How do the kids in your life spend their time after school? Do their activities involve video—either watching it, playing with it, or creating it?

For Cisco Consulting System Engineer Mike Harttree’s son, Tommy, after school time means gathering his Legos and those belonging to his neighborhood buddies, arranging them in elaborate constructions—like recreations of movie scenes— taking digital pictures of the arrangements, digitally gluing these photos together on a Mac, and uploading the glued photos in video format to YouTube.

Tommy is seven years old. His oldest friend/collaborator is 12. Check out their impressive work here. Read More »

Tags: Cisco, federal, technology, TelePresence, telework, young government leaders

With the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2011 Enshrinement coming up next weekend, and the lockout over, I think it’s great timing to highlight what the Pro Football Hall of Fame is doing for students around the world.

How many times during your grade school years did you come face to face with one of your celebrity idols? Most of us probably can’t attest to more interaction with our famous role models than seeing their faces on posters or interviews on television. Thanks to telepresence, however, today’s students have a different story to tell.

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Tags: Art Shell, Buffalo Bills, canton ohio, Chris Hanburger, Dallas Cowboys, Dave Casper, Deion Sanders, Ed Sabol, education, football, Fred Biletnikoff, hof weekend, Howie Long, Jack Youngblood, John Madden, Les Richter, Lynn Swann, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, Marv Levy, Miami Dolphins, Mike Haynes, Minnesota Vikings, NFL lockout, Nick Buoniconti, oakland raiders, pro football hall of fame, Richard Dent, Ron Yary, Shannon Sharpe, Ted Hendricks, TelePresence, Washington Redskins, Willie Brown

The PPACA known as Healthcare Reform Act in the United States is driving major change in our industry around accountability for the quality outcome of our care.  It is making providers accountable for the care that is delivered with measures that will be reported by patients.  As I monitor these major changes, it makes me wonder how we can really implement the critically needed change.  I wonder, why is the US dead last compared to 6 other leading free world nations” in healthcare quality measures and we spend almost double per capita for healthcare than other countries according to the Commonwealth Fund (June, 2010). Many believe the concepts that have been embraced by the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) under the direction of Dr. Don Berwick, (appointed on July 7, 2010 by President Barack Obama to serve as the Administrator of the CMS) can drive change.  As CMS is the largest healthcare payer in the US, (over half), they can lead a major change of this nature and have adopted the “Triple-Aim” model of evidenced based care and wellness.  The aspiration goals, or the Triple Aim, is a phrase coined by Dr. Berwick and it is all about focusing on how to drive improvement so that our populations are healthier, our patients receive better care and instead of working within a volume based business model, move to one of quality and value that rewards prevention, wellness and a positive patient experience.

How can Cisco influence and enable this within our Healthcare Ecosystem?

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Tags: BioMed Network, BNAC, Care-at-a-distance, Cisco Connected Health, collaboration, Dr Berwick, health care, health presence, healthcare, healthpresence, Kathy English, Medical Grade Network, MGN, mHealth, telemedicine, TelePresence, video

So, we’ve talked here about how telepresence can help humanize education, but I’m more and more interested in how telepresence can personalize the learning process.

According to the “Young Adults’ Perspectives on American Education 2011” study conducted by Viacom and The Associated Press, one in four young adults thinks the education system does not understand their values and goals. As a result of this disconnection to their formal education, more 18-24 year olds choose alternative approaches to higher learning, the study found. Students design self-directed curricula, incorporate internships, and teach themselves the knowledge and skills they need for their chosen paths. Read More »

Tags: american education, collaboration, education, higher education, museums, TelePresence, young adults

Remember when the principal used to come into your classroom? Though he or she was only there to observe your teacher, if you were like me, you immediately started running through the day and whether you had littered on campus or let a curse word drop. Total reflex action, then you promptly swallowed your gum and dropped the note you were writing (translation for anyone under 25—text message you were sending) and sat up straight in your chair.

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Tags: edchat, edtech, Education Week, Rick Hess, teacher evaluation, TelePresence