The Power of One

Deon van der Merwe

Thomas L. Friedman“The World Is Flat”

Three great erasof

Globalization

1492 – Early 1800’sGlobalization 1.0

Countries

Early 1800’s – 2000Globalization 2.0

MultinationalCompanies

2000 onwards….Globalization 3.0

Individuals& Small Groups

Technology’s role in Globalization

• Computing Power (Cloud)• Connectivity - Trillion $ investment

in fiber optic cable• Storage• Interoperability (Standards)• OSS• No Borders• 24/7

Time & Space becomes Irrelevant

How can I be part of this “Globalization” thing?

Tool

s

Content

Networks

Few Examples of OSS Tools

• OS: Linux, Ubuntu

• Browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer

• Search engines: Google (ig), Cooliris, Yahoo, Ask, ….

• Office Productivity: Open Office, Google Docs, Live@Edu

• e-Mail: Mozilla Thunderbird, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo

• Mind Mapping: Xmind, FreeMind

• Graphics: Gimp, Inkscape, ….

• Audio: Audacity

• Animation: Blender

• Developers tools….

Few Examples of Social Networks

• E-mail: Listserve & RSS Feeds, RSS Reader• Social Spaces: Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Ning• Video Sharing: Youtube, Dailymotion• Photo Sharing: Flickr, Photobucket• Slide Sharing: Slideshare• Social Bookmarking: Delicious, EverNote• Blogs: WordPress, Blogger, Technorati• Wikis: Wikispaces, MediaWiki, Confluence• Micro Blogging/IM: Twitter, MXit, Google Talk• VoIP: Skype, Windows Messenger• Virtual Reality: Second Life, Twinity• Mashups: Google Earth

Few Examples Content

• Academic Earth• Free and Open Source Java• Google Scholar• iTunes U• MIT Open Courseware• Howard Hughes Medical Institute• OER Commons• Stanford Engineering Everywhere• Wikipedia• Google Books

Learn how to Learn

• Find/Discover• Assimilate/Collect• Evaluate/Compare/Classify/Organize/

Deduce• Reconstruct/Invent/Design/Create

• Collaborate and …….• Never stop learning!

Barriers

• Cost of Connectivity (Africa)• Limitations of Imagination• Own Attitude• Personal Time

A Taste of the Future

• Virtual Reality• Augmented Realit• Wearable Computing• Robotics• Bionics• Cybernetics

Beware of the Dark Side…

• Stay up to Date• Lear to use relevant Tools

– Technologies (Software & Hardware)

• Develop Networks– Establish a presence

(Website, Blog, social)– Build the network– Learn the Culture and Rules

of Engagement– Learn the Jargon– Give & Take– Be Available

• Find and Engage with Resources

• Be creative!!

So What Now?

We have to:

• Think Differently!• Interact Differently!• Do Things Differently!

In Conclusion• “Computers are

incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.” (Albert Einstein)

Questions?

Thanks

Artwork: Jacques van der Merwe(Gr. 9, Crawford

College)

Deon van der MerweUNISAdvanderm@unisa.ac.za