ETEC 522 – September 2012

Paula Poodwan 12:06 am on October 22, 2012

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  joeltremblay 9:43 am on October 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Lumosity
  Strengths:
  1) Adaptability and an opportunity to reach all different types of learners.
  2) Wide ranging and differentiating tests that can help improve a multitude of different abilities
  3) Originality. I’ve never seen another site dedicated and focused like this.

  Weaknesses (or Limitations):
  1) English only that I could see.
  2) Possibly not enough depth. From a superficial point of view quite comprehensive
  3) Customer retention. How many of the participants will keep it going consistently for the entire three months?
  4) Are the abilities permanent or only for the duration of the course?

  Opportunities:
  1) Different languages
  2) Different timesets as right now 3 months is the only option.

  Threats:
  1) Time. How long will people continue to make time for this especially if results vary?
  2) Any other website that runs iq tests etc.

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    ETEC522grp8 3:10 pm on October 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Thanks for the analysis. I also felt that users would not continue to use the site if they do not see immediate results. Maybe if they distribute shareware or freeware versions of their program and people started trying it Lumosity would gain a wider customer base.
    – James

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  adi 11:53 am on October 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Macmillan English Campus (http://www.macmillanenglishcampus.com/section.asp?catid=63 )

  Strengths:
  • Brand name of a well known publishers of EFL materials and textbooks.
  • It is both a management system and a searchable database.
  • It has a wide variety of exercise types, skills, exam practice, games and reference tools.
  • Both teachers and students can monitor progress.
  • Learner paced.
  • Can be customized to fit the institutions needs.
  • Authored by well-known experts in the field.

  Weaknesses:
  • Technological requirements may not be readily available.
  • It is not free.
  • It is targeted at institutions (not for individual use).
  • The buyer is not the end user (e.g. the teacher or student).

  Opportunities:
  • They can expand market
  • Macmillan can benefit from institutions preferring a brand vs all the unknown products out there.

  Threats:
  • There are many free online tools and resources out there.
  • With all the user-friendly tools available, teachers are creating their own material.

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    ETEC522grp8 3:23 pm on October 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Thanks for your analysis. Do you think that perhaps the contents authored by well-known experts in the field would help MEC differentiate itself from its competitors and overcome its threats?
    – James

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  tomwhyte1 10:48 am on October 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  SWOT:

  Venture: Mathletics (http://www.mathletics.ca/)

  Strengths:

  • Provides math help for students around the world, in electronic and print format
  • Customizes instructional materials and questions based upon:
  o Country
  o Textbook used
  • Efficient and effective student progress tracking
  • Has game elements to allow students to compete against each other around the world, which includes customizable avatars
  • Regardless of grade, level of material can be adjusted to suit individual student needs

  Weaknesses:

  • Might be used as a replacement for good teaching
  • Limits social interaction with real life people
  • Online educational environment might not be beneficial for all students
  • Requires sufficient hardware and Internet access, if these are unavailable, students are not able to utilize the resource
  • Financial costs may limit the number of students/schools who access the program

  Opportunities:

  • Potential to expand core concept into other instructional areas, such as:
  o Languages
  o General Science
  • Capitalize on ever changing Internet services to provide a more meaningful and engaging service

  Threats:

  • Other similar services provided by large companies, which already have a large footprint within the Education market
  • As curriculum or philosophy of curriculum changes, may find it difficult to develop effective resources

  Thoughts?

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    ETEC522grp8 8:37 pm on October 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Tom,

    I like your point about connectivity. If you are using an online program and do not have a stable connection to the internet it can be incredibly frustrating for students and teachers alike. I think with any technology implementation this is an important consideration, and requires those good teaching practices so that when technology does not work their is another way to reach the same goal.

    • 

      tomwhyte1 12:11 pm on October 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Yes, such an issue occurred yesterday, when Amazon’s infrastructure, which supports other sites, had major issues. Hence Edmodo being down for hours.

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  jhodi 10:56 am on October 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Strengths:
   School of One uses a learning algorithm that makes the curriculum adaptive to the student.
   Learning algorithm is flexible and can be modified by teachers.
   School of One learns about the student in order to create appropriate pairings of students, teachers, and resources.
   Lesson bank was designed by experts in the field, aligned with state curriculum, and was designed to satisfy different learning styles and needs.
  Weaknesses:
   Relatively new with minimal concrete research and results.
   Unable to control annual numbers of students that will have specific needs.
  Opportunities:
   School of One has several partners in a wide range of fields such as digital content, facilities, funding, live content, and technology. Several of these partners are large corporations such as Microsoft. This allows opportunities to bridge the needs and goals of School of One with the technologies and services already offered by these companies.
  Threats:
   There is competition from schools desiring to create their own personalized learning environments that may not desire to pay for or use the technologies and services offered by School of One. Teachers may desire to use technologies offered by such companies as Microsoft to individualize their own classrooms.

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    ETEC522grp8 8:59 pm on October 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    I think your perspective on the threats that School of One has in terms of competition from tech giants like Microsoft is very valid. Take a look at Microsoft’s School of the Future at http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/leadership/partners_in_learning/Pages/School-of-the-Future.aspx
    – James

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  Doug Connery 9:46 pm on October 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI)

  Strengths:
  Children learn better when engaged in hands-on activities
  Allows students to focus on their strengths
  Projects are a combination of science, language, math, and a physical skill building component

  Weaknesses
  Students who move onto other schools without this initiative will be bored and not motivated
  Teachers need to be prepared for this method

  Opportunities:
  Implement this initiative in middle and high schools
  Connect with community by demonstrating projects

  Threats:
  Traditionalists: parents and teachers, would oppose this type of learning

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    avninder 10:00 am on October 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    I will also look at ELI but from a corporate training perspective:
    Strengths
    – can use real life situations
    – expose employees to different issues in the organization
    – concrete examples facilitate easy transfer of knowledge to the job
    Weaknesses
    – organizing site visits, meetings or other exchanges will take time and money
    Opportunities
    – could be ideal for new employees or trainees
    – senior employees could be provided with an opportunity to share their knowledge and act as facilitators
    Threats
    – the time required for ELI is time that could otherwise be used performing normal job duties i.e.: short term decrease in productivity

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  kstackhouse 6:42 am on October 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  School of One:

  Strengths: Highly engaged learning, focused on the need of the individual student. A mix of f2f and virtual learning. Experience with technology and collaborative learning in a flexible environment. Teacher working with students where they are at, rather than trying to address a large group and hoping that everyone will come along at the same pace.

  Weaknesses: Cost, cost, cost. Schools in my region are fighting for basic funding for technology. Purchasing the software for creating the learning goals and measuring learning would be very high. Other competitors may offer newer services. If a contract was locked in for too long districts and schools could end up paying more in the long run. Relying on the technology may cause issues if it should fail. Would teachers be prepared to work for a week or two if things went wrong?

  Opportunities: Students can work in a more real life, work place like scenario with mixed abilities and flexible groups. Students can work with students and teachers outside of their school walls. Schools have the chance to collaborate with other organizations.

  Threats: A threat to this type of program is the reliance on funding that the school would have. If one government supported it the next might not. Having parents, community, and corporate partnerships carry this program may be difficult. Breaking the mould of traditional environment(s) may be a tough “sell” to policy makers and parents.

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    ETEC522grp8 1:51 pm on October 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    I too think one of the major threats would be policy makers and parents not buying in to programs and services such as those offered by the School of One due to insufficient funding. Perhaps such ventures need to provide more free trials like the ones offered by the School of One in order to gain a wider audience so that districts can receive more funding through grants and fundraising activities?
    James

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  Jenny Brown 8:39 am on October 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Personalized Learning in Corporations

  I did a little research to see what I could find about personalized learning in corporations and I wasn’t coming up with much except for the offerings of customized corporate training and learning management systems.

  I think corporations are just at the brink of utilizing online tools to create PLEs for staff. For example: British Columbia Public Service released a document: Developing the Best: A Corporate Learning Strategy for the BC Public Service that recognized the need for personalized learning and creating personalized learning sites. http://www2.gov.bc.ca/local/myhr/documents/learning_education/corporate_learning_strategy.pdf

  Another interesting find was a Master’s Thesis entitled: The Use of Personalized Learning Environments in Corporate Training Programs http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Barnes%20Rachel%20J.pdf?bgsu1302192806 . The thesis included a short video, highlighting how online PLEs could be developed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPO4uy8aNcs&lr=1.

  I really liked the example of Page Flakes – that allows you to have a personalized home page with different feeds. She also talked about Google Reader, Twitter, Diigo, and Facebook which could all be used to personalize one’s learning on a daily basis.

  What I gathered in the thesis is that in a corporate setting, PLEs could evolve with the use of social media tools which encourage connectivism among users. It also includes a shift from the role of the instructor who no longer is the source of information but rather acts as a guide and teaching being no longer a means of “data transmission” but a collaboration between the instructor and the learners.

  So for a quick SWOT analysis for PLE in corporate settings:

  Strengths:
  • Cost savings compared to conventional classroom learning;
  • Will enhance both formal and informal learning; and
  • Connectivism among employees.

  Weaknesses:
  • Use of social media tools blocked by many corporate fire-walls;
  • Based on tools more familiar with younger populations; and
  • Most tools available are user-centric, not process-centric.

  Opportunities:
  • Creation of PLE targeted for use within corporations

  Threats:
  • IT within corporations would ever allow the growth of social media tools in the workplace;
  • Older employees won’t adapt to the new learning environment; and
  • Learning will continue to reside in antiquated LMS.

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    ETEC522grp8 10:47 pm on October 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Thanks for sharing the links and providing us with a different perspective on the application of PLEs outside the k-12 context! Do you think security would be an issue for companies considering training through PLEs?

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  visramn 5:20 pm on October 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  SWOT
  Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/ )
  Strengths
  – Embedded tools for varying learning styles
  -Increased interactivity and engagement for students
  -Students can work at their own pace and level
  -Students get instant feedback
  -Free and can be accessed from computers with internet (no extra costs for schools)

  Weaknesses
  -Teachers need to know how to be present as a guide and need to make sure they do not become non-existent
  – Not approved by all boards (Cannot access these programs in all schools due to fire walls)
  – Some students lack independence and would not be able to work through the task and stay motivated without more structure.
  -Continuity from year to year may be lacking if students work with different teacher who have different means of teaching.

  Opportunities
  -Students can access this learning tool from home or from a distance therefore making learning more flexible.
  -Parents can access this tool from home with their students to see what their child has been working on and to see their child’s progress.
  -Can be used across whole school boards so that students can transition from one school to another or one grade to another easily.

  Threats
  – Parents and teachers may be opposed to using this program because it is web based and students can easily get off task or begin to interact social on the new rather than working
  -Teachers who are not comfortable with the use of technology or the internet and that prefer more traditional means of teaching may not be comfortable with using this program
  -This type of system is based on students’ level not grade. Thus, it would require a restructuring of the way students are grouped for their learning.
  -Many other tools such as this program are present in the market. Hence, this tool has a lot of competition.

  Nureen

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    ETEC522grp8 10:58 pm on October 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Thanks for the analysis. I do wonder how the Khan Academy would overcome the competition it has with other open course ware online courses?

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  manny 5:42 pm on October 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Swot Analysis: Lumosity

  Strengths:
  ➢ Creates an individualized program based on specific skills that the user chooses to build.
  ➢ Clinically proven to work with research that backs it up.
  ➢ Online courseware that does not require user to download any software.
  ➢ Activities are generally fun and engaging.

  Weaknesses
  ➢ There is no rewards based system that could motivate students to use it regularly.
  ➢ Brain index is too complicated for younger students to understand.
  ➢ Graphics could be improved for certain activities, incorporate more video game oriented play.

  Opportunities
  ➢ Develop a pre test that calculates cognitive areas that require improvement. Students are usually not aware what they need to work on so this pre-test could make suggestions and bundle a package of activities specific to that user.

  Threats
  ➢ Other online products that claim to do the exact same thing; the market is saturated with skill building activities for a lot cheaper (sometimes free).
  ➢ FOIPPA regulations.

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  Eva Ziemsen 2:13 pm on October 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  SWOT Analysis: SOCRAIT (by Maria H. Andersen)

  “SOCRAIT (a play on “Socratic” that includes SOC for social, AI for artificial intelligence, and IT for information technology within its name).”
  http://www.wfs.org/content/world-is-my-school

  Strengths:
  o If implemented, SOCRAIT could change the way we learn on the Internet, and not require any new content, but rather, would make use of the WWW in a highly personalized and educational manner.
  o Nothing much has to change, except that websites would need to add a “Learn This” button, (similar to Twitter, FB like, RSS).
  o If adopted, SOCRAIT would enable innovative learning outside the ‘educational’ walls on the Internet

  Weaknesses (or Limitations):
  – It may take time for all websites to adopt this button (“learn this”)
  o It will take time for the system to populate questions and make use of collective activity. In other words, for the beginning period, SOCRAIT would function on an individual basis and not make use of the collective.
  o Encouraging users to use SOCRAIT, especially in schools, where access to the full WWW is restricted, may be difficult.

  Opportunities
  o SOCRAIT has the same potential as facebook, twitter and other large socially-driven platforms, only this is geared to education, which is all the more profitable.
  It is seemingly simple and has the potential to be adopted by a very wide audience (everyone who wants to learn, from child to adult, institutionalized or casual).

  Threats:
  o Some may consider this threatening to a set curriculum that aims to teach X with YZ resources.
  o This concept could easily be copied, as it is just a concept. Therefore, why would Google not already be planning such an approach?

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    ETEC522grp8 11:08 pm on October 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    I think Maria Anderson’s SOCRAIT concept is very interesting, and her asking for internet users to help build the software is great. I can see it being created as an app using one of the app creation tools we used in Week 5 of our course.

    Thanks for sharing!

    James

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    melissaayers 6:17 am on October 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Hi Eva, thanks for sharing that I was interested to find out more about SOCRAT and came across this video by Maria H. Andersen http://edgeoflearning.com/?cat=112 for anyone else that is interested.

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  C. Ranson 9:31 am on October 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  SWOT – Lumosity

  I have had a chance to navigate the entire site and train for my 2nd day. This is a great site supported by very current scientific information. What a great site for the geriactric population.

  Strengths
   Unique in its kind
   Scientifically supported by the process of neuroplasticity
   Clinically proven
   Can be used by a diverse group of students and others
   Engaging and easy to use
   Proven to improve cognitive function
   Affordable
   Can cancel at anytime
   Data is secure
   Accessible on most devices and build-in reminders about training

  Weaknesses
   Student/individual compliance
   Not suitable for the very young

  Opportunities
   Variety of games

  Threats
   Will people use it daily and continue to use it to determine efficacy
   Novelty – in order to effectively exercise a brain, you must complete the tasks and challenges.
   Similar sites offering same program/information at a lower cost

  Catherine

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  frank 8:32 pm on October 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Coursera:
  Coursera is a social educational tech venture that partners with top universities to offer courses online for free to anyone.

  Strengths:
  – Partnerships with Top Educational Institutions.
  – Wide range of Topics
  – Strong support from Stanford and players in Silicon Valley

  Weaknesses:
  – Sustainable student engagement
  – Recognition and Accreditation

  Opportunities:
  – Partnerships with institutions and jurisdictions that actually give Coursera recognition for providing educational content
  – Identifying ways to improve student learning and engagement
  – Expanding their presence globally

  Threats:
  – Stiff completion in growing Education tech: ex, edX, Udacity, Khan Acadamy, Alison.com etc.
  – Being perceived as a threat by institutions and jurisdictions: eg.
  http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/10/18/minnesota_bans_coursera_state_takes_bold_stand_against_free_education.html

  Frank