Is the free ed tech era dying? I am starting to think the realities of the business are moving the answer to that question to yes, and I think we may be at the end of an era that can best be summed up as ”The Imagine K12 Era.” When and if that era truly does end it's going to bring the failure of a host of everyone's favorite startups, and we are going to have to start asking, ”What’s Next?.” Unfortunately, what may be next is the same as all the other tech industries: an over reliance on the big 5 (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon) Well, what is Imagine K12, and why do they have to do with education? Imagine K12 is a startup incubator out of California based on education. Their success rate of companies is incredibly high as they helped start Class Dojo, Plickers, Remind, Padlet, Blendspace, Educreations, and a WHOLE host of others. Basically, if you are using a free product from a startup, there is a good chance that it started with Imagine K12. There is one big issue for most of them though: revenue. Many teachers look at companies that come with a free product and think, “This is AMAZING!”, but what many of them don’t consider is that the company will eventually need revenue to continue to exist. Imagine K12 companies, for the most part, are built off a model that ask them to get a huge user base first. They then fund the first years through venture capital. The problem with that though is that eventually the funding runs out, and the investors are going to want some return on investment. That means companies have to have REVENUE, and I think several of the Imagine K12 type companies are struggling to find it. When you start by building a user base, the only real way to get revenue is finding a feature or set of features that people would be willing to pay for. Going back on what you told your original set of users by adding limits never goes well, and unfortunately, Padlet is finding that out first hand. Just this week, they told their users that they were adding some additional limits to their free accounts in an effort to move people to the paid version of the product. The pushback was swift and fierce. I don’t fault them at all for adjusting their plans to bring in more revenue, but most teachers don’t see Padlet as a business. They see it as a teaching tool that was free and now is not. That’s a perception that is incredibly hard to push back against. Do I think all of the Imagine K12 companies will fail? I sure hope not, and I think there are a few who are moving smartly into places of revenue. Most of those companies have also been incredibly tight with funds (example… not having booths at conferences) and may have a bit of a longer runway before they are desperate for revenue. Class Dojo is the first that comes to mind. They started with a base platform built on building up soft skills, but they have also slowly branched into other things like Class/Student stories and content around things like Growth Mindset. As they continue to expand these additional features and tools, they also bring opportunities for revenue. They can continue to expand the ability of stories, and move it into something that amounts to more of a digital portfolio for students. That might be something that districts would be willing to pay for. Another company from Imagine K12 that I think is moving in the right direction is Formative. Formative is an assessment platform that gives you a ton of question types and formats to see what your kids really know, and what they have done that was smart was hold back all of the data and analytics. They can now offer things like full school and district data for analysis behind the paywall. Basically, they have a tool that teachers can use consistently with features that they can generate revenue from. I think that we are basically at a breakpoint. The only companies that will continue to survive are ones who have something that you can use consistently (like content delivery with Nearpod), have a freemium structure where you hook people and then have features they will automatically want, and one where the big boys of tech don’t have a competing product. That’s asking a WHOLE lot. The flip side is that if we don’t get companies who can meet all of those requirements, our only other option is to depend on the big boys (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook) to innovate. They aren’t going anywhere because their goal is more about building brand loyalty for future users. The open question with all of them though is, “Do they care enough about the education space, to be creative?”
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Let’s talk about coding for a second. It's a future skill that in some ways is taking over the world. Having someone who knows how to write code is to a point where it is almost essential for a business to grow. Modern businesses have to have a website. That takes someone who can code. Most hardware now has a computer chip. That also takes someone who can write code. The issue is we just aren't teaching the skill. Thankfully my buddies at BirdBrain are trying to change that!
Birdbrain technologies is a robotics company that has two main products: the Hummingbird Robotics Kit and the Finch robot. I love the Hummingbird kit, but for this vlog, we are going to focus on Finch. Finch is a simple bird-like robot that's whole purpose is to bridge that coding gap, and where it works wonders is its device flexibility. You can use almost any computer to code it! It works with Chromebooks, Macs, and Windows because its corded in with an ultra long USB cord. It also works with open source software Scratch and Snap. The hardware and software need combo mean it is going to work in every school. Basically, your only requirement is an internet connected computer! What’s excellent about BirdBrain is they run a program to loan these robots out for free, and that program is open now (https://www.finchrobot.com/finch-robot-loan-program). No matter what your financial situation or device situation is, you can get your kids coding! Put in an application now! Is a finch as fancy as some of the other robots on the market? No, but that's not the point. BirdBrain created a robot that is accessible to everyone, and you can do some enjoyable things with it. One of my favorite things is to tape a marker to its rear end and code art. You should give it a try! Do you want to know what my favorite digital creation tool is? Without a doubt, it's video. Video is one of the most versatile creation tools a student can use. They can put together things like commercials, documentaries, new broadcast, interviews, and more. You can even design multiple scenarios on the same topic just by changing what type of video you are doing. Video is indeed the tool that you can use in any classroom!
This blog focuses on seven video tools that can bring basic video to your classroom easy. We want to hit the broadest range, so you will notice that a couple of tools lock you in based on device, and we will not talk about video tools that trend more towards the premier exiting sides like Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro. Realistically, if you want to do video in the purest form, an iPad becomes your new best friend, but there are other tools that work pretty well. Without further ado, here are my six favorite tools to bring video creation to any classroom: 1. Touchcast (iPad, FREE) This one is by far my favorite video creation app, but you do need an iPad to do it. Where this app excels is that almost everything you need to do excellent videos is in it! You can create great looking videos in minutes with tools like green screen, annotations, and a teleprompter. The apps standout feature is something that they call Vapps. These video apps are news broadcast style graphics that you can drop into the video to add interactivity to it. These graphics include things like websites, videos, docs, and more. They add that extra layer to take your video up a notch! 2. DoInk Green Screen (IOS, $2.99) If you want to go a little more straightforward or you just have access to iPhones, the DoInk Green Screen App might be the way you want to go for video. It does cost a little money, but the user experience is relatively simple and straightforward for students. Students merely layer video like they would if they are making a musical track. One layer is the student’s taking video in front of the green screen. Another layer is the actual green screen background, and the final layer is other animations you want to add. The whole point of the app is top let kids create while going anywhere, so what’s stopping you from getting started! 3. iMovie (IOS / Mac, Free) iMovie is an old one, but it is still a good one. If you want students to create a video in the classroom, it behooves you to have an app that doesn’t cost you anything and is easy to teach. That’s what iMovie is. It’s simple video editing with a few video and sound effects. If you are in a system that has iPads, you might even have kids with a vast experience on it. It also has a feature where you can build trailers. The trailers can be super easy ways for kids to create a video as all it takes is inputting pictures and text. If you have IOS devices, iMovie can be the lowest hanging fruit, and there is nothing wrong with that! 4. WeVideo (Web Based, Cost Dependent on Number of Licenses) The beauty of WeVideo is that it is device agnostic. It has apps for almost any device, but it is also web-based. Where schools are using it is with the ever growing population of Chromebooks. If you want to do a video with a Chromebook, it’s the only option that matters. As a video editor platform, WeVideo sits somewhere between iMovie and something like Final Cut and Adobe Premier. It gives you basic editing tools and layering, but it also has features like the green screen in it that allow students to edit at a deeper level. We Video is where you have to go if you have specific devices. The licenses are not expensive, and it gives kids on Chromebooks the benefit of creating Video. If you are in a laptop situation device wise, I would start with a few licenses for your high flyers. You can always add more as more folks embrace creativity 5. Adobe Premiere Clips (IOS/Android, Free) Adobe Premiere Clips is basically Adobe’s version of iMovie. Adobe realized that they needed a video editing app that people can build up from into the desktop version of Premiere. Adobe’s version gives you all the simple editing tools that iMovie does, but it also connects to the Adobe suite of apps for both photos and video to refine your video even more. I think the key to it is that it’s on Android. If your one of those schools that has Android tablets this gives you an option, and it also gives you a good option for kids with Android devices. 6. Camera (All Devices) If you have a device with a camera, you can create a video. It doesn’t matter if you have an app. Student projects should have in-depth planning that comes with them, and as part of that planning process kids do a script. Then all they need to do it to film it. With this option, the final project might not be pretty and refined, but in the end, the main source of learning comes from the process the students go through. Having students create a video in this way is always better than a worksheet, so why not get started! Modular Robotics is one of those robotics companies that is trying to make a name for themselves. Their main product is Cubelets which are large lego style blocks that each do something different. Some are movement blocks with wheels, some have motion sensors, some rotate, and others do different things. You put them together to make a robot and code!
Modular has decided to put their money where their mouth is, and they are letting folks test Cubelets for 30 days. At the end of those 30 days, they also let you keep your test pack as long as you purchase a certain level. The whole thing makes Cubelets a no-risk trial, and if you like them, you can add even more to your collection. Why not try them out? |
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