Blackboard charges schools to run their system and the school provides this service free of charge to students. However, blackboard is trying to tap another revenue stream.
The new Revenue stream is the mobile student who is trying to complete an online course on their mobile devices. Our students are going mobile, and they want everything on their smart
phones or iPods. Many of them have downloaded the Blackboard App which
is free to download. This Application is very limited in its capability
and is not a sound way to learn.
In the opinion of this author this business practice by blackboard is unethical. First the application can be downloaded for free. After one logs into the system all of the courses are visible to the students. .
However once a course is selected the application requests payment. For some students this gives the impression that the school is charging them for the material. If any student is reading this post, please understand the school has already paid Blackboard for the use of their system, and you can access the system on an old fashion PC or a laptop for free.
They try to sell their subscription by promoting various features such as Roam Free which students on iPads and iPods operating on a Wifi network do NOT need.
It is the opinion of this author that we need to look into an alternative Course Management System. At the minimum we need to explain to our students that the school does not receive any of the fees being collected, and possibly many of the features such as quizzes and test may not function in this application.
After taking the above screen shots, I have deleted this application from my mobile device and am looking for alternatives to Blackboard.
During the spring semester, I watched a student constantly staring at his phone during the lecture. He was paying attention but kept staring at that damn phone. Extremely annoyed after class I asked him "WHY?"
I was surprised by him showing me his phone and what he was looking at.
He was using the Kindle App on his iPhone. What was he reading? The textbook which he bought for $9.99
I was embarrassed and felt old all at the same time. I quickly realized that I am getting old. My vision has been declining since my forty second birthday. Also I realized that the PC is out and Mobile is the new technology. I had read this in financial papers but here it was confronting me. I was jealous of that 19 years old kid.He had great eyesight and he was up with the latest technology.
Fast forward to today....
I got an email from Techsmith they produce Camtasia, Snag it and Jing which I use for my online classes.
They are coming out with their new and improved Camtasia 8 (I am too cheap to update I am still on version 4 or 5). After watching their video pitch I started watching some of the other videos on their Youtube Channel.
I found an old idea but with a twist. The old idea was a "Flipped Classroom". Instead of the teacher being "a sage on the stage" have him/her be a helping hand or a tutor to the students. The idea is have students get the lecture material at home at their own pace using (my old fashioned version) computers, CD, DVD,... or (the new mobile version) using iPod and/or i Phones.
So what will they do in the classroom? You ask!!
In class they participate in classroom problem solving exercises where they attempt to apply what they learned from reading and the lecture on their little handheld devices.
This idea of flipping the classroom goes way back to the days of CDs and DVDs see the video below. (this video makes me nostalgic for the days of CDs)......
Here is the twist, The following is a video showing how one teacher uses iPods to accomplish the same task. No more CDs and DVDs!!
Here is another one with more little iPods. It must be nice to have 20/20 vision!
In case you are wondering, I am doing this whole thing on my little iPod Touch! I want to be young!!
Oh before you get excited there is only one problem a very big problem!!!!
No most of our students have iPods and some have iPads. The BIG Problem with this method is as follow:
Many of the students do not read the textbook. Will they watch these videos? I gave up on the Flipped classroom method when I realized this fact.
Only if there was a way to track them.. Where I could be sure that they have watched the lecture and are not just winging it.
Want to see my attempt at a Flipped classroom?
Here is a new tool being developed by Google that may be useful for online classes. Imagine instead of having a discussion board, set up a wave where students discuss various topics. This is a long video so skip the first 28 minutes.
1.a combination of basic knowledge and applied skills, with applied skills trumping basics as in the top five most important for any level of education; 2. professionalism/work ethic, teamwork/collaboration, and oral communications, which are rated the three most important applied skills; 3. knowledge of foreign languages, an area that will increase in importance in the next five years, more than any other basic skill; 4. and creativity/innovation, which is projected to increase in importance for future workforce entrants.
Another idea that was presented in this article was: "that employers place much greater value on the applied skills of leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving than on more traditional basic skills such as reading comprehension or mathematics .."
The following is a question from a student back in March 2006: "If the CPI overstate inflation, how do we know we are not overcorrecting for this and end up understating inflation? What is the number telling us about the real world when we remove the volatile part of inflation? Does that mean nobody uses energy during that time!?" I really liked this question because it stumped me. I started thinking about this question because a Math teacher asked me about COLA. Should we ask students to evaluate various types of Price Indexes? And chose the one that will help them with getting a raise? Or if they move into management select the number that would justify denying their workers a raise!
