AllThingsD » education

End of an Era: Google's Very First Employee, Craig Silverstein -- Technically, No. 3 -- Leaving

Kara Swisher — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:01:58 +0000

Google’s very first employee, Craig Silverstein, is leaving the company to join the high-profile online learning phenom, Khan Academy.

News of the departure first appeared yesterday in a line in a newsletter on education-tech entrepreneurship EdSurge, and the search giant confirmed the departure to me.

[UPDATE: Here's a statement from a Google spokesperson -- and not CEO Larry Page (classy and appreciative of others as ever!, Larry!) -- on Silverstein's leaving: "Craig's been with Google since the early days. He was instrumental in the development of search and made numerous contributions to Google over the years. We wish him all the best at the Khan Academy and know that he will do great things to help them promote education around the world."]

Silverstein, who was actually Google’s No. 3 employee — that would be after its pair of founders, Page and Sergey Brin — has had a variety of technology jobs at the company over the years since it was founded in 1998.

But his first — helping them build the famed and lucrative search engine itself — was perhaps his most important. An experienced techie, Silverstein worked with Brin and Page on Google, from their dorm rooms as Ph.D. students at Stanford University, to their garage days, to the giant and diversified behemoth it is today, with tens of thousands of employees.

Currently, he has been working on a variety of projects, including mentoring engineers.

Having spent some time with him over the years, I can tell you that he’s a lovely and adorkable guy, whose infectious enthusiasm and joy of tech has always embodied what I always refer to as “Good Google” (as opposed to, well, you know).

Silverstein will simply be a developer at Khan Academy’s Mountain View, Calif., offices, but I have emails for more details in to all parties.

Speaking of party — IMHO, Larry and Sergey should throw him a really nice one. Really nice — it’s well-deserved.

Here is Silverstein’s cute goodbye email to staff that I obtained (natch!):

[I couldn't possibly remember everyone who I should be sending this mail to, so please feel free to spread the word to anyone I missed!]

It is with decidedly mixed feelings that I announce, after more than 13 years, that I’m leaving Google. My last day will be Feb 10. I’ll be joining the Khan Academy as a developer.

Some of you thought this day would never come (as one person once put it: “Will you die at Google?”), and it was an extremely difficult choice. I am as passionate about Google’s mission now as I’ve ever been, and as proud of the work we’re doing to achieve it. While a lot has changed at Google over the years, I think we’ve done a remarkable job of staying true to our core mission of making the world a better place by making information more accessible and useful. I am looking forward to pursuing that same mission, though in a slightly different way, at Khan.

I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such smart, passionate, and interesting people — not just a few, either, but (almost :-) ) everyone I worked with. I’m grateful not just that I had so many co-workers I could respect, but even more that I had so many that I could count as friends. I will miss that most of all, and I hope you will continue to be in touch. I also accept lunch invitations!

When I write my massive 4-volume autobiography, “Craig Silverstein: the Man Behind the Legend,” I will devote an entire volume to my years at Google. I can’t emphasize enough how meaningful my time at Google has been, and how meaningful all of you have been to it. I mean it literally when I say: all the best,

craig

And here’s the video of a speech Silverstein gave at the University of North Carolina in 2008, about Google’s origins:

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

A Textbook Case of iPad Fun With Studying

Katherine Boehret — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:40:16 +0000

As a kid, I was lucky to have a dad who was a top-notch book-cover maker, wrapping my school textbooks in brown paper bags that he transformed into precisely folded, sharp cornered, blank canvases.

But even Dad’s covers couldn’t fix everything: Some books showed their age with dog-eared pages, highlights, tears and leftover love notes. Plus, they weighed several pounds each, tugging down my JanSport backpack.

[ See post to watch video ]

This week, I tested a one-stop solution to much of that which ails textbooks: Apple’s iBooks 2. This redesigned iPad app offers enhanced educational textbooks that are, for now, focused on high-school students and cost no more than $15 each. Apple’s smallest and least expensive iPad can store roughly eight to 10 textbooks, along with other content. (High schoolers have an average of four textbooks a year, according to Apple.) The iPad itself weighs just over one pound.

These electronic textbooks include interactive materials that seem like they should’ve been available long ago: multiple-choice questions that can be answered with taps on the screen, embedded videos, dynamic diagrams that change with touch gestures and flash cards for studying important terms in a book.

The big catch is you need an iPad to read these textbooks, and schools or parents may have trouble budgeting for these devices. The least expensive iPad costs $499. Apple argues the low cost of books will offset the cost of the device.

Currently about 1,000 of the iBooks 2 books, 11 of which are textbooks, have new enhancements such as video, dynamic diagrams and study flash cards. A pinch gesture will restore a zoomed-in image to its place in a book.

Also, some people have trouble reading long passages on the iPad’s backlit screen, or find it uncomfortable to hold. In the sun, its reflective surface makes reading nearly impossible.

Currently about 1,000 books, 11 of which are textbooks, have the new iBooks 2 features. These include titles from well-known publishers like Pearson Education, Dorling Kindersley and McGraw-Hill; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt books are coming in time for the start of the next school year.

But the books also include published works from teachers, experts and regular people who used Apple’s new iBooks Author app to create a book. This is a free app for Macs for creating and publishing content. User-created books are approved by Apple and then made available in the iBooks store for free or for a price.

I downloaded several of the new iBooks textbooks onto my iPad, including “Biology,” “Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life,” “Chemistry” and “Life on Earth.” I also downloaded an older AP Biology title without enhancements: Zoomed-in images weren’t in focus, and the book lacked interactive materials.

Delightful animations and gestures abound in these enhanced e-books.

Tap on any image to see it larger and tap different parts of the image to see animations, like an electromagnetic spectrum diagram in a science textbook that showed frequency and wavelength as I tapped on images of infrared lamps and lasers. A two-finger pinch returns the image to its place in the book with a playful animation.

Highlighting works in several colors and readers just hold down a finger and start dragging that finger along text to highlight.

When these books are read with the iPad held in landscape (horizontally), visuals take up large portions of the screen. But when the iPad is in portrait mode, text takes center stage, with smaller representations of each image appearing in the margins. This option to focus on reading could be a real help for kids who are easily distracted. Some titles, however, may only be readable in landscape view.

Study cards, a digital version of the 3-by-5 index cards you used to spend hours making by hand, are a huge timesaver. Every term in a book’s glossary generates its own study card. The front shows the word, and a tap on its corner flips the card to show its definition.

Even highlighting is easier and looks better in iBooks 2: It works in several colors, and rather than turning on highlighting first, readers simply hold down a finger and start dragging that finger along text to highlight. Study cards also are created for every passage you highlight.

But I found a few bugs. The new iBooks 2 app crashed several times and an Algebra 1 book froze in mid-download. The download didn’t complete because my iPad was full, but a notice about this didn’t appear, even after rebooting, until several hours later.

Apple later reported that the file I was trying to download was corrupted, and replaced the file.

And there are other curious omissions. Some parts of these books, like blank lab charts and chapter review questions, didn’t offer a built-in place to enter answers.

For that, I had to create and add a digital note in the book (using the iPad’s on-screen keyboard) or do the unthinkable—use a pencil and paper.

An Apple official said all notes are text-based and there are no current plans for finger or stylus input.

In addition to iBooks, Apple revamped its free iTunes U app, which used to be limited to audio and video lectures for higher education.

Now, iTunes U is available for students in kindergarten through 12th grade and can include all sorts of course components like the new iBooks textbooks, outlines, Web links and apps. This content is free, except for in-app materials including things like textbooks or apps. I downloaded Duke University’s “Introductory Chemistry” in iTunes U and it contained 567 videos, books, documents, apps and Web links.

If anyone can move textbooks into a new realm with interactive, smart gestures, it’s Apple. But iBooks needs to work out a few kinks before it can be used as a full replacement for physical textbooks.

Email katie.boehret@wsj.com.

No More Pencils, No More Books

Eric Johnson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:59:46 +0000

Can’t wait for high school calculus iBooks where kids have to triangulate Kindle sales with rubbish percentage data

– Dan Frommer, via Twitter

Apple's New Math. Or: Why a $15 E-Book Equals a $75 Paper Book.

Peter Kafka — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:45:06 +0000

McGraw-Hill normally sells high school textbooks for $75 a pop. Now it says it will sell electronic versions of the same books, via Apple, for $15 apiece. How can the publisher make that work?

“Volume,” says McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw, which is the usual answer for this kind of digital question. But there’s an important asterisk here, too. Normally, McGraw-Hill would sell its books directly to public schools, which would keep the texts for an average of five years.

Under Apple’s new textbooks plan, though, McGraw-Hill will try something different: It will sell its books directly to each student (the student could either pay out of pocket, or the school could fund the purchase via a voucher/code), who will use the book for a year, then move on. They’ll be able to keep the digital text, but won’t be able to resell it or pass it along to another student, and McGraw-Hill anticipates that another set of students will buy new books the following year.

So Terry McGraw figures that over five years he’ll generate the same total sales selling $15 e-books as he would selling $75 books. It’s not a total push, because in this model, Apple will take an undisclosed cut of sales — McGraw-Hill execs wouldn’t go into details, so let’s assume for now that it’s Apple’s standard 30 percent — but presumably McGraw-Hill can make some of that up by forgoing the costs of print and distribution.

(It’s important to note that all of this is about the high school textbook market, for now. While McGraw-Hill and other publishers sell college texts through other digital platforms, they still haven’t announced plans to do so with Apple.)

All of that assumes that the book pricing stays at $15. After Apple’s event, McGraw-Hill executives repeatedly used the phrase “pilot pricing” to describe their near-term plans. And they told me that they have the ability to change the price when and if they want.

But when I posed the same question to Apple media boss Eddy Cue just now, I got a much different response. “This isn’t pilot pricing,” he said. “All of our books will be $14.99.”

Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Join Apple in iPad Textbook Effort

John Paczkowski — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:58:36 +0000

In order for it to succeed, Apple’s new iPad textbook store needs the support of the textbook industry. And it appears to have it.

Joining the company in this new effort: McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a publishing triumvirate that produces the majority of textbooks currently available. “We have had some phenomenal companies really work with us,” Apple SVP Phil Schiller said this morning. “They have been great partners with us.”

Indeed, all three seem to have bought into Apple’s textbook pricing plan, which is something of a miracle. High school textbook prices in the iBookstore’s new textbook category: $14.99 or less.

Apple Unveils iPad Textbook Plan

Peter Kafka — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:25:18 +0000

Greetings! We’re here at New York’s iconic Guggenheim Museum, awaiting the start of Apple’s “Education Announcement.” The expectation is that we’ll hear about new publishing tools that allow educators and others to create their own iPad-friendly textbooks, but we should know soon enough. The event is slated to kick off at 10 am ET, but we’ll start chatting live now:

9:34 am: We’ve arrived. Here’s the scene outside the Guggenheim Museum.

9:43 am: As we wait for the event to get started, here are some “CliffsNotes” on what we might see from Apple today.

9:45 am: Hi there, from Peter! Lauren Goode and I, along with a couple hundred other people, are still stuck in the stairwell of the museum, waiting to be seated.

9:50 am: Line is moving slowly now.

9:52 am: Hello there. Apple has let us into the Guggenheim’s basement auditorium.

Just spotted McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw in the audience. Not sure if he’s sitting with us, or will be popping up onstage.

9:54 am: Ah. I see that the American corporate mandate to play Adele at every event has continued into 2012. So we are still rolling in the deep.

We could have had it all, you know.

9:57 am: Lights down. Adele still belting.

9:58 am: First up: Apple marketing head Phil Schiller.

“Education is deep in our DNA, and it has been from the very beginning.”

Apple has a unique understanding of learning, student achievement. “We’re so proud to take part in anything we can do to help students learn.”

New change in schools via iPad is “profound and remarkable.”

Shot of toddler watching Dora on iPad, which looks very familiar.

But education has challenges, “which are pretty profound.”

Life is tough for high school kids in the U.S. Freshmen have a 70 percent chance of graduating. In “hard-hit urban areas,” that’s 60 percent.

Even if you do graduate, you probably won’t be prepared to compete internationally. List of poor showing by U.S. in world education rankings.

Now a video reel of teachers bemoaning the state of affairs, backed up by swelling music track.

Basic message: Schools are in lousy shape. “We need a reset. We need a way to find out what’s wrong, and fix it,” says last teacher, in a nice sweater.

Schiller is back. “No one person or company can try to fix it all.” But Apple can help. Specifically with “student engagement.”

Of course, kids like iPads, Schiller says. Extolls virtues of iPad, which we don’t need to tell you about here. “Affordable, not only for families but for schools.”

20,000+ education apps built specifically for iPad.

And lots of iBooks would work very nicely in schools, too.

1.5 million iPads in use in “education institutions.” We want to accelerate that. So we’re announcing two initiatives:

10:06 am: 1) “Reinventing textbooks.”

Books are awesome. They’ve transformed society and will always be with us. But they’re not an ideal learning tool for kids. Cumbersome, get dog-eared, “written-in, worn, just not the ideal teaching tool.” Image of badly-beaten book.

Books aren’t portable enough. Not durable enough. Not interactive. Not searchable. Can’t be updated. “The content is great,” though.

10:07 am: But the iPad? That’s awesome. It’s all of those things that a lowly book is not.

But “can you get amazing content turned into a new generation of digital books?”

10:08 am: So here is iBooks 2 — a “new textbook experience for the iPad.”

“These are beautiful books.” Here’s a demo, with Roger Rosner, who has helped build the new product.

Biologist E.O. Wilson introduces a new digital textbook, which features multitouch, video, navigation via thumbnails, etc. “These are gorgeous, gorgeous books. They’re really in a class by themselves.”

“Clearly, no printed textbook could compete with this.”

Lots of pinchy-zoomy. “Again, nothing like that on the printed page.”

So here I will point out that the most obvious issue is the same one that magazine publishers faced during the initial iPad launch — someone needs to figure out how to pay for a system where you can build all this new cool digital stuff, while you continue to publish your old paper-and-ink products. After some initial experiments, most magazine guys have retreated to more or less republishing the existing product, with a few bells and whistles.

Okay, back to Rosner, still demoing cool stuff like interactive text that lets you access a glossary by highlighting a word. “That is so much better than a paper glossary could ever hope to be.”

10:14 am: Hopefully, the pictures that Lauren Goode is taking give you a good idea of what Rosner is showing off. This stuff does look gorgeous, of course.

Half the crowd applauds.

10:15 am: Still demoing. Quizzes and review questions built into book. “The bottom line is immediate feedback.”

Can highlight text with finger, change color, etc. Add notes.

10:17 am: Turn notes into study cards. Can turn glossary terms into study cards. “No more ever having to make paper flash cards, right?”

More applause for card demo. “I don’t think there’s a textbook that’s ever made it this easy to be a good student.”

New textbook category in iBookstore.

10:20 am: Demo over, Schiller back up. Summarizes selling points.

10:20 am: Now on to creation. “That’s just as important.”

iBooks Author (i.e., what people have been calling “GarageBand for books”).

“Easy to use, feature-rich,” will work for any kind of book, not just textbooks. But “focused most of all” on textbooks.

10:21 am: Rosner back up. “Traditionally, creating electronic interactive books has been really hard.” We can fix that.

Uses some familiar iWork workflow. Drag and drop. Can type into editor or bring in Word files, etc.

More applause after program reformats and flows Word doc.

This looks very slick and easy. No surprise there.

Ah. I can now see that McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw is in the audience, soaking it in with the rest of us.

Can integrate Keynote into text. More applause for that.

Rosner still demoing. If you’ve ever been involved in making e-books before, “you know that this is a total miracle in terms of time savings.”

More applause for fast turnaround between creation and working book showing up on iPad. “I just think that’s totally awesome, right? In just five minutes flat, we created a totally interactive book.”

More applause, and some excited hoots.

10:29 am: Schiller back. “Anyone can create stunning, interactive books.”

Authoring tools “often cost hundreds to thousands of dollars.” But we want to make sure that anyone can use this — even teachers. New iBooks Author will be free.

Available today on Mac App Store. More applause.

Reminder that iBookstore will have new textbooks category.

Partners (this is key part).

High school textbooks. Will launch at $14.99 or less.

Names of publishers? Have yet to hear from Schiller.

Here we go: “We have had some phenomenal companies really work with us”: Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “They have been great partners with us.”

McGraw-Hill, for instance, wil be providing algebra, biology, chemistry books, etc. “They are incredible.”

“Can’t overemphasize” how important it is for publishers to work with us.

Also working with DK Publishing. Four new kids’ books.

Another partner: E.O Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. “If you don’t know E.O. Wilson, you should.” More applause.

First chapters of “Life on Earth” are available now, for free. Future chapters will be available at low price.

And now, a video. “We couldn’t help ourselves … I hope you enjoy it.”

More hopeful teachers and music this time out.

So while video is rolling, let’s review: By far the most important announcement today is that Apple has partnered with three of the big textbook publishers. Don’t have details on that, but the fact that this isn’t a flat-out end run around the textbook industry is crucial. Obvious parallel here is iTunes music launch in 2003, when Apple worked with the big labels instead.

Eddy Cue, who many of us thought would be at event, shows up in video, instead.

And Terry McGraw is in the video, as well.

So is Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino.

John Deasy, superintendent for Los Angeles Unified School District.

10:44 am: Video over, more applause. Ah. Schiller has more. Here comes Eddy Cue.

10:45 am: As John Paczkowski noted early this month, Apple is overhauling iTunes U.

700 million downloads of iTunes U content in the last four years. So far, mostly used to download college lectures. (I’m responsible for one of them! A Robert Shiller talk I keep meaning to listen to.)

“We want to let teachers do a whole lot more.” Create entire classes online. Via all-new iTunes U app.

Jeff Robbin, VP of iTunes, for demo.

Not just books, but “new complete, online courses.” Here’s a chemistry course from Duke University.

Some of this is gunning at Blackboard, the college standard for online education software, which lots of people (users and would-be competitors) would like to disrupt.

Ability for teachers to post notes for students, download videos to iPad or stream, etc.

Demo over, more applause. Hard to explain/see how this will work unless you’re actively using it within the context of school, I think.

Cue rattles off list of colleges using iTunes U already. Six of them have used the new software — Duke, Stanford, Yale — and have created more than 100 courses already. “All of it for free.”

So far, mostly used for higher education. But now available for K-12. More applause.

10:54 am: Cue off, Schiller back.

Love of education “has been instilled in Apple since the very beginning. And it’s as true today as it ever was before.”

“We hope that educators will look back on today’s announcements just as fondly” as past Apple education initiatives.

“I hope you’re as excited about these announcements as we are.” Schiller finishes up, event over.

Thanks for tuning in. We’ll now get a chance to play with some of this stuff hands-on, and I’m going to talk to at least one of the publisher partners Apple talked about today. More in a bit.

A Day Before Apple's Education Event, Chegg Points Out That Digital Textbooks Are Already Here

Peter Kafka — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:01 +0000

Nice timing. As Apple gears up for tomorrow’s event focused on digital textbooks, Chegg reminds us that there are plenty of folks who are already chasing the same market.

Chegg, which sells and rents physical and digital textbooks, is rolling out a souped-up version of its digital textbook reader, which is browser-based and built using HTML5. That means it should play nicely with Apple’s iPad in particular, but also Google Android tablets, Amazon’s Kindle Fire or any other device, mobile or not, as long as they’re plugged into an active Web connection.

The new reader also integrates features from some of the companies Chegg has been snapping up in the past few years, like a Q&A service that will come bundled with each text. This video should show off some bells and whistles:

Chegg’s news underscores the fact that Apple’s entry into the market hasn’t been held up by technical issues. And it’s not that the big textbook players refuse to publish their books in digital form: Kno is also publishing digital texts from the big guys. So is Amazon. And Barnes & Noble. Etc.

But big publishers aren’t in any hurry to fundamentally disrupt their existing businesses. Which is why their digital books look a whole lot like their print books, except that the digital books are priced below their print counterparts, to account for the fact that they can’t be resold.

And even if the publishers did want to reboot, there are ossified bureaucracies throughout the education system that make it nearly impossible to quickly adopt new technologies, let alone new texts. Digital textbooks may be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean they have to get here overnight.

So if Apple’s big news Thursday is that it’s rolling out tools to let people create their own textbooks, GarageBand-style, then that may look like an end run — an effort to restart the business by bypassing lots of entrenched players. But I’d like to wait and see who Eddy Cue brings up onstage Thursday before I’m convinced of that.

Google Spends for New Consumer Education Campaign

Tom Loftus — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:33:22 +0000

Google today rolled out a new effort designed to educate consumers on technology terms like “cookies” and “IP addresses” and explain a few things about privacy online.

Google calls its effort “Good to Know,” and it’s a continuation of a campaign that began in Europe in the fall. Beyond the obligatory website, which features how-to videos, the campaign incorporates online and print advertisements in newspapers and magazines nationwide as well as advertisements for straphangers in New York and Washington D.C. subway stations. Google says Good to Know is its largest consumer education campaign. A Google spokesman said the company is spending “tens of millions of dollars.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

Piazza Raises $6M for College Class Discussion Platform

Liz Gannes — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Piazza, a Q&A service for discussions of college coursework with the approval and participation of instructors, has raised $6 million in a round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and including Kapor Capital and Felicis Ventures. The company said it has 100,000 users — many of them in computer science and math classes — and that its average daily login lasts four hours.

Raspberry Pi, a Credit-Card-Sized Computer, Set to Launch

Lauren Goode — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:33:51 +0000

The Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized computer that plugs directly into your TV via an HDMI input, is launching next month, following five years of research and development. Developed in the U.K. by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the $35 version of the device runs Linux, has a 700MHZ ARM 11 processor and 256MB of RAM, and features the first-person multiplayer video game Quake 3 Arena; the $25 version has similar specs, but with 128MB of RAM. Videogame veteran David Braben, the brains behind the Pi, has been quoted as saying he originally created the Pi for educational use.

Early Adopters

Voices — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:59:48 +0000

One area of literacy that’s changing is the order in which things are presented — it isn’t linear, it’s organised spatially, and often some meaning is carried in the design, layout, images, sounds, movement, subtle changes in colour in a game — it’s all part of what literacy is in today’s world. These are fundamental changes to operational literacy, the biggest since the printing press.

– Dr. Rosie Flewitt of the Educational Dialogue Research Unit at the Open University, in conversation with Stewart Mitchell of PCPro about how keeping computers from children at an early age may deprive them of modern communication skills

Isaac Asimov on Education and Our Robot Overlords (Video)

Drake Martinet — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:48:19 +0000

When you look at all the prophecies about the future that have come true in the span of just 20 years — and now at the growing cadre of online education start-ups that have cropped up — it’s time to check in with the legend behind it all: The late, great science-fiction author Isaac Asimov.

As you will see from the video below (from an interview with Bill Moyers), what Asimov said, way back when, is finally coming true.

Of course.

It’s a bit long, but well worth your time:

Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt Joins Kno Board

Kara Swisher — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:01:45 +0000

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt will join the board of Kno, the online education start-up.

He is currently the principal at REH Advisors.

The Silicon Valley-based Kno began its life offering a student-aimed tablet and education platform, but now is focusing solely on the software part of its business.

The company announced plans this summer to allow those who buy textbooks from Kno to read them on Facebook and via the Web. It also has an Apple iPad app that takes the product beyond just an electronic version of a traditional textbook.

Kno’s current backers include prominent venture players like Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital, along with investors Mike Maples and Ron Conway. Marc Andreessen, as well as co-founders Osman Rashid (also CEO) and Babur Habib (also CTO), are also on its board.

Here is the official press release about Hundt’s appointment as a Kno director:

FORMER FCC CHAIRMAN REED HUNDT JOINS KNO INC.’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Hundt Brings Unparalleled Experience in Education and Communications

Santa Clara, CA, November 1, 2011 — Today, Kno, Inc., www.kno.com, a pioneer in education software, announced that the company has named Reed Hundt, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to its Board of Directors.

“I’m very excited to join Kno’s Board of Directors because the company shares my passion for education,” said Reed Hundt. “While I was at the FCC, one of my highest priorities was making sure our nation’s classrooms were connected to the Internet, precisely in order to foster a software revolution in learning. I believe that Kno’s student-focused software will bring education into the 21st century and help transform the way students learn now and in the future.”

Hundt brings decades of relevant experience to Kno’s Board and is a long-time advocate for technological innovation in education. He is currently the Principal at REH Advisors, an advisory firm that serves clients on a variety of issues. Prior to establishing REH Advisors, Hundt served as an Adviser to McKinsey and Company for more than 10 years, as well as a Member of the National Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, among other distinguished roles.

Hundt served as Chairman of the FCC from 1993-1997 and played a major role in implementing the Snowe-Rockefeller program that directs more than $4 billion annually to connect all classrooms to the Internet and is hailed as one of the largest single national commitments to K-12 education in American history.

“The work Reed accomplished while Chairman of the FCC makes him an exceptional addition to our Board and his expansive knowledge of the education technology space will serve Kno tremendously in its efforts to improve how students learn,” said Osman Rashid, co-Founder and CEO of Kno, Inc.

Babur Habib, co-Founder and CTO of Kno, Inc. continued, “Hundt brings decades of relevant experience to Kno’s Board and is a long-time advocate for technological innovation in education. We look forward to working closely with Reed to help guide us as we extend our reach to professors and administrators.”

Hundt has also taught seminars at the Yale Law School, Yale School of Management, Yale College, and Columbia Business and Law Schools, demonstrating his passion of education. He also serves on the Boards of Intel Corporation, Serious Energy and UNCF, an educational assistance organization.

Hundt holds a B.A. in History from Yale College and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He also is the author of “In China’s Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship and You Say You Want a Revolution: A Story of Information Age Politics.”

Apple for the Teachers: iPad Shows Promise in the Classroom

John Paczkowski — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:10:40 +0000

Apple’s iPad appears to be gaining decent mindshare in the education market, a sector where its rivals continue to struggle.

A new survey of educational technology directors found virtually all of them testing or deploying Pads in their schools.

Notably, none of them were testing or deploying Android tablets.

Now to be clear, this was a small survey. The sample size was only 25 — though, as noted by Gene Munster, the Piper Jaffray analyst who conducted it, the population of IT decision makers in the education field isn’t exactly vast. So that 100 percent metric is more a directional indicator than anything else.

Still, it does anecdotally confirm a larger trend, one Apple noted during the numbers portion of its last big media event. Nearly 1,000 K-12 schools have an iPad one-to-one program. In other words, at minimum, they are providing an entire classroom of students with their own iPads to use throughout their school day.

Other metrics reinforce that trend. Apple says that currently every state in the U.S. has a K-12 iPad education pilot program or deployment in place. And more than 2,300 K-12 school districts in the United States are running iPad programs for students or faculty, among them New York City and Chicago.

So Apple is beginning to deliver on the promise of handheld education. And as more educational content is customized for the iPad, it’s not hard to imagine the device gaining even more traction in the school market. At $499 before typical educator and student discounts, the iPad is price competitive with most PCs that schools currently purchase, which suggests Apple may be poised to capture a significant percentage of the developing tablet market in education.

As Munster observes, the schools and school districts in his sample currently have about 10 students per computer. But within the next five years, their educational technology directors expect them to have six students per tablet. And by “tablet,” says Munster, he means iPad, because the two were effectively synonymous in his survey.

Looks like Ron Johnson — the merchandising guru who created Apple’s retail stores and recently left the company for the CEO gig at J.C. Penney — may have been right when he predicted that the current generation of students may prove to be the last one with backpacks.

What Should I Study Next? Oh Wait, iKnow! (AsiaD Demo)

Jessica Parks — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:45:42 +0000

Language learning is often at the forefront of teaching and tech innovation because languages are relatively easily codified, somewhat difficult to learn and of global interest.

iKnow, demoed today at AsiaD, aims to be just such an innovator.

The product was billed as a “personal learning assistant” that calculates an individualized study schedule based on a user’s learning and retention patterns.

Algorithms determine the best order in which to learn a set of “items” (a foreign word or phrase, for example), and, more important, the best time for the user to review the items already learned.

“Research has shown that there is an optimum moment to review whatever you’re studying, and that moment is right before you’re likely to forget it,” said Andrew Smith Lewis, co-founder of iKnow developer Cerego.

iKnow hopes to take the guesswork out of the equation and tell students exactly when their brains are primed for a review.

The user interface includes a dashboard with each of the student’s classes, as well as study targets, progress trackers and an upcoming study schedule. Students can turn on email study reminders to avoid falling behind.

Optional Android and iPhone apps can sync with the user’s computer.

The company’s demo unveiled its latest development, a text-parsing tool that will allow users to capture content from blogs or articles and use that text to customize a learning session.

The program extracts the most important words in the article and adds them to the user’s study list. It’s currently aimed at English-learners in Japan, but also offers an extensive core of Japanese-language instruction and a nascent Chinese core.

Businesses and schools can sign up for a subscription service that allows a group of students or employees to interact in a given class.

And therein lies perhaps the most useful feature of iKnow: Administrators can get access to analytics showing the progress of individual students and the entire group. This could help teachers get beyond blank stares to see which concepts students are grasping and which segments may need more time.

Video and photos from the demo below.

[ See post to watch video ]

Knewton Raises $33M for Remixing Online Learning

Liz Gannes — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:00:55 +0000

Knewton, the educational content “remixer” that adapts its courses to each student (you could say it learns about the learner), has raised $33 million led by Founders Fund and Pearson. The three-year-old company’s new funding is particularly notable for its large size and because Founders Fund Managing Partner Peter Thiel is an outspoken critic of traditional higher education.

President Obama's LinkedIn Town Hall: The Other Silicon Valley Jobs Event

Kara Swisher — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:09:04 +0000

Arriving at Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum, in the heart of the tech industry, with the leader of the free world talking jobs and digital, you might expect fantastic wireless access.

You might, but not so much if you are a “local” reporter and can’t jack into the extra-secret-special wireless link the national White House press corps apparently has reserved for itself. (They also get a lovely noshing buffet, whilst we tech reporters have been instructed not to touch the pineapple and scones or else!)

Famished for coffee and carbs, we’re left with glomming onto the museum’s slowish wireless service — there are lotsa geeks here today jamming up the lines — and every now and then getting some juice from Google. The search giant blankets the Mountain View, Calif. area near its HQ with free Wi-Fi, but it fades in and out.

I am now reconsidering the antitrust investigations that the Obama administration is conducting against Google, as long as its signal is good enough to check Twitter.

So this liveblog of President Barack Obama’s LinkedIn Town Hall — which will center on jobs and is titled, “Putting America Back to Work” — could be glacial with not much news, much like what I am expecting from the event itself.

I’d certainly like to work, as long as the wireless does! (Plus, limited power outlets in the room, so it’s every reporter for herself!)

But bygones, while we await the Prez!

10:18 am: One thing that made me flee Washington, D.C., when I worked for the Washington Post, was all the rigmarole that surrounded the appearance of and access to politicians.

I get it, the security and all, and am all for it on a general safety level. But, no matter how you slice it, it hinders any kind of movement or genuine interaction, like being stuck at a really dull opera. All the world’s a stage and we are all merely waiting in traffic.

In contrast, and one of the joys of Silicon Valley, is that anyone can get up right up into the grill of the various billionaire potentates littering the landscape, engage in a debate and get a possibly real answer.

Thus, I am hoping for a lot here from LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who is going to moderate the hour-long session with the President.

By the way, while he is busy running the business-focused social networking site, Weiner is looking good in a fancy suit, almost as if he could be Secretary of the Internet. I’d vote for him.

10:28 am: Some painless but hip music is playing now, as we wait, wait, wait for Obama, who is set to begin in 30 minutes.

I wonder if the President is ever early. Wouldn’t that freak the peeps out?

(Obviously, I am bored, so I shall now go monitor Twitter to catch up on the latest in the new bad-marriage-or-not cat fight between Brad Pitt and his ex, Jennifer Aniston — as if we need him to tell us Angelina Jolie is more interesting. Frankly, Angie’s midday snack is more interesting than Jen.)

There is now what appears to be a Secret Service dude next to me, giving me a hairy eyeball. If I am jailed over my wireless protest, please give generously to my defense fund.

Free the Internet! Free the Internet!

10:35 am: Finally, the production guy is up giving out the rules. Turn off the cellphones, no making noise.

The head Secret Service guy then takes the stage. No getting out of your seat. No sudden movements. And no crossing the blue line in the front row.

“All joking aside,” he says, he will take you down. He also notes that if the President moves toward you to shake your hand, “do not move toward him.”

I love Secret Service agents — especially when played by Clint Eastwood — and wish I had one to give a few people in tech a little smackadoo on my behalf. And not only if they moved toward me!

10:47 am: This little frisson of excitement is followed by more waiting, as the final seats are filled up in the room, which is an unusually (and welcome) multi-racial and gender-balanced crowd for Silicon Valley.

Various White House aides skitter back and forth like nervous ground squirrels — I would imagine their life is one big effort to avoid any gaffe — so the Prez must be near.

I am actually looking forward to seeing him, as I never have in person and am looking forward to seeing the famous Obama charm and techie cred.

Indeed, he is probably the most fast-forward tech president there has ever been. That said, buffeted by more serious issues facing the nation, his administration has delivered on few — by which I mean none — of its promises around the digitization of the U.S.

Our high-speed broadband, for example, is still woefully slow, inordinately expensive and not easily available nationwide.

And I will not even go into the need for increased focus on math and science education or the importance of our broken visa policies.

But the topic today is jobs, which is an arena where Silicon Valley and tech shines in the U.S., even as manufacturing of it has mostly moved overseas. How tech can help improve in the creation of jobs will be issue No. 1 here.

10:55 am: Total silence with five minutes to go. I need the President around to quiet my kids.

Now, LinkedIn Chairman and VC Reid Hoffman comes in, so the event is probably about to begin.

And, indeed, Weiner emerges to cheers, to give a little speech on “changing the way we work … and connecting talent to opportunity.”

11:01 am: Then, the session starts right on time with President Obama.

He begins with a rote speech on jobs, which is nonetheless the most important issue he faces going into next year’s election.

11:14 am: Ah, wireless glitch! Back!

President Obama is inexplicably in the middle of a Medicare question, which gives him an opportunity to talk about the need for the rich to pay more taxes.

And pass his American Jobs Act, of course.

11:17 am: More on proposing legislation for retraining workers, such as the questioner’s mom.

Now to a group of email questions. The first is about when small businesses are going to get a break from onerous regulations and taxes.

President Obama says since he has been in office, he has cut taxes 16 times for those who create a business.

But he is not going to apologize for some regulations, such as those for the financial industry over the mortgage crisis.

“There are some regulations that have outlived their usefulness,” he says, but others not so much.

11:24 am: The next question is from a Chicago IT employee. Except she is not employed.

She is asking a question about keeping her skills up and what programs are needed.

“The best thing we can do for you is that the unemployment rate goes down,” said President Obama, but also adds that making it easy to go to school while waiting on a job is also important.

“Just looking at you, I can tell you are going to do great,” he tells her in an awkward effort at reassurance.

Thanks, Barack, but she needs a job!

11:28 am: A veteran is asking a question about transitioning out of the military.

Obama launches into a story of a medical technician who faced all kinds of experiences, but had to start over again with new classes when out of the military. He suggests some level of credentialing based on experience.

11:33 am: Obama gets to pick out someone from the crowd and manages to pick out a dude who is a former Googler — although he only says that he works down the street — and is out of work by choice.

He asks: “Will you please raise my taxes?

A plant? I wish!

President Obama asks the name of the start-up. “A search engine,” says the ex-Googler-in-disguise, who is Doug Edwards, an early marketing exec there who actually wrote a book on being an ex-Googler.

“That worked out well for you,” kids President Obama.

Everyone likes a rich-guy joke!

He is soon onto the idea that we’re all dang lucky and declares he does not want it to turn the debate over taxes into a rich-poor war.

Bottom line, he notes that we have to raise taxes on the very wealthy. Frankly, if we raised taxes on a bunch of folks in this room, it would help a lot.

11:42 am: A teach-training question, especially math and science teachers.

President Obama is all for it.

He is meaning well here, but all he seems to offer is a lot of bromides about the importance of education and errant related anecdotes.

Like one from IBM, where the company hires the kids in the program at the end.

President Obama wants students to see a direct connection between learning and jobs.

Then, he kind of says it again. Gosh, he can talk. How does the well-fed and wirelessly connected White House press corp take it? Lotsa donuts, I would imagine.

President Obama also wants us to turn off the electronics and video games for kids, too, thereby instantly losing the votes of my two sons!

Another laid-off guy is up at the mic. He had 22 years in IT management and is disheartened.

He wants a statement of encouragement from the CEO of America.

President Obama assures him that his track record of success gives him a leg up, but that the problem is the economy and the global meltdown, too.

It’s systemic, apparently.

“The problem is not you, the problem is the economy as a whole,” says President Obama.

That was the last question. Weiner, who has been sitting quietly (I know it was hard, Jeff, but good job), thanks the President and tells him that this is a big issue.

President does his thanks, too, for being able to speak, although not really that much was actually said.

And then a genuine moment, finally, of clarity.

“Look, we’re going through a very tough time, but we have gone through tougher times before,” he says. “But the trajectory we are going on is one that is more open, more linked …”

He talks about the need for being ready to take advantage of that opportunity.

“Things have gotten so ideologically driven, putting party above country,” he adds, that nothing is getting done. That’s why the people, the voters, have to demand leadership from their elected officials.

Or, presumably, fire them and let them try to find another job, too.

It might turn out to be the best idea yet, if these pols don’t agree on something and quick.

Microsoft Teams With Former President Clinton on Education

Arik Hesseldahl — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:39:12 +0000

The software giant Microsoft today said it will commit to a three-year philanthropic effort to help one million U.S. students from low-income families get broadband access to the Internet. The aim is to help bridge the so-called “digital divide,” a blanket phrase that’s used to sum up the social and economic difficulties some people face when they don’t have the same easy access to the Internet that so many people almost take for granted.

Microsoft made the announcement at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, the philanthropic organization run by former President Bill Clinton. The meeting is getting underway today in New York.

The problem Microsoft is trying to solve is sometimes called “digital exclusion.” Think about how much you rely on day-to-day access to the Internet at home to do your job, and then imagine your life without it, or with only spotty access. There are lots of families with school-age children who are at a disadvantage because they don’t have access at home, or because their families can’t afford computers or the monthly fee for broadband.

Lacking that access has a lot of long-term economic repercussions, none of them good. Without access, kids don’t perform as well in school, because they don’t have the Internet to help them with homework. And while there are usually other socioeconomic forces to consider in these cases, having not done well in school, these children have a greater tendency to not finish high school; therefore they don’t go on to college, and later on have a harder time finding meaningful work.

There have been lots of attempts to count all these unconnected households. The FCC estimates that there are 100 million people in the U.S. without access to broadband. Some lack access because of where they live, while others simply can’t afford it. Within that number, there is thought to be some 9.5 million school-age kids who are effectively “digitally excluded.”

The irony, of course — at least to anyone who remembers how Bill Clinton’s Justice Department so vigorously pursued Microsoft through the courts during the 1990s — is how friendly Clinton and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates seem to have become in public. The photo is from Gates’s appearance with Clinton at last year’s CGI meeting.

Chegg Buys Zinch in Another Move Toward a "Social Education Platform"

Kara Swisher — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:00:03 +0000

Chegg — best known for online rentals of textbooks to college students — said it has just bought Zinch, a start-up that links high school students and college recruiters.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The purchase of the San Francisco-based Zinch, said CEO Dan Rosensweig in an interview earlier this week, is part of a larger plan involving a series of acquisitions aimed at “how we move from two-day relevance to relevance all year around for students.”

By that, he meant the short time period when students either buy or rent their textbooks for the semester.

That’s certainly been a good business for Chegg, which is the leader in the online textbook-rental arena, including digital distribution.

But to further solidify its relationship with students and expand its market base to include high schoolers along with college consumers, Chegg has picked up a number of start-ups like Zinch, using its stock and also the whopping $220 million in funding from a number of venture firms, including Kleiner Perkins.

In late September, for example, the company bought CourseRank, which helps students share course schedules, take classes with friends, and read and write reviews on classes and professors, as well as find out how they grade.

Also scooped up by Chegg: Notehall, which is a student-to-student note-taking trading market; Cramster, a social homework helper; and Student of Fortune, a homework-answers site for student questions (which a recent filing by Chegg noted was bought for $5.9 million in stock).

Also being tested are such offerings as deals for students and other ways to leverage the original textbook relationship.

“This is the beginning of a connected student network that we hope to build into a giant platform,” said Rosensweig. “We want to have a student using us all the way through for a 10-year span, from high school on.”

In related news, Chegg said it has hired former Palm CFO Andrew Brown as its new CFO. Prior to Palm, he served as the CFO of Pillar Data Systems Inc., a storage start-up funded by Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

While a CFO hiring often indicates a soon-to-happen IPO, Rosensweig said that Chegg has more than enough capital, needs to focus on building up its offerings and is in no rush to go public.

We’ll see, but here’s the official press release from Chegg about Zinch:

Chegg Plans to Expand into $7 Billion College Recruiting Market and Increase Student Base By Over 3.5 Million

Chegg enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Zinch, the leading digital network that helps high school students research, connect with and pay for college

SANTA CLARA, Calif., September 15, 2011 – Chegg today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zinch. The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The acquisition will expand Chegg’s social education platform into high schools. Zinch, founded in 2007, connects prospective college and graduate students to scholarships, admissions officers and other students who have been through the same process.

The acquisition of Zinch, with over 3.5 million members, $1.9 billion in scholarships and over 5,000 school profiles, will significantly expand Chegg’s customer base and its social education platform. Colleges and students will be able to connect more effectively for less through Chegg, helping to streamline the college recruiting process globally. In addition, unlike any other company in the education space, Chegg will provide resources to students at every major milestone before, during and after their college career — including bridging the gap from high school to college.

“Our mission has always been to save students time, money and help them get smarter,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and CEO of Chegg. “With our acquisition of Zinch, we’re extending our mission to high school students through the $7 billion college recruiting market, while continuing to break down the barriers of a college education, from the high cost of tuition and textbooks to helping students make money, pick their courses and get the academic help they need.”

At Zinch, over 3.5 million students have built online profiles to showcase themselves as “more than test scores” to shine in the admissions process, and to be matched with schools and scholarships that might be a good fit. Colleges and universities worldwide, including more than half of the US News top ranked national universities, use Zinch for cost-effective student recruiting and outreach.

“Getting in and paying for school is daunting. Together, Chegg and Zinch can not only make higher education more affordable and accessible, it gives students an edge in finding the right school, getting admitted and reducing the cost. Students can put their best foot forward, be recognized for their achievements and be discovered by programs that fit their interests,” said Anne Dwane, CEO of Zinch.

The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
To learn more about Chegg’s social education platform and its network of services, go to www.chegg.com.

You Sold Your Company, What Did You Buy First? Here's What I Did.

Jason Hirschhorn — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:01:48 +0000

Having some money all of a sudden is a weird thing. I’ve always wondered what entrepreneurs do when they hit it. What do they buy, if at all? How do they react to newfound ducats?

Does life become a 90s rap video? Cham’ bustin’ 24/7?

I basically had no money in my twenties.

I was luckier than most, my parents helped with the rent and I had spending cash via the Web design firm I started in 1995, Mischief New Media. My clients were “major” record labels and I designed Web sites for their artists. I wasn’t that great and as soon as the Web started taking off they brought those things in-house. But I had a knack for product development and saw an opening for better uber-music destinations in a landscape that had few good ones. So on the side, I started building music sites I would use. RockOnTV, MusicNewsWire and MusicStation, just to name a few.

I got lucky and five years later sold my company to MTV Networks. All those sites were rolled into SonicNet.com, the biggest music site around at the time. Now all defunct!

All of a sudden, I had some money.

What did I do first?

While in my lawyer’s office I made a copy of the check. Then I found what I thought to be the mailing address of the principal that kicked me out of school before my senior year. I wrote “F*CK YOU” on the check and mailed it. I don’t know if she ever got it. But 11 years after high school graduation, I finally had some closure. Yes, I held a grudge, but now I was over it. It’s a long story of trust, betrayal, power gone mad, evils of authority and not for this post. :-) She represented all the people that didn’t believe in me. Deep breath and now back to the story …

The money. What did I do with the money?

Two things I remember vividly.

First, I called my mom up and said something like this:

Me: It’s done. I just sold the company to MTV.

Mom: Oh, my god! Oh, my god! I’m so proud of you!

Me: Bring every bill, everything you owe over to my place tonight. We’re gonna write some checks.

Mom: Are you serious? (SCREAMING)

Me: Yes, see you later.

So, Mom did just that. And for about an hour that night we wrote checks for credit card bills, rent, school, personal loans … you name it.

Buying things is certainly a lot of fun. Travel, cars, all that big pimpin’ stuff. But at the end of the day, if you can help or give back to those that did the same for you … well, that rocks. It’s a great feeling. More importantly, my mom was directly responsible for my product chops. When I was about 3 years old, she bought me a huge box of building blocks. Simple, made of wood, lots of shapes. There is no doubt in my mind that playing with those blocks shaped my creativity. They made me think about structure, balance, systems and more. She always made sure we had what we needed; she went without and worked hard to provide for us.

To this day, it’s the proudest moment of my life.

The second thing? Well, let me step back here …

When you’re an entrepreneur putting it all on the line, as least with me, I worked constantly. For five years. Eighteen-hour days. Getting out very little. Always thinking about work. Work, work, work. When you have one of these events, like selling, you can go a little crazy for a second. It’s not over, there is more to do to realize the dream. But it’s a moment where you get dizzy for a second. And I sort of reverted back to childhood for a few weeks. How so? I went on eBay and bought what I remember to be thousands of Matchbox cars. Why? Who the f*ck knows. I liked them when I was five years old. My mom used to buy me one a week. It was a good memory from simpler times. Now? I was a man-child with cash and clearly no idea what to do with it.

So, I’m sitting in my apartment and these boxes start coming in. I mean tons of them. Unopened collections of f*cking Matchbox cars. I opened one, took a deep breath and just started laughing. What the hell was I thinking? There was no way I was able to return these. My small apartment was filled with toy cars. What now?

I went out to get something to eat a few days later and I noticed the lobby of my building had these huge bins for a children’s toy drive. I turned around, got the wheely pushcart in the lobby and went back to my apartment. I loaded the boxes of cars up and within a few trips had given all of them away. Mostly unopened. In these digital times, needy kids probably thought … what moron is giving me a miniature car? I want Nintendo DS!

And so goes my few weeks of reverting to childhood nuttiness.

Yes, I ended up getting the car and the home. I’ve bought hundreds of pairs of sneakers that put Quincy Smith’s collection to shame. I’ve traveled to all sorts of great places. I love buying stuff for my nieces and nephew. I’ve pretended to be an angel investor. … And yes, of course, I’ve donated to causes (I’m not totally selfish), mostly having to do with education (see www.cfy.org). But these are the two things I remember most.

So what did you do? Tell your stories …

-JH

Jason Hirschhorn is an entrepreneur most comfortable at the intersection between entertainment and technology. He was formerly CEO of his first venture, Mischief New Media, Chief Digital Officer of MTV Networks, President of Sling Media and most recently Co-President of Myspace. Jason is also an investor in Howcast, Buzz Media, 5 to 1 and other startups. You can follow him on Twitter @JasonHirschhorn or via his widely read Media ReDEFined newsletter (@MediaReDEF or http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=mediaredef)

Geoff Ralston Talks About Education Incubator, Imagine K12

Kara Swisher — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:01:57 +0000

Last week, I met up with Geoff Ralston, an Internet exec whom I have known for a dog’s age–from his stint in the early days at Yahoo and later at music service Lala, which was sold to Apple in 2009.

These days, instead of heading to another company or starting one, Ralston has joined with Tim Brady and Alan Louie to launch Imagine K12, an education incubator.

Based on Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator, the aim of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Imagine K12 is to help education-focused start-ups with a little money and a lot of entrepreneurial encouragement.

After sifting through a pile of applications for slots, Ralston and his partners picked the first “class” of start-ups, who will begin work on June 2.

Here’s a video interview I did with Ralston talking about it all:

[ See post to watch video ]

Early Adopter: Rock Prodigy Wants You to Be a Real-Life Guitar Hero

Drake Martinet — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:10:08 +0000

Nothing makes you feel like a rock-and-roll god more than shredding on Activision’s Guitar Hero or Electronic Arts’ Rock Band–except, of course, for actually becoming one.

Rock Prodigy, from the angel-funded and cumbersomely named The Way of H, is an app for Apple’s iOS that replaces plastic videogame guitars with the real thing and helps players earn skill and musicianship, rather than just points.

Co-founders Tyson Butler and Harold Lee designed the game/teaching tool to mimic the interface of a Guitar Hero style game, with scrolling notes atop a digital fretboard.

Instead of tapping buttons and strumming a plastic flipper, Rock Prodigy lets you sit in front of your iPhone or iPad and play real notes on your own six-string. The notes are then detected by the iPad or iPhone. When you hit the right note, you earn points and the song goes on.

“We want to provide people an easier and more rewarding way to get into music and advance more quickly. We want to put positive, rewarding, game-like elements on top of real music education,” Lee said.

Ease of music education seems pretty close to Lee’s heart. He dropped out of two different music schools before finishing a musicology degree.

If you’ve spent any time with Rock Band, Rock Prodigy’s business model will also seem familiar.

The app is free, but songs cost $1.99 each. For twice the going rate on iTunes, users hear the master recordings of popular songs–the start-up licensed the masters, so they can separate the recorded tracks and silence the guitar part when notes are missed–and get the flowing sheet music composed for each song at four difficulty levels.

“At the beginner level, you are only playing one out of every twenty or thirty notes,” Lee explained. “We have music majors who are essentially writing simple guitar arrangements for each of these songs, at the different levels.”

Butler, who plays the part of CFO to Lee’s CEO, explained that the biggest issue for them initially was licensing the music.

“We had really ambitious goals early on, but there was a long time when we had only successfully licensed one song.” he said.

Users would have probably gotten pretty tired of playing nothing but Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” over and over.

Their catalog is a little more fleshed out these days, which Butler partially attributes to guidance from two of their angel investors–Rob Cavallo, chairman of Warner Bros. Records, and prominent entertainment lawyer Charles Ortner.

Rock Prodigy’s second act will be to expand the app’s offerings to serve other instruments, but Lee really summed up the grand mission well.

“We feel this has the potential to be the new sheet music,” he said. “That’s what we really believe.”

If you believe in miracles, watch me fail at playing Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” in fact, at the end of the video interview and jam session with Lee:

[ See post to watch video ]

Exclusive: Kno Student Tablet Start-Up in Talks to Sell Off Tablet Part of Its Business

Kara Swisher — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:16:00 +0000

Kno–the much-funded and high-profile Silicon Valley start-up aimed at making tablet computers focused at students–is considering selling off the entire hardware part of the business and is in talks with two major consumer electronics manufacturers to do so, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources said Kno execs have recently decided that the quicker-than-expected uptake in tablet production by a multitude of powerful device makers had made its efforts to package a seamless offering less critical.

Instead, the company will focus on its robust software and services to offer students on the Apple iPad, as well as upcoming tablets based on Google’s Android mobile operating system and others.

BoomTown could not determine which two companies Kno was in serious discussions with about unloading its hardware business, but the company has signed an NDA with one of them.

But, if a deal is struck, the move would be a dramatic shift for the company, which has yet to ship significant numbers of the student-focused touchscreen device as it has long touted.

In fact, Kno said in November that it would ship a $599 and $899 version of the tablet by the end of the year.

The lower price was for its single-screen device, while the clamshell double-screen version was more expensive.

And, although it has been reported no pre-orders were fulfilled, Kno did indeed ship several hundred of them, built by China’s Foxconn, before stopping doing so recently.

Many have been dubious about Kno’s ambitious hardware efforts.

That’s because marketing a new and complex product like the Kno takes a lot of effort and cash, especially since it is an increasingly competitive market for mobile and portable computing products that includes Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Amazon, Dell and many others.

Kno recently raised another $46 million in funding to add to a $10 million round, and sources said that the Santa Clara, Calif., company was considering going back out to raise even more.

Its current backers include prominent venture players like Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital, along with investors Mike Maples and Ron Conway.

A Kno spokeswoman declined comment.

But sources said the shift to deliver textbook and other student-related delivery system would be a better path for all that investment money, since Kno has established a wide range of partnerships with colleges and universities.

In addition, Kno Co-founder Osman Rashid has a lot of experience in digital education market. He was also the co-founder of Chegg, the textbook rental business that is reportedly aiming for an IPO soon.

You can see Rashid here, along with the Kno tablet prototype in the full demo video that the company did last year at the eighth D: All Things Digital conference:

[ See post to watch video ]

(Want to see it bigger? Click here.)

Video: Obama Visits Intel in Oregon, and a Silicon Lovefest Ensues

Arik Hesseldahl — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:00:41 +0000

While there’s no sign yet of a photo of the leader of the free world in a bunny suit (This shot of John Kerry in a similar getup while on a visit to NASA may have something to do with it), this native Oregonian can’t help but feel the flutter of native pride over President Obama’s visit to Intel’s plant in Hillsboro Oregon today.

Earlier in the day Intel CEO Paul Otellini agreed to join the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which is chaired by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Otellini announced some more good news: Plans to build a new $5 billion-plus chip factory in Arizona and hire 4,000 workers there. (Yay, America…meanwhile Oregon still gets D1X) The text of Otellini’s prepared remarks is below the video.

What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, Intel was preparing to defend itself against an antitrust lawsuit brought by Obama’s Federal Trade Commission. A settlement last August brought an end to that. Now Obama and Intel totally heart each other, as you can see in the video below, shot by The Oregonian.

The visit followed last night’s dinner at the home of venture capitalist John Doerr with numerous Silicon Valley execs, where POTUS sat between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Video streaming by Ustream

Remarks (as prepared) by Paul Otellini, President and CEO of Intel Corporation, during President Obama’s visit to Intel’s campus in Hillsboro, Ore., on Feb. 18, 2011.

Good morning and welcome. And Governor Kitzhaber, thank you for being here. I’m excited to be here today to celebrate American innovation and American manufacturing.

Our country and this company have been built on innovation – and manufacturing has been at the heart of America’s economy for over a century. Technology and the semiconductor industry have been driving economic growth for the last 50 years. In fact, when averaged over the last 5 years, the semiconductor industry is the nation’s #1 exporter.
Today we celebrate the construction of Intel’s new semiconductor manufacturing plant called D1X.

For the past 2 years I have been discussing the need to re-ignite innovation in the U.S as a means of creating jobs and wealth in our society.

I believe the world of technology and a vibrant manufacturing base lies at the heart of creating this future. This is one of the reasons for our continued investment in Oregon, and our commitment to build Fab D1X.

This new factory will play a central role extending Intel’s unquestioned leadership in semiconductor manufacturing. The transistors and chips it will produce will be the most dynamic platform for innovation that our company has ever created.

Together they will enable more capable computers, the most advanced consumer electronics and mobile devices, the brains inside the next generation of robotics, and thousands of other applications that have yet to be invented.
I’d like to pause for a moment to give you a glimpse of what will be involved in creating such a technologically advanced operation.

D1X will be a vital addition to what is already one of the largest and most advanced semiconductor research and manufacturing sites in the world. Building it we will create approximately 3,000 construction jobs over 2 years. The structure will require 19 tons of steel, 40 miles of pipe, and 13,000 truckloads of cement. When finished, D1X will have a cleanroom as big as 4 football fields. It is scheduled for start-up in 2013; and it will be the first 14-nanometer microprocessor factory in the world.

Intel is a global company today, and proudly so. Yet, we think of ourselves as an American enterprise. Intel generates three-fourths of its revenues overseas, yet maintains three-fourths of its manufacturing here in the United States. The company sets the bar for world-class manufacturing around the world.

We believe in this country’s power to create a future where America maintains its unparalleled global leadership and where jobs in 21st century industries are created and flourish. I am pleased that the President and his Administration have taken a number of steps to invest in innovation and education so that we are building the skills needed to achieve success in the 21st century and grow the economy. At Intel, we believe that we will help create this future.

Building such a future requires more than just investments in technology and manufacturing. We need to also invest in educating and training the workers that will invent and manage the industries of the future. At Intel, for example, over half of our 82,000-person workforce has technical degrees and nearly 8,000 hold a Master’s degree or Ph.D. Looking forward, we are concerned that there may be a shortfall of qualified experts in science and math in this country to meet the needs of our industry.

There are two fundamental solutions to this problem. First, revitalizing math and science education will generate qualified, interested and motivated students, and drive increased enrollments in our great graduate schools. Then, government and businesses need to make sure all of these graduates are given an opportunity to work in this great country.

I want to commend the President for his leadership and focus on improving our science, technology, engineering and math education. He has taken actions — including key steps like making STEM a priority — in his $4 billion Race to the Top competition and his Educate to Innovate campaign.

I’m proud to tell you that over the last decade, Intel has invested nearly $1 billion in education around the world, especially math and science education. Our Intel Teach program has already trained more than 9 million teachers worldwide — with nearly half a million right here in the in the U.S. — to integrate technology into and the learning process. The result is improved critical thinking and problem solving skills. We view these efforts — and our many other education initiatives — as vital investments in the next innovators, thinkers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

This investment comes full circle when we can then hire the people we are investing in.

I’m proud to announce that this year Intel will hire 4,000 new permanent, highly skilled employees in the U.S. above and beyond the factory jobs that I previously mentioned.

These new employees will focus on areas that span the exploration of new materials to create even smaller transistors, to products that we believe will transform the way that healthcare and education are delivered, to “future technologies” that involve augmented reality and computers that can read minds, or at least anticipate your needs!

The investments I’ve discussed today are long-term investments in the things that make innovation possible. They also send a clear message that the United States will remain the location for Intel’s most advanced technology development and manufacturing.

And, I’ve saved the best news for last.

I’m happy to announce another NEW multi-billion dollar investment in America. Intel will soon begin construction in Arizona on a greater than $5 billion manufacturing facility called Fab 42 that will focus on 14-nm silicon process technology and beyond. When completed, Fab 42 will be THE most advanced high-volume semiconductor factory in the world. This activity will create thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs in this country above and beyond what I’ve described earlier.

My closing message is that the best way forward for us is to unleash the unmatched creative energies of the people of this country to transform our manufacturing base for the 21st century. Intel is proud to do its part to create this promising future.

With that, ladies and gentleman, I’m pleased to introduce the President of the United States.

"To the Trilateral Commission and Its New Leader–Watson"

John Paczkowski — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:05:44 +0000

The White House has posted a single photo from the Silicon Valley dinner President Obama attended last night. Beyond confirming the guest list that made the rounds Thursday, it’s largely unremarkable–unless you’re inclined to see great import in the seating arrangement at the dining table.

At the president’s right hand, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; at his left, Apple CEO Steve Jobs. And when Obama looked across the centerpiece, there were the piercing eyes of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Note that Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt are safely separated, in keeping with the first rule of dinner-party seating–avoid fistfights.

The theme of the evening’s conversation? Said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, “The president specifically discussed his proposals to invest in research and development and expand incentives for companies to grow and hire.”

[Image credit: Flickr/WhiteHouse]