Apr 05
This could be the game changer for Blackboard.
If they can replicate this interface for the regular web browser, students would love it.
TerriblyClever does it again!
Mar 22
From the Aviary website:
Aviary is a suite of creative tools. There are currently six editors including image and audio editors.
Our applications run on your browser and allow you to store and access your work from any computer. With Aviary there is no expensive software to buy or maintain.
Use Aviary to create, modify and share your work- from graphic designs to audio files- easily and effectively.
Aviary integrates seamlessly with Google Apps to let your users share and edit documents directly from the Google Docs interface.
Free design tools and templates to create, modify and share images, logos, presentations, audio tracks, podcasts & more. Teams can collaborate on multimedia projects. Works directly in Google Docs.
- Create Logos, Slides, Business Cards & Letterhead
- Retouch photos, Make Web Templates & Banner Ads
- Develop Podcasts, Remix Audio & More
Three clicks was all it took to install it on my domain. One concern is that it is Flash-based, and Google has been moving away from Flash tools. Google may be positioning itself to acquire Aviary and make it a part of the Apps Suite. Take that Microsoft!
Mar 16
In a national survey that reveals K-12 students’ use of technology at home and at school, students overwhelmingly agreed that access to digital media tools and the ability to collaborate with peers both inside and outside of school can greatly enhance education.
“Speak Up 2009: Creating Our Future: Students Speak Up about their Vision for 21st Century Schools,” the latest education technology survey from the nonprofit group Project Tomorrow, identifies the emergence of “free agent learners”—students who increasingly take learning into their own hands and use technology to create personalized learning experiences.
The article points to three elements needed in the classroom:
- Social-based learning: Students want to leverage emerging communications and collaboration tools to create and personalize networks of experts to inform their education experience.
- Untethered learning: Students envision technology-enabled learning experiences that transcend the classroom walls and are not limited by resource constraints, traditional funding streams, geography, community assets, or even teacher knowledge or skills.
- Digitally-rich learning: Students see the use of relevancy-based digital tools, content, and resources as a key to driving learning productivity, and not just about engaging students in learning.
I would argue this report is applicable to the Higher Ed community as well. I have lost count how many times this type of information bubbles up from the K-12 environment, only to catch universities off guard by the expectation of their students.
Sep 22
I discovered this site at my kid’s open house at Wall High School.
Brightstorm is a learning solution providing video content for students. Subjects covered include: SAT and ACT prep, Algebra, Geometry, Trig and Precalculus.
As stated on the website:
For students, they’re given the choice of teachers and the opportunity to learn from some of the best teachers. With an on-demand format, students can go at their own pace, choose their own order, and easily jump to any section in the video to parallel their own class to tailor to their own learning needs. Each course includes interactive quizzes, facts as well as bonus materials like practice problems and study guides that they use with the videos to gain a deeper understanding of the subject.
Brightstorm is sponsored by Korea’s KTB Ventures, and as reported by TechCrunch, has quite a few competitors:
But there are plenty of startups trying. Here in the U.S., there is PrepMe,
ePrep, Teach The People, and Grockit. In Asia, there is iKnow in Japan and perhaps the biggest success to date is Korea’s Megastudy.
Originally offering paid courses, they have now launched the free math help. from their press release:
Brightstorm’s mission is to bring great teaching to the world. The company recruits the best teachers in the country, and then works with them to create high-quality, video-based learning solutions. Brightstorm’s free math help offering includes over 1,800 videos of great teachers explaining every topic contained in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and Precalculus. The videos are short, averaging about 5 minutes each, to correspond to the attention span of the online generation. For each math topic, the teacher has a short video explaining the concept and then a few short videos walking through sample problems.
“The whole purpose of this is for that student who goes home, is working on their homework assignment, and for some reason they’re just not getting it,” says Brian McCall, Brightstorm’s Geometry teacher. “They have to get their homework done, but they don’t have that teacher right next them. Now, with Brightstorm, every student can have a great teacher at their side.”
“Brightstorm’s free math help is a major step toward achieving our vision of a world in which millions of students learn through technology,” says Brightstorm CEO Jeff Marshall. “In today’s networked world, there is no reason why a student should struggle with their math homework. Students should be able to have easy access to great teachers explaining the concepts they’re struggling with. That’s what Brightstorm’s free math help solution is all about.”
Brightstorm continues to look for more teachers to provide lessons. The next Teaching Idol?!?
Sep 21
I featured Aviary a while back, when the company released its FREE photo editing suite. Aviary is back with an audio editor to rival Audacity of GarageBand, named Myna. Myna gives you the tools necessary to create audio tracks for all of your needs. A large library of pre-recorded tracks are included to get you up and going in no time.
The user interface is logical, with Aviary’s signature cursor controls to easily tweak the tracks.
Give it a try!
Sep 09
Inside Higher Ed reports about a new competitor for Blackboard’s Learning Management Monopoly:
New Player in Course Management Software
September 9, 2009
The learning management software industry has a new competitor.
It’s Learning, Inc., a Norwegian company, is looking to take a share of the U.S. market from Blackboard and other top learning-management software providers after cornering the learning-management markets in Norway and Britain, and gaining “substantial” shares in Sweden, Denmark, and Holland.
The company caters to professors who put a special emphasis on personal attention in the classroom. Many classrooms — especially those at community colleges — include students with a broad range of capabilities, said Jonathan A. Bower, the president of the U.S. branch of It’s Learning. And while Blackboard “does a superb job of supporting the delivery of lessons in the classic fashion” — that is, to everybody at once — it is less useful for professors who wish to simultaneously challenge advanced students and reach those who may need remediation.
I am always leery about a product being touted as a “competitor” to a company with a stranglehold on the market. Wasn’t the Palm Pre supposed to be the iPhone killer? It’s Learning has a steep hill to climb of it wishes to be a learning solution for college campuses. However, competition is healthy, though I hope they do not succumb to Blackboard’s buying power. Maybe Google should take a chance on them?
Aug 26
Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC), has posted the following for their upcoming online conference:
FETC Fall ’09 Virtual Conference & Expo is coming to you live on Thursday, October 22, 2009. This FREE 100% online educational event gives you the opportunity to participate in highly informative virtual sessions from the convenience of your office, visit the Virtual Expo Hall and chat with real live exhibitors, and preview and evaluate the latest hardware and software available today.
This extraordinary online educational event delivers valuable presentations and unlimited networking opportunities straight to your desktop — all at NO CHARGE!
Attend this 100% online event to enjoy:
- A dynamic exchange of best practices and tips for success
- Expert speakers sharing their views in an effective, interactive way
- A virtual networking lounge to reconnect with colleagues and make new contacts
- Real-time access to other participants through instant messaging
- Technology product and service demonstrations in our virtual exhibit hall
- Free content downloads and presentations to go
- And much more!
Attend as many sessions as you like, visit the virtual exhibit hall at any time and network when it’s convenient for you.
Aug 26
As reported in eSchool News:
A free online learning program from Microsoft is helping middle and high school students think about careers they might like to pursue and the skills necessary to attain those careers. Called CareerForward, the course has students examine their skills and interests as they investigate potential career paths and other aspects to independent living, such as financial management skills. Its four components address specific aspects of 21st-century careers. Throughout the course, students are asked frequently to reflect on what they¹re learning, to write their thoughts down as a continual refinement of their thinking, and to discuss their thoughts with other students, either in person or online.
Access this learning solution at:
Aug 25
Campus Technology reports on a free learning solution for university lecture classrooms:
LectureTools is an open source software tool that builds on the idea of classroom response devices but goes far beyond them, allowing students to use their laptop computers, rather than clickers, to answer a wide range and type of poll questions. The software also allows students to ask questions and share responses with the class, take interactive quizzes, and mark up PowerPoint slides.
Jul 02
We live in a world that is increasingly interconnected. Social networking tools have taken the place of US Postal mail and telephones as communication devices. The problem is not what tool to use, it is how to get your information to the people who need it. Should you create and send your message through e-mail, post to Facebook, Twitter, then post to your blog? If you have 28 hours in the day, maybe. The solution is to use your blogging tool as a single point of entry, and leverage the RSS capabilities to give your readers flexibility in how they wish to view your content. RSS is the feature that provides a standard way many social networking tools use to display your information. Take a look at this from Common Craft for an RSS primer:
So, where does it go? Take a look at this presentation to get a feel about how one message on campus can be delivered to multiple outlets immediately:
ASU Communication 2.0
View more documents from pdierschke.
This post is the first one since I installed the Twitter Tools. This should enable me to post this article, and then it will be placed on my Twitter account. We will see.
