Pens as social tools for classrooms

April 14, 2010 by Brian Hughes

Tino Agnitti, the founder of IRPens.com, gave a seminar presentation about his entrepreneurial experiences today at EdLab. I really enjoyed his keen insight into his current work, ideas, and past experiences working on projects. He told his story of starting a business around the “IR Pen,” which is significant for the EdLab since it’s a good example of a technology-inspired educational tool.

For me, his company is in an analogous position to Apple creating the iPad – they are working on refining a computer/human interface. In Tino’s case, he is allowing his customers to engage a more social computing experience: the user will likely stand in front of a projected image and manipulate screen objects in a very direct way than is currently the norm. Plus – and this is where I think the iPad analogy really does some work – there is a great hardware/software combination potential. (For example, Tino showed how one could create OS and software shortcuts by writing text on the wall.)

I wonder how this kind of technology will be used in educational settings in the next 5-10 years… Today, I think the fact that it’s still a novel technology might be it’s biggest draw (I’m reminded of the related Techknowledge series on the “Wii in the Classroom” below). But one can see the innate social nature of technologies like this, and it’s not hard to start imagining this kind of interface working its way into all aspects of work and play.

[brightcove video=”3250891001″ /]

My other favorite ideas from the seminar:

Build a “feedback interface” into any technology (especially for the end-user – in the IRPen’s case it’s part of the software).
Tend carefully to the balance between a product’s price and your future product development cost (Tino: “What’s your value proposition?”).

Tino at work:

Starts the day by reviewing (and working on) problems… tech problems, customer problems, etc.
My question for Tino or anyone else: if one always waits until the afternoon to work on product development (designing the product), are they going to eventually fall behind others who don’t have to worry about problems of all kinds (see above)?

Tino doing project management:

Looks forward 6-10 months.
Puts the necessary steps into order in project management software.
Very important: organic search results and creating a “buzz” campaign.
“Exit strategy is as important as entrance strategy”

More about the product:

IRPen works with Smoothbaoard software
“Wiimote Whiteboard” freeware for macs

Thanks Tino!

Pressible is ready for your content

February 1, 2010 by Brian Hughes

We are excited to announce the release of Pressible today! This is a very experimental release, though we are hoping you (the lab) and others hop on board and give it a try! Please see our features page for more details, but in a nutshell:

Pressible is highly “templated” — meaning that users can’t change much about the design of their site. Is this a good or bad idea? (Is it good or bad for Facebook?) In any case, it allows us to try some things out that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Watch for more visual elements in the future.
We think Pressible is a reinvention of blogging as a vehicle for publishing your ideas and work to the web in a fast, intuitive, and powerful way. Will you? Let us know!

Also, here are some things we think are cool about the project as a whole:

It’s hosted entirely in the cloud — a new experiment for an EdLab application.
It’s built on the back of WordPress. We did kung fu on the data WordPress throws around to create cool results now, and even cooler results in the future.
Right now it’s experimental, but we are hoping it can mature into a fully-fledged software project hosted by the Gottesman Libraries. We think it can become a way to not only serve the TC community (and alumni), but also individuals and organizations around the world.
We hope you break it. Really… we’re ready to learn from our mistakes. So if you do, let us know!

We hope this is the beginning of a new stage in the lab’s exploration of the future of publishing (hey, it may also be the end of the road!), and are excited to invite the lab to join us moving forward. We envision a lot of other features and functionality that did not make this release, and there are probably things we haven’t even considered yet.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Pressible today and begin your next big publishing project!

Update on March 15th: Only someone with a Columbia University email address can sign up for Pressible without a special invitation.

A Disney-related setback for e-learning?

October 25, 2009 by Brian Hughes

“If you’ve spent money on an e-learning course in the last five years, you’re entitled to a full refund. We now admit that our courses don’t make you any smarter.”

OK, no one has said that yet, but if you’ve seen the recent news, then you know that Walt Disney has taken the bold step of responding to the threat of a class action lawsuit by offering refunds for “educational” materials sold in recent years – Baby Einstein videos.

“The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development,” a letter from the lawyers said, calling those claims “false because research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for very young children.”

Of course the real danger isn’t the degradation of a young child’s vision from frequent and extended use of the television. The problem seems to be about “fostering parent-child interaction.”

Having seen Baby Einstein material, I am somewhat shocked that Disney has acquiesced to removing the label “educational” from these products… it seems to acknowledge that products so labeled would literally have to raise a child’s IQ. Doesn’t that seem like a pretty tough new standard for education? (One that, perhaps, most “educational” products would have difficulty achieving? At least it would prove to be a new, hard-to-prove evaluative standard…)

But even more interesting, I think, is the apparent agreement that the videos are more or less worthless as learning tools – that you might as well turn off the tv and talk with your child. Could it be that this same outcome will be demonstrated all the way up the educational food chain?

Publishers as purveyors of education

September 20, 2009 by Brian Hughes

In Post-Medium Publishing, Paul Graham makes the very elegant point that people have never paid for content. He explores this point from a few directions, pointing the way toward a future with low-cost distribution and high-quality “events.”

Publishers of all types, from news to music, are unhappy that consumers won’t pay for content anymore. At least, that’s how they see it… In fact consumers never really were paying for content, and publishers weren’t really selling it either. If the content was what they were selling, why has the price of books or music or movies always depended mostly on the format? Why didn’t better content cost more?

If he’s right, it’s amazing how slow publishers of all kinds have come to appreciate this – even as they run their businesses into the ground. (Perhaps they are just being optimistic that they will survive long enough to retire!? Anyone under 60 should probably adopt a different strategy.) The same could be said of academic institutions.

While academic publishers are conveniently tied to institutions with event models, I suspect they will increasingly see “traditional” publishers move to compete in the academic marketplace… offering new and powerful educational experiences. Will they be able to compete head-on with colleges and universities? I suspect they will. After all, they’ve been distributors all along – it’s just a new kind of content.

After Ed TV is launched

November 16, 2007 by Brian Hughes

After Ed TV is the new home of EdLab‘s nascent web video channel. We designed this site to serve as an archive of past episodes, but also as a destination for upcoming promotional efforts. Our primary goal at this point is to see if we can get other organizations to post our multi-video player on their websites – which we hope is seen as a low-effort way to make any website more active. New videos on the future of education appear on a weekly basis.

The next phase of our growth will be getting the word out about the website. Our audience is, broadly, learners and teachers. We’re currently working on events and other outreach efforts to broaden our exposure and visibility. Coming up in December, for example, we are working with a New York City school to use After Ed TV as a resource for thinking about the future of education. At an Edit Jam event on 12/14, the production team will help students and teachers produce their own web video which will be highlighted in our lineup.