About

about ClassLink and this blog

“… today’s younger students… are no more conscious of the Internet than their parents are of electricity, which is noticeable only when it is unavailable.”- William H. Graves, 2002, Educational wealth as a return on investment in technology.

Where are we today in educational technology?
Instructional technology is only in its infancy in terms of appreciating the true impact on learning in the world and even here in the United States.  Sure we’ve made great strides by connecting most all classrooms to the internet , by having computers generally available to most every student, and the educational software marketplace maturing to offer more than simplistic drill-and-kill type product, non-the-less we are still at the infancy of getting a return on our ed-tech investment. If you think there is doubt about that, here’s some recommended reading…

The Learning Return On Our Educational Technology Investment
Cathy Ringstaff and Loretta Kelley, 2002
SIIA SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION TOOLKIT Guidelines for K-12 Educators April 2007

So where does ClassLink stand on this?
We are about ubiquity… universal access… 24/7 learning access… anytime, anywhere learning.  Without universal access to technology tools we will not widely benefit from technology in learning.   And let’s not underestimate the investment we have in educational technology(ed-tech), $6.8 billion in 2005, that’s a “b” in front of the “illion” folks. Add a very modest growth rate of 3% and we will be hitting $8 billion next year.

So what can be said of this ed-tech 1.0 phase we’ve been in?
Well, productivity improvements have flourished. We can collect and query attendance and grades real-time. Student submitted (and teacher prepared!) work contains less misspellings and looks more presentable than ever before. Our students are more likely than ever to graduate with better typing skills… so they can message faster. We likely have the most communicative education enterprise ever… all constituents (teacher, parent/guardian and student) today get emails, voice-blasts, auto alerts, websites, newsletters and yet we still have the pin-the–note to the jacket and the live ‘hello, how is everything?’ face to face contact. So let’s not make it seem that nothing has been accomplished. But when it gets to the big question of how has technology improved learning… i.e. how has it improved “the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge?”…….the results are a little murky.

How do we get to ed-tech 2.0? (i.e. What is needed to improve the learning return on our technology investment?)

Let’s start with the givens:

• Given varied learning styles, no yet to be discovered learning software will likely accommodate all learners, so it’s fair to say the answer isn’t hidden in yet another new way of teaching math.
• Given the breadth of investment that we already have in tech equipment in schools today, a ‘start-from-scratch’ revamp of that infrastructure is not fiscally likely anytime soon.
• Given the ever growing diversity of ed-tech devices in schools today (pc’s, macs, laptops, clickers, mobile internet devices, handhelds, interactive whiteboards, etc.) a move towards standardizing it all on one flavor/platform isn’t in the cards.
• Given the birth of the new class of mobile internet devices in the $200-$400 range, we are on the precipice of massive 1to1 projects in education.
• Given the massively growing technology investment in the household, multiple computers, wireless networks, handhelds, etc. we’d be smart to try and incorporate that tech investment in achieving our ed-tech 2.0 goals.
• Given the growth of wireless access in schools which invite greater potential of technology use everywhere in the building. The network is fast becoming ubiquitous.
• Given the growth of the internet as a delivery vehicle (vs. cd-rom based software) and of free and open source software (vs. not-free and closed source software), we may want to give equal or favored consideration to software like these in our classrooms.

So, if the environment is such that all things ed-tech are growing in presence and in diversity, availability and affordability (software/content, hardware, connectivity, etc.), what’s holding us back from realizing our ed-tech 2.0 dreams?

Simple.
Universal Access… 24/7 learning access… all this ed-tech investment must move from: ‘You can do this neat instructional thing from this one computer and only when it is in working order’ to ‘You can do this neat instructional thing from any computer, any time, any where, 24/7’.

Empower every user to access their instructional desktop from any computer in the school, community or from home. Empower every user to experience consistent and reliable ubiquitous access to their software, work files and other resources. Empower every user with a desktop where they can communicate and collaborate. Empower learners with a desktop where they can receive instructional materials online and in-turn submit work products online to teachers. Empower the school administration to view reports that better communicate the relationships between software usage and academic performance. Empower technologists to manage this entire offering centrally from a few servers. Offer this solution through your existing hardware investment.

So that’s our story, it’s what we do and we’re sticking to it.

Why blog about this stuff?
We want to start a dialog you and share market insights.

What kind of blog is this?
This one’s for all the tactile learners out there…

Why now?
What, we should wait longer to get started on this?

Why the bridge image above?
If you are passionate about ed-tech like we are, the poem from Will Allen Dromgoole seems fitting. Don’t misunderstand, we don’t feel old, we just feel we have a responsibility to make ed-tech easier and more beneficial for the next generation.

Who is contributing?
Here’s who is contributing now. We hope that once Generation YES teachers and students find this blog, we will have more voices.
- Peter Reilly, President of the New York State Association of Computers and Technology in Education
- Berj Akian, CEO, ClassLink
- Stan Watts, VP of Engineering, ClassLink
- Michael Frank, Director of Operations, ClassLink
- Paul D’Ascoli, VP of Sales, ClassLink
- Shelley Chawla, Manager of Education Services, ClassLink
- Jonathan Kertesz, Product Specialist, ClassLink
- and others.

Hope you enjoy this blog.

-Berj

About ClassLink
Founded in 1998, ClassLink provides any computer, anytime, anywhere access to instructional software and files to students and teachers. With ClassLink, school districts can deliver 24/7 access to their instructional software investment. Engineered for students and teachers, ClassLink’s products are simple to use yet empower student achievement, while lowering the overall cost of technology.
ClassLink — The future of instructional technology.
For more information, visit www.ClassLink.com, call 888-963-7550 or email info@ClassLink.com.