DyKnow and friends at NECC

A cadre of people from DyKnow will decend on San Antonio Jun 30-Jul 2 for the annual National Education Computing Conference. It is targeted at K12 tech decision makers and usually garners 12,000 people. However, I hear that attendance is down this year due to travel costs, but that just means the lucky folks who attend will get even more attention from us. :)

We are doing a couple things differently this year. We will not have a booth. Instead, we have rented out a meeting room with a partner and are bringing in several key customers to share their experiences using DyKnow software. I'm talking about everything from learning outcomes to classroom examples to network impact. I think it's always better for peers to hear from peers instead of vendor types, so I'm excited about this. You may see the schedule and sign up info here.

We will have a big presence with partner HP in their booth #8185, as well as involvement with a Tablet PC advocacy group called WIPTE. Check out this schedule for when you can use Tablet PCs in their lab and hear from other users.

DyKnow 5.1 is out!

Summer is here, and that means...software release time! I am very excited about our 5.1 upgrade that just came out, and I just have to do some shameless self-promotion.

The biggest change users will welcome in 5.1 is a drastically simpler UI designed after the ribbon bar from Microsoft. So instead of having 50 tiny icons littered on the toolbar, now we have only the most frequently used icons, and they are bigger and contain the name of the icon. Check it out:





Usability and adoption is our biggest focus for the product right now, and focus groups have really helped us get to this most recent usability innovation.

The other major feature is Audio Recorder. It is part of DyKnow Vision. It is so easy - no extra hardware or servers needed. The DyKnow teacher essentially talks into their Tablet or laptop (or external mic) during class and at the end of class uploads the audio to server. Students then download and sychronize the single Windows Media audio file with their DyKnow notes to replay the lecture. I use this during demonstrations and playback afterwards to make sure I didn't miss any follow-ups. This feature has been especially popular so far with foreign language teachers and HiEd faculty in general.

Full details of the 5.1 release are here. We welcome your comments.

Old school prof sees benefits of technology

This story from Campus Technology bucks the widely held belief that experienced teachers are against technology in the classroom. Virginia Tech professor Dr. Charles Bostian shares why in his own words.

Tablet PC Conference CFP Mar 14!

The Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education (WIPTE) will start accepting propoals March 14 for its fall 2008 event. I have attended the Purdue University-hosted event the past two years, and it has been the best single event to talk about Tablet PCs with educators. WIPTE has seen attendees representing 100 institutions from 5 countries covering 15 academic disciplines. Check out this info sheet for more reasons why you should send a proposal and attend.

Meet you at FETC

The New Year is here and that means...planning for FETC, among other things. Yes, it is 20 degrees here and I will soon have to suffer through a +60 degree change in Orlando. I bet Floridians like visitors because they are always in a good mood. You might see me in the HP booth #814 or buzzing around the exhibit floor talking with customers and partners. I am excited to give some hints about our upcoming release. The 5.1 upgrade is scheduled for GA in June, so January is a good time to get some informal feedback to compare to our alpha and beta testing. Drop me a line if you want to meet up!

Being a student in the 21st century

Students are multitasking. The lecture hall is passe. The world is getting flatter. A friend passed me a profound video on this topic.

State of PA laptops keep rolling out

The second wave of laptops and interactive whiteboards are being doled out in Pennsylvania as part of the governor's Classrooms for the Future program to put a laptop on every desk in state high schools. PA's program is the latest to give laptops to students following Maine, Michigan, and South Dakota.

The PA project started last year with these 79 high schools and now we are starting to hear some reactions from schools on how things are going.

First off, you probably know that each awarded school gets money to purchase some or all of the following products:

• Lenovo(R) ThinkPad(TM) laptops


• Software including Microsoft Office 2007, Inspiration, Adobe Creative Suite


• Futurekids, Inc. professional development and training


• Promethean or Polyvision interactive white boards


• D-Link access points


• HP multimedia printer and digital camera


• Canon video camera


• Bretford mobile laptop carts


• Epson projector


• Logitech webcam and speakers

There is potentially lots of great stuff here, but are schools being educated on how it all fits together? Not to point fingers at program organizers because this is a huge job, but I think they would agree that not all the equipment available is appropriate for every school. I personally believe that laptops are the ideal, but what if school network infrastructure isn't ready? Also, one school reminded me that interactive whiteboards can work against classroom laptops. Why? Well, an IWB is teacher-centric and laptops are student-centric. Other schools are going beyond the state grant and purchasing integrated PRS or "clickers" from the whiteboard companies, but I am afraid this will seal the fate of student laptops to be in a storage closet.

Of course I am biased toward screen-sharing or classroom management software, but I noticed that no software of this kind is included on the laptops. MS Office is required, Inspiration is ok for personal concept-mapping, what what about software that would give teacher and students a reason to use laptops interactively in the classroom? What about teachers who dread having to compete with students emailing or IM-ing? Sure, software like DyKnow is not magical but it sure can be relevant for both teacher and student in the laptop classroom.

One thing is for sure: there is much more to come from Classrooms for the Future and many lessons to learn, too! Stay tuned.