Hello Everyone, My name is Catherine Ranson from Toronto, Ontario. I have been teaching Dental Hygiene for the past 22 years in the college system in Ontario. My background is science, oral health, access to healthcare and I have a undergraduate degree in Health Administration. I am currently a full-time faculty member at George Brown […]
Continue reading Hello Everyone, My name is Catherine Ran… Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Great action in the Pitch Pool, everyone. Thanks! The main point, as described, was to start some active thinking and role-playing about ventures, both pitching them and reviewing them. While there is well-defined content and context for a great pitch, there’s enormous room for an entrepreneur’s art, talent and personality to have impact. I’m an […]
Continue reading Here Comes Week 4 – The Entrepreneur’s Bootcamp Posted in: Announcements, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hello All, My name is Lisa and I currently live in Kelowna, BC, Canada. Today it will be a balmy 30 oC here. I have been working at Dr. Knox Middle School for the past 7 years and teach Science 8 and 9, as well as Math 9. This is my fifth MET course. I […]
Continue reading Hello from Kelowna, BC Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Afternoon Lisa,
Great to be in a course with another OK’er. Looking forward to learning with you –
PC
Hi Lisa,
kudos to you for doing tow courses at once. I am sure it will be nice to take one course while you are back to work.
I felt the same way about this course. It is definitely a different concept then the other courses offered and will help us all to have a different vantage point for educational technology. I look forward to interacting with you in the course.
Nureen
Yeah, two courses was enough for me (especially while starting them at the end of the school year), but I did have July off to work on them. Good luck in this course,
Lisa
Hello again Lisa,
Yes its back to one again for me also and I share your sentiment for this course too.
See you around.
Patason
Hey Patason,
We seem to be on the same education path! Good luck in the course and nice to interact with a familiar person.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I grew up in Kelowna and my dad used to teach @ Knox… say Hi to Leo and Marlon for me.
Welcome to the course!
John
Hi John,
Did your dad end his career at RSS? If yes, then I know who he is. I will definately say hello to Leo and Marlon for you.
Lisa
That’s him… enjoying the slacker retired life in the Gulf Islands now.
John
Hi Lisa,
Nice to meet another Kelowna teacher here and congrats for reaching the half way mark of the MET program. My two sisters live in Kelowna and I always go visit them and I had a chance to drive by your school many times. Such a nice campus! It is a challenge to teach grade 8th and 9th I guess, especially with the Math subject where things start to be difficult for them.
“YES, I would invest in this venture” or at least I would request more information before making a decision.
The CEO of Smugmug Don Macaskill exudes confidence and passion for his company while presenting this pitch. However, details regarding his management team and experience are not provided in this short video. It seems as though the CEO has done his homework when he claims that there is no online service that provides a premium photo-sharing service to paying customers. This was surprising to me as I would have guessed that there are many services like this available on the web even though all of the photo-sharing sites that I have seen either produce low quality images or have many ads. I have never searched for a service like this as it is not something that I would be willing to pay for however the presenter mentioned that they are profitable and growing so there is definitely a demand for their service.
Since this service is online, it is difficult to say what the realistic market size is. However since the company identifies itself as the only premium service they should be able to capture much of the high end online photo-sharing market. The CEO states that they have had ‘hundreds of thousands paying customers’ which is impressive.
Judging by the examples used by the presenter I would say that their destination is being well known as the ‘BMW’ of online photo sharing. Currently the competitive advantage of this company is that no one else who offers what they do. In such a competitive world however this can change very quickly. Copy-cat companies eager to gain market share and acquire revenues through their own yearly subscriptions can appear and change the status of this company.
The pitch did not go into many details regarding the marketing strategy, how much money was being asked for or how the investment would be used. Although I would not use this service myself and there is a risk of other players entering the market, I would likely invest because the CEO is knowledgeable and the company is profitable as a leader in what they do.
No, I would not invest in this venture. I think that the CEO is enthusiastic and definitely knows what he is talking about, but his appearance, both in his clothing and the choice of video, did not impress me. Even though it is a SmugMug brand hoodie, I’m not sure it’s a correct choice for inspiring confidence with other individuals who might want to invest, nor is the video, which is distracting (I’m not sure if the video is something we should also address, perhaps he didn’t post it?).
The pitch focussed on the strengths of the venture to date. They have a solid client base already, are expanding, and are offering a product that, at this time is fairly innovative. A site called Zenfolio appears to be their main competition and has expanded into their online video market as well, so I would want to know more about how they intend to deal with that before I would be willing to invest. Why would someone choose them over other companies that may offer similar services. They may be one of the leaders right now, but they have not made clear how they intend to keep their lead in this market.
For an elevator pitch it was fairly good, although information on where they are ready to expand into would have been useful. In particular I would like to know who the intended market is. Would they want to expand home (personal) use or is it meant for businesses that work in film or photography and how exactly would they go about getting customers? I also wonder if other emerging technologies would have an impact on this particular market. For instance, I don’t know much about cloud technology, but I wonder if this would have an effect on this company’s viability?
In addition, there is no discussion of what kind of support is required, the timeframe, the desired outcome, nor what the expected return is for investors. Once they have their subscriptions for the year how will they ensure that they keep clients and expand their business, what exactly do they have to offer investors? What do they want?
Based on the many questions that I have, and despite the likeability of the CEO, I would not be willing to invest in this venture.
Don Macaskill, CEO of SmugMug definitely displays confidence in both his product and its continued success in the photosharing market. Though this short clip does not offer us a glimpse into more of the behind the scenes aspects of the company (including details of the team or resources) a brief visit over to http://www.smugmug.com shows an easy to navigate website which offers, as part of its subscription service, readily available customer support, a key element in a successful marketing strategy.
According to the CEO, SmugMug is a unique venture in that it is a photosharing site unlike anything that exists currently on the market. There is no ad placement and photos are displayed at the highest quality found on the web. (A visit to the website does show that photos are available at much higher resolution than most sites (clearer at much larger sizes). The resolution of a photo however, largely lies in the hands of the photographer and their equipment on the front end.) Smugmug claims not to put limits on the amount of photos you are able to house yet there are “PRO” accounts on the site. What is the difference? Obviously more research, possible answered through the website would be needed in order to answer these questions.
I believe that the market size for this product would be a factor that would need constant re-evaluation. With the accessibility of smartphone apps that enhance and edit photography at the touch of a few buttons and smartphones with increased megapixel capabilities, many “everyday” consumers find themselves delving into amateur photography. Sales of DSLR cameras have continued to climb in recent years (leaving many professional photographers to complain) as many amateur photogs have overwhelmingly decided to “give it a go” at the art form, most often without proper training. Many who fancy themselves newfound “pros” will invest in all the bells and whistles, including serious editing software and photosharing sites. With the rise of social media platforms, everyone wants to share themselves at their very best, photos most definitely included.
According to the CEO of Smugmug, they are the only photosharing site that allows the height of quality (full resolution photos and HD video) with no pesky advertisements and readily available customer support. It is important to note, however, that this is a subscription-based venture. Many other platforms, though they may not offer the same quality, are available for free. In a struggling economy, how much will customers be willing to pay for what might be a slight decrease in quality? Is it really that important? These are questions that would need further market research.
The product is already in place and appears to be doing well… according to the information in this video. A review of the business plan as well as the past, current and projected numbers would be beneficial in reviewing the potential (continued?) success of the project as well as the longevity in a market that will surely continue to grow in this culture of digital creativity and sharing.
I would hesitate to invest in this project, if only for the projected influx of similar ventures which would cost the consumer less money in an already struggling economy. Everyone wants the best, but are they willing to pay for it in the end? I’m not fully convinced at this juncture.
Yes, I would invest in this venture. Don Macaskill, CEO of Smugmug displays confidence, passion and experience after successful launch of his premium photo sharing application. It seems that he has the resources he needs including a strong team which is why he is able to gain confidence of thousands of paid customers.
The venture concept is original and he has found a niche area to capitalize on. He figured there could be a need for people who would be willing to pay for quality and he was spot on! He seems to have done his homework well in terms of studying the market and focussing only on the premium clientele. He knows that he will have a select customer base and he is focussing on serving that niche.
The product seems to have a realistic market share and the venture seems to be successful already. The product seems to have a competitive edge over others such as providing facility to host/share HD quality, ad-free, secure photos and video from various devices. I do like the CEO and feel confident in investing in this venture.
Smugmug is an interesting venture but there are so many competitors out there that I’m not quite sure I’d be willing to invest in Smugmug. I agree that they have targeted a fairly niche market that should allow them to remain viable in the near future but there is fierce competition in this field that is shaping up with no clear indication as to whether one company has some sort of stranglehold on the others. It’ll likely come to marketing and integration with other social media sites that will determine a winner and I wouldn’t gamble money on this type of strategy. Having said that, Don Macaskill exudes confidence, passion, and demonstrates a willingness to captivate a crowd and get them on board so there may be hope here yet.
Hi Everyone, I’m Adrienne. This is my 4th MET course. I’m also taking ETEC 531. I’ve been working for the VSB since 2009 teaching all grade levels. My high school teachable is English. I taught grade 6/7 last year. This is the first year that all three of my own children are in school! (Quite […]
Continue reading Hi Everyone, I’m Adrienne. This is my 4… Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Adrienne,
Welcome to ETEC 522. The summer course you took, “Recurring Questions in Technology” sounds interesting in name alone. I am curious- how did you find it? what was its main focus, main topic(s)? Was it also a UBC course?
Thanks,
Melissa
No I would not invest in MeGo. I don’t believe that their ‘pain point’: having to create different profiles in different places is really something that people necessarily want rectified. Different Social Media platforms have different purposes. We all have profiles here on UBC blogs that are going to be more formal than our facebook pages. I have a yahoo and espn profile for playing fantasy sports with my friends, where swearing, drinking and debaucherous comments are encouraged. I think we change in every social setting to some degree and like the option of being able to do that with our profiles.
the girl in the video was young, somewehat attractive, spoke really fast and astumbled a couple of times. She was spunky, which I liked, but my overall impression of her as the face of the venture was a thumbs down. She mentioned teasers like “we are already making money” and “check out our website to see our global contest with adidas” as we ‘got off the elevator’.
Before asking her how they make money and how much, I think my first question would be: “who really wants a uniform profile out there?”
Good points Mike. I would not invest in this company either. Completing a new profile provides a opportunity to choose what you want to disclose and is not very time consuming. Who would want to blur the lines between their student lives, working lives and personal lives?
Do you think an alternate speaker would have been able to persuade you to invest?
Mike, you make some very valid points about different profile needs, and the use of teasers like making money, website and the contest with adidas, I wonder why this company is making money are we missing something from the social media prespective?
Catherine
No I would not invest in this company. I think I could write a lot about why I would not invest, but it all boils down to the fact that there was not much information given, or at least any substance to it. Nothing about Marketing, about the CEO Team, nothing about how it’s different from any of the similar tools that the same thing and some, and nothing about their plan.
Well, for one, I don’t really see this as an education venture so if we are strictly analyzing education related ventures, this falls out of that equation so I’d have to eliminate it on that basis alone. If that isn’t enough to rule out any investing intentions, I also agree with the points brought up regarding the problem is solves.. it really isn’t much of a problem. I’ve never heard anyone complain to me that they have to create too many profiles. I’ve heard of people complaining they have to remember too many password for all different sorts of websites but no one ever tells me that they are sick of entering the same profile information anytime they sign up for a service. I could understand if I were creating 20 profiles a day but it’s more like 20 profiles a year so is this really a venture worth considering?
I was thinking the same thing about this not being related to an education venture. The only way would be if the student was sharing this same profile information with their school blog, Moodle or wiki accounts. This I think would not be encouraged anyway for reasons of privacy. There is already some of this overlapping of profiles taking place now. If you have a Google + account the information there is the same profile information that you have in your YouTube account (assuming one has one). As others mention there is not enough “pain” in the market for someone to really demand this “little widget” as she describes. I could only see people using it if it was a free add-on.
Part of me feels like this was a an idea concocted to generate money as opposed to solving a problem. This person probably thought that if they could get people to create one profile that serves up the information to multiple websites, they could become a central point to collect a lot of user information, browsing habits, and creating an advertising profile to use targeted ads. The only problem is no one will likely use this service since it really doesn’t help them become more efficient at anything particular.
I think that if she created an application for having one login and password for all your different accounts, this would be a better investment then the same profile information. I also have to agree with Ken that people may use MEgo as a free add-on application.
I also do not see the marketability of this product as there appears to be no gap in the market for it to fill. Perhaps it might have been better if she gave information on how the product differs from its competitors, then the presentation might have gained more validity.
Hi all, my name is Paula Poodwan. I am originally from Bangkok, Thailand and I have lived in Vancouver for almost 10 years . This is my last course in the MET program and I intended to keep it for last hoping that this course will give me some ideas to start up my venture […]
Continue reading Hi all, my name is Paula Poodwan. I am o… Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Paula,
Pretty sure we have been in a few classes together. Last course for you, sounds wonderful! Posting in this public space does take some getting use to.
Hi Paula,
Yes, it would be pretty odd taking one more class after finishing ETEC 590, but you are so close to being done! This is my fifth course, so I will be at the half way mark in December. Good luck and look forwards to working with you.
Lisa
Hi Paula,
I’m also interested in language training, and when not in Mexico, I’m in Vancouver. I look forward to working with you and sharing ideas on possible language ventures.
Congrats on nearly graduating.
Adriana
Hi everyone – hope you had a fine weekend. Thanks for diving in to the course and introducing yourselves. We’ve clearly gathered an exceptional group of learning adventurers for this journey together – I’m looking forward to our shared experience. Our second week is about getting primed for working in the world of global education […]
Continue reading Welcome to Week #2! Posted in: Announcements, Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Hi, Has anyone been able to open this rubric? I wasn’t able to. Cheers, Adriana
Continue reading Rubric Assignment 2 Posted in: Questions & Answers
I have no problem open this rubric, https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec522may12/files/2010/04/A2_2011-Rubric.pdf, have you tried open it with diferent browser?
Thanks Paula. I was able to open it with this link. Cheers 🙂
Overall, the research reports put forth by Educause are very useful and can be of great value to a wide range of educators, learning technology specialists and venturers. More specifically, one of the main reasons it is so insightful, especially in comparison to other reports or market projections, is because instead of giving a general […]
Continue reading The Value of Educause Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
It sounds like your report was a lot more detailed than the one I read (Learning Technology Trends to Watch in 2012). I’d have to agree that these reports have been designed with a broad audience in mind. As a corporate trainer though I’ve noticed that many technologies and can be used in different learning environments effectively.
I would agree that most, if not all technologies can be used within multiple levels. However, in my experience I have noticed that teachers are more comfortable when they are given a concrete situational example to begin with.
Thoughts?
I like how Educase breaks down the technology, into what it is, what it can do, and who is using it. This approach would provide instructors at all levels an entry point to either introduce themselves to the technology, enhance knowledge, and begin making connections to learn how to deploy it for themselves.
I would also like to see what this might look like for K-12.
What are your thoughts on why they have only focused on Higher Ed?
Hi there, My name is Joel Tremblay and this is my third course in the ETEC curriculum and as the title suggests, I was a little overwhelmed at the beginning of the school year like most teachers and students tend to be. As such, I’m just now getting to the instructions etc. for the course […]
Continue reading Intro. Better late than never Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Joel,
Welcome. I was overwhelmed last week, too. There’s a lot to assimilate the first week.
How did you become a teacher in the areas you teach? Do you need some kind of BC certificate? I ask, ’cause someone I know is moving to Vancouver and is interested in teaching web design.
Good luck this week.
Adriana
From thisamericanlife.org this week: 474: Back to School SEP 14, 2012 As kids and teachers head back to school, we wanted to turn away from questions about politics and unions and money and all the regular school stuff people argue about, and turn to something more optimistic — an emerging theory about what to teach […]
Continue reading Emerging views on what to teach in school and how to reward teachers Posted in: General
Thanks Frank for this. This American Life always does great work and I’ll be sure to queue this one up on the iPhone for my next drive.
I haven’t heard it yet, but it got me thinking about another This American Life about the Brooklyn Free School where there are no tests, courses, homework and the kids are the key decision makers. This one is pretty good too! 🙂
Act 3: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/424/kid-politics?act=3#play
Hi Jonathan, thanks for the link. Interesting concept – children and youth engagement and empowerment in the truest forms. I run a youth engagement program within a organization whose primary services are for adults. We have a lot of creative tensions. It is so hard for adults to let go of the reign of control. I wonder about the extent that learning technology is incorporated into this program?
~Sophia
It’s been a while since I’ve heard this one about the Brooklyn Free School, but from what I remember it was a lot of student led meetings. Students would call meetings whenever they were upset about something and deal with it as a group.
It worked initially, but towards the middle of the podcast you got a sense that students were being overwhelmed with meetings. Students began to get upset at one another. There was a sense that in some way this worked, but in others — leadership from the top (in the form of a teacher) was needed. There wasn’t quite enough maturity for it to work.
With regards to learning technology, I do remember computers being available. But that there were no electronic days in the school as well to allow for some peace and actual “talking” to occur. 🙂
I’m very skeptical of the approach proposed. I’ve read that for most tasks that require little to no active thinking, you can use rewards to improve performance but once active thinking comes into play, it’s quite difficult to achieve any level of improvement strictly through monetary rewards. Generally speaking, better results are obtained by granting employees certain freedom to innovate to allow them to get incredible ideas out of their heads and onto a sharing medium. By encouraging teachers to work harder to obtain certain results without providing them some ‘cool-down’ time, they are likely to find more of these ‘loss-aversion’ teachers in a burnout state rather quickly.
Thanks Jon, Sophia and Patrick.
Jon, I’ll have to check that one out, I’ll try to plan it for a road trip as well 😉
You are right Sophia, with creative freedom comes innovation, but also, greater room for conflict, perhaps over what should be done and how best to do it. We may have to learn how to help adults feel more comfortable about giving up control; maybe by helping them gain a greater sense of relatedness to their students and the people they work with, so that at core, there is mutual trust among participants that people’s intentions are good.
Patrick, as a trained economist, I am first to confess that economists have an extremely narrow and thereby, limited view for understanding human behaviour. Working harder for better results in the short-term can definitely lead to burnout in the long-term as you have identified. I’m hopeful however that the financial crises is challenging this discipline to take a long, hard, and deep look inwards, and realize the errors of their ways. Also, budding work in neuroscience and behavioural psychology/economics, is not only exceptionally interesting, but also directly challenging many of the conventional wisdoms of economic thinking: “People are rational” etc..
Here’s a sarcastic but somewhat insightful critical look within (5-minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVp8UGjECt4
My current interest is gaining a greater understanding of meta-cognitive skills and how technology might be used as a vehicle for delivering this kind of education. I also believe that better financial capability might be one concrete example of such skills, as consistently good financial decision making is, I would argue, more habitual and behavior than necessarily cognitive.
With your permission, I may continue to post content to this feed on this area as I come across it; though I am open to suggestions on how to better do this for the purposes of sharing and archiving.
Observation on Financial Literacy Shortage:
[–]Betsy514[S] 12 points 3 hours ago
You know – I’ve read about a million studies on this issue and while some indicate that increased tution is a result of increased federal aid – others conclude the opposite. I’m not an economist so I can’t give you any theories or proof either way – but I think the increase in tuition is probably more the result of a combination of factors. I think the increase in student debt is in part the result of the lack of financial literacy/education resources available to families – especially when they are making the college decision in the first place.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10m8yn/i_work_as_an_advocate_for_people_with_student/
Frank –
Just listened to the podcast and it was again another well put together piece by This American Life. It was neat to hear about the “different smarts”, got me thinking about multiple intelligences. Any different than what they are talking about being “social smarts”? Actually from what I recall, they were having trouble labelling all the different “smarts” without it sounding off.
I also enjoyed the last story piece about intervention pieces that can go in. It’s nice to know that all of these can be helped. What is key is that the individual has to want to do it. It’s really about persevering and motivating through something. It’s effortful as the girl in the last piece spoke about, but she enjoyed it! Thanks for this again!
Hi, I just wanted to see if anyone out there can clarify some doubts I have regarding non-profit online educational ventures. In particular, I am referring to the Khan Academy (mentioned in Section 2.1). 1) Would this be considered an OER? 2) They have a lot of permanent staff and a career’s section that promises […]
Continue reading How do non-profits survive? Posted in: Questions & Answers
Great questions… funny enough, the question as to whether or not the Khan Academy is non-profit came up at a family dinner last night. My father-in-law saw an interview with Khan on television. I would be interested in the answer to your questions. I saw the same documentary and I think they are selling programs to districts for teachers to use in the classroom. Knowing this, I skeptically assume they must be making some profit. Best, Jen
Maybe it is a social enterprise?
Regardless of the Khan Academy specifics, which I don’t know, the answer to the title question, “How do non-profits survive?” is relatively easy to answer.
Every corporate entity has a business model. A for-profit corporation has a business model that is designed to generate profit for its shareholders/stakeholders. A non-profit corporation has a business model designed to generate other kinds of value for its stakeholders. And there are social enterprises that mix profit with other values.
Non-profits survive by being paid for delivering their value, which is usually some form of public good. Their sources of income are typically donors, sponsors, foundations, governments and the general public. They also typically have tax and other advantages to support their viability. If they have any cash left after delivery (nominally a ‘profit’) they are legally bound to reinvest this in creating more/better value. When income drops, so does value delivery.
So for-profits and non-profits both live or die based on the quality of the products they deliver, and the value proposition they present to prospective ‘customers’ of their products.
And while there is no perfect oversight of any kind of corporation, it is very difficult to get away with ‘faking’ a non-profit status – this is a very low percentage proposition.
Hope this helps,
David
Thank you for this information, very informative and enlightening.
Also answers my own questions between the two.
How, and how much, is it useful and valuable to the broader community of educators, as well as learning technologies specialists and venturers? The 2012 Horizon Report is useful to educators, learning technologies specialists, and venturers on a few levels. First, it provides educators of all ages with an appropriate report applicable to specific age […]
Continue reading What is on the Technology Horizon for 2012? Posted in: General How, and how much, is it useful and valuable to the broader community of educators, as well as learning technologies specialists and venturers? The 2012 Horizon Report is useful to educators, learning technologies specialists, and venturers on a few levels. First, it provides educators of all ages with an appropriate report applicable to […]
Continue reading What is on the Technology Horizon in 2012? Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
How, and how much, is it useful and valuable to the broader community of educators, as well as learning technologies specialists and venturers? Today I reviewed a post from the blogazine (a new term for me, used by the author of this blog) eLearning Coach, titled “Learning Technology Trends To Watch in 2012”. My […]
Continue reading eLearning Coach “Learning Technology Trends To Watch in 2012” Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
I reviewed the same article and would have to agree with your critique. Like you, I also mentioned that a venturer would have to do a lot more research before having enough information to make sound decisions.
I would have also liked to have seen examples on potential use of these technologies. Like was mentioned in the Educase article. For I have found, that by providing teachers with a concrete example of how the technology might be used, provides a strong foundation for future brainstorming sessions.
Thoughts?
I think she is unable to provide specific educational/classroom setting examples because I do not think her reviews are meant for K-12 educators. Perhaps I am wrong, but I don’t see how backchanneling could be used in Elementary schools (at least at the primary level).
I can see that, with tools like twitter and Facebook. However, our division has begun successfully using Edmodo to instruct some of our classes, which could facilitate a back channel like atmosphere for younger students.
Thoughts?
Another challenge would be that most students don’t have laptops or mobile devices at their disposal. As schools move to BYOD (bring your own device) this hopefully will change.
True, but by having enough technology to facilitate a back channel for students, potentially creates the issue of this occurring during class, a modern version of note passing I guess.
Thoughts?
in the to 5 Ed Tech predictions for 2012 article of ZDnet (not the 2011 one critiqued by this class), BYOD is one that Chris Dawson sees coming. Dawson sees K-12 schools becoming more like universities in this sense.
I agree that the predictions are valuable only if they are based on factual data to support them. Although, I haven’t gone through the article myself, the list provided does seem to align well with Horizon Report from last few years. Having said that, educators and venture capitalists need more concrete information such about the market size, who is using it, competition, etc in order to decide whether they would like to invest their time and money. In fact I really liked the Cube framework and look forward to reports that follow that paradigm.
ZDNet’s Top 10 Education Tech predictions for 2011 provides a brief look at some possible trends in the upcoming years. I believe this article provides more “food for thought” as opposed to a solid launching platform for venturers or organizations to base their purchasing decisions off of. The list compiled by Adam Garry, Dell’s manager […]
Continue reading Value in Ed Tech Predictions? Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Good synopsis Jonathan…when I read this of yours: ‘Most educators if not all I’m sure would agree they would love each one of these points, but the main question becomes, “how”?’, it reminded me that I was thinking the same thing while reading, but must have forgot to put it in my notes, as I left it out of my post. I thought that reading about a lot of these things might go as far as to frustrate educators, as now they see what is out there (or what is going to be out there), but they don’t have the ability to necessarily make it happen. Those decisions of instituting some of these trends are not at the ground level. I suspect a lot of teachers (I did), might feel more upset about their respective schools for not making more of the discussed initiatives.
Mike –
I just caught up with your post and couldn’t agree more on a lot of the comments you made, especially the one about the Dell’s involvement in the article and plugging their own product.
What comes to mind with regards to teachers not being the buyers or the the students for that matter is that we aren’t given much of a say. Quick story. I wanted to install Scratch (open source MIT – introduce simple programming in the form of Lego like blocks) onto our Mac Labs. I was encountered with a barrage of issues. Admin had to inquire with tech services. I was denied without a reason. On another day, I ran into the Tech Specialist that goes to schools to incorporate technology into classrooms, and she was more frustrated than me. She notes that on her own computer, she has to approve applications before they are installed on her computer. Her job is to assist teachers and blend curriculum with tech. She explained the process to me as somewhat of an application process for different computer apps (Macs and less so for iPads). Applications are submitted to a panel to review in the summer time. Some time (once a year) the panel meets to discuss viable apps. Once decisions are made they are final for the year.
What baffles me is that.. here at my school I want to incorporate 21st Century Learning and I am denied the opportunity. How frustrating is this? The tech specialist’s job is to incorporate tech, and she isn’t being allowed to do her job properly for fear that we may install buggy software. I’ve since found a way around this, but it’s frustrating and discouraging.
Okay maybe not that short 🙂
Hi Jonathan,
This doesn’t help with the bigger picture, but if you have a few USB sticks around, you can install Scratch to those. I just tried it and it works. You run the installer and drag the file to the USB instead of the Applications folder. Bit cheeky, but you do what you gotta do sometimes…
Ben —
I love the creative solutions that we have to come up with to get around the “red tape” (is this what it is?) Great solution, I went backwards and burned them onto a bunch of CDs. I like the USB idea though, so that the students can bring them home and save work on them, but at the time ADMIN wanted to keep costs a bit lower. I think it’s more possible now though.
The fact that we have to go to these lengths to do implement this vision of “21st Learning” is baffling and discouraging to other teachers that want to get into the technology game. Doing this stuff “should be easier” not harder. We shouldn’t be sneaking around like bandits just to provide our students with a positive learning experience.
Side note: I just received an iPad from my admin to test implementation into the classroom. I spent last night going perusing the “Approved Apps” that the district had given a check to. I felt like creating a folder called “Useless” and dumping many of them in there 🙂 I’m probably still huffing and puffing fumes from my denial of Scratch and an approval of an app on the iPad called “ChoiceMaker”. Bless the developers that created it but the app simply flickers a “YES” “NO” sign at you after you press the “Go” button. I should be clear this app isn’t completely useless but pedagogically speaking — this is more of a sound app than Scratch? Really? 🙂
Okay I’ll stop being such a grouch. I thought it was just amusing 🙂
I believe Dawson’s predictions are coming true to a large extent in terms of plummeting costs of text books and tablet devices. E-textbooks are gaining popularity with major publishers providing ePub version of textbooks available that can be viewed in popular eReader software. Also, cost of ebooks is generally less than conventional books. Moreover, many publishers are allowing students to rent books at a discounted price for a certain duration rather than buy every book they need. Finally, more reasonably priced tablets are available today such as Google Nexus and Kindle Fire that are under $200 price tag and enable an average student to have them in their backpack.
When we are submitting assignments, such as this weeks pitch reviews, whether we add our stuff as a ‘new post’ or as a reply to someone who got there first? I guess we can’t add tags to a reply (gotta check that) but otherwise it looks the same to me. Will this make a difference […]
Continue reading new post vs reply Posted in: Questions & Answers
Hi Ben –
A new post is like a new conversation – if it is a substantial new direction then please launch it and go, otherwise reply to an existing conversation and enhance it with pertinent new ideas.
I do read everything, so it doesn’t the placement of post/reply has almost zero impact on your participation – they are equivalent. However, I’m assuming most people will have a few original posts and a number of replies during the course.
Cheers,
David
This is the second annual blog post from ‘The eLearning Coach’ where the author, Connie Malamed, gives her predictions of which educational technologies will really take off in the upcoming year. The article is perhaps meant as casual reading and provides some ‘food for thought’ but her predictions are fairly conservative and there is nothing particularly surprising […]
Continue reading Learning Technology Trends to Watch Posted in: General, Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
I find it interesting the delay this article has in presenting “trends” when compared to other similar articles. Might this be her attempt to allow the general educator time enough to become familiar with the technology to use, and not those on the cutting edge?
Thoughts?
My guess is that she composed her list based on her reading of other people’s top ten lists. Her blog rarely has anything original. She is more of a content curator than anything else.
Interesting observation, which would force one to recommend this type of posting based upon the individual teacher. Those who need time, and more general information, experience should utilize this type of information. Where as our early adopters should steer clear?
Thoughts?
I think that lists like these that are casual, light readings are more important than ones that are overly technical. The majority of educators and administrators do not subscribe to “Wired” or follow Ed Tech professional’s twitter feeds. Lists like this might be purposefully underwhelming as to not scare off an on-the-fence educator who might be looking to become more tech-savvy. If the overall goal is to encourage more teachers to use and become interested in the available technology to increase learning efficiency, it is important to give opportunity for some to start in the shallow end of the swimming pool, so to speak.
I agree with your statements, as to not scare them off.
However, to help facilitate more general educators, would it not be beneficial to add ideas, suggestings, examples on how this technology might look like within a classroom. Allowing teachers to get their “feet wet” before jumping into the pool.
Thoughts?
I agree she just mentions the tools, but not how they could be integrated into classroom practice. She says that the advantage of clouds is that you don’t have the content of your course in your desktop; i though this was the case with an LMS, too. And if you look up the sites she mentions, they are all private companies that offer, easy online course creation tools and even hosting of the course. Isn’t this what Blackboard does? I was not impressed
I see what you are getting at, however I have a different opinion between Blackboard and a Cloud Based Application. Blackboard is a Learning Management System. I go, get information, maybe take a quiz, maybe have a working “chat room”, post comments, upload assignments, get grades. Basically, an electronic version of a traditional classroom. Where as cloud based applications, like Google Docs, simulate traditional software, such as MS Word, that would be entirely housed on your PC, but can be accessed from anywhere.
Yes they have similarities, need the Internet, function regardless of computers operating system. But LMS’s facilitate learning, where as true cloud based applications facilitate the creation of learning artifacts.
Thoughts?
I thought I would share a link to some videos I discovered today. I was looking at the Creative Commons site for some material to use in another course. On their home page they had an ad to watch the winning videos for their “Why Open Education Matters Video Competition”. Here is the link to […]
Continue reading Open Education Resources Posted in: General
Nice video, thanks for sharing!
I liked the video but I am still curious how schools that do not have the funds to purchase the materials such as laptops, mobile devices, etc. are able to provide access to the students to these open programs. Am I missing something? The students would still need Wifi wouldn’t they?
I’m not entirely sure how this will work or look for schools that are lacking in tech resources. I think it will at least be a support to the educators that can use the ideas and resources in their own class after gathering them from the “OER” site(s). Great question though. Maybe someone else has more insight to this. It is new to me.
Pardon the delay. This month looks to be exceptionally busy as I am in transition between cities, with the aim of landing in Vancouver sometime beginning or end of October – I’ve never been. You seem like a brilliant and experienced bunch and I feel privileged and somewhat intimidated to be in this class with […]
Continue reading Salute from Ottawa, Toronto, and coming to.. Vancouver: Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi everyone, My name is Melissa Ayers and I am a New Zealander currently based in Montreal. I am relatively new to the education and educational technology domains (aside from 4 completed MET courses). My background is more technology related; I have a degree in Computer Science and have worked as a software engineer for around […]
Continue reading Bonjour de Montréal Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Welcome aboard Melissa. Career diversions are my specialty as I have done several along the way. Great way figure out what you want to be when you grow up, if ever ….
Look forward to working with you.
Doug.
are you the Melissa in my group? (apps)?
GoodReader – The file server that handles many types of files including: documents, pictures, movies and sound clips. Annotation and organization features built in.
Continue reading GoodReader App Review Discussion Posted in: Week 05:
App Title: Good Reader
Publisher/Developer: Good.iWare
Version: 3.18.2
Operation Analysis:
I have personally used this App since starting the MET program, and have found it a great way to read and markup multiple types of files for the various papers and research activities in which we are required to complete. Unfortunately, other than reading, and highlighting papers for key information, this App has limited curriculum correlations.
In terms of its operation, GoodReader has easy navigation to access papers, apply markups, and even share entire papers, or key sections of documents. Furthermore, GoodReader accommodates those individuals requiring larger text, and a decent help section for those requiring aid in the use of the App. Unfortunately, due to the limited nature of the App, it does not accommodate multiple ability levels, does not truly respond to errors in spelling and markup, and does not track the individual’s usage.
Pedagogical Analysis:
As a pedagogical tool, GoodReader accommodates diverse learner needs in its ability to allow students to utilize various tools within the App to markup important information, or to add notes to further their understanding at either a basic or advanced level. Considering the nature of the app, I would limit its use to Middle School Students and above, as I am unclear as to how this might benefit younger students at this time.
Overall, I have found this App very beneficial to my studies, as it fits a specific need and does not try to be anything more than what it was originally meant to be.
Tom —
To add to what you are saying, I’ve also been a user of GoodReader since the start of the MET program. It definitely gives us the ability to manage our files.. in a file system (something that is nonexistant at least to users inside iOS). One thing that amazes me is that GoodReader developers keep pumping in updates. I don’t even use half of the features, but it’s good to know they are there. For example they keep adding different ways to access files. Accessibility gets a high rating here.
I think you nailed it with this bit “does not try to be anything more than what it was originally meant to be”. This is the essence of an excellent app. Good apps only try to do one thing right, that’s why they are so beautiful. In some ways you could argue that GoodReader does too many things, but I think at the base of it — it’s functionality is there and it works well.
Excellent analysis Tom! I have used Good Reader app since I joined the MET program and have been very satisfied with the app. As you rightly mentioned, it does it well what it is meant for…. The additional features that I found very powerful were the integration with Dropbox, Box.net and Google Drive. I used to download the course pdf files on my Dropbox folder and annotate while on transit to work on my iPad. When I reached my office/ home, I would sync the folders and continue working on my desktop.
Thanks for letting me know about the sync option, I have had the opportunity to explore that feature… I wonder, are apps becoming as complex now as regular desktop software, I that the programs full functionality is either unexplored or never used…
Thoughts?
Dear mob – The Emerging Markets Poll results have been analysed and you all should now have received an email introducing you to your A2 assignment and EMT team-mates. Please let me know immediately if you haven’t received your A2 assignment. Here is the roll-out of the Emerging Markets covered in this session of ETEC522: […]
Continue reading Emerging Markets Poll Results & A2 Teams Posted in: Announcements
Hi David,
Would you be willing to share your thoughts on what you considered to be the 8 top emerging markets? On my end, there were at least 10 if not 12 that I felt were quite viable and had a lot of potential but I followed the criteria and selected 8 as positive votes and made the rest negative votes even if I thought they had potential. I’m just curious if our thoughts are aligned on the top 8 or not.
Thanks for asking, but I’ll demure on revealing my own selections. I could have composed a set of poll topics that represent my own sense of the most exciting learning technologies, but felt that these third-party predictions would be both less biased for you and more eye-opening for me.
David
Hi David,
I’m not so sure how the “Private Group” works but when I clicked “ Private Group” It takes me to the UBC Blogs ETEC 522 – Sept 12 page.
That’s right, and from there you simply click on the request for permission to join…
I am able to join the private group that is set up for all of the students in the course, but I couldn’t find the private area for our group project for assignment 2. I know we can meet outside WordPress but at least I need to get a hold of my teammates in here first 🙂
I understand that after you have set up the teams, everyone will then be subscribed to the working areas. The instructions in “ How to use this Weblog” said “You can navigate to your private group area by clicking on the Community link on the Top Menu Bar, and then selecting your group from the dropdown list”. However, on the top menu bar, there is no option that says “Community”, unlike the picture you posted along with the instructions, where the community option was in between Home and 1. Inspiration.
Thanks,
Paula
I’m having the same problem Paula. Thanks for posting this. 🙂
I reviewed the New Media Consortium 2012 Horizon Report for Higher Education. At first glance of the website, I was impressed as they have the report not only in English but also in four other languages: Catalan, German, Japanese and Spanish. Also, they have two shorter documents: The Project Preview and The Project Short List. […]
Continue reading Opportunity Horizon: Perhaps the Horizon reports are overly optimistic ….. Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Hi Doug,
You’ve done a very thorough job, and it was a great idea to go back to previous reports to see if their predictions come about. They do actually say it is “not a predictive tool”, but rather it is meant to “highlight emerging technologies” (p.7). However, when I read predictions thrashing the Kindle Fire and writing wonder of Ipads, I knew there was something more. I checked them out, and though the NMC is a non for profit organization, it was nevertheless founded by Adobe, Apple, Macromedia and Sony, because the realized that “realized that the ultimate success of their multimedia-capable products depended upon their widespread acceptance by the higher education community ” (NMC.org). They concluded “that a community of innovators embedded in leading colleges and universities would amplify the impact of their tools in a wide range of disciplines” (NMC.org).h They went on to identify institutions and schools where their investment could “bear fruit”. So are these predictions of what the market or educators will need or what they hope they will buy? Either way, there is some truth in what they write. Like the OECD, they recognize a changing world of work and roles. People work anywhere and collaboratively, opening way for the need for clouds and collaborative communication tools. And I think the other thing they may be right with is the growth in tablet computing and Apps. We’ll have to wait and see.
Adriana
I was also interested to see that they were a bit optimistic in their reports about what would be in use down the road. I think that the report is helpful in looking at what might be a resource to watch for. I also don’t blame them if their predictions were a little off. The technologies have been in place for say Mobile Apps long enough to have been “adopted”. Adoption though is up to the institutions and policy makers. I’m sure that the learners and many educators have been waiting for some of these tools to be adopted.
I also found that the timelines to adoption may be a little ambitious, but I focused more on the ideas than the time to adoption. The technologies and ideas provided are get at inspiring thoughts about future technologies and potential technologies to follow and keep an eye on. Several of these technologies have popped up here and there over the years, but have yet to become a staple in every institution. ‘Adoption’ is hard to pinpoint, but it is interesting to observe the examples and see which institutions have adopted various technologies with success and failure.
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Paula Poodwan 2:25 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Catherine,
Nice to see a familiar name here. Yes, we were together in ETEC 510 and we almost had a chance to work together in a design project before we decided to split the group into the smaller ones. Looking forward to learning alongside with you.