Obsessed with Ubiquity

Just a brief post this evening. I would take more time to write something up, but I'm currently obsessed.

Obsessed with Ubiquity.

Yes, sounds philosophical I'm sure; but in fact, I see endless classroom aplications for this crazy app from Mozilla.

Off to explore. Will be back with ideas tomorrow.

On Open Source OS vs Apps

The Open Source discussion continues with a reader commenting:

Ok, so we keep Windows, but lose the applications that cost money - use Google Docs, Gmail, Blogger, OpenOffice, and the rest. How often do we really have problems with the applications? It's usually the network or the OS, not the apps.

Think about the savings just from not licensing Microsoft Office.

I tend to agree. This fits into my general 'use what you need' philosophy about tech. If you are nervous about using an Open Source OS, then don't. But that doesn't mean you can't use Open Source apps.

In a way, there are two debates here. The first, which our reader noted yesterday, is that it's difficult to 'sell' open options in systems to a leery admin team.

But the second has to do with the apps themselves. And I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd argue that you should pay money for MS Office as opposed to using Open Office and Google Docs. Even MS knows this, which is why they're putting their eggs in new baskets as of late.

User-made Web 2.0 apps as a custom-teaching tool

Got a question in to Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn, the authors of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns during their Education Week chat this morning. Horn's response is pretty forward-thinking about the future of teacher-parent-and-student created Web 2.0 apps. This would be an extension of personalized teaching (that literally could turn on a dime to meet the needs of the student) to a degree hitherto unimaginable.

Do you think Web 2.0 apps are going to become the standard both for addressing individualization in learning as well as creating authentic situations in which students with varied learning styles and motivations can collaborate on substantive projects with one another?

Michael B. Horn:

In our book we project that Web 2.0 apps will play a vital role in the actual customization of learning opportunities--and a result should be exactly what you suggest in the second half of your question. We believe that facilitated user networks will begin to arise that allow teachers, parents, and students to create applications and learning experiences to help other students (and teachers and parents!) understand concepts in a way that makes sense for them. We know that we often learn best when we have to actually teach something; these user networks will provide that opportunity. We suspect that many of these applications that take off will do so first in tutoring applications. Tutoring is a huge area of nonconsumption and one where much innovation can take place.