Last week I visited my colleague Ellysa Cahoy’s blog to find that she was participating in an interview meme. I usually avoid these things but given I am pushing to keep moving on the One Post a Day challenge, I figured having a little extra content wouldn’t kill me so I took Ellysa up on the offer. The other thing is that Ellysa is going to spend some time with us in ETS this Summer as one of our Faculty Fellows … never hurts to get on the good side of the innovators!

Here’s the part I don’t like about meme’s — the chain letter aspect Even so, I’ll follow the rules that were laid out to me. If you’d like to try this too, just follow these instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I’ll respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)
3. You’ll create a new post on your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

You’re designing the next killer iPhone app. What would it be?

I’d design an open platform for designing iPhone Apps for newbies. One thing I’ve noticed is the level of expertise needed to build native apps. If that is too much of a cop out then I’d build a location aware social network aggregator that would sync with my email, direct me to a place to get a good cup of tea, and tell me where to eat … maybe that app exists though!

Is traditional blogging dying a slow death at the hands of Facebook / Twitter updates?

I don’t think so, but I’d have to know what “traditional” blogging looks like … I think people are figuring out where and when to publish. The new tools that are making their way into the mainstream all seem to be built around short bursts of content or status updates. Blogging is a much more thoughtful process in my mind. When I only have something quick to say I post it to Twitter, but when I am really working through some ideas I tend to write blog posts. The other tools also seem so tied to a dedicated social network, while blogging seems much more open. I may be different than others, but I see all of these tools to be part of a larger eco-system … one that is built on personal publishing and online identity. With all that said, I just think we are seeing a shift in the amount of content being created because the micro post is now more acceptable in an environment like Twitter. We’ll have to wait and see where it all goes.

If you viewed your life as a piece of software, what version number would you be? (i.e., Cole 2.7)

That is a really tough question. I know that I am a different version than I was before I had children, but other than that is tough to say. My children have changed my perspective in ways that no other single event in my life has. So I am clearly not a 1.0 release. I doubt I’m 2.0, but would be willing to put my self somewhere in a 3.0 release schedule. I think before I went away to College I was a totally different person with a very limited world view. That, graduate school, working, and having kids have fundamentally changed me for the better. So all that to say I’m changed, but not done changing. I’m into my third decade on this planet and I hope to continue to grow and learn. I’ll say I’m 3.6 (for my age). Fair enough?

The mobile Web: Platform for new teaching and learning opportunities, or just a unique interface design format?

Its both, but the mobile web is here to stay. I think I’d skip over the mobile web and think more about connectedness in general. What I think is the big story is the ability to grab information from really anywhere. We’ll see new opportunities emerge because of ubiquitous nature of Internet access. I’m thinking about a device like the Amazon Kindle and while it doesn’t really shine as a web browsing appliance, its instant connectivity and access to the Amazon store is a big deal to me. I’d really like to see students with those devices being able to buy chapters of books at a time instead of paying way too much for textbooks that are rarely used. I think the mobile web is going change quite a bit and will provide us all with new things to explore.

What’s your favorite children’s book to share with your kids?

Hands down, the Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. Nothing better. I still try to read it to my son and daughter every time I pick a book. I’ve always loved it!