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Standards, Standards, Everywhere

July  2014 — Standards, Standards, Everywhere: 

The Technical Side of Education Standards

When someone mentions standards in education most people assume they are referring to curriculum or instructional standard. Get ready to delve into the world of technical standards that serve as the foundation of our digital offerings. We’ll take a look at a wide variety of such standards and examine how they impact your product implementation, platform support, and business development.

For those of you who shy away from the technical, this is an opportunity to unwrap some of the jargon you hear but have been too embarrassed to ask about… xml, HTML5, APIP, Dublin Core, RDFa all sound familiar but you have no idea what they mean? Stop just nodding knowingly and learn what you need to know to engage in discussion about how to apply these standards to make the best products.

For those propeller heads out there, we have a seat at the Table for you as well. Get up to date on the latest happenings on several different standards and join the online discussion. It’s a veritable technical feast!

Knowledge is key to driving business and structuring your solutions so you can address the needs of your customers. Join host Michael Jay and guests as they explore the structure behind standards and answer questions such as:

  1. How are instructional standards continuing to evolve?
  2. What are the impacts instructional standards have on teaching and learning?
  3. What standards are used by publishers and development shops?
  4. What impact do standards have on my business?

Ed Table Talk welcomes individuals at any level of expertise. Experts and beginners alike can embrace the value of understanding more about standards, and the common misconceptions. It’s going to get technical, as Michael Jay and guests explore the deeper side to standards.

Guests at The Table:

  • Bethann Canada, Director of Educational Information Management for the Virginia Dept. of Education
  • Jim Goodell, Senior Analyst at Quality Information Partners, Inc.
  • Matt Howard, Manager of Digital Experiences Strategy at Zaner-Bloser

Listen to the show down below:


Big Publishers

June 2014 — Big Publishers:

Can the Spanish Armada transform into the British Fleet?

Can big publishers change enough to address how today’s students learn, educators teach, and shifting business models associated with both? In the US textbook market we have three very large players. Big publishers have process, coordination, and business accountability issues which are far less of a hindrance to smaller organizations. The result is that larger organizations can’t change quickly. While all publishers are concerned with making quarterly numbers and hitting academic deadlines, a large corporate infrastructure, while necessary for a large organization, limits the ability of that organization to adapt to market demands. How does the move from print to digital look different for large publishers versus smaller organizations? Schools continue to adopt instructional resources and either ask that the electronic version be included with the print, ask for a class set of print and a digital version for all students, or only want the digital version… sometimes only a few chapters! We will discuss how publishers, small and large, can make it through this morass and emerge successfully in a digital first world. We’ll touch on tools and technical standards that can ease this transition. Take a seat at the table as guests take a bite out of questions like:

  1. What role are big publishers playing in the future?
  2. What opportunities does this leave for smaller organizations?
  3. Is it sustainable to provide both print and digital assets?
  4. Is it the job of the publisher to lead innovation or to reflect innovation and change?

Indulge your appetite with host, Michael Jay, and our guests at The Table! Guests at The Table:

  • Jaume Barceló, Director, Vicens Vive
  • Dick Casabonne, CEO, Casabonne Associates Inc.
  • Dan Caton, President, Wittel/Morris Strategic Consulting

Listen: Big Publishers Watch:


Privacy, Anonymity, and Instruction

May 2014 — Privacy, Anonymity, and Instruction

Privacy today looks very different than it did 20 years ago… and the drive toward more personalized instruction from students, parents, and educators challenges privacy even further. Is it possible to build barriers to thwart data thieves and support general anonymity while providing educators with access to assessment and more nuanced qualitative information?  The ability to balancing these demands is essential if we are to realize the benefits that personalized learning can offer.

Communities are trying to address the challenge of providing the infrastructure to support quality education, while still adhering to socially acceptable policies around data security and anonymity. With instruction, it’s not simply about assessment but providing substantial feedback that allows students to become masters of their own learning. In order to be effective, educators and educational environments need to know who the learner is, balance the trade offs between complete anonymity and provide access to information that informs instruction.

Join Michael Jay and guests as they take a bite out of the hard questions like:

  1. How is technology outside of education progressing and how can we leverage it to improve our systems?
  2. How can we educate decision makers about the trade offs around privacy/anonymity and also set expectations with parents and the larger community?

Guests at the Table:

  1. Tim Discipio, Founder, ePals
  2. Jeff Patterson, Founder and CEO, Gaggle, Inc.
  3. Francesca Venning, Learning Technology Consultant, Venning and Associates

 

Resource

May’s rumor from You Can’t Handle the Truth can be found, here.

Listen: http://youtu.be/hHds38C7yqQ