The role of technology in education changes over time. On this blog I write about the role of smartphones in learning ancient language and culture. And I also think about AI system like ChatGPT. Can they be used as an expert docent in a museum or as an expert tutor for the individual learner? Here’s …
I just wanted to say a few words on how I think about the app. This all may be obvious, maybe it will also be useful. The app includes various features and they can be conceptually divided into different categories or feature types. In my mind, there are four different categories: resource, tool, lesson and …
The 2.3 release is out! It adds a scrollable dictionary with over 500 entries the Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs by Harri Kettunen (from the University of Helsinki) and Christophe Helmke (from the University of Copenhagen). Below are a couple screenshots showing the new feature. First showing verbs: and here showing nouns and adjectives:
The Ancient Maya App now has an English/Maya dictionary! It includes over 600 entries the Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs by Harri Kettunen (from the University of Helsinki) and Christophe Helmke (from the University of Copenhagen). Specifically, the app 2.2 contains over 600 phonetic entries from pages 88 to 122. It’s free and available on both iOS and Android. The dictionary is …
One day soon AI systems like ChatGPT will be helpful when translating ancient Maya text. Today I did a quick check to see of ChatGPT 3.5 knows a simple ancient Maya word. This was my question: I am trying to translate some ancient Maya text. I am analyzing a specific glyph block and determined it …
Back in March I started working on integrating a dictionary into the Ancient Maya App. In an earlier blog post we announced Harri Kettunen (from the University of Helsinki) and Christophe Helmke (from the University of Copenhagen) gave us permission to integrate material from their well known Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs. The initial integration is largely complete and it …
I grew up watching Star Trek and the race to our Moon. Both suggested an optimistic view of our future. Like today, that era had its challenges and the path to this attractive future were not clear. For a long time, I thought this path was blocked by lack of technical progress. Hundred of people …
Galileo discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter in January of 1610. And he recounts the tale in The Starry Messenger, published on March 13 of that year. As the story goes, on Jan 7th Galileo looked at Jupiter through his telescope and saw what he assumed where three distant stars that appeared right next …
I am working on YouTube videos about the search for life on Venus. The Venus Life Finder team had hoped to launch their first probe this month, but it has been delayed. Their next launch window is over a year away. Rather than creating videos on a system that might be changing I’ll do more …
Was John Leonard, during his time on CBS Sunday Morning, the last critic to recommend shows on competing networks? His book “Reading for My Life” starts with this delightful story: In 1947, a young American and a middle-aged Japanese climbed a tower in Tokyo to look at the bombed temple and the burned-out plain of …