Sabine,

Sorry I haven’t emailed you this week.  How was your weekend?  Yesterday, I went to a Chinese wedding where they served shark fin soup.  You know that I’m quite environmentally friendly and so I didn’t want to eat the soup.  As I watched everyone enjoying their soup around the table, I couldn’t help but think about the sharks, polluted oceans, etc.  Each seating at the table had a new label of a snowball shaped bottle of Coca-Cola with polar bears and snowflakes.  I would have to admit, it’s a cute idea as it resembles a Christmas tree ornament.  Sure enough, the polar bears got me thinking about their extinction as well.  We cannot allow these environmental problems to continue; action must take place.  We need to set a global shift into gear and create a Green Network.  I put my ideas into a blog at www.wonkajenn.wordpress.com.  I wondered what you thought of my ideas as we both share concerns on this topic.

Jen

Images from:

http://images.google.ca/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&sa=1&q=shark+fin+soup&btnG=Search+images&aq=0&oq=shark+fin+&start=0

http://images.google.ca/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=new+christmas+coca+cola+drink+bottle&sa=N&start=63&ndsp=21

http://images.google.ca/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=new+christmas+coca+cola+drink+bottle&sa=N&start=105&ndsp=21

http://images.google.ca/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&sa=1&q=plastic+bags+in+ocean&btnG=Search+images&aq=0&oq=plastic+bags+in+oc&start=0

Team 8 Conclusion

On behalf of Ian, Sean, Ernie and myself (Jen), I would like to thank ETEC522 for excellent participation in this week’s presentation.  We hope you enjoyed the Moodle format for our discussions and activities and hope that you will also consider using the Moodle platform in your future teaching practices.

We have all learned something from the assigned activities and we definitely appreciated the insightful and reflective discussions towards collaborative technologies.  We are definitely sure that this will be a growing area of life long learning.

Please feel free to email or contact us if you have any questions or concerns about our presentation.  In addition, feel free to continue discussions in the Moddle forums, if you wish.

Enjoy the upcoming week as we are closer to the finish line.

Team 8

Hi Everyone,

It looks like our pool of collaboration technology resources is starting to take form. Thanks!

What’s been interesting is watching how it has been taking form. Some of you are showing your MediaWiki experience, while others are learning on the go.  Some of you are creating new pages for your reviews, while others are writing a review on the main page for collaborative technologies and linking directly to the tool’s web page. As a group we are creating something new (and hopefully useful) publicly. And as a group, I wonder, can we form a resource that is coherent , concise, and consistent both in content and format. Does this technology (and the time and energy that we have) allow for this? We’re about halfway through this module, and it’ll be interesting to see how this new resource will look like at the end.

Dear Davids,

Does A3 have to be done on the same company as A1?

Just wondering.

Jen

Hi everyone!

Welcome to this week’s presentation on Collaboration Technologies.

Our group has decided to try a different, perhaps more traditional, presentation style using the OSS learning management system called Moodle.  Many of you may be familiar with this platform or have had some working experience.  If not, that’s ok too!

Our website can be found at  ——————  (ETEC 522: Module 8 – Collaborative Technologies).  To begin, you will need to click on “create new account” and follow the prompts.  I have set the enrollment key as ETEC522.

We hope you enjoy our presentation and we look forward to your thoughts and ideas about Collaboration Technologies!

Your Module 8 Presentation Group,

Ian, Sean, Ernie, & Jen

Team Help Cubed

Face One:  Market Focus

Distance learners, remote learners and students who need more assistance at home.  The software that is developed is utilized by students who have access to a computer and their assistance is from teachers online.  These students are being home schooled but online.  At any point in time, the teacher can take over the computer of the student and guide the student in what or how to solve any problems.

Face Two:  Type of Offerings

This type of offering is definitely a support system for the students.  They can provide guidance and direction when students are confused.  It is a stepping stone for the students so that they can move onto the next stage.

Face Three:  The Buyer

The buyers are school districts.  The purchasers within that district can access how many hours of this help line they would like to purchase.  They should also decide how many teachers per subject should be hired.

Face Four:  Global Markets

The software and hardware is available for Personal Computers and Macintoshes’.  For now, the project is in its’ preliminary stages and therefore is closed to Alberta right now.  Once the program has been working fine and the bugs have been ironed out, there will be availability to other provinces and even other countries.  We must look at hiring teachers who can speak French and other languages of school boards that are interested in the program.

Face Five:  Development of the Market

Roll out for such a program will begin in the rural areas.  In addition, it is also being offered for students wanting to study other languages because many students would like to enter University (or post secondary education) with a second language.  Often it is difficult to find teachers that can speak other language.

Face Six:  Integration of the Program

It will be easy to introduce this program into the homes of students who need help.  It would save the parents from having to hire a tutor.  It would be available for students in the evening hours and weekends.  Students would not have to leave their homes and have a larger success factor in all their courses.

More business resources:

https://www.envisionfinancial.ca/Personal/CorporateCitizenship/BusinessEducation/

http://www.albertaventure.com/

http://www.lesley.edu/offcampus/general_info.html?src=adwords&gclid=CM7WiOfI_pwCFShGagodChQcbg

http://www.mbtmag.com/

 Regards,

Jen

Looking at 2 Pitches by Jen Wong

Pitch 1: Royal Roads University

• CEO Credibility – Does this person exude capability and convey confidence that they will achieve success against all obstacles?
  • Yes the speaker had credibility as she was able to start from the beginning with some history of the castle and then expand from that point on.

• Management Team – Have they assembled a stellar team along with the other human and material resources required for success
  • Yes the speaker indicated that they working with individuals with masters’ degrees and others are professors on campus.

• Business Model – Is this feasible? – have they done their homework? – are their arguments and information accurate and compelling?
  • Yes her (Burgess) team has done their homework by taking a look at another educational institute and studying it (MIT).

• Competitive Products – What is a realistic market size, market share and selling price that these products or services can capture in a very competitive world?
  • Their realistic market size would be .25 of MIT and that is because they are a smaller campus and must still do more advertising to get their name out there.
  • I don’t see why they would be able to charge $1500 per course at the beginning and eventually they may have to raise tuition.  After all, this is an online program which people can take from anywhere in the world.

• Market Readiness – How long and difficult is their critical path to success?
  • I think they can grow to offer the same successes as MIT within a 5-10 year span.  They can probably add 5 courses per year and have new courseware being developed on an ongoing basis.

• Technical Innovation – Do they have an edge, and can they keep it?
  • Yes, their edge is the ability to offer online programs and they are willing to look into global indications.  They have team based learning as well.

• Exit Strategy – Do they really know what success looks like – is their destination clear
  • It would appear that they can see what success looks like as they consider other successful models of an open university that are willing to share their resources.  As they mentioned, it was suggested that the University should be given a Nobel Prize for their ideas and approaches.

• Overall Investment Status – Am I going to risk my investment capital on this proposition?
  • Yes, I am willing to risk my investment capital on this proposition because I  believe that life long learning is becoming more and more popular to meet the needs of people in tiny and secluded locations.  I believe in education for all.  I am willing to risk 1/3 of my entire financial portfolio on this proposition.

Pitch #2 – UBC – Office of Learning Technologies

• CEO Credibility – Does this person exude capability and convey confidence that they will achieve success against all obstacles?
  • Michelle appears to have the capability and background in making this concept fly.  She states that they do have a strategic learning process and can work collaboratively.

• Management Team – Have they assembled a stellar team along with the other human and material resources required for success
  • Michelle states that they can learn how to work with resources between central organizations with efficiency and then with creativity.

• Business Model – Is this feasible? – have they done their homework? – are their arguments and information accurate and compelling?
  • Michelle mentions that they can work in small groups.  Online resources are becoming more common.  Michelle does indicate that PeopleSoft has an inferior interface.

• Competitive Products – What is a realistic market size, market share and selling price that these products or services can capture in a very competitive world?
  • With FATE, UBC can look at technologies (emerging, core) and also look at the community sides, levels of support, how the faculty is to be supported and how to finally help IT to build technologies.

• Market Readiness – How long and difficult is their critical path to success?
  • Michelle indicates that you basically have to be as connected as you can towards your team.  You keep yourself going back and forth.  You don’t deal with one to one but in group situations, with staff, faculty and staff.

• Technical Innovation – Do they have an edge, and can they keep it?
  • Michelle is wise in knowing that there are many technologies but they must know which ones to support with the hardware.  She knows that technologies come and go and therefore great care must be made when it comes to the selection process.

• Exit Strategy – Do they really know what success looks like – is their destination clear
  • Michelle defines success when you are verifying your right to do something in real time.  An example of this was when UBC was letting students put their own grades in.  Students were taking ownership.

• Overall Investment Status – Am I going to risk my investment capital on this proposition?
  • Yes I would risk my investment capital on this proposition because students are the future and are our investments.  Students are getting to be the knowledge builders.  There will be a demonstrated balance and Michelle’s team will show how her team has value.  I would risk 1/4 of my total capital portfolio into this venture.

Hello ETEC522,

At present, I am teaching in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  I teach business, technology and math at a high school (grades 10-12).  I have been teaching for eight years and I believe my niche is the students in grades 10-12.  I have been enjoying the MET program and decided to take this course because I find it interesting to combine business with technology as I believe technology and business goes hand in hand.  I already see some of my former classmates and look forward to working with more of them.

I am a firm believer in traveling and every year I spin that globe, see where my finger lands and head that way for almost 2 months of the summer.  I have found travel another form of Education.

Jen