If you would like to try creating Wordles for assigned reading, your own writing, or lesson plans, then go to Wordle.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wordle of The Prometheus Inquiry
Seeing how Wordles were being used by Fast Company to highlight key words in speeches by tech leaders at AllThingsD D8 conference, I decided to run this blog through to get a flavor.
If you would like to try creating Wordles for assigned reading, your own writing, or lesson plans, then go to Wordle.
If you would like to try creating Wordles for assigned reading, your own writing, or lesson plans, then go to Wordle.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Venture Capital in Education
Berkery Noyes' 2010 Venture Capital in Education Summit will be held June 8-9 in NYC. According to the events website, “This year’s Summit will examine the key drivers behind these emerging trends and showcase some of the leading-edge entrepreneurs and investors whose ideas harken the changes to come.”
Fast Company’s Anya Kamenetz described last year’s summit as “where VCs and private equity firms talked about the enormous potential in disrupting one of the world's biggest industries, one that still remains tantalizingly locked up by bureaucracies within bureaucracies.”
Today, Kamenetz described 10 early stage start ups that will be part of the summit’s showcase, and recommend 3 additional education start ups.
Muzzy Lane Software creates 3D games through its Sandstone Platform. Middle school education projects include: ClearLab and Cell Saver (games for science), and Past/Present (social history).
Launchpad Toys recently unveiled their first digital toy called Toontastic, which is a storytelling and animation tool for the iPad. At their website, they also claim to be “…building an online community for all you parents, educators, kids, and kids-at-heart to share your thoughts and experiences on Digital Play and Creative Education.” Related to social media, one interesting recent post on their site says that they have been thinking about how to build a better community for kids to share their creations.
Along those later lines, Everloop is in beta for a social networking platform targeting 8-13 year olds with profile customization, real-time communications (email, IM, chat and voice chat), real-time posts and video uploading, and groups of common interest; plus original video content, games, and a virtual store.
Notehall targets college students with an on-line marketplace for buying and selling class notes. Recently, I had suggested the creation of study materials for sale as an enriching supplement to the parent of a bored and unchallenged college student. This service could serve as distribution for such an individual effort.
Watermelon Express created iPhone and Desktop apps to aid students in preparing for the GRE, SAT, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.
Irynsoft offers a distance learning platform, including peer networks, delivered through an iPhone.
CCKF promotes an adaptive learning framework that focuses on the individual learner within the context of defined course objectives.
PresenceTeleCare offers web-based speech therapy. While targeted in its product offering, the framework could apparently offer additional services targeted to scaling up limited specialist resources.
FairChoice Systems offers cost reducing health compliance solutions for colleges which integrate with students’ smart phones.
Kamenetz correctly laments that these solutions piggyback on existing education infrastructure without really changing the system as they target schools and universities as their clients. In addition, some of these solutions are focused on reducing regulatory compliance costs in such a way that they are dependent upon the status quo.
In contrast, Kamenetz recommends three start up companies that offer the potential for transformation: Einztein, NaMaYa, and Udemy.
Einztein is a nonprofit online campus offering free course content using a variety of available media from various colleges and universities around the world. This could be an excellent resource for high school students seeking enrichment, or an opportunity to survey potential majors for interest; however, adult supervision/guidance may be needed to control for potential weird-Ivory-Tower-disconnected-from-reality profs.
NaMaYa and Udemy are both interesting to me in that they offer platforms for publishing online course content. NaMaYa seems more oriented to primary and secondary teachers and schools. Udemy seems to have more postsecondary offerings. Another online content publisher that I have been looking at is Soomo Publishing.
From this sample, where is the VC money going? Companies that are offering to leverage technology to address niche, supplemental, and infrastructure services. Missing are the capital intensive private school infrastructure build outs to replace our failing public schools. Further, where are the offers to parents to aid in advancing their kid as had the encyclopedia and computer in the past?
Overall, I see some interesting opportunities in the platforms, frameworks, and technology integrations at the foundation of these products which can be brought together to advance education beyond our failed public school system.
Fast Company’s Anya Kamenetz described last year’s summit as “where VCs and private equity firms talked about the enormous potential in disrupting one of the world's biggest industries, one that still remains tantalizingly locked up by bureaucracies within bureaucracies.”
Today, Kamenetz described 10 early stage start ups that will be part of the summit’s showcase, and recommend 3 additional education start ups.
Muzzy Lane Software creates 3D games through its Sandstone Platform. Middle school education projects include: ClearLab and Cell Saver (games for science), and Past/Present (social history).
Launchpad Toys recently unveiled their first digital toy called Toontastic, which is a storytelling and animation tool for the iPad. At their website, they also claim to be “…building an online community for all you parents, educators, kids, and kids-at-heart to share your thoughts and experiences on Digital Play and Creative Education.” Related to social media, one interesting recent post on their site says that they have been thinking about how to build a better community for kids to share their creations.
Along those later lines, Everloop is in beta for a social networking platform targeting 8-13 year olds with profile customization, real-time communications (email, IM, chat and voice chat), real-time posts and video uploading, and groups of common interest; plus original video content, games, and a virtual store.
Notehall targets college students with an on-line marketplace for buying and selling class notes. Recently, I had suggested the creation of study materials for sale as an enriching supplement to the parent of a bored and unchallenged college student. This service could serve as distribution for such an individual effort.
Watermelon Express created iPhone and Desktop apps to aid students in preparing for the GRE, SAT, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.
Irynsoft offers a distance learning platform, including peer networks, delivered through an iPhone.
CCKF promotes an adaptive learning framework that focuses on the individual learner within the context of defined course objectives.
PresenceTeleCare offers web-based speech therapy. While targeted in its product offering, the framework could apparently offer additional services targeted to scaling up limited specialist resources.
FairChoice Systems offers cost reducing health compliance solutions for colleges which integrate with students’ smart phones.
Kamenetz correctly laments that these solutions piggyback on existing education infrastructure without really changing the system as they target schools and universities as their clients. In addition, some of these solutions are focused on reducing regulatory compliance costs in such a way that they are dependent upon the status quo.
In contrast, Kamenetz recommends three start up companies that offer the potential for transformation: Einztein, NaMaYa, and Udemy.
Einztein is a nonprofit online campus offering free course content using a variety of available media from various colleges and universities around the world. This could be an excellent resource for high school students seeking enrichment, or an opportunity to survey potential majors for interest; however, adult supervision/guidance may be needed to control for potential weird-Ivory-Tower-disconnected-from-reality profs.
NaMaYa and Udemy are both interesting to me in that they offer platforms for publishing online course content. NaMaYa seems more oriented to primary and secondary teachers and schools. Udemy seems to have more postsecondary offerings. Another online content publisher that I have been looking at is Soomo Publishing.
From this sample, where is the VC money going? Companies that are offering to leverage technology to address niche, supplemental, and infrastructure services. Missing are the capital intensive private school infrastructure build outs to replace our failing public schools. Further, where are the offers to parents to aid in advancing their kid as had the encyclopedia and computer in the past?
Overall, I see some interesting opportunities in the platforms, frameworks, and technology integrations at the foundation of these products which can be brought together to advance education beyond our failed public school system.
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