As a former high school physics teacher, Joel Donna knows firsthand how challenging developing a top-notch curriculum can be.
“I loved lesson planning, but the time preparing lessons was becoming increasingly complex and time consuming” he says, reflecting on his six years of service.
So with co founder Sarah Hick, an assistant professor at Hamline, and their CTO Lee Carmichael — they have created 3Ring.
By Beth Hawkins
“Starting June 14, University of Minnesota professor Jason Hill will begin teaching an eight-week course on sustainable food systems to a big “class” — 17,000 students located in dozens of countries.
The course is free and, despite already having an enrollment that makes it more populated than a small city, there’s room for you if you want to sign up.”
By Erin Adler, Star Tribune
“As more Minnesota districts put tablets in the hands of every student, the Shakopee district isn’t jumping on the bandwagon — or the iPad cart — anytime soon.
This month, the school board voted to move the district’s first 1:1 device pilot program — meaning each student gets their own device, typically an iPad — initially planned for the Pearson Sixth Grade Center for next year, to 2014-15.”
Last month, Adventium Labs announced the expansion of mobile gaming division Andamio Games to “Pursue the creation of collaborative, mobile device games that comply with educational standards and take full advantage of the capabilities in mobile computing.”
Now they are taking their pursuits to Kickstarter with iNeuron, a mobile game that teaches high school neuroscience in a multi-player mobile environment.
Beta Byte is a series underwritten by Bust Out Solutions for that early stage tech found somewhere between idea and traction. Equally exciting as it is raw. Are you in this phase?
What is the name of the company and/or product? Where is it found online?
180Q is both the company and product and we’re in the Apple App Store.
What problem does this solve?
We provide an easy to use, cross platform solution for teachers to build and deploy short, flash card style quizzes to iPads (and Android/Windows tablets). Classrooms are getting iPads at an amazing clip and we see a big shortage of software that lets teachers create content that matches their curriculum for the devices, particularly in the K-6 age range.
Via News Release
“Bloomington, MN, March 6, 2013 — Pearson VUE, the assessment services business of Pearson, today announced the acquisition of Exam Design Inc, a leading provider of examination development software used in high-stakes testing.
The purchase includes ownership of Exam Design’s flagship product, ExamDeveloper, a web-based suite of tools that helps users develop rigorous and defensible assessments for credentialing purposes while reducing the reliance on in-person meetings. These tools will allow Pearson VUE to more fully serve its clients’ current and future test development needs by supporting every step in the process, including job analysis, item banking, standard setting, and statistical analysis, with a flexible, user-friendly solution.”
By Christopher Magancmagan, St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Obi Abulu loves computers. “He learned to click a mouse before he learned to write,” says Attracta Abulu, the Woodbury seventh-grader’s mother.
But when it came to learning more about how the software and technology inside his computers worked, Attracta Abulu discovered that Obi’s options were limited. She signed the Lake Middle School student up for community-education courses, and he learned what he could on his own online. That only scratched the surface of the complex coding that makes popular games such as “Minecraft” or “Angry Birds” dazzle the 12-year-old and his classmates.”
Minneapolis R&D tech firm Adventium Labs is expanding into the mobile gaming space with the opening of Andamio Games and the release of their first product, iNeuron.
“We are pursuing the creation of collaborative, mobile device games that comply with educational standards and take full advantage of the capabilities in mobile computing,” said Kyle Nelson, Adventium CEO and Andamio team lead.
Minneapolis edutech startup Naiku has been selected by the Education Division of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for its “Innovation Incubator Program.“
More of a conference than an actual incubator, Naiku is one of ten national edutech firms to be featured during the 10th annual SIAA Ed Tech Industry Summit, May 5-7, in San Francisco.
Semantics aside, it represents an relevant opportunity for Naiku to reach a captive audience of key stakeholders at a time when scale is imminent, as indicated by the addition of CEO Greg Wright.
about Shakopee district is cautious with technology plans
about Catching up with Kidblog
about Burnsville schools gauging impact of technology on learning
about Edutech startup Naiku names new CEO, starts national expansion
about Edutech startup Naiku names new CEO, starts national expansion