The year was 1977 – three young and upcoming programmers from Ampex (producers of digital storage systems) took a risk and branched off to start their own company. One of them was Lawrence J. Ellison Serving as Chief executive officer from the beginning, Larry Ellison has been a man with far reaching dreams. When […]
Continue reading The year was 1977 – three young and upco… Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
I made an app for the secondary school ussing AppMakr that I work at. I figured it would be a useful contribution for the parents and teachers who worked there to have direct access to the school and it’s announcements since most students and parents spend more time on their phones then computers. The RSS […]
Continue reading WVSS app Posted in: General
Rather than typing a comment to discuss and review a few of my favourite apps, I thought I’d post a short screen recording and chat about them: http://youtu.be/yoiaoihTPrw?hd=1 The apps discussed are: Thicket – A free interactive gesture based audio creation app. 123D Sculpt – A free 3D sculpting app. Leafsnap – A free interactive field […]
Continue reading iOS Edu Apps Worth Checking Out Posted in: Week 05:
Nice list. The Autodesk 123D apps are great. There are desktop version for some of those too, but it’s nice to see some good content creation tools finally coming to these handheld devices to challenge the notion that they are only really consumption devices. I only just read about move the turtle this morning from the Geekdad blog on Wired. I wish I had an iPad to try it on (still waiting for my budget stuff to get processed:(
Here’s a list of IOS apps for education that another tech guy in my school sent around a couple weeks ago. There are some good things on it:
I’m a big fan of the Geekdad blog as well, along with Wired in general, for tech news. Flipboard and Zite are my picks for Apps that aggregate news feeds, to try and keep up on these rapidly changing topics. Truth be told however, my teenage students are my best resource – I learn so much from them!
Just bought Move the Turtle and I’m loving it! I’ll have to spend more time on it– might bring it into the iPads at school 🙂 I like the programs that teacher basics of computer programming. Teaches so many different concepts while trying to learn to program. Scratch is a good example of this for sure.
Thanks for the list.
This is great! Thank you for sharing. I think that the tree id app is great. When I was little my Dad asked if I could name the trees we saw while driving….”Of course I can, ” I replied. “Bob, Mark, Jessie, ….” He got a good laugh over that. I wasn’t trying to be funny i didn’t know what they were. Maybe this will help. 🙂
Love the list. I will be purchasing “Move the Turtle”. Let’s see what my kids and I can come up with.
Great format/video for posting your thoughts thanks Scott!
Scott,
Great idea to use a YouTube video as your response. Very original and awesome use of technology!
To add to Scott’s comments, I will review a couple more of the apps that were suggested this week by the Apps OER team.
Periodic Table App – At first I thought this app was too simplistic, but then I thought about what it supposed to do. It is to teach it’s users about the periodic table. There were some great features such as a quiz on naming elements, abbreviations of elements, and atomic #s. As well, there was a description of each element as well as a sound byte of each element name. There was a video chemistry section that explained more information than what would be found on the periodic table. What I would like to see as a link or add on that helps learners in naming compounds and formulas. Maybe I should make an app for that…
RealCalc – I really liked this calculator app. Student’s don’t need to go out and buy another instrument (ie. calculator) since they can use this on their IPhones, IPads, Androids, etc… I guess the next question is if teachers will allow them to be in the classrooms. I have had many debates with colleagues about students being allowed to bring mobile devices into the classroom. This is at the middle school level.
Lisa
Scott, i really liked the short and snappy review of the educational apps you showed in the video. I am planning on using some of these for my 8 yr old to supplement classroom education. i am going to try LeafSnap today as that is an excellent example of how you can use something like google goggles to learn nature. finally, thanks for sharing the ipad apps list as it seems to be invaluable resource as well.
Thanks for your positive feedback Ranvir!
Gaggle – Jeff Patterson, Founder and CEO · Gaggle started out as a filtered, controlled email client for students and teachers alike but has grown into a full social media suite which provides students safe places to communicate and collaborate, all whilst affording them personal spaces in which to foster and express individual creativity. The […]
Continue reading Gaggle – Jeff Patterson, Founder and CEO… Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
I find it interesting that this venture was created out of a need for email…
Lately, when instructing my students, and introducing email, and the platform we are using to accommodate this service, most students ask – “What is email?”
Have we held onto something, that many of our students have moved beyond? Is it important?
Secondly, in your information about the individual and company in general, I really appreciated and found value in the fact that this is not his first venture into technology and education, but another venture based upon a need he felt existed. As I am unaware of this company, is this a for-profit or not-for-profit venture?
The way I am interpreting what they state in their FAQ’s, Gaggle is a for-profit venture which does occasionally offer free services to selected schools who cannot afford their product (by invitation only). As far as the email origins… I quite enjoy that the company recognized the need to grow and expand from that and move into social networking. I have found that they have “kept up with the times” as it were and opened themselves up to new markets and services as the demand has grown and changed.
I have looked at the Gaggle website and it seems that the concept of providing a controlled, human monitored environment works great for k-12 schools who are able to get the grant funding from the government. However, I wonder how this affects the students behaviour and their web etiquette when they know that their keystrokes are being monitored. I guess this may not be much of an issue in primary grades, however in high school where students are more matured, I wonder how much is the uptake. We don’t like to be policed irrespective of our age.
I’m sure this is always in the back of students’ minds… especially when they become old enough to “know better.” I’m sure genuine posting is more than likely filtered to become what they find to be more safe or to look better to teachers rather than true feelings. After all, they still have facebook, twitter and other non-policed ways to communicate outside of school. (I do wonder if students would choose to use this service for anything other than strictly school-related communication in this instance. I do like the idea for younger students to have a safe space, but I can’t help but feel that older students will duck the system so to speak in order to have more genuine interaction with friends/peers.)
Co-Founders: Nicholas Borg and Jeff O’Hara Venture: Edmodo Photo source: Xconomy Edmodo is an educational microblogging site which affords students and teachers to collaborate in a private environment. It was co-founded in 2008 by Nic Borg (CEO) and Jeff O’Hara (Co-owner) as a means to incorporate a social media element to mainstream education, while nonetheless […]
Continue reading Edmodo Posted in: General, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
I have personally used Edmodo for years in my class, and love the mobile app as well. I am aware that Edmodo provides more sophisticated services for a fee, but was unaware that they are a for-profit venture.
With that in mind, I also wonder how the potential inclusion of a more sophisticated fee structure, or advertising might influence those 8 million plus users…
Thoughts?
Edmodo seems to be right on the button of taking Social Media into schools and using it as a driving vehicle to leverage technology to provide education for the 21st century classroom.
In fact, I am curious as to whether our class, or for that matter any class could be taught through the use of Edmodo as the underlying technological platform facilitating online content delivery, social interaction, and tracking.
Tom, do you think that for example, you could use Edmodo to deliver a financial literacy module for your class, using content that is already available online? Any shortcomings to using such an approach, and suggestions on how they could be overcome?
My two risk concerns for this venture are 1) Whether social media moguls such as FB or Google Plus could create spinoffs to outcompete Edmodo, if Edmodo’s success grabs their attention and they decide to enter education technology. 2) I’m dubious about marketing/advertisement as revenue sources for educational products. Mainly because learning requires focus, and advertising disrupts it.
As for the founders Jeff and Nicholas, they’re clearly doing somethings right as their venture is gaining in prestige and popularity. Whether they have the right stuff to go from entrepreneur to CEO remains to be seen.
So far, so good..
I also wonder if Google+ has the potential to steal Edmodo’s userbase. Apparently, Google Apps has 40 million active users and is used in 61 of the top 100 schools (I just plucked that off the Internet, it came from a report in US News & World Report) but they only rolled Google+ into it less than a year ago. With tons more schools preparing to move over to GApps (like mine) it seems silly not to use it. While Edmodo does include all sorts of assessment and tracking tools, for example, you can make your own quizzes and so on, you can do a lot of the same things without much more difficulty using google forms. I believe there is a lot of potential for social networks in the classroom for sure. I set up a social network for our grade 5 classes about 5 years ago using an open source product called Elgg. Even after the novelty wore off, the kids were still on there all the time and using it for things I had never imagined–creating discussion groups to share their passions for horses and LEGO and all sorts of stuff. But today, the kids ant my school are divided between a whole punch of overlapping software, Weebly, the school blogging platform, Managebac, the school unit planner, WCBS, the school gradebook, FirstClass, the school email system and then their own stuff on Facebook and all the rest. A move to a single platform like Google Apps will reduce the hassle of multiple sign-ons in a big way and make it way easier for them to keep track of their online world. I could never sell Edmodo in a situation like this and I bet that’s the same in a lot of places.
Interesting inquiry. Our school actually uses many of the embedded features within Edmodo to instruct our students in Information Technology, through the use of this social platform, we instruct students how to be proper within online environments, as well as managing an entire class with no physical paper. We have been quite successful with this approach.
Currently, our school is looking at many options for an online learning environment. I have recently posted about Schoology as another one of these LMS’s that seems to have grown out of necessity to have ‘one stop shopping’. Teachers are looking for it all when it comes to online class management and collaboration tools, and the ability to not only view paperless student work but to comment on it, grade it and access it anywhere.
The Facebook feel of both Edmodo and Schoology is what concerns me the most, as many parents have voiced concerns in our school over the use of Facebook and sharing student files in the cloud.
It is all a learning opportunity, and as Tom put it, we can embed information into these platforms to help alleviate the concern and proactively promote positive online behaviours.
Hi there,
I personally loved using Edmodo. I had tried Twiducate before that and like most of it…but it was incredibly slow. I was cautioned though through discussion with the Department of Education in my province. They were concerned about the content being hosted outside of our own servers. They said that we could continue to use it as long as there was no identifiable information anywhere on the site. Not even the school’s or my name. They were also concerned about the intellectual content stored there. Reading through the information it seemed as though the authors would be protected. However, the concern was if the company was bought out or shut down…what would then happen with those resources. Good questions to consider.
Ken
The privacy issue is indeed a sensitive one. It is interesting that working in the public system last year I would not have been able to use Edmodo, but now being in the private system it is permitted with some stipulations (close reading and disclosure of the terms of service is a big part of the solution). I wonder how many schools are currently looking for LMSs and running into this problem… does this favour the use of Moodle and others which can be stored locally? There’s a segment of the market that Edmodo can’t tap into.
Jose Ferreira Founder and CEO Jose Ferreira is the founder and CEO of Knewton, the world’s leading adaptive learning company. Knewton personalizes any publisher or school’s online learning courses. In October 2011, Knewton announced a partnership with Pearson to power their complete line of MyLab and Mastering products, currently used by nearly 10 million students. […]
Continue reading Twitter: @Knewton_Jose Jose Ferreira Fou… Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
I just realized that Knewton has already been posted a few days ago. I will search for another interesting venture and update soon.
For the founder parade I was going to talk about the founders of ‘Chomp’; a really useful search engine of apps i came across . However, as it was not related to education, I changed my mind. I was going to share the site with you for this week, but it’s gone! Apparently Apple bought […]
Continue reading Ventures that come and go Posted in: Week 05:
It’s sad when the big companies gobble up the small ventures. The one that stick in my mind is Sparrow an Apple mail client for iPhone and Mac desktop. When Google bought it out it was truly for the talent. It’s good that the talent isn’t going away, what makes it sad is that the great apps that they built will no longer be developed. 🙁
Another one that sticks in my mind is one for iOS. It was on a jailbroken iPhone where users could bring down a control panel from the main screen to access many functionalities. Apple offered him a job, he stopped developing his “app” but now we get to see it baked into iOS. It’s a up and down thing but it’s sad to see the small “guys” disappear into the big companies.
I fully agree adi – sometimes a successful venture is one in which the founders assume they will not have a long, independent shelf-life, instead creating a product or service that either due to usefulness or avoidance of competition is expecting to be bought by a larger fish. I’m not sure, Jonathan, how sad those entreprenuers are when they get gobbled up. Many may continue working on their products in an environment that can provide them with better funding, or they are free to go off and come up with yet another new idea or two. I understand what you suggest about them feeling sad when their original ideas get buried when bought out, but I suspect many (most?) true entreprenurs are more married to the idea of making money than of birthing a viable product.
Peggy
Global School Net [picture pending/ my Internet connection keeps on freezing] Though the Global School Net web page mentions two founders, Yvonne Maria Andres and Al Rogers, it could be said that the original concept of connecting schools for online projects was Yvonne’s back in 1984. Like a good entrepreneur, Yvonne partnered up with Al […]
Continue reading Embracing change over the years Posted in: General
Jeremy Friedman is Co-founder and CEO of Schoology. It is a company which offers a collection of features to help teachers enhance their lessons plans, as well as manage their classrooms. It allows educators to host discussions, set up coursework, add videos and interactive media, and track grading and engagement in one spot. In […]
Continue reading Presenting Jeremy Friedman – Schoology Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Excellent profile Kent. I used this product for a short time a few years back while assessing various LMS and I really liked their approach. What I find most telling about your profile is contained in the final paragraph, namely how reluctant school administrators were to initially adopt the product. I’m sure Jeremy is not the first or last CEO, to face opposition about novel ideas to solve “old school” problems. It emphasis to me, just how hard an edtech entrepreneur must work to champion and sell their ideas in the face of adversity from institutions resistant to change.
To me, this product does have the potential to attract many customers. I like the idea that they have included such things as differentiated learning programs in the system. My only question was why did he make the platform similar to Facebook? Was it to draw people in? And why would people say “we can’t have that in schools”? Some aspects of Facebook could be used for student learning, but I don’t think we have explored that avenue enough.
Lisa
Lisa
Hello Lisa, i’m not sure exactly why the Facebook feel is so prevalent in emerging LMS’s like Edmodo and Schoology. It may be just as you said…’to lure people in’. In that same token,however, i think sites like Facebook get a raw deal in education. It comes with such stigmas involving privacy issues and sharing information over the web that not alot of teachers/administrators want to go near it. I have emailed Jeremy Friedman to ask a few questions, but haven’t been able to reach him yet. Thanks for your question, I will make sure to ask it if i ever do get in touch with him. Kent
There are two founders for the SMART Technologies Company. David Martin, who is the Co-founder, Director, chairman and was a CEO of this company. Nancy Knowlton who is also a co-founder, Director, vice-chair and was and a CEO. These two individuals founded SMART technologies in 1987. Nancy has an undergraduate in business administration, she qualified […]
Continue reading David Martin and Nancy Knowlton- Smart Technolgoies Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
That’s a great story! Well presented. SMART has come a long way, but I wonder to what degree this product has passed it’s prime. I’ve used SMARTboards in the past and found that I was simultaneously impressed and irritated by their software and used the board much less once I got my hands on a table device. Mimio (http://www.mimio.com/) seems to be a lightweight version of the Smartboard, so SMART now has some competition. Seems that you can make them with a wii and infrared pen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnIVJNvG_k&feature=related). These might squeeze SMART out of what might already be a shrinking market.
Unless the prices come down, SMARTboards may not be replaced by alternatives so much as just present an unjustifiable expense. I have been at a number of schools that tried to work them into the budget, then decided to use the money for other things. I have a school full of Mimios now and they are awful to work with. (I even made a DIY rig using an IR pen and a couple of WiiMote’s, which worked but was not worth the hassle. On the other hand, when I have been using SMARTboards along with software that really showcases their functionality (such as Algodoo–if you haven’t seen it, you should) they are an amazing tool. (Another cool project is EduSim, which is a 3D virtual world targeted at schools that is meant to leverage the power of SMARTboards and such.) But I have also seen them collecting dust in a lot of schools. That may be due to a lack of training and support. Just sticking it in a classroom doesn’t guarantee it will get used. But they may not provide enough added value to the classroom to justify the $5000 layout.
Our middle school has installed quite a few SMARTboards in our classrooms this past year, but I have yet to see how they have been used that is drastically different from a whiteboard. Although is does have interactive capabilities, I think that there needs to be more teacher training (as Ben stated) for us to use them to their fullest potential. I think that if we could use tablets in conjunction with the SMARTboard, this may increase the interactive abilities of the boards. Maybe another way to go is multi-touch desks or tables. With multi-touch desks, more people can interact with the table or desk and with the people around it at the same time. A multi-touch desk is not controlled using a mouse or keyboard, so it provides a way for everyone to interact with the system. Minority Report here we come…
Thanks for sharing this cool these cool alternatives! I love the mimio tablet idea as that way students can easily write down notes because you are not in the way. Also the idea of having the students use the tablet to be more engaged with the session (adding their notes, completing the activity, etc.) might be easier as well. Hopefully they will come out with one that has a little longer range but 9m is pretty good.
Smart has come a long way since the introduction of it’s first products. They are growing rapidly and continue to create tools for business, governance, and education.
although SMART is commonly known for their hardware (smartboard, smart table, smart slate, etc) what many people don’t know is that, they are very keen on creating software as well. They obviously developed the Smart Notebook suite, but are constantly making additions to their softwarwe as well. They have created the amazing Smart Math Suite and 3d tools, which many educators are unaware of. As a matter of fact, I have a meeting with Nancy Knowlton next week to talk about the New Smart Bridgit Software and the impact it could have within the board.
You are more than welcome to come with me Nureen.
This is great information, our new campus just installed SMART boards in many of the classrooms. There appears to be a high level of interest from faculty around learning how to use them and implementing them into classroom learning. I have had some introductory training and I am impressed so far with the product. I will have to look into the SMART software options.
Given this week’s topic I was wondering if anyone is this course has been using Ipads in their classrooms. I am scheduled to receive a class set of Ipads at the end of this month from my district. We will have them for two months. My question concerns the fact that when students […]
Continue reading Question about Apps and Student Creations Posted in: Week 05:
It depends on the app. Some have a cloud backup and some don’t. So, in some cases, you can still access your work by logging in to a website, and if you install it on another device, you can login and get all your work back. With others, it’s gone.
There’s stuff like this (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070?mt=8) that allow you to create books right on the device that can then be shared. This one costs money though.
We usually do our content creation on computers and put it on the handhelds to see and share (such as ebooks and games.)
It’s pretty surprising how widespread the iPad adoption has been in the classroom and yet how little Apple has worked out the nuts and bolts of how schools would be using them and how they could support that. Usually this is one of their strengths. They still don’t have any official word about syncing and devices per account. We have a few dozen in our lower elementary and we sync them all to the same account. It’s great for us, since we only pay once for an app, then run it on a ton of devices. Sooner or later, they will need to come up with a special system for large deployments and hopefully this will solve your problem as well. They only just acknowledged the fact that some users share a device and allowed for multiple accounts in a recent update.
Good luck.
I’ve also wondered about licensing issues with the apps. I heard that we are allowed to legally sync an app to ten devices but that is it and this is actually a new Canadian law within the past year. I spoke with our tech consultant in our district and he said that the bulk purchase prices works out to be higher than buying the app and sharing with the amount of devices it allows (i.e. 5). Education is a vast market and one would think Apple would be doing everything they could in this area.
Welcome to week Seven Our topic is Augmented Reality. Please click on the following link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec522augmentedreality/. It will direct you to this week’s activities. Please read through the directions on the homepage and follow the steps. When you have completed the readings, watched the videos and completed the activities, please answer the following questions on […]
Continue reading Welcome to week Seven Our topic is Augme… Posted in: General, Week 07:
Great work AR Group on putting together this informative module.
I wonder if weather broadcasts qualify as AR technology as the weather person is not really standing in front of a weather map but a blank wall or tarp. Somehow in the production that we see on screen, they are magically standing in front of a weather map, radar image, futurecast etc. If this is AR, then perhaps we have been informed and educated for years through AR technology and did not realize it.
Doug.
Hi Doug,
It is great to hear that the lesson has been beneficial to you.
I think you are right about weather broadcasting and in all honestly I did not even think about that till you mentioned it. What an excellent example of AR that is a part of our everyday life that we are not even aware of. Thank you so much for sharing your observation.
Nureen
Georg Petschnigg is one of the Co-Founders of FiftyThree who created the iPad application Paper. FiftyThree’s Paper Paper was designed to replace a pen and a piece of paper, it is a drawing application designed to capture your ideas as sketches, diagrams, illustrations, notes or drawings which can all be easily shared across the web. In […]
Continue reading Georg Petschnigg – CEO and Co-Founder of FiftyThree. Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Nicely done Melissa,
i have been looking at this lad and their team for a few months now. I think that they are excellent at how they focused in on a product, made it incredible and are now looking at niche ways of making bespoke elements for certain professions and industries. I definitely dont get a greed impression from him/their team but more of a ‘lets make things better’ impression.
Really impressive team.
Nice entrepreneur overview too.
Stuart
Thanks Stuart, that’s an interesting observation you make that they are more focused on ‘lets make things better’ rather than lets make money. I think you are right from the interviews and the commentary I have seen so far they are really focused on making a great product first and foremost.
I found your references and supplemental links very interesting, thank you Melissa. I downloaded this app the weekend it was released and I really enjoy using it, as do my daughters and a few of my students, It’s not as feature laden as some other drawing apps, which may be it’s best feature – what it does, it does very well. Petschnigg and his team are not the only tech team with this approach. Jonathan Ives has the same goal for uncluttered design. “”Our goal is to try to bring a calm and simplicity to what are incredibly complex problems so that you’re not aware really of the solution, you’re not aware of how hard the problem was that was eventually solved.” I really look forward to what Petschnigg and his team set their sights on next…
Thanks for the quote by Ives Scott, I have not seen that before. I wish more designers/developers would follow this philosophy, as you mentions there are many applications that are laden with many features (that are not always well done or are too complex for the target users) and it makes them a bit harder to master.
Hi All, There is a site called Common Sense Media that provides information about the current issues in the media if you sign up and subscribe to their emails. There is a section that is devoted to learning ratings on “Apps for Learning”. This might be useful for some of you. The site is: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ Lisa
Continue reading Common Sense Media – Apps for Learning included Posted in: Week 05:
Thanks for sharing Lisa. I checked it and it is a great resource. – Jen
I forgot to mention that I loved the features. You can search by age of the child, skill set you’re looking for, subject, genre and/or topic.
Eli Luberoff was also selected by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the top 25 entrepreneurs under 25 in 2011. Eli Luberoff, CEO Eli, like most elementary students were exposed to the TI-83 graphing calculator. Eli began working on software that would become Desmos.com during a year long hiatus from Yale University, returning to graduate summa […]
Continue reading Eli Luberoff was also selected by Bloomb… Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
This company has an interesting story and guiding principles 🙂 It seems the product they develop is free – if this is the case how are they able to fund it? Thanks
Hi Melissa,
The company is very new and their startup funding came from Learn Capital and Kindler Capital, recently adding Google Ventures to their investor portfolio. The company reports they are generating revenue from partnerships with publishers, who have been integrating the calculator into digital textbooks. This will be a company to watch as it continues to grow and solidify its planning and business model.
Meet Jim Breen
Continue reading Pulse Learning Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
The idea of not necessarily going with statistics but with feelings reminds me of Jobs saying: “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” If you really believe and “feel” that you have an amazing product, hopefully people will agree, although not everyone in the world is a Steve Jobs.
Crestron – in business for more than 40 years Founder, sole owner and President of Crestron – George Feldstein (engineer) George Feldstein started his own company in 1969 out of a room above Crestkill Delicatessen, New Jersey, when he got fired from an engineering company and decided that he could not work for anyone else. […]
Continue reading Crestron – George Feldstein – Founder and Sole Owner Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi Lisa, interesting life story about the founder George Feldstein. Creston has many areas of the market covered, not surprised they are so successful.
We hope you all have had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. We welcome you to Week 6 of ETEC 522. This week’s topic is Cloud Learning in K – 12 Education. Please visit our Emerging Market Analysis Weebly site at http://cloudlearning.weebly.com/ We have presented an overview of the content through six areas: What is […]
Continue reading Welcome to Week 6: Cloud Learning in K – 12 Education Posted in: Week 06:
Thanks guys – this page packed a lot of useful information in a nice tidy package. It was nice to have a few different videos to watch – the repetition but with slight variations helped the information sink in, plus you had the text based article – very good to cover your bases regarding different learning preferences of your audience (us!). I had a pretty good general idea of cloud computer, but it was helpful to understand the difference between SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. One of my questions this week will be about security, and having student information resided outside Canada. I know this is an issue in my own school division. Thanks to a great start! Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for the compliments. I had a lot of questions too regarding security. Have you had a chance to view our limitations tab? Give that a read and try out the case study. I think it is going to generate an interesting discussion.
Take Care, Jen
Your presentation offers excellent resources and is well curated team – thank you.
Here is a news item and infographic, I just noticed today, that reports on workers thoughts on Cloud computing and how the IT industry may be reacting to it – along with a few good comics to inject some humor. http://mashable.com/2012/10/09/infographic-cloud/
Thanks for that Infographic. Some great truths hidden in those comics…especially how some people don’t even realize that their already using the cloud! And along with BYOD, the cloud has definitely created a few waves in our I.T. department…whether it be good, bad or ugly.
Thanks for the post!
Same in ours… I was told that when I use my own devices to access the cloud I am using up Bandwidth that was not meant for this and this is why our computer lab Wifi is slow. I have a hard time believing one little document was the cause. Maybe if everyone was accessing their Dropbox.
For my founders profile, I have selected Bryan Falcon, CEO & co-founder of Haiku Learning Systems. Since 2006, Haiku Learning Systems has been providing an online learning management system (LMS) for K-12 educators, which aims to provide the “The simplest way to bring the web to your classroom… and your classroom to the web”. I […]
Continue reading For my founders profile, I have selecte… Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
HI Scott, Haiku seem to have a nice product, its the first time I have seen/heard of this LMS. It has a nice simple, lightweight feel to it. I wounder if the GUI and usability design has been influenced by Falcon (and his theatre/director background) or it was his design/development team.
Hi Scott, I too had never heard of Haiku, would it be comparable to Moodle? I navigated through the website and looked up their partners, interesting one of them is Desmos the second company I selected to investigate. I am guessing their revenue is generated through the advanced user who pays for the service?
The school board I teach in encourages us to use Moodle, which I have tried, but as Falcon insightfully notes, LMS which strive to offer a wide range features for everyone, as Moodle does, often become too bloated, cumbersome to learn/use and unattractive looking. Under Falcon’s guidance, Haiku instead aims to satisfy 80% of its users extremely well and realizes that the remaining 20% may not find what they are looking for with Haiku – which is ok. It’s a focused product, clearly targeted to a specific customer.
I imagine Falcon’s clear sense of creativity and design have strongly influenced the GUI, but when the the concept hits the screen, its the development team which must be trusted to execute Falcon’s vision. One more reason to applaud him for selecting the right team to execute his vision.
The “fermium” price model hooked me. It’s the classic puppy dog sales approach, just hold on to it a bit and you won’t want to put it down!
Hey Scott, since our last course together I have checked out Haiku and liked the simplicity of it. We are still using Moodle at my school, but as you have indicated, Moodle is sometimes fairly cumbersome and unattractive looking. I find at times it is not an intuitive site, but there are things on there that I like.
I think that it wise of Haiku Learning Systems to work closely with educators to get a feel of what is needed. In my school district (and many around BC), we are using a online student information system for attendance, marks, etc. but is not user friendly. There have been suggestions on how to improve the system, but not many have been made. If Haiku can satisfy 80% of it’s specific users, I think that is pretty good for a business.
Since my kids are preschool age (2 and 4) I thought I’d do a review of some of my favourite educational pre-K apps: • Monkey Math School – my kids both love this app. I wonder if my 2 year old is actually learning anything or if he is just playing (at this point I […]
Continue reading Pre-K app review Posted in: Week 05:
Matt Kelland is co-founder of the company, Moviestorm Limited, which he co-founded with his Cambridge colleague, Dave Lloyd, in 2003. As described on the company homepage, “Moviestorm is a software application that lets anyone make 3d animated movies on their computer,” (http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/). Moviestorm offers, an “explorative game-style interface and a massive library of characters, props […]
Continue reading Matt Kelland, co-founder of Moviestorm Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi Eva,
Matt Kelland sounds like a true innovator/creator. He seems to really enjoy ‘creating’ a venture more than managing its continuation. Your admiration for Matt Kelland as an innovator came through clearly; as well as your passion for the platform Moviestorm. Your post has really helped me to better understand Moviestorm.
~Sophia
TED Talks have left an impact on the world. One that has only been growing in the last 10 years, with a digital media push by Chris Anderson, who in 2001 became the curator of the event, after taking over from Richard Saul Wurman one of the original founders.(http://www.ted.com/pages/16) According to his profile on TED […]
Continue reading Chris Anderson TED and TEDEd curator Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi Shaun,
I really liked how you outlined his path to success into concise points. That made it easy to see how all of those aspects set him up for success in his business venture.
TED TALKS are definitely well known and in my opinion they have a great impact on people of all ages. This is a great means of sharing important ideas, tools and connects with. Digital learning tools have gained an avenue of exposure through these talks that have helped to educate so many people on what is available out there. Chris’s idea of using pre-existing lessons and bringing them alive in one location that is accessible to educators is great. This opens so many doors for teaching possibilities and can assist in making learning environment so much richer. This sounds like an amazing resource.
Thank you for sharing Chris’s inspiring journey and the link to the blog he envisioned. I know this will be helpful to me.
Nureen
Thanks Shaun – While I’ve known about TED Videos for a few years (but even at that feel like a late-comer to them), I hadn’t known about TED Ed. I watched the introductory tour and was impressed by how the earlier concept of TED videos was linked to another earlier concept of Flipped Classrooms. This is a great example of how a synthesis of existing products and services can become a valuable enterprise – emergence, as was described in Section 2.8 Entrepreneur Bootcamp.
Peggy
I think TED Talks is also a great way for entrepreneurs to get the support of the right people by spreading their ideas to the right audience. And to have a non-profit targeted for this particular purpose is just a brilliant value proposition.
James
I found it interesting when I came across this article where 72% of students surveyed in Ontario said that cell phones should not be used in the classroom as an educational tool. Some gave the warning that it is just too distracting for them to use in the classroom. This makes me think whether students […]
Continue reading I found it interesting when I came acros… Posted in: Week 09:
Hi Colin,
This reminds me of a study I had read in a previous MET class. According to this study, an experimental group of students ranging in ages were asked to submit their mobile devices for a period of 48 hours. The results indicated that some of the students who were accustomed to using social media exhibited high levels of anxiety and depression similar to those withdrawing from drug addiction. Through my experience, when a student receives a bbm, tweet or facebook message, the temptation to check it is too high. There is no doubt that mobile devices pose a distraction and I think this is something we need to live with and accept if we wish to use them in education.
Manny
Interesting points, regarding the distraction factor. I would like to point out though, that the adults are (in my opinion) just as bad as the kids in terms of it being a distraction.
However, I also believe that this powerful tool should not be ignored, because at this time we are unfamiliar at its use, or even how to use it properly. Does more research, and strategies need to be implemented, yes. Should effective PD be developed for all age levels and professions, yes (especially considering when one of my staff members say a man texting, while riding a motorcycle).
Pandora has opened the box, and yes, all that is left inside is hope… So on that vein, what might we do as adults, educators, and potentially parents, to help ourselves and those around us learn appropriate use?
Thoughts?
For me i’m reminded of the discussions i’ve had around tech being a distraction and the fact that the pencil was once deemed ‘new technology’, and i’m sure it was fascinating, controversial and quite a hot topic of discussion. However, it is now an invisible resource, which i hope mobile devices to be one day. We’re far from that day, as we are just beginning to implement resources and programs that put digital distractions into the hands of students. I’m not arguing against the fact that cell phones don’t distract students, I just feel as many do in this class in that their potential clearly outweighs their detriment.
Thanks for posting the link to the stories about that survey Colin. The distraction factor is very real, but I was surprised by the results . I’d be interested to see a wider sample being surveyed about this question. My initial tendency is to think that we need to help teach our students to deal with these distractions, putting phones aside while we deal with tasks at hand.
Peggy
Thank-you everyone for your responses and I do agree that I would have liked to have seen a wider sample of student surveyed. I always assumed that students would embrace having BYOD but if this survey is to be believed then teachers might actually face some resistance from students to the idea. That said I do believe that it is important for students to learn educational uses for their devices as well as to learn to manage the distraction factor of their cell phones.
Thanks for bringing this up. I am not sure that students would actually oppose it. I know that when I introduced Edmodo to my class last year they were very excited about the text notices and the app. I think that the distraction is an interesting factor. I think students need to learn how to be polite and purposeful mobile users. There are a number of issues related to what would be common sense etiquette practices that many people fail to practice. Talking to someone while texting someone else really bothers me, most students do this when together. As mentioned above, the temptation to check a notice is very high. However, I think we should model how to handle this. We can’t check our notices while we are teaching or during a parent conference. Students should learn more about this. Our school has discussed creating PSA videos to address some of these issues. Another common problem is the way technology is interrupting our sleep. I do random surveys with my classes and it is becoming more common that more students are being woken up by their devices throughout the night. The shocking part is to hear how many people feel compelled to reply to a text that woke them up at 2 a.m.!
I agree with the others regarding the distraction factor. However, even if cell phones can be distracting due to the constant notifications we receive, I still believe that the educational and increased productivity outweigh the distractions it provides. Having said that, I think it’s extremely important that students be made aware of how to configure their devices in a manner that reduces distractions. I look at my cell phone and how every application seems to think that it is so important that it needs to notify me whenever it is done something. To minimize the distractions, I’ve configured my device to disable all applications from the Notification Center other than the ones I truly need there. On top of that, I’ve disabled Sounds and Lock Screen access for all applications that I do not need this constant disturbance from. This has drastically reduced the number of distracting pop ups, buzzing sounds and lock screen light ups that I witness on a day-to-day basis. Most people don’t spend the time doing this which means they receive way more distractions than they should.
Michael Chasen is the president and chief executive officer for Blackboard Inc. He and Matthew Pittinsky founded Blackboard in 1997. According to Blackboard Inc., “his expertise managing fast growth Internet software companies coupled with a passion to enhance education through technology has been critical to Blackboard’s success.” Chasen is recognized as an innovator. Among his many awards […]
Continue reading Michael Chasen, Innovator and Founder of Blackboard Inc. Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi Sophia,
Michael Chasen definitely seems to have the background (undergrad – computer science and MBA) to competently lead the Blackboard Inc. team and make the company a success. I wonder if it will ever be used at the high school or middle school levels in Canada. Although it is cost-effective, school districts may opt to use open source learning management systems like Moodle to fill the need for these technologies to save on costs. But I commend Chasen for the forethought to work closely with universities and colleges, to spread the idea of the Blackboard Inc. LMS through them.
Lisa
Hi Lisa, good point. Although there is a cost to Moodle (server hosting, tech support) it seems to be more cost effective than Blackboard. Many schools, colleges, and companies are using Moodle as their LMS.
Hi sophiabb,
I think you made a good point about the importance of Chasen’s experience at KPMG being vital to the success of his company. It seems that successful entrepreneurs in learning technology need to have enough experience in both the business sector and the field of education before starting their own companies. Knowing how to build a company’s product from scratch also seems to be another key element in the success of an entrepreneur.
James
Hi James, great point re entrepreneurs involvement in the development from scratch. I think that entrepreneurs who are involved from scratch are more passionate and credible in their pitch delivery. Are we more inclined to say ‘yes’ to such an entrepreneur?
I think as an EVA in training, I am more inclined to say ‘yes’ to an entrepreneur who has credibility and competence and a viable idea (Section 2.6). Seeing how Blackboard is gradually expanding its operations, I think its initial investors made the right decision.
James
Just as an aside – I attended Blackboard’s annual conference, Blackboard World, a few years ago. Michael know’s how to throw a great party!
Peggy
Hi Peggy, thanks for sharing. Wonder if I can get an invite to the next conference.
Welcome to our Apps OER. After viewing our launchpad video please feel free to join us this week on Weebly for our ETEC 522 Apps OER experience. The OER team: Melissa Ayers, Patason Brooks, Mike Rae, Ken Stackhouse, Jonathan Tang
Continue reading Week 5: Apps OER Posted in: Announcements, Week 05:
Great presentation! You’re a natural. I’m very much looking forward to learning about Apps. Thanks.
I really liked your use of different backgrounds. Not that it matters, but I curious as to where the video was shot?
Thanks for the comments. The video was shot in Saint John, New Brunswick. I have to give my wife, Laura, credit for spending the day walking around the city filming me. 🙂 She is a good sport. One thing I found interesting was the amount of time it takes to make such a short segment. I definitely have a greater appreciation of what it takes to make news reports or reports like Rick Mercer’s Rants.
I have been doing a lot of tutorials to support staff recently and it does take a lot more time that you expect it to (and more than others probably appreciate.) I assume that the more I do, the easier it will get, either because I get better at doing it, or that I won’t be so uptight about seeing myself on camera and all the little mistakes. The changes in scenery do keep us watching. I would love to have a version where you did it all in one spot so I could show both to my students to compare. (I’m not actually asking you to make anther one…)
I actually didn’t do any single takes of the script. I had decided to do a paragraph per scene so I just did as many takes as required at each location. For me the editing part was easy and probably took about an hour using iMovie. We probably spent about 3.5 hours filming. So it took about 4.5-5 hours to make a video under 3 minutes. 🙂
In my media studies class they create three video projects, a commercial, a movie trailer (to a movie that doesn’t exist), and a chase scene (no cars). The students are always amazed that it takes them about three hours of filming for a 3-5 minute storyboard.
Nice intro to your week – you’ve defnitely caught my attention. I’ll looking forward to an interesting week!
Peggy
Great into. I especially liked the comment about angry birds.
Nureen
Apps OER Team, great introductory video. Going to visit your Weeblysite now.
Catherine
Just a question, what camera and mic did you use?
Thanks for your interest. I used a combination…my iPhone 4 and my iPad 2…no external mics. There was only one scene where there was a lot of background noise that I had to adjust the audio in iMovie so you could hear me better.
It’s amazing what you can do nowadays with mobile technology and apps. I just finished editing our Grade 4 camp experience using iMovie into a 12 minute video for parents…all on my iPhone! I look forward to learning more this week about apps!
That is awesome. I was just telling a friend about this ability. He couldn’t believe that the iMovie app was only $4.99! I have only used the desktop version. I heard that there have been a few full length movies filmed using iPhones.
I’ve filmed a lot of footage for demo videos on my iPhone 4S and have been really impressed with both the quality and the ability to edit “on the fly.” I also do a bit of photography when I can and am always amazed at the quality of the photo editing apps floating around out there. Some of the photos I take on my phone give the ones I take with my fancy schmancy digital SLR a run for their money! (And the phone is MUCH more portable…)
Thanks to this week’s group for an awesome learning experience. Both activities taught me a lot and left me curious to carry on learning. The links to the readings were also very interesting. I did not know there was a difference between an application and an app, or that there are three types of apps: native, web and hybrid, and that some are easier to build, but others to find.
Many thanks for the positive feedback about our OER – its very reassuring to hear!
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
 | joeltremblay on Week 11: Voice |
| joeltremblay on A3 Elevator and Venture |
| manny on Photo App Elevator and Venture… |
| adi on My last participation :-( |
| adi on My last participation :-( |
kstackhouse 8:07 am on September 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting post. Thank you for sharing about his childhood. It is interesting to see how so many people are able to excel when they don’t fit the mold of the traditional educational setting. Universities haven’t changed much since their inception. It is interesting to see how institutions are now trying to adapt to the changing needs of today’s young students and life-long learners that continue to pursue education.
Ranvir 10:12 pm on September 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It was good to know more about the background of Larry Ellison, CEO of this successful database management company. It is indeed inspiring to know how about his giant leap to set up a successful company and realize his dreams even though he comes from a disadvantaged background. This shows his passion and hunger for success which I feel is a necessary ingredient for realizing our venture.
lullings 3:05 pm on September 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I am always secretly delighted when I hear of one of Larry’s (yes Larry!!!!) purchases – 400ft+ yachts, investments in the Volvo Oceans Race, buying a Hawaiian Island. Finally a billionaire that is having a bit of fun and splashing out on some toys. Interesting about his modest upbringing, I wonder does that give him some nonchalance about cash?
Thanks for the background info p.
Stuart