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April 23, 2013
by jnxyz
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Are MOOCs the technology to break the Education Cartel?

Part 1. The obligatory history lesson:

It happened to the record industry first. While popular music had long been available on radio, it could be argued that a true music industry as we know it today didn’t arise until the 50‘s and 60‘s when distributable media and players became widely available. To summarize – you bought your music on record, then on 8-track, then on cassette, and then on CD once again. Sounds very much like a ‘cartel’, or “association of suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition”. Record companies (not artists generally) held the content and the means of distributing it to us the passive consumer.

But that’s where technology turned. CD drives in computers plus early sharing software like Napster meant that instead of getting good at mashing the pause button on your stereo so recording to cassette stopped before the adds kicked in, you could rip a whole CD to MP3 in minutes and upload it for anyone who was also connected to the net. You could also bypass the record stores entirely by downloading songs, for free. It meant you didn’t have to buy your music a fourth time in some other format – you now controlled the file. No it wasn’t legal, but it was what the people wanted.

Fast forward to 2013 and we can choose to buy tracks one at time instead of ten at a time. NOW we have Pandora, and Spotify and Rdio et al. Now Music gets pushed to me. Now I tap a thumbs up button and more great tunes keep rolling in, for free if I put up with the Pandora Ads like four times an hour.

Imagine if the streaming music app Pandora was the education system. How would that change things?

The ‘cartel’ has been broken, or at least radically forced to change its ways. Dropping DRM restrictions on music files for instance means we the customer can choose when, where and how we want to store and play our music. Funny then that last year was the first time in a decade that the music industry saw an uptick in profits – after finally signing licenses for online services that are very similar to Napster.

Now get ready to lose your job – so says Jon Evans in a recent article at TechCrunch. His argument is that nearly all industries are facing a similar shakeup as the digital revolution enters a new stage and the stuff of the world moves into silicon. He quotes Chris Dixon’s remarkable idea that just as in the previous four technological revolutions, we are at the stage where new tech is replacing traditional jobs before new digital industries that will appear have had a chance to create new ones.

For example, as information has moved online, print newspapers are failing faster than they can hit on a successful digital strategy. Indeed, Wired reported nearly a year ago that some sports journalism jobs have already been taken by software that in part takes advantage of the proliferation of easily accessible data.

Part 2. The MOOC did it: What it all means for Education

“Education is the cartel that technology is going to break next” Heppell, 2011

“Higher education is just on the edge of the crevasse … I think even five years from now these enterprises are going to be in real trouble” Clay Christensen, 2013

So what about the education system? …

 

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, head to EduTechDebate and join the conversation.

 

 

February 28, 2013
by jnxyz
0 comments

Smart Watches and wearable tech – the next computing frontier

Wanted to share my recent article on this topic with you all. As the miniaturisation of tech continues, there is every chance that small wearable devices like smart watches will be the next are that we as educators explore regarding how it’s mobility and ubiquitousness can enhance learning…

Read the article at Mactalk HERE.

 

 

January 29, 2013
by jnxyz
0 comments

Good positive coverage of tablets in Education

Want to point you all to this story published in major newspapers across Australia recently that gives a positive look at where tablets in Education are going rather than the ‘we did alright with pencils’ view thats often offered up. I was privileged to be interviewed for it:

“SCHOOL technology is no longer limited to communal computer labs and a laptop lugged in every backpack.

Just as tablets, iPods and other handheld devices are changing the way we do things at work and play, they’re changing the way students learn … and not always in the manner makers intended.

A year ago Apple amped up its iPad push into the education market with the launch of iBooks 2. Apple’s worldwide marketing vice-president Phil Schiller described education as “deep in our DNA”.

Schiller’s pitch was for iPads to become a replacement for textbooks. But while iPads are replacing some books, the technology is also branching off in other directions, with tablets seen as creative tools by educators rather than something passive.

A recent look at 18 different studies into the use of tablets in education found the use of iPads could increase students’ test scores, improve engagement and increase students’ ability to work independently.

…”

To read the full article, including my contributions, go HERE.

November 7, 2012
by jnxyz
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The iPad mini review for Educators

“It seems to me that in the last 2 1/2 years, Apple have pretty much already done the work needed to explain to most people what the iPad is. And now, there’s a mini version – it really is that simple. Yes you might want to know its not just mini, it’s super thin and only slightly heavier than most phones. This in itself makes it an important entrant in the tablet world where half the point is portability. You might also want to know that it’s a solid slice of aluminum and beautifully constructed.

Beyond this, I’d probably also point out that Apple has done well in their goal of continuing to try and make the hardware disappear until all that you notice is the screen and the portals that apps open up for you. The keyboard (one which I’ve typed this whole article) is a little awkward in portrait, but I fixed that using iOS’s split keyboard option (the first time I’ve found a use for it). I would just also mention that the stereo speakers are great – quite loud and unlike no speakers in any iPad before. For me, the fact that there is space enough to include them in the mini makes it clear why Apple has moved to a smaller dock connector.

WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION?
Apple CEO Tim Cook reported during the iPad mini launch that 2500 US classrooms are now using iPads. He also stated earlier this year that in the preceding quarter Apple had sold 1 million iPads just to schools. In Australia the Sydney Morning Herald (1.7.12) has reported that 60% of Catholic Schools in the Sydney area have deployed them, with large official trials having been run by almost every state Education Department as well. If the figures I see in my day job and Slide2learn.net roles are anything to go by, there could be more than 70,000 iPads in schools across the country. So, yes, iPad is big in education. But what then does the mini’s smaller size and screen mean for learning?

So far since Friday I’ve personally seen the mini in the hands of just one kid, my own 5 year old. She is very taken by it, and I must say that seeing her with it vs the larger iPad 1 she normally gets to use, I feel happier as a parent that its lighter and more ergonomic for her to hold. She hasn’t had any troubles with the smaller iPhone-sized touch points that the smaller screen has (and neither have I).

There is actually a group of young students in New Zealand…”

Read the full review at: Mactalk.com.au

 

 

October 23, 2012
by jnxyz
0 comments

Will You Mini? 1st thoughts on the new iPad by a teacher

So the much awaited entry by Apple into the smaller tablet space has now been announced. You can as usual get all the details immediately at Apple.com. It does look, just like with the iPhone5, to be an amazing feat of engineering in regards to its fit and finish etc, areas that often set Apple products apart and for which people are prepared to choose time and again.

My feeling however for schools is that the US$329 price ($369 in Australia) is too high to really trigger a mass takeup. Perhaps it will come down in price over the next couple of years, but for now – although the cameras are better, in other respects its identical to the iPad2. For iPad buyers, that leaves the smaller size as the main differentiating factor – which may be great for being out and about, and maybe for P-3 students?

I’d be very Interested in the thoughts of P-3 teachers on if they’d prefer the smaller size or the full size iPad. Also – how many would choose the mini purely to save $50 or so over the iPad2 (which I’m very surprised they kept around)? Maybe if you were buying a lot?

There is one factor however that is highly in the mini’s favour – step outside of comparing the 16gb mini and 16gb iPad2 and it becomes a different comparison. Many schools I work with I know are finding 16gb too small nowadays – so with the mini you can get a 32gb mini model for $479 when the only other iPad with that option is the full iPad at $649 – that is a major difference beyond just the size.

(Also consider however that refurbished 32gb models of the larger 3rd gen retina iPad are also selling at only US$469 [or US$379 for 16gb] now as spotted by theverge.com).