Education Technology: Collaborize Classroom
By Barry Ritholtz - June 27th, 2011, 10:39AM
I tweeted last week about a technology company called Democrasoft, a company I am on the board of directors of.
Their flagship product, Collaborize, is a structured discussion tool with a significant Social Networking component. It has caught fire in the classroom technology space, and has the potential to radically remake US education.
For those of you who may be interested in this sort of thing, check out Collaborize Classroom. Best of all, it is free to the teacher and the school!
You can also see Richard Lang, Democrasoft’s CEO, on Dylan Ratigan’s show last week.
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June 27th, 2011 at 10:57 am
BR,
Democrasoft may be interested in http://www.alaannual.org/ ..at the min., the List of ‘Presenters’ could be useful “Grist”..
June 27th, 2011 at 11:07 am
I hope it works out as well as New Math, Whole Language, Charter Schools, and any one of the myriad of periodic education fads have worked out over the decades.
That is to say, I hope it fails spectacularly. There’s a certain hubris in the idea that we’ve evolved so far beyond our great-grandparents that we need entirely new methods of teaching 2+2=4.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:15 am
I recently wrote a letter to the local paper after an article on failing graduation rates, teacher evaluations, etc. It was not published.
What I pointed out was that 1. The teaching profession is not much advanced from where it was in the 15th century (or 15th century B.C.) We are basically talking about tutoring. 2. It is illogical to expect to attract or create (by evaluation) mostly exceptional teachers. It’s like Lake Wobegon where all the children are above average. You will inescapably have poor, mediocre, good, very good, exceptional teachers – the entire Bell curve. And, if you are in a rural or depressed or economically challenged area you probably will get mostly the lower end of the curve. 3. Similarly, model schools where one puts all one’s better teachers, doesn’t hunt as a viable model. Are you somehow going to clone all those better teachers to transfer the model to the rest of the school system? 4. Jobs from assembly line to cashier have been “dumbed down” through the use of technology. The point here is not to dumb down teachers or teaching but to make it easier for even mediocre teachers to produce a good result, hence… 5. School systems with a rich real estate base may be able to buy particle accelerators while rural poor schools might be challenged to buy a dead frog for disection. Technology, especially pre-recorded, professionally scripted and produced video used to supplement classroom discussion, can diminish these inequities.
We need to redesign the entire educational system. Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over, each time expecting a different result.” (Pardon if I’ve bungled the quote.) I think our education system qualifies as insanity as defined.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
As a former teacher, anything that includes a “significant Social Networking component” makes me leary. When groups collaborate, there is always a task dynamic and a social dynamic. Often, they are mutually exclusive unless, for example, sharing about your childhood helps you to write a better essay about your childhood. Children and teenagers (or most adults) want to naturally sit in multiple classrooms for greater part of a day and chase a coin of the realm that the teacher lays down i.e. grades.
On the optimistic side, anything that increases student participation and reduces grading time is worth a look. These are two factors near and dear to teachers so Collaborize is certainly speaking to its target audience.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Innovation in primary education will occur and the teachers will suddenly be outside looking in, wondering what happened because they refuse to participate in any attempt to align the taxpayers’ interests (lower costs, measurable results, higher standards) with their own goals (tenure, guaranteed raises, summers off). The home schooling trend has skewered the notion that teachers add much to the development of primary educational achievement. Yes, there is a social development process that occurs, but it is not necessary that it occur in the government built and operated schools.
June 27th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
This looks interesting. I would also add that people should look at http://Enterthegroup.com as a free solution for teachers to create virtual classrooms which are accessories to their regular classrooms.
Also the site helps solve a HUGE problem in school – that students hate group projects. They don’t have the right tools or training in project management so they get frustrated and their work suffers. This site let’s create private spaces for them to learn, share resources and collaborate online.
June 27th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Are your clients invested?
June 27th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
I wonder about the economic realities out there. To make this program work, you need every kid to have equal access to a computer with software and a fast internet connection.
June 27th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Teaching seems like one of those professions that we hold in high regard, as it involves our children. Yet, still, we don’t want to allocate the funds to it that are necessary to operate it the same way we once did. We talk a big game about the future of our children, but when it comes to putting our money where our mouths are, well….we just don’t cut it.
I’m open to ideas about the alternatives, but I’m not open to private business taking away teachers salaries and benefits so that they might give us a pre-recorded web video that has a nice smattering of ways for students and their parents to spend money. I don’t need a 3-tiered scheme that offers an “education” for free, but, if you’ll turn loose of a few bucks, little Johnny or Jane can get the extra bells and whistles that will make them truly stand out. It’s another dangerous way we are letting private business have a horse in a race that only government, who looks out for EVERYONE”S best interest can do. Not just the shareholders are at stake here.
June 27th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
DOW@1:43pm – Yes, and that computer and that internet connections costs money we didn’t have to lay out just 10 years ago. Another way to force the money out of the hands of our middle class.
Sorry I’m so negative on this idea, but we are trying to leave too many important and critical functions that government must be responsible for, in the hands of private business with private interest. If there were no profit potential, why would they be seeking investors? For the “future of our children”? Give me a break….
June 27th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
ashpelham2,
with..
“…in a race that only government, who looks out for EVERYONE”S best interest can do…”
Which ‘Government’ are you speaking of? Where is it’s Jurisdiction?(Where is it located?)
and, here.. “…we are trying to leave too many important and critical functions that government must be responsible for…”
How would ” important and critical functions ” be Defined?
June 27th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
“franklin411 Says:
June 27th, 2011 at 11:07 am
I hope it works out as well as New Math, Whole Language, Charter Schools, and any one of the myriad of periodic education fads have worked out over the decades.
That is to say, I hope it fails spectacularly. There’s a certain hubris in the idea that we’ve evolved so far beyond our great-grandparents that we need entirely new methods of teaching 2+2=4.”
Spoken like someone who sucks off the tit off the public education system….can’t believe an ‘educated’ person would utter something so mindless.
Radical transformation of the education system is coming…probably sooner than you think. We can’t afford the lousy teachers and lousy schools any longer.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Barry, you may want to suggest that the front-end engineering get some more attention, specifically WRT accessibility. What’s there currently is terrible for screenreader users and would certainly not pass an accessibility audit.
June 27th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
BR,
I’m curious about the revenue model on this. The site says that it will always be free. How are you making money here?
June 27th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Oh, hell no!
Barry I understand the biz opportunity for you.
But do they use it in China, India, Japan, Korea, Germany, Singapore and other countries where the kick america’s student’s asses with a pencil and paper?
Back to basics. The human mind has not changed in the last 10 or 20 or 2,000 years.
June 27th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
MEH@2:17 – Touche. I see your point. I guess I was referring to an idealic, utopian America where government isn’t run by big business and special interest. My youth and associated naivety (sp) was showing in my last comments!!!
June 28th, 2011 at 10:45 am
I thought this piece from your reading list a few weeks ago said it best:
We’re plugged in – but checked out
As the virtual world becomes our substitute for direct, spontaneous experiences in the real one, we’re finding ourselves bereft of genuine connection. Corporate technologists are reengineering the human personality, turning us into Homo distracticus.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0603/We-re-plugged-in-but-checked-out
@franklin411 — agreed — we’ve plateaued (a couple of decades ago, imho)
June 28th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
When the 16-year old said she talked to her friend, she thinks texting is talking. A recent study asserts that one can study books and attend classes, but ones values will reflect those of the people we see. Technology can help, but the personal touch captures the heart.
June 28th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
ok… i just went and “collaborized”
“Collaborize is an online decision making application that helps your group identify, refine and respond to important questions and ideas.
It’s a convenient way to engage your audience, promote interaction and optimize your group’s potential.
Organize conversations.
Capture great ideas.
Collect votes.
Get results.”
Collaborize…just a fancy name for, um… BLOGGING ??
wt….?
“Allow your students to participate on their own time with an easy-to-use private platform.
Enrich your curriculum with multimedia. Embed Microsoft Office documents, videos, pictures, and PDFs.
Give every student a voice. Teach students how to have productive, respectful and supportive discussions online.
Publish discussions to a results page so students can see tangible outcomes of their conversations.
Access detailed student participation reports that make grading easy!”