Deb Kim

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  • Deb Kim 1:35 pm on November 28, 2011
    3 votes
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    Tags: collaboration, , , , , ,   

    Hi all, Here’s the link to my elevator pitch: http://debbykimubcmet.wordpress.com/etec-522/elevator-pitch-math-impossible/ Click the link below for my venture pitch on Math Impossible: http://debbykimubcmet.wordpress.com/etec-522/venture-pitch-math-impossible/ Deb  

    Continue reading Math Impossible Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum
     
    • Jim 7:11 pm on November 28, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,

      I really liked your elevator pitch… I am not sure where you found that video of the guy turning off the laser beams but it was perfect for your “mission, I mean Math impossible” theme. I suppose the main question that I still have as an investor is how is your product distinct from the thousands of free mathematics resources for teachers and students already online? Math resources are probably one of the best covered areas on the Web in terms of free resources. Before I hand you $1 million, I would need to get a sense, right away from your elevator pitch, of how and why your service/product would be unique and worth paying for.

      • Deb Kim 12:26 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Jim,

        Thank you for the feedback. I found this cool powerpoint template from http://www.presentermedia.com. I did venture analysis on his company for A1.
        There is a reason I didn’t give a lot of details of Math Impossible in the elevator pitch. It was to grab audience’s attention and to make them more curious about what the venture would be. I thought it’d be too much information releasing if I gave too many details in the elevator pitch.

        As a math teacher, I’ve been trying to use math resources available online, but I haven’t found really good one that provides a question bank. My venture will focus more on to a question bank and a question generator so that teachers can have free access to it whenever they need questions for exams/tests/quizzes/handouts. Exam banks that are currently available out there cost too much money and it’s a little shame to tell you that most of the secondary schools that I’ve been working don’t have enough resources. Eventually teachers just had to share each other’s resources and it’s very limited. So, I don’t agree with you that “math resources are probably one of the best covered areas on the Web in terms of free resources”.

        Deb

    • Everton Walker 7:47 pm on November 28, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Deb,

      First, I must say good job since we are not experts yet. I like the math concept especially when one considers that many students are not learning the concepts the traditional ways. Obviously, you are going to have competition from other sources, but as time goes by you will be able fix whatever problems surfaced.

      Everton

      • Deb Kim 12:30 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Everton,

        Thank you for the feedback. New venture always has competition from other ventures, so we always have to come up with better ideas.
        My venture has a unique point system so that teachers and students can use accumulated points to purchase questions and school materials. I didn’t give many details in the elevator pitch to increase curiosity from people and make them want to watch the actual venture pitch.

        Deb

    • Julie S 8:12 pm on November 28, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Great elevator pitch Deb! I think having a really upbeat and engaging elevator pitch is critical for your venture – especially if what Jim says is true. You really need to grab the attention and hold it with the longer venture pitch to get those dollars.

      • Deb Kim 12:36 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Julie,

        Thank you for the feedback. My purpose for not giving a lot of details in the elevator pitch was to grab people’s attention so that they would get more curious and want to watch the venture pitch to discover what Math Impossible is all about. I guess it had a reverse effect instead. I’ll add more information that can grab the audience’s attention next time.

        Thank you!

        Deb

    • schiong 12:31 pm on November 29, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,

      Lovely presentation.
      I was very interested with your project because I know many students are struggling with MATH. I have seen several MATH tutorials online. I believe Khan Academy started with Math tutorials as well.

      I agree that learning Math is possible. Falling in-love might require some work.
      I tried to view your venture pitch. But, I could not access it.
      I am curious how you are going to go about your project and which Math topics would you be covering like Calculus, Trigonometry, etc …

      I am also curious how your product would improve the learner’s internal mental process.
      Another thing is, is it easy to navigate and does it suggests the next suitable tutorial ?
      Most of the math tutorials out there would require the learner to know exactly what he is looking for. Not all learners know exactly where to begin and how to move forward.

      cheers,
      Stephen

      • Deb Kim 12:49 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Stephen,

        Can you still not access my venture pitch?
        Let me know. If you still can’t, I’ll send you another link. You have to view it with Window Media Player.

        I’ll briefly answer your questions. Math Impossible is an online resource program focusing specifically on building a question bank for teachers and students. It’ll cover all the math topics from K-12. As a math teacher, I found out that most of the math resources available online were not of big help, especially when it comes to creating a quiz/test/handout. Resources that are available at school (either in DVD or paper) are not enough for many teachers so we end up making our own and share. My venture idea came from there. If we could share resources that we have not just within school but also in cyberspace, we would be able to create a gigantic question bank.
        For students, there are not many extra question workbook that students can work on other than textbooks. So, students can use Math Impossible to do extra exercise questions and collect points to purchase school items online.

        I haven’t thought about giving an online tutorial session in Math Impossible, but it’s a great idea if we can provide a tutorial session. That way, the learner can determinie where to begin.

        It’s my venture idea and your feedback is always appreciated as it’s in the imaginative stage at the moment.
        Thank you, Stephen!

        Deb

    • bcourey 5:13 pm on November 29, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Great pitches Deb..I too really enjoyed the animation – it really did fit well with your topic. Your elevator pitch didn’t give me many details about your venture, but your longer pitch gave me all the information I needed! This is a great idea to have the collaborative nature of the application – for teachers and students. I was really intriqued by your points system and wonder how that will be tracked and monitored – could it get very complicated? I would love to know the “decent price” point that you mentioned to know if school boards or parents, students, and teachers would find it affordable. Great work!
      Brenda

      • Deb Kim 12:58 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Brenda,

        Thank you for the feedback.
        As for the point system, I haven’t really thought in details. However, since teachers would be evaluating others’ questions and give peer review on them (including the level of difficulty, the topic covered, etc.), it wouldn’t be so complicated. So simply said, each question would be worth a point or two. There would also be employed analysts who would work on the point system.

        As for the “decent price”, I heard that 30% of an Apple app goes to Apple and 70% goes to the creator. So, I believe if it’s $0.99 (or make it free) for the Math Impossible app, it’d be decent for them.
        Thanks!

        Deb

    • Allie 5:18 pm on November 29, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,
      Good job! I echo a lot of what previous people have said… your pitch is fun and genuinely engaging, which is at least half the battle. And like Jim and Stephen, I’m wondering about how it competes with ample competition, and exactly how it works. What platform will it use? and is it a question bank – or does it do something more. I think Stephen makes a great point when he suggests that existing math instruction strategies and products might not really be doing the job as well as they could. How does Math Possible build on their weaknesses – to indeed make math possible?
      I don’t know if you checked out School of One which we featured in social analytics week. It’s a cool program used in NY schools to teach math – it uses learner analytics to design highly individualized routes through the math curriculum to build on learners’ existing strengths.
      Allie
      p.s. disclaimer 1: this is all from your elev pitch; i haven’t yet read your venture pitch
      disclaimer 2: i haven’t touched math since grade 11 when I might have squeezed out a B in the subject. Not my forte.

      • Deb Kim 3:44 pm on November 30, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Allie,

        Thank you for the feedback. Yes, Math Impossible will take place in online space where math teachers can collaborate to build a question bank. For students, it will be an exercise bank. So, it has two different question banks, one to support teachers creating questions for quizzes/tests/exams, and the other one to support student learning and improving their mathematical problem solving skills.

        I grew up in Korea and you probably know that most Korean students are strong at Math. I remember purchasing a lot of extra workbooks, at least 3 or 4 each year I took Math. There are lots of resources available from various publishing companies in Korea that I not only relied on the textbook but also relied on those workbooks that I purchased to work on my weak areas in Math. Here in Vancouver, there are a few educational book stores that sell math workbooks and some schools use them instead of textbooks. However, they are very expensive (usually $30 or more), and the number of questions in the workbook is limited. Once students understand the concepts of a certain topic, it’s important for him/her to try as many similar questions as possible until he/she gets familiar with it. This means that the student needs some free resources to access. My venture idea came from there.
        It’ll be available both online, like Moodle (LMS), and the app.
        Thank you for your questions, Allie. I hope I answered them all. 🙂

        Deb

    • Juliana 9:06 pm on November 29, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,

      Here is my detailed analysis of your venture.

      I really enjoyed your elevator and your venture pitch. I thought your elevator pitch was especially catchy, innovative and it made me want to learn more. In addition, your venture was deceptively simple and as this is an open source idea, I think there is a good potential to have a following.

      Pain Point and Solution: I think you did a great job outlining the pain point and how your venture would provide the appropriate solution. I thought it was very innovative in how you would take advantage of social media to not only increase interaction but work to create your question back.

      Differentiation: You did a great job outlining the differentiation of your product in that it does have a points system and that it does take advantage of social media. In addition, using the points system to encourage the building of your database was a very good idea. I was thinking that instead of using their points to buy rulers and erasers, if you had it set up so that students could use their accumulated points to buy other apps or iTune downloads, you would probably increase usage and interaction.

      Marketing: I was wondering why you were targeting the Lower Mainland area only. I thought this would be a good program to take nationally and internationally. In addition, as you are dealing with numbers, language won’t be a huge issue unless you are dealing with word problems. I do agree that students from different countries may have difficulties when doing discussions, but numbers have a universal language to them and it can be easy for people to follow how a solution is derived.

      Championship: Nothing was mentioned on this. I would have liked to know more about who would be creating the system and who was carrying out this venture.

      Competition: You did cover this and you mentioned that there were not a lot of resources for Maths.

      The Ask and the Return: Nothing was really mentioned

      Excellent job!

      Juliana.

      • Deb Kim 10:32 pm on December 1, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Juliana,

        It’s always good to “see” you in cyberspace. 🙂
        Thank you for your through feedback.

        As for marketing, I wanted to start with the Lower Mainland to see how my customers would respond to my venture and then expand the area. However, you pointed out well that it wouldn’t be a problem taking Math Impossible internationally as it’s dealing mostly with numbers. I didn’t put in my venture pitch, but I was thinking of taking this globally as teachers all over the world could have access to Math Impossible to build a question bank in different languages. As Math Impossible will be a management system that consists of a question bank, creating a question bank according to a specific language wouldn’t be a problem. Once again, I have to emphasize that this is only my venture “idea”. I didn’t pitch an existing venture, so you and other coursemates’ opinions/feedback are always appreciated.

        For the Championship part, if you are asking who would be “maintaining” the system, it’d be math teachers who join Math Impossible. As for creating the system, it’ll be starting with a group of Math teachers (probably my friends and colleagues) who like my venture idea and wish to support.

        Thanks!
        Have a wonderful Christmas. It’s been nice working with you, especially for A2. 🙂

        Deb

    • carmen 10:52 am on December 2, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Great job on the pitches, Deb. As others have mentioned, your pitches are very engaging and the 3D guy certainly grabbed my attention! To be honest, I was a bit disappointed to see the price tag of these templates. ..

      Great concept of creating question bank that we can all share. With the idea of “social eBooks” maybe teachers can collaborate to improve on the teaching materials to make math “possible”. 🙂

      I do believe there is a market for your venture idea as I feel the same problem we have in Vancouver. Though there are lots of free worksheets online, they are not tailored to the BC curriculum, and it could take a long time before a teacher can find something at the right level and topic. You might want to look at Koofers.com.. This venture is also about sharing and rating questions and lecture notes.

      Thanks for the interesting pitches!

      • Deb Kim 5:44 pm on December 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Carmen,

        Thank you for your feedback.
        I hope there is a market for my venture idea in Vancouver. As you said, a lot of free math resources online are not based on the BC curriculum. Therefore, it’s an exigent matter that BC teachers collaborate to share resources which are tailored to the BC curriculum.

        Thanks for the link to the website. I haven’t heard of Koofers.com yet, so it’ll help me come up with more ideas.

        Deb

    • David Berljawsky 8:08 am on December 3, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,

      Great hook and great presentation. I though that it was well researched and entertaining at the same time which is a very difficult thing to do. The animations were excellent and straight to the point. The added to the presentation, instead of just acting as eye candy. Fantastic.

      The elevator pitch was great, made me want to hear more about the project right away. To me this is a great indicator that you had a great presentation. As a math and technology teacher I can see that you are passionate about the porject and the potential that it has. This was obvious in your project.

      David.

      • Deb Kim 6:02 pm on December 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi David,

        Thank you for your feedback.
        It’s my venture idea so far, but I hope to see it happen in the near future. It’ll be a great resource and the opportunity for many math teachers, not just in BC but also in other areas.

        Deb

    • themusicwoman 8:08 pm on December 3, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Dear Deb,
      Love the mission impossible, er, math impossible theme for elevator pitch. It was catchy and made me want to know more which was then laid out very nicely in your venture pitch. Will agree with some of the comments made previously (cost of templates, yikes, lol) and I think you found a product that is certainly worth looking into. Thanks!
      Michelle

      • Deb Kim 6:10 pm on December 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Michelle,

        I know! PresenterMedia has great templates (both animated and regular) but it costs a lot. So what I’m doing is that, since I’ve paid for a year already, I’ve been saving almost every single clipart, template, and image to my external hard drive. I’m planning to do that for the next couple of months until my 1 year contract with them is over. Then, I can use them whenever I want.

        Deb

  • Deb Kim 9:50 pm on November 24, 2011
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    Tags: , , , , ,   

    I chose to explore Springer Realtime for this activity. I started searching by typing in ‘Mathematics’ and received over 269 publications. The title such as A History of Chinese Mathematics or Ancient Indian Leaps into Mathematics sound very interesting and could be useful for a project or Math fair for my students. However, most of the […]

    Continue reading Activity 2: Math Makes Sense with Technology! Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
     
    • hall 12:05 pm on November 25, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,

      As a mathematics teacher myself I found your post to be very useful and suitable to improve the teaching of mathematics Jamaica. I had also used Springer Realtime to search for literatures on mathematics and Physics. But I did not think of type in mathematics education. I have been using simulations provided by Phet.com and Walter-Fendt.com as a way to create interest among my students. Therefore I will explore Mathematics Education and Technology-Rethinking publication as soon I have completed my assignments for this course.

    • Deb Kim 2:33 pm on November 25, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      I like the idea of using simulations provided by Phet.com and Walter-Fendt.com. To tell you the truth, I haven’t heard about those websites so I’ll explore them. I’m sure I can find interesting things for my students as well. Thank you for the websites and ideas!

      Deb

  • Deb Kim 12:47 pm on November 22, 2011
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    Tags: bluetooth, , Internet, learning, , movies, schedule, SMS, synchronize, teaching, timetable, transfer   

    I apologize for posting it late. I completely forgot to upload the last post. What one change would you require to adopt m-learning for your own teaching and learning?  I still see some problems and concerns of m-learning. Especially these days, I see many students being obssessed/attached to their cellphones. They just can’t let it […]

    Continue reading [DAY 4] m-learning for my own teaching and learning Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
     
  • Deb Kim 4:34 pm on November 18, 2011
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    Tags: , , , , secondary, ,   

    Describe a problem in teaching/learning/performance. One of the problems I face when I teach Math is that there are not enough resources available out there for students to study in order to improve their fundamental Math skills and problem-solving skills. For example, some of my students still have difficulty adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers/fractions/decimals. However, […]

    Continue reading [DAY 3] Math Master Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
     
    • David William Price 8:49 pm on November 18, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Great ideas!

      I’m glad you enjoyed the assignment. You have an interesting concept. I love the idea of educators creating and sharing questions to enhance and grow your database.

      What do you think of minimizing translation issues by focusing on using icons and imagery in your problems instead of words? Take a look at Robert Horn’s work, or think about “wordless instructions” like those used by Ikea or in emergency exit brochures for aircraft.

      How might you use the computer in the mobile itself to generate questions? It’s probably not necessary to create all the individual questions yourself. Instead you could create heuristics, and the mobile would use the heuristics to generate infinite questions based on those rule sets. THat way you wouldn’t even have to use a lot of data transfer or updates or translation.

      Social networking could be used for collaboration to solve problems together. What about an app that requires collaboration to solve math problems? You can see each other working on the problems… or you share a mobile to work a problem out.

      I guess another issue for me is why people have trouble with math. Do they have a breakdown in conceptual understanding? How might they use the real world to help them understand math problems? A mobile could scaffold them through using real items or conducting real activities that illustrate the math concepts. To some extent, the Khan Academy does this in their videos.

      • Deb Kim 11:08 pm on November 21, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Thank you for the questions, David.

        “What do you think of minimizing translation issues by focusing on using icons and imagery in your problems instead of words?”
        It’s a good idea that we can minimize translation issues by using icons and images instead of words. However, as the math curriculum and new textbooks that have changed over the last 2 years are focusing on mathematical literacy these days, students still need to learn the ways to translate word problems into diagrams and mathematical sentences. I’ve seen so many kids who can solve a word problem that includes a diagram, but not the one without a diagram. Although I give the same word problem to the students, one with a diagram and one without it, the scores between the two are very different. Many students still need to work on solving word problems.

        “How might you use the computer in the mobile itself to generate questions?”
        The collection of questions in a question bank is kind of like creating heuristics. Same formatted question with different numbers each time it’s generated.

        One of my issues with math is how to make a connection between the real world situations and conceptual understanding in math. I’ve applied some real world situations for teaching. For instance, I once used the Tower of Piza to teach trigonometry in Math 9. I briefly went over the history of the Tower of Piza and told students to find as many angles as possible using sine, cosine, and tangent ratios. Another example is that I sent my AWM (Apprenticeship & Workplace Math) 10 students to a convenience store and ask them to pick up things they want to purchase and calculate HST, sale price, and discount.

        Deb

  • Deb Kim 3:37 pm on November 18, 2011
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    Tags: , children, Hesabi, High School, Human Anatomy, , , mobile app   

    Choose two apps from the sample list below (or find your own award-winning apps) and evaluate them with these questions: what problem does the app solve? what affordances of mobile does the app rely on? what are the non-mlearning (competing) methods of teaching the subject? how is the app’s mlearning approach more or less compelling […]

    Continue reading [DAY 2] Cool M-Learning Devices Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
     
    • David William Price 8:20 pm on November 18, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Thanks for your reviews!

      What do you think the possibilities are for apps that scaffold authentic learning vs. trying to do the learning in the mobile itself? An app might help you do a dissection, or might guide you through learning math in realistic contexts, with collaborative activities and sharing of the mobile…

      • Deb Kim 11:15 pm on November 21, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi David,

        Whether an app “scaffolds authentic learning” or “[tries] to do the learning in the mobile itself”, it should suit children at the right age/grade and at the right knowledge level.
        Why not have an app that does both? I’ve seen many websites and games that focus on secondary Math and collaborative activities, but haven’t seen apps for m-learning that focus on them.

        Deb

  • Deb Kim 9:39 am on November 18, 2011
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    Tags: , , , , , web browsing,   

    What, when, where and how are you doing m-learning now? I use my mobile device, in particular my iPhone, mostly for web browsing, social networking, emailing, and posting and modifying WordPress posts. Three Math classes I’m currently teaching have a class blog. Whenever there are things I need to modify, I use the WorPress app […]

    Continue reading [DAY 1] What, When, Where and How…? Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
     
    • David William Price 11:43 am on November 18, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Wow, it seems you’re quite mobile. You say “I spend most of my day outside”…. that’s quite different from a majority of our posters who spend most of their time at a desk with a computer.

      It sounds like the convenience of your mobile lets you keep up with work through the student blogs. How many of them use mobiles to post questions or do other learning activities?

      Sounds like the Bible app serves as a performance support… and you can “share” your mobile in your meetings by having it guide discussions. Very cool!

      How might you integrate a more mobile-supported learning model (being out of the classroom and roaming) with your students? Math is everywhere… how might it be made an authentic experience?

      • Deb Kim 3:02 pm on November 18, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi David,
        I also spend half of my day at a desk with a computer as I’m a teacher. But considering that it’s usually 9 or 10pm when I arrive home due to other work and activities I do, my iPhone is always in my hand.
        I don’t know if my students use mobiles to post questions/comments, but emails I receive from them are sent from their mobiles quite many times.

        You raised a great question at the end, but I haven’t come up with good ways/methods to integrate a more mobile-supported learning model, especially for math. I personally think that Math is one of the most difficult subjects to teach when it comes around technology. Most of the apps that I see target young children so you can only acquire basic math skills. I think more apps targeting high school students should be developed in order to help students maintain their attention span.

        Deb

        • David William Price 9:03 pm on November 18, 2011 | Log in to Reply

          I remember what exciting me most about calculus was the real-world applications for it… I could calculate the terminal velocity of a penny dropped off the CN Tower. ok, that does sound a bit weird and that doesn’t excite me 20 years later, but math problems are always about real world issues… and I think mobiles are a potential way of scaffolding people through recognizing, confronting, re-enacting, and experiencing those problems and their implications.

  • Deb Kim 8:35 pm on November 11, 2011
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    Tags: , , , , , , Glogster, , , rubric, ,   

    Take a moment to write your final post about which PBA future emerging market tool (product or service) you have used and which one you would like to see more of.   As some of the coursemates have mentioned in their posts, I would also like to see more of blogging. Blogging is the area that […]

    Continue reading Final Post: Blogging and Cloud Computing are Ways to Go Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
     
    • verenanz 7:45 am on November 12, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hello Deb,

      I agree that next steps could be developing rubrics and assessment for PBA assessment tools. Creating a Web 2.0 tool that offers examples. That would be an interesting business opportunity….
      Verena:)

    • Everton Walker 9:43 pm on November 12, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Deb & Ver

      Very interesting take on the issue. The rubric would certainly add some form of standard even the aim is not to standardized these assessment. The aim is to keep them as informal and authentic as possible.

      Everton

    • jenaca 4:29 am on November 13, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,
      I also agree that blogging should be used more frequently in classrooms for students to use. I think it’s a wonderful way for student’s to be creative and express their thoughts and learned knowledge.
      Jenaca

  • Deb Kim 12:06 pm on November 11, 2011
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    Tags: , MET, ,   

    Before I participate in Activity #1,  I’d like to compliment the Week 10 group for your awsome work! I especially like the SWOT Analysis. Moreover, PBA is a great topic to discuss as assessment is the area that my colleagues at my school are paying a lot of attention to this year. As there is […]

    Continue reading [ACTIVITY #1] My PBA Experience Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
     
    • andrea 7:39 pm on November 11, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,
      First, thanks for the compliment! 🙂 I agree that assessment is difficult — for me, it’s probably also the most challenging area. As a MET student I’ve also learned so much about authentic assessment just through experiencing the value of it. We learn how to *do* school very early, and PBA-style assignments can push us to do new things and think more creatively because we have to. Did you find any adjustment to the PBA activities popular in MET, or did you immediately feel comfortable with it?
      Andrea

      • Deb Kim 11:10 pm on November 21, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Andrea,
        I wasn’t familiar with the PBA activities in MET at first, but I soon became comfortable with it.
        You just need some time to get used to it. This requires time and effort as well. Once you get used to it, everything becomes pretty much a piece of cake. 🙂

        Deb

  • Deb Kim 11:23 pm on November 4, 2011
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    Tags: Docs To Go, Fast Notes, , , MS Word, PC,   

    Do you think that the iPad lacks ‘information production’ – the word processing capability that we are used to on PCs? Before discussing whether the iPad lacks ‘information production’ or not, we need to consider the differences in the use of the iPad and the netbooks/laptops/PCs. Although I spend a lot of time with my […]

    Continue reading Discussion #3: Understanding the Difference Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
     
    • khenry 5:36 am on November 5, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,
      Good points. Functionality and purpose do indeed distinguish the ipad from the pc and the information production capabilities. I do agree that the ideal would be to somehow fuse PC and ipad capabilities. However, as you pointed out, the different technologies serve different purposes and like you, I and many others I know, look to technologies during the day to support responding to, editing and viewing of information rather than actual production, which we do at sit down times. However, I wouldn’t mind doing some content creation as well as the demands for time increase. I also believe that creation/production apps are the way to go.

      Kerry-Ann

      • Deb Kim 12:23 pm on November 7, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Thank you, Kerry-Ann.
        You are absolutely right that “creation/production apps are the way to go”.

    • verenanz 6:33 am on November 5, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb – The fact that we are considering buying some kind of keyboard support for the IPad for my daughter…proves your point. all users need to be able to have ease of use in creation and production. Excellent points. It’s true, I too use my Dell LapTop and my IPad for “different” things. There is room for growth!

      Verena:)

    • hall 6:34 am on November 5, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Deb,
      I absolutely like the comparisons of the PC/laptops/notebooks and IPads. I think the list of differences you mentioned were factual and gave readers a platform to make a valid choice of the electronic device they should purchase. In regard to word processing software for IPad, there are some Apps available which allow you to perform tasks similar to MS. You could visit this site http://www.iPadWordProcessor.com, it currently hosts a resource center for Apple’s iWork Pages, Office² HD, Quick Officeand iA Writer. These software are useful word processors for Ipads.

      Conroy

      • Deb Kim 12:18 pm on November 7, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Conroy,

        Thank you for the website address. I’ve never used any of the Apple products other than my iPhone, so that’s always been one of my concerns for purchasing an iPad. I use MS Office a lot (for my teaching practices as well as for my assignments), but it has occurred to me that Apple doesn’t provide such a good program that’s compatible to MS. I was looking for apps for the iPad that you mentioned (e.g. iWork Pages, Office² HD, and Quick Officeand iA Writer) because I’m planning to purchase an iPad in the near future.
        Thank you for the tips.

        Deb

    • Jim 10:18 am on November 5, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      I enjoyed reading your post as I posted a discussion around the same answer. You also pointed out that PCs and iPads are different devices with different intentions behind their designs. I mentioned at the end of my post that PCs are going to become the workhorses of digital content whereas mobile devices will be used day-to-day. True, you can take notes on your laptop with MS-Word, but you will never us 98% of it’s capabilities in doing so.

      You also talk a little bit about some of the difference between PCs and iPads, such as the portability. One could argue back, what about Netbooks? Just as portable and they can run MS-Word. But why haven’t Netbooks caught on with the vigor that iPads have? The answer is, I think, because the iPad was designed specifically as a easy to use, fun, mobile device from the start. The Netbook is just a continuation of the miniaturization of the desktop PC. The iPad breaks free of that desktop paradigm like no other device, I think.

      • Deb Kim 12:14 pm on November 7, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Jim,
        I agree with you that the iPad is easier and more fun to use than the netbook as the netbook is “a continuation of the miniaturization of the desktop PC”. I mentioned “portability” because the iPad is lighter in its weight than the netbook. Also, it doesn’t take as much time to turn on as the netbook. You press the button and it turns on right away.

        Deb

  • Deb Kim 3:27 pm on November 3, 2011
    0 votes
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    Tags: adaptor, classroom, , , , netbook,   

    Is there a market for this technology within education?  iPad has been targeted for people who use eBook readers such as Kindle. However, it is offering them more than just an eBook reader. These days, I can see that iPad is prevalently used for educational purposes, especially in elementary. Schools receive grants to implement the […]

    Continue reading Discussion # 2: Why iPad? Why Not Netbook? Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
     
    • Deb Giesbrecht 5:56 pm on November 3, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Thank-you Kim for your comprehensive list of benefits and ways to use the iPad. You have summed up our week’s presentation very nicely. I have a friend who uses a netbook and loves it. He did not buy a ipad on purpose for the reasons that you listed. You have illustrated well the contrast between the ipad and netbook and I would also add that some people just prefer not to buy Apple products. As each of these products evolve, and the price becomes cheaper, I would venture that you will see more competition in this market.I do not think we have seen the last version of the ipad (can’t wait for ipad 50!) so the capability and functionality and uses in the classroom will just grow, adding more to the list you have provided us. The challenges come with different devices and software, how does the education manage the personal preferences that the students bring to class.

      • Deb Kim 11:36 am on November 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Thank you, Deb.
        I agree with you that the use of iPad in the classroom will grow.
        I heard that there were over 3 million iPad units sold in just 80 days after launch last year. So far this year, there are more than 25 million units sold. The number keeps increasing.
        What features of the iPad attract people so much that almost everyone around me is eager to have one? It could be the style, design, functionality, free useful apps, and portability. If someone asks me what I would prefer to purchase between the iPad and the netbook, I’d say the former. It’s worth having one.

        Deb

    • Keisha Edwards-Hamilton 3:49 am on November 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

      Kim,

      Very comprehensive analysis of the iPad. This information is very useful tome since I do not own an iPad. I learnt a lot from your post. My point of contention though is that a netbook or a laptop is much cheaper and can do the same functions as an iPad, so why invest in a iPad? In my country Jamaica, due to the economic situation, my students would mostly opt to purchase the netbook over the iPad mainly because of the cost and since it can do the same things as the iPad.

      Keisha

      • Deb Kim 11:57 am on November 4, 2011 | Log in to Reply

        Thank you, Keisha.
        You are right that both the netbook and the iPad have similar functions. If it was solely for educational purposes, and a school district or a school couldn’t afford to purchase iPads, I’d recommend them to purchase netbooks.

        However, if it was for my own use, then I’d purchase an iPad. On a daily basis, I use my iPhone more than my netbook or computer. The only thing that I find difficult when using the iPhone is that the size of the screen is too small. Also, there are many cool iPad apps such as WordPress, Facebook, Docs To Go, etc. that you can use without going on the Internet. You can’t use these apps on the netbook. Apple also offers a 10% discount if their product is used for educational purposes.

        Deb

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