jenaca
Great work Week 9! I really like the way you have created your wiki and the use of information you provided. I have been waiting for this presentation on iPads and am so excited to learn more about them through your wiki! It looks great so far! I believe that using an iPad would benefit […]
Continue reading To iPad? Week 9 Discussion #2 Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps “What are the benefits to converting a business or school district to cloud computing?” As many have posted, I believe that there are many benefits to converting to a cloud. The storage allowance is endless and allows users to keep excessive amounts of data etc in a private storage space. Another benefit is the low […]
Continue reading Benefits of Cloud Computing Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
Jenaca, great points.
This had me thinking, though:
“The storage allowance is endless and allows users to keep excessive amounts of data etc in a private storage space.”
When will we run out of space? Will we ever? Will people who have wasted space online (old emails for example) be held accountable some day? Where / when will the endless space… end?
Mcquaid,
Interesting questions. I would really like to know more about this unlimited space. This have me thinking about the universe with endless possibilities and countless stars, planets etc. This seems to be the same concept. I personally wouldn’t have any problems turning over my content to an organization such as Google. I put my money in Scotia Bank every month and don’t even think about it in terms of security. I have this same feelings with my online files.
Everton
I’m a bit cautious on the self-regulated notion of cloud computing. I take a different viewpoint that there are some problems with it, in that cloud computing service providers have little accountability. Google, for example, is poor at this. Have you ever had a data problem with their products? If so, who did you call to get it resolved? It’s pretty much a rhetorical question because I don’t think there is anyone to call. Perhaps very large institutions get assigned a representative though, I don’t know.
I am currently taking my 1st, 2nd and 3rd MET courses this semester and have already learned a lot of information relating to delivering and storing information on the web. I use a variety of Cloud services including Google, Gmail, Googledocs, Skype, Facebook, Youtube, the list goes on. My biggest concern about using these services is the privacy […]
Continue reading Cloudy with a chance of technology? Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
I think that cloud computing and wireless student owned devices are the way things are going in education. Budgets just won’t allow for the continuous buying of technology. There are schools that exists now with a room full of VHS machines, TVs, VHS tapes and so one. I have seen computer graveyards and 1000s of feet of wiring in schools that connect to nothing. Older schools, who have been around are likely to have the remnants of many technologies. I think it is going to be going to a student owned device model with the school board helping to provide students who do not have devices with temporary equipment. Equity is a real issue but I have heard anecdotal evidence that even very low SES areas, 90%+ students have wireless devices. Almost every student in any given high school will have a cell phone, most of which are smartphones… I don’t have hard numbers and I would encourage anyone who has some real numbers from real schools to chime in…
I have seen a few schools like that myself, and it was interesting to see how much low-tech e-waste has accumulated in the Vancouver school district (the largest in the province, so it is understandable that when each item was purchased, it was needed) compared to the sleek and slim wireless technology found in North Van’s district. Switching from school-owned technology to student-owned requires less attention to what devices student do or don’t have any devices, and more acknowledging that classrooms can make do with the numerous devices most will bring in. If the class got ’em, use ’em rather than locking them in a cupboard/teacher’s desk until the end of the day. It’s the teacher’s attitude that needs to change, not so much the technology.
Very interesting road ahead. Is there a possibility that those clouds will burst and produce heavy and devastating showers later? Is this a method of control on the part of authorities?
Everton
Week 7: Emerging Market Team would like to present our weeks discussion on AdVentures in Blogging and invite you to join us through this wonderful journey. We have provided two resources to present our finding: AdVentures in Blogging through WordPress UBC Wiki How to participate? ▪ After reading each of the five days of content and the […]
Continue reading Welcome to AdVentures in Blogging Posted in: Week 07: Blogs Have eBooks enhanced your experience with reading? I graduated from university 2 years ago, and like many have stated, we read so many papers, articles, books and textbooks during these years that reading for “joy” no longer had a place in my life. Every time I would sit down to read I would remember something […]
Continue reading How the Kobo has enhanced my desire to read Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
Jenaca,
I too have a hard time reading. I get bored and sometines I just cannot focus. Preparing for this presentation have opened my eyes to the benefits of ereading. Right now I was researching e-readers to buy one as soon as possibe. I am also thinking of purchasing electronic versions of the textbooks I use for my classes. E-books may make my life so much easier.
Keisha
Hi Jenaca,
That’s encouraging to find that I am not the only one that has lost my desire to pleasure-read. I have never really taken a break from being a student and find that I struggle quite a bit to focus (especially when the internet is readily available) on a book. There is always something more important to be doing it seems! I will give eReaders another shot in that it might help me re-‘Kindle’ my reading for fun (groan, poor pun).
Kristopher
Funny Kris! I too have lost the desire to read – until I go on vacation and pick up another book and then I have to read it until it is done. This week’s presentation has left me again wondering if I should go out and buy an ipad or ereader. Every time I go to the store to look at one, I walk away wondering if it really is a good purchase. If more of the texts and reading that we did in class were available online, I think that would push me into obtaining one sooner.
I have a lot of personal experience with gaming on the computer. At a young age my parents enrolled me in a computer program, outside of school, where I learned how to use the computer as well as playing games- math, reading, ect… Then throughout myK-12 schooling years we were constantly in and out of […]
Continue reading I have a lot of personal experience with… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 05: Game-Based Learning
@jenaca – great learning experiences. Do you find that you’ve been drawn to any learning games as an adult? Given how engrained you have been with digital games since childhood I wonder how that’s impacted your perspective on the value of games for adult learning?
Wow! Jeneca, you are a true digital native! You had an early start. Your students I guess in a way using games to learn removes a stereotypical formality from the learning process. It is like placing the kids in the domain (play room) only you unlock learning at the same time. I remember non-computer games I played that taught me counting in twos and fives etc.
http://www.goknow.com/ The Venture: GoKnow Mobile Learning is a $20 million dollar software company that utilizes smartphones and other portable devices geared for k-12 educational purposes-school work (GoKnow). It allows students and teachers to engage in classroom assignments through the use of their mobile phones, as well as provides 1-1 computing. It also provides the necessary […]
Continue reading http://www.goknow.com/ The Venture: GoKn… Posted in: Uncategorized
Hi Jenaca!
Great work. I still can’t quite figure out what the founders want to “do” with their product, so I will go and check out the website. Both of these founders have a solid educational and tech base. It sounds like a “safe” product for teachers who are intimidated by technology or those who question privacy and security issues…I’m curious and want to know more….Good job!
Hi Jeneca,
Great analysis. I also was wondering how cost-effective it would be to implement this into the classroom. The public school system is already tapped for funds and this sounds like an expensive option. I think it is interesting that one of the founders was actually a school teacher. I don’t think you find that a lot. Also, I was wondering about what the digital divide was like with respect to mobile technologies. I know that most students have a computer, but do they all have phones, iPads, Blackberry etc. to support this technology? I am out of the classroom right now, so I am not sure if all students have access to such mobile technologies.
Juliana.
“From increased test scores to improved classroom behavior, GoKnow Advanced Mobile Learning offers a myriad of benefits that will propel your school district to new levels of academic achievement. Plus, students will be excited to jump into the curriculum because they can access it through the technology they already use and love! ” (http://www.goknow.com/index.html?pg=about)
I speculate that what the company is offering is more on supplements. .. something like Enopi and Kumon. But, what makes this different is that it is done through mobile.
$20M is a lot of money. I am curious about how they would position the product/service considering that what they offer is not entirely unique or can easily be duplicated.
Amazingly, my school board was involved in a project with GoKnow and we had the founder, Elliot fly to our board and work with us in our Pocket PC project using the old (but not that many years ago) Palm Pilots for mobile learning…they are so outdated now!! Elliot’s company was extremely supportive and helpful. We purchased a software/tools package for the project and Elliot was just a phone call away for any of our questions. Their PD for our teachers was excellent and was followed by several video-conferences and 2 support staff from his team flew to Ontario to visit our schools later in the year. Not sure what they offer today compared to the product and service back then ( about 7 years ago).
Hi Brenda, thanks for sharing your experience. I also wanted to know more how GoKnow works out. I imagine that the tools that they now offer are different from the software you received but, from your description we can have an idea about it.
Angela.
Hey Brenda, that sounds very interesting! Thanks for sharing! I wasn’t sure how the program would work in classrooms but it sounds like it was a great experience for you!! I will definitely read more up on it and find out more about their software!!
I watched a few minutes of his pitch video on the homepage and have to say I was not impressed. Within 2:15 his basic pitch was that every kid will have a cell phone and kids think anything without “interactivity” is boring. To me, this raises the classic Clark vs Kozma debate. “Boring” comes from poor pedagogy, not from the lack of technology. If an entrepreneur is unable to quickly get to the point and describe the problem they are solving, I don’t give much credit to their pitch. I’m not keen on raising generations of kids who are unable to practice anxiety management skills to learn how to learn and work their way through problems using their minds. Gadgets are great tools, but tools are about efficiency and do not replace effective problem-solving heuristics. Part of problem-solving is the requirement to manage anxiety well enough to work through a proper thinking process and identify areas that require effort to learn.
It’s so amazing to see how much information can actually be provided in just 1 short minute. The Video Pitch I decided to analyze is a company that serves to provide ways for us as consumers to discover new technology; they seek to help us learn more about these new technologies through there expertise. Pros […]
Continue reading Amazing Tech Productions Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Hm… I think people discover things mostly through interacting with other people. Most of us are sheep. I don’t see the difference between this and any other tech website with how-to videos and reviews.
ok..what’s with the pen in his hand? To make it look like he ready to take orders right now?? Very distracting prop.
I was more distracted by the bed-sheet looking back drop:)
Again, I was distracted by the product itself. There are sites out there that do this already for us that we have come to know and trust (to a certain degree) such as eHow. Immediately in listening, I found it difficult to believe this presenter as he was not stating the obvious (either that or he doesn’t know about his competitors– that’s perhaps a little harsh though).
I also did not find the speaker trustable. He seemed to be a little green and not comfortable in describing the product (speaks quickly with little pause between ideas). I did appreciate that at the end of the presentation he talked about his team and the next step which led me to believing that they had future plans, even if he didn’t actually go into them.
Good find!
Kristopher
Hi Jenaca,
The presenter appears a bit nervous. I concur with bcourey that the presenter did seem completely prepared for his presentation; it was distracting with his gestures both hands and head. I realized from other pitches I have viewed that posture and eye contact of a presenter are very important.
Thank you for pointing the pen out! I completely forgot to mention that and the background! I definitely agree with you all, he does seem nervous and lacks stating the obvious!
Thanks for the posts everyone
Hello Everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!! I just have a couple questions about assignment 1 and am wondering if anyone can clarify a few things for me. I am confused about what kind of market or venture to choose…Does anyone have any specific examples? From reading the course requirements it […]
Continue reading Assignment #1 Posted in: Questions & Answers
The simplest answer I can give is to select a topic of some initial interest to yourself. The focus of your analysis can be a product, a company, a group of companies that form a marketplace, a program within a school district, even MET itself. The idea is to provide an analytical understanding of how this entity thrives. Yes, the topic selection is quite open and large because it matches the overall learning technologies marketplace.
Good luck,
David
David,
Thank you. I think I now have a better understanding of what should be done.
Everton
As stated in several posts, 7 Things you should know about is a report published that provides information on new and emerging learning technologies. I personal enjoyed searching this site and learning more specifically about each technology listed. This site is a wonderful tool for those looking for new forms of technology and who are […]
Continue reading My Take on ELI’S Emerging Learning Technologies Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Jenaca,
I also love this site too. I believe it provides information on technological resources that are necessary to cater to the needs of todays’ digital age learners who demand rich, inspired, engaging and interactive teaching and learning.
Keisha
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Angela Novoa 12:28 pm on October 31, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jenaca, thanks for sharing these useful tips on how using iPads in the classroom. We are glad to hear you like the way in which is delivered information about iPads through our wiki.
I loved your idea about voice recording. I use this application to record songs that I compose, or ideas that I come up with. But recording in order to check how your classes are being, how fast or loud you are speaking is very useful.
About your last reflections, I must agree with you. As new technologies are constantly emerging we as educators must do the job of learning how to integrate them effectively and select the apps that might be useful in the classroom. It might be a challenging and time-demanding task to accomplish but I must say from my experience that at the same time it is very exciting too.
Doug Smith 5:35 pm on November 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for sharing your experience Janaca. My question is how much these uses would change if it was a netbook or notebook instead of an iPad. Furthermore, how many new activities/tasks could be added to the list if a netbook/notebook was used?
cheers
Doug
jarvise 11:24 am on November 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi,
Teacher use (or lack thereof) is definitely a potential issue. This is where targeted training should come in. The issue with many schools is spending too much on hardware and not enough on support and training. Makes much more sense to get a few people trained, and then allow best practices to trickle through. Venture idea: online short training sessions for teachers on using the device in their classes…
emily
Deb Kim 3:16 pm on November 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Jenaca,
Thank you for the ideas on how you would use an iPad in the classroom.
As my classroom is a computer lab, I didn’t feel a need for having an iPad. However, considering that there are teachers who don’t have their own classroom or who don’t have computer access very ofen, I think iPad is a great tool to use that you listed above.
Deb