hello-hello the new language learning community on the web which is based on course material developed in partnership with the ACTFL has launched a new iPad application.
But this time Sarah Gontijo is targeting a different customer group: kids.
Good days for educators. Pearson is sponsoring educational Ning networks from July on. It’s only the Ning Mini package but hey, it’s all on Pearson’s tab.
And if you are still on the search for a free Ning alternative there is a second offer. Posterous will move your network for free to its platform.
Livemocha recently named Michael Schutzler as new CEO of the company with Co-Founder Shirish Nadkarni changing to the role of chairman and Chief Strategy Officer.
And Schutzler does not waste time as it seems.
Yesterday a self reflecting topic for the #edchat members: can a PLN have an effect on education in general. As always I’d say: it depends.
And Babbel did it again. After taking the lead on mobile devices with the iPhone application attached to its platform Babbel now introduced voice recognition or the missing link that separated the company from Rosetta Stone.
In the third part of review:ed #4 Dave and I talked about the Kno and other dedicated devices for education. Do they have a chance against tablets like the iPad which are targeting a far broader audience?
In the second part of review:ed #4 Dave and I talked about Chegg, the biggest textbook renting company in the US. In a recent TechCrunch article about Chegg it is said that the company owns already 80% of the market and will generate a revenue of about $130 million in 2010.
In the fourth episode of review:ed, the show where a changing guest and I talk about recent news in online education, tech and funding, Dave Schappell the Founder and CEO of TeachStreet made his second appearance.
In the first part of the show Dave and I talked about the recent launch of the iPhone 4 and of course FaceTime.
4) Greater availability
Some countries ban Skype (i.e. UAE), some learners prefer MSN or Yahoo and many companies do not allow Skype for security reasons.
(Giselle Santos, AmericanTeacher, Heike Philp)5) Conferences
Conference like the ETCon would not have been possible on Skype.
(unknown)6) Plan B as in ‘back-up’
Internet communication technology is fragile and it is advised to always have two of everything. So, it is good to use MSN AND Skype or Skype AND Virtual Classroom. If one fails, one can use the other.
(Heike Philp)
Another interesting topic choice for the weekly #Edchat event on Twitter. But before we can answer the question how we can assess students we might have to assess if we as teachers are still in the position to think critical.
Are you a teacher? Do you have a blog about what you teach? Then you could become a featured blogger on TeachStreet and get not only some free traffic to your blog but also a one free featured listing which is a $10 USD value.
So what do you have to do?
In this interview I talked with the three Co-Founders of the language teaching platform Lingueo, Guillaume le Dieu de Ville, Arnaud Portanelli & Johann Querne about their recent funding of 500K Euro.
We talked about how the process of finding investors went and of course their plans on how to invest the money into the growth of their company.
It seems as if my dream of a pocket teaching device is getting closer. Skype, my weapon of choice for online teaching, confirmed that they would be open working together with Apple to bring great video calling to as many people as possible.
Be still my heart.
Yesterday Livemocha uploaded a small teaser video of their upcoming Active Courses in Spanish, French, Italian and German.
It seems as if everything is going like they planned it and the courses will be launched this summer as Livemocha and Collins announced back in March.
More news from the French online education start up scene. English Attack! the first entertainment only English learning platform is now part of the Paris Innovation Bourse Incubator.
This means that the new address of Paul Maglione and Frederic Tibout will be near the French Stock Exchange in the heart of Paris. Lovely area, also close to La Cantine where the monthly Start in Paris event takes place and the beautiful Galerie Vivienne.
In this EDUKWEST interview I talked with Sarah Gontijo, Founder and CEO of the language learning community hello-hello.
It was once more a very interesting and insightful interview and Sarah’s passion for her product really comes through. hello-hello is another great example of how the right team at the right time can basically outdistance competitors which started earlier in the race. Continue reading
Guillaume, Arnaud and Johann, the three congenial founders of the language teaching platform Lingueo just sent me the great news that they got their first funding of 500k Euros from three business angles.
To me it was just a question of time as the company had been selected by the French magazine “Challenge” as one of the top 100 start ups to invest in a couple of weeks ago.
Finally. After over three years of resistance I will buy my first iPhone when it will hit the market in France. This time Steve Jobs got me on the right nerve, FaceTime.
Of course there are other nice features like the new display, the smaller size etc that turns the iPhone 4 into a decent replacement for my Asus EEE netbook which I now use when I am not at home but I truly think that FaceTime could be a massive game changer.
Yesterday, I had the time to participate in the weekly edchat after a long time. Luckily the topic “How to turn the Tech Tool mentality into a Learning Tool mentality” was one I had one or two cents to chip in, so it was a lot of fun and I had a great break out chat with Doctor Jeff Goldstein of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education which stands for what I appreciate the #edchat for. It gets you in contact with people from out of your field of expertise through a common interest, changing education.
In this EDUKWEST interview I talked to the Co-Founders of YongoPal Darien Brown (CEO) and Jon Hickey (CTO) about their new service.
YongoPal is a platform that is targeting the South Korean ESL market with conversation training. The service connects South Korean university students with American students and aims to train English conversation skills.
Continue reading
