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This article looks at one case study in El Salvador where MOOCs have cracked open the door for university reform. Universities in emerging markets operate on really low budgets compared to U.S. universities, and MOOCs give them access to current content, especially important for high-tech subjects.

Documentation of results of an analysis of Apple's Education section of the App Store, with a focus on understanding market dynamics, opportunities that are emerging in the educational apps market, and areas of innovation.

"Governments and OEM partners in many emerging markets have canceled orders for Intel-promoted Classmate PCs, or have asked to suspend shipments, according to Taiwan-based component makers." Classmate PCs = Ultra-small, ultra-cheap laptops intended for use in classrooms of developing nations.

Edutone selects Intel's Classmate PC for K-12 education market.

Augmented Reality continues to seep into reality: "Layar, the first camera-based AR app to really blow us (or anyone) away, has quietly slipped into the App Store. As with the Android version, the app overlays all kinds of information onto a live view of the world around you."

Layar, the first phone-based AR web browser on the market, has come to the iPhone 3GS.

Layar, the first phone-based AR web browser on the market, has come to the iPhone 3GS ... expect me to be wandering the Harvard campus seeing what this app can do ...

It appears I've been posting this wrong, and it hasn't made its way to the HGSET561 thread directly. Sorry about that. This article is relevant to the CAST project I'm working on for this class as well as a general evaluation of this emerging market. Is the big money in the analytics of user behavior? Hmmm...

Schools throughout the country are experiencing the same teacher-driven adoption of technology tools. Internet-savvy teachers are increasingly finding tools to use in the classroom on their own, and lower business-startup costs mean the tools are more readily available. In response, many education companies are changing how they market and sell their products. Nationwide sales teams and central-office visits are giving way to word-of-mouth and sophisticated business-intelligence software as preferred methods for pushing adoption. Companies offer free products to teachers with the goal of influencing districtwide purchases of more-robust versions-known as the "freemium" pricing model. But in most sectors of the existing K-12 system-with its various stakeholders, budgetary restrictions, and procurement regulations- the so-called "consumerization" of education faces many barriers, experts say, making it difficult to find the right balance between selling directly to teachers and addressing the needs of central-office administrators.

I was speaking with Chris yesterday and we agreed that it was going to be the entertainment industry that would pioneer this technology. At this point, it looks as if Vuzix core market and strategy for growing their AR library is business (training) and academia. The fact that you can see through the lens but ALSO see the 'broadcast' image is huge. Yesterdays AR demo would have been soooo much more immersive had we been able to keep one eye on the R (reality...cars, appraoching hornets, etc) and one I on the AR.

Universities are planning on using iPad to replace textbooks by giving free iPads to students. If universities continue this, it could completely change the textbook market.

"But Yim suggested things will soon go beyond that. For instance, he said that an iPhone user might be able to walk up to an AR-enabled poster, point their device at it and automatically unlock some sort of prize. Similarly, a user could take their iPhone into a McDonald's, or some other partner restaurant, and get a free french fries, all because the device knows where it is, and syncs that awareness to some sort of marketing campaign. And if that was built into a game of some sort, it would give players an incentive to participate. "

The Indiana Department of Education is thoughtfully considering exactly how to incorporate technology into the classroom, resisting buying new technologies based on trends or marketing pressure or the desire to keep up; they are trying to carefully select tools that will help children learn in the classroom and improve performance rather than have technology for technology's sake. I think that this is a very important difference and one that every school that is purchasing new technologies for the classroom should consider very carefully.

Curved Displays,the possibility of wearable displays, would offer dynamic possibilities for digital classroom design.

"Leading the computer camp is Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, the man behind the $100 laptop. He and his followers argue that bringing down the cost of laptops, and persuading governments in developing countries to buy and distribute millions of them, could have enormous educational benefits."

Another article from the economist.

How young is TOO young to get technology in front of children? Baby Einstein DVDs are used as early as a few weeks old to "babysit" (entertain, soothe, and occupy) a baby - is the tablet just the newest "babysitter" on the market?

That's WAY too young to "babysit". We have been learning in Joe's class this week that parents using media as a means of parental substitution can have deleterious effects on a child's emotional development and ability to internalize good media messages and reject dangerous media messages. Giving babies tablets when they are that young reeks of lazy parenting, in my opinion. Unless the tablet becomes that "Transitional Object" that we are reading about in Turkle/Resnick's class....Gotta love when all of the class readings converge into similar ideas!

This article is really informative. I guess I knew much of the article intuitively but I didn't have hard facts. My biggest question is his depiction of middle class Americans as viewing education as an expense as opposed to an investment. Our non- Univ of Pheonix college students mostly hail from middle class families who are worried if their child doesn't have a degree. His evidence for his viewpoint is that 50% of peope don't have a degree. However, what percent went to college and dropped out? I remember that in 1990's that 25% of Americans had college degrees. Sounds like there is some growth. Regardless, his views on the Asia market and servicing struggling districts is food for thought. Thank you.

Mobile Phones are being used to pull people out of poverty through informal learning and direct work applications

There are many sides to every story, see them all. HBO invites you to participate in a multi-dimensional storytelling experience that defies expectations and proves a change in perspective changes everything. Will you uncover the truth and see the bigger picture?

Nice find! Just like HBO to try and be at the front of every market.