Video: GlobalScholar at ISTE 2011

Video: OnCourse Systems at ISTE 2011

Video: Middlebury Interactive Languages at ISTE

I just returned from a few weeks off for paternity leave, so I have been finishing up some videos from ISTE a while back. TypePad is not letting me embed for some reason, so here's the link to my conversation with Middlebury Interactive Languages about their immersive language instruction product: http://youtu.be/_ThhrADAx74

Video: Texthelp Systems at ISTE 2011

Video: DYMO/Mimio ITT at ISTE 2011

Here's a video of a good conversation I had with Karen from DYMO/Mimio ITT at ISTE in Philadelphia a few weeks ago now. The company has been known for hardware like interactive whiteboards, student response systems and document cameras, but as you'll see here, have just announced an acquisition that will help them develop curricular content.

 

Amazon Announces Textbook Rentals For Kindle

 

This is one of those blog posts where the title, well, it basically says it all. Today Amazon announced the Kindle Textbook Rental program, a partnership with a number of publishers to provide "tens of thousands" of textbooks to students for a period of anywhere from 30 to 360 days, saving up to 80 percent of the cost of buying one new. Rented textbooks can be read on a PC, Ma, iPad, iPod, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone or Android phone. Extending Amazon's Whispersync feature stores margin notes and text highlights in the cloud, so if a student renews the rental or buys the digital textbook, their notes are still there. Pretty nifty.

From what I see here the program is mainly designed for college students at this point, but I wonder if we'll see this in K12. Granted, textbooks in K12 are purchased by districts, a much different scenario than students buying their own. Maybe districts could purchase rental licenses for student mobile device access? Or get a credit if students rented their own?

Check it out at www.amazon.com/kindletextbooks.

Blackboard: Big Company, Big News

 

You're probably familiar with Blackboard, the education software company that develops things like learning/course management systems, communications and collaboration platforms, and other programs supporting the infrastructure of learning in both higher education and K-12. They've been very successful: take a step outside the convention center in Washington D.C. and you'll see what I mean, by running into their gleaming headquarters.

This week is a big one for Bb. First, there was the announcement that the company, which went public in 2004, has decided to go private, and was bought out by equity firm Providence Equity Partners for a whopping $1.64 billion.

Then while I was at ISTE, I got the lowdown on two new releases that were subsequently announced just yesterday. Blackboard Collaborate, a videoconferencing platform designed for education that takes advantage of the company's purchase of Elluminate and Wimba about a year ago, will enable online learning, student collaboration with other students or teachers outside of school, guest speakers from anywhere in the world, and any other use educators can imagine for on-demand videoconferencing, presentations and chat.

Also, Blackboard Connect 5, which takes advantage of the company's other purchase of notification platform AlertNow about a year ago, enables administrators or teachers to send emergency messages, attendance alerts, regular community announcements and the like across all kinds of platforms like email, text and voice calls. And all using a streamlined user interface in the same way Collaborate does, removing the "overkill" features common to the platforms used in corporate environments. The big players get bigger!  

Promethean Makes Whiteboards More "Interactiv"

 

One of the more memorable things I saw at ISTE was a press conference with Promethean, the neon orange-themed maker of interactive whiteboards, response systems and assorted accessories. The company was announcing a new content partnership with Channel One, the ubiquitous television news source designed for high school students and shown in schools all over the country (and first broadcast gig for CNN star Anderson Cooper!).

The partnership is more than just an exclusive agreement to show the news on interactive whiteboards, however, creating a new platform altogether that engages students in what they're watching, using assessments, pop quizzes and collaborative activities during and after broadcasts. I thought it was a pretty slick use of the capabilities of these systems. It's a good idea since useful content, in the minds of many, has been sorely lacking in the world of interactive whiteboards, and far too many teachers have been left to their own devices, so to speak, to figure out how to use the things effectively. You can see a video about it here. 

South Korea To Make Curriculum All-Digital

 

The education technology blogosphere is buzzing today about the announcement over the weekend that South Korea will fully digitize all school curriculum by 2015. Details are unclear at the moment, but plans are apparently to use tablets and other mobile devices and do away with all textbooks and most printed material altogether in schools. The government will spend over $2 billion to roll out the initiative. Many are predicting this will most likely not be an iPad bonanza, however, as Samsung is a Korean company, has their own Galaxy Tab tablet (pictured) and therefore will most likely win out. Sort of like how the U.S. President always drives an American car.

What will this mean? Will Korea continue to leapfrog past us in education? Or will it serve as a humongous lesson in what not to do? What happens after you spend those billions on new devices and they're obsolete in 18 months? We'll see what happens!

Back from ISTE....

 

Well it's been a whirlwind couple weeks for me, I was at EduComm and Infocomm in Orlando, back at the office for a week and then at ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia. ISTE seems to grow every year, with both more attendees and vendors, it makes for a chaotic couple days. I met with a few dozen companies about their new products... where to begin?

Promethean announced their new partnership with Channel One Networks.

Adobe talked with me about education applications of the new CS5.5 suite.

Viewsonic demonstrated their new MultiClient cloud computing product.

CompassLearning debuted enhancements to their Odyssey digital curriculum product.

Sublime Learning showed me their new inquiry-based learning course for interactive whiteboards.

And many, many more! I'm working on the print issues coming up where I will include some additional new products from the show.