ClearSlide acquires SlideRocket to expand its rich presentation capabilities for sales teams — from ClearSlide.com — with special thanks going out to Mr. Cal Keen, Tech. Integration Specialist at Calvin College,  for the heads-up on these tools

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Founded in 2006 and with more than one million users, SlideRocket reinvented presentations by adding interactive capabilities like video, audio, rich media, and analytics in a hosted platform to elevate storytelling and deliver tangible results.

“SlideRocket has always been focused on helping teams communicate ideas more effectively,” said Chuck Dietrich, vice president and general manager, VMware. “Bringing SlideRocket’s creative presentation production capabilities to the ClearSlide platform gives our collective customers much more power through the full sales process, from content creation to closing the deal.

 

From DSC:
These tools might also benefit those in higher ed as well, as it’s all about the ability to craft a message using multiple kinds of media and to engage an audience with that message.  So we see here another example of tools that are helping develop/leverage digital literacy.  They also involved interactivity, analytics, and storytelling — things that those of us working within higher education (especially with hybrid and online-based learning) should be interested in.  (For those involved with K-12 and higher ed, note the need for creativity here.)

 

 

 

 

8 apps to turn your iPad into a digital whiteboard — teachthought.com

Also related:

 

31 top apps for education from FETC 2013 — from The Journal by Stephen Noonoo

Excerpt:

Like last year, this year’s popular App Shootout at FETC 2013 tossed around dozens of useful apps for teachers and students. Once again the closeout session was led by ed tech pros Gail Lovely, Hall Davidson, and Jenna Linskens, who each presented apps in three different categories of their choosing, including their favorite “wow” apps. Read on for a selection of the most buzzed about apps for Apple devices. For even more app ideas, visit the shootout’s Web site and complete app list Google Doc.

From DSC:
More innovation from the online world… hopefully these technologies end up in the right hands…

Keeping an eye on online test-takers – from nytimes.com by Anne Eisenberg

Excerpt:

But now eavesdropping technologies worthy of the C.I.A. can remotely track every mouse click and keystroke of test-taking students. Squads of eagle-eyed humans at computers can monitor faraway students via webcams, screen sharing and high-speed Internet connections, checking out their photo IDs, signatures and even their typing styles to be sure the test-taker is the student who registered for the class.

 

The simple guide to academic podcasting: Post-production and audio platforms — from blogs.lse.ac.uk by Cheryl Brumley

 

Also see:

 

From DSC:
I would also add Garageband (on the Mac) as a nice entry-level tool.

 

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Microsoft releases next-generation Office 365 for business and education

Excerpt:

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 27, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced worldwide availability of a major new update to its Microsoft Office 365 services for business. Microsoft’s most complete Office cloud service to date has new features and offerings tailored to the needs and budgets of small, medium-size and large organizations. In addition to updated Microsoft Lync Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online services, business users can now get the rich Office applications they are familiar with, on up to five devices, delivered as an always up-to-date cloud service. Office 365 features enhanced enterprise social capabilities with SharePoint and Yammer today, and Lync-Skype connectivity for presence, instant messaging (IM), and voice by June. The new Office 365 service is available today in 69 markets and 17 languages and will be available in an additional 20 markets and 16 languages in the second quarter of this year.

5 ways to add interactive elements to your videos — from freetech4teachers.com by Richard Byrne

 

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WordPressDotComClassrooms-Feb2013

 

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From DSC:
First of, when I saw the article:
Lynda.com acquires online video training rival Video2brain to boost its international expansion — from thenextweb.com

…it reminded me of taking a class with Lynda Weinman years ago out at SFSU’s Multimedia Studies Program.  She relayed a lot of very valuable information in a short time.  She knows how to explain things well — using helpful techniques and understandable vocabulary.  She struck me as not only a creative person with a heart for teaching and learning, but she surrounds herself with people who also can effectively teach others.  Our institution gives a thumbs up to this solid resource and I wish Lynda & all of the other entrepreneurs at Lynda.com all the best.

 

From DSC:
Below are some reflections after seeing these items:

Image1

 

 

  • Watson supercomputer goes to college, Revenge Of The Nerds style antics imminentnot an exemplary article from geekosystem.com, but the underlying topic has enormous implications
    Excerpt:
    …the team developing Watson is sending the computer to college, where it will bone up on coursework in English and math.

    While the original Watson will be staying put at the IBM research center it calls home, the hardware to run the program is being installed at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York, where researchers and grad students will be spend the next three years teaching Watson all they can while also hoping to learn more about how the software learns and make it more effective.

 

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Watson-MOOCs-NewTypesCollaboration-DChristian-2-14-13

 

From DSC:
The current set of MOOCs are very powerful, but, like a bush that needs pruning, they can become unwieldy and hard to control.  Not only do the current set of MOOCs help me to see the importance of instructional design, but trying to drink from the firehose often presents problems (i.e. wading through thousands of tweets, hundreds of blog posts, etc.).  How can we still provide openness and yet provide people with better methods/tools for setting their desired level of drinking from this firehose? Tags are helpful, but for most people, they are not doing enough to filter/curate the content at this point.

Enter the technologies being developed in IBM’s Watson, Apple’s SIRI, or in Knewton’s product lines. End-user controllable setting might include:

  • Full throttle — like current form of MOOCs — thousands of tweets, hundreds of blog posts, etc.
  • IBM Watson-enabled curation/filtering only — each individual adjusts how many items they want to see in the various portions of the interface (see above); these settings control how many items and/or streams of content get presented to you

The ideas involving learning agents, artificial intelligence, intelligent tutoring, intelligent systems and more seem to get roped in here…hmm…just thinking out loud and sharing potentially-useful ideas.

 

Crowdsourcing innovation on campus — from CampusTechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser
By combining innovation management with crowdsourcing, Davenport University has found a potent formula for achieving continual improvement and encouraging organizational change.

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IdeaScale-Feb2013

 

 

ASTD TechKnowledge 2013 Conference Backchannel: Curated Resources — from David Kelly

Excerpt:

I am a huge proponent of backchannel learning.  There are many conferences I would love to be able to attend, but my budget can only accommodate one or two each year.  The backchannel is an excellent resource for learning from a conference or event that you are unable to attend in-person.

Also see David’s posting:

Collaborating via web conference — from campustechnology.com by David Raths
Advances in videoconferencing technology make it much easier for students and faculty to work together, regardless of where they are located.

 

 

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From DSC — with a special thanks to Mr. Michael Haan, Technology Integration Specialist at Calvin College, for this resource
Now we’re talking! The Mondopad from InFocus is starting to morph into what I thought the “chalkboard of the future” might look like. Now I’d like to see:

  • An entire wall offer this sort of functionality
  • More content from publishers flow into this sort of setup — i.e the kind of content that leverages the interactivity and flexibility that these sorts of technologies now make available
  • The ability of students and employees to transmit their content up to these devices/walls — have it be scanned for viruses — and then moved into a viewing area (with an option for folks to download that file if they want to)

 

InfocusMondoPad2-Feb2013

 

Key features:

  • Multi-touch high definition 55 inch display (From DSC: A 70″ version is also available I believe)
  • Flexible and expandable with built-in Windows PC
  • Digital interactive whiteboard and document annotation
  • Business-class video conferencing
  • Share, view and control from your tablet or smartphone
  • Full copy of Microsoft® Office ensures file compatibility

 

Also see the information out at Precision Data Products:

 

MondoPad-Feb2013

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