available on the Google+ WASH community. However, I plan to post videos that discuss new WASH material that will be of interest to my students. These videos will provide a sense of how the assignment-feedback videos work in practice. I will share the results from our formal evaluation of this application of Glass as soon as they are available.
Ralph P Hall 