Learning Solutions

From THE Journal:

More than 2 million preK-12 students take some form of schooling online right now–whether attending a virtual school for all their classes or just taking one or more courses via the Internet. But while the vast majority of students will continue to take all of their courses in physical classrooms over the next five years, the number of students taking courses online will jump to more than 10 million by 2014, according to data released recently by research firm Ambient Insight.

Across all segments, the market for electronic learning products and services, at present, is $16.7 billion. According to the report, this will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.4 percent over the next five years to $23.8 billion in 2014.

The healthcare industry will see the most growth, followed by PK-12 and higher education.

Impact for learning solutions is to flexible in providing content face to face and online.  Instructors will need to understand the pedagogy behind distance education.

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

Brightstorm’s free math help is a major step toward achieving our vision of a world in which millions of students learn through technology

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.

Before this program was started, it would have been hard to find a site that was reasonably priced on which you could find everything that you needed. Now, with Brightstorm’s math help, students can find something good

Brightstorm math help really covers everything from Algebra to Precalculus

If you’re in the high school math curriculum, you can find what you’re looking for.

Creating great math videos is only half the battle

Content is only good if the learner can find it quickly, so user-friendly search and browse have been a major focus for Brightstorm math help.

It’s kind of like your back-pocket math teacher, who can explain those difficult concepts to you.

You can review the video, and watch it over and over–from your home.

Learning with our great teacher videos is only the beginning

Ultimately, Brightstorm’s free math help will serve as a foundation from which millions of learners can connect and learn together.

“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?!?

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!

Inside Higher Ed reports about a new competitor for Blackboard’s Learning Management Monopoly:

New Player in Course Management Software

Some think of digital signage as just eye candy, little more than glorified billboards with some video and sound.  Scala, Troades, and House of Media Experience has taken this to the next level with their immersive experience that combines audio, video, AROMA, and interactive technologies.

“We wanted the visitor to have a 360-degree experience. Digital signage is not only about sound and vision, but is enhanced by adding other human sense triggers. Their recollection of their experience and of Miele will be individual to them and as long as the experience was meaningful, helpful, timely and relevant. I’m convinced that this will build brand loyalty and that over time, that recollection and loyalty will be evidenced through referrals and purchases,” said Luc Heijnen of concept design, Multisensory Experience at Troades.

The customer experience is designed to be as personalised as possible. Customers are requested to register prior to or on arrival to provide Miele with basic visitor/shopper information including gender, demographics, lifestyle, historic Miele purchase information, etc.

Visitors are provided with an Apple iPod Touch which contains the visitor’s name, preferences and profile. The iPod Touch can be used to retrieve information on the store (such as a floor plan), provide detailed information on Miele products and services, and enable customers to request advice and recommendations from the iPod Touch system.

The response of the system is based on the user’s unique preferences and profile. Additional information can be printed out in-store or emailed to a customer’s email address direct from the iPod Touch.

The store is equipped with indoor GPS technology which links to each iPod Touch each of which is equipped with its own GPS transmitter. This means Miele know which iPod Touch (and therefore which customer) is in which area of the store to the precision of 50 centiments the size of each square floor tile, each of which also has its own unique GPS address. This technology enables Miele to plot customer progress through the store and map shopping routes, hotspots and dwell times to help develop the digital experience.

Implications for educational institutions are endless…

Read more about it…

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.

More information and registration

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:

http://nroc.careerforward.org/careerforward/

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.

I was watching “Jim Rome is Burning” the other day, and he was talking about the NFL player who was fined for using Twitter during practice, complaining about the cafeteria food. While feeling little empathy for the multi-millionaire athlete, since I was eating a ham sandwich at the time, I could not figure out why people still use Twitter as it first was intended. Who really wants to get updates about a particular person’s minute-by-minute account of their lives? The “Truman Show” goes digital.

Anyway, Rome mentioned that Twitter may have “Jumped the Shark”, a TV term signifying something has lost its luster, and is hanging on by any means possible. The term was coined based on a “Happy Days” episode in which the whole gang goes to the beach, and Fonzie jumps a shark on water skis. People saw this as the beginning of the end for the series, though it went on for a few more years. As an aside, Rome has a twitter account…

I don’t think Twitter is going away, just the way it is being used now. I have been using Twitter to post from my school headlines blog, on average is two per day. That should be the minimum expectation, with five tweets being the maximum. Instructors can use Twitter as a learning solution to send out class updates, interesting articles to read, etc. Twitter is entering that “trough of disillusionment” on the Gartner hype cycle, and will need an additional push to get the momentum. Count me in to provide that push.

A challenge from SMU professor Jose Bowen: “Teach Naked”, meaning to utilize the face-to-face time with students for more discussion and debate, instead of rote lecturing from bullet-laden digital presentations. He encourages the use of podcasts for the lecture material, and e-mail to point students to content covered in the curriculum.

Bowen warns residential colleges that they are under siege from cheaper online learning options to provide more engaging, personal interaction with students, in order to justify the cost of a college education.

Technology has a place for teachers, and is not a replacement for teachers.

I propose a “Teach Naked” week for all teachers to turn off their computers while students are in their rooms.