Main Page/K12 Online Initiative back-office/Nonprofits/educause/gbachula

Hi Gary,

I hope you and your family are well and you are having a great year!

I just a quick update since we chatted last year about wikitube.com. A lot has happened!


 * I have established an entity Eduit.org. We have secure some intitial board members and a $50k matching pledge. We have also aligned Fablevision.com, MITs Education Arcade and TVworldwide as strategic partners.


 * Thought the help of our president Alan Quinn, Marshall Islands have asked us to submit a proposal. We plan to use it as a mechanism to beta test our K12 Online solution.


 * I would like you to be our sponsor and champion for getting Eduit as a Educause in-kind incubator... Educause would be a great fit. Basically, all I'm asking is that they take EDUIT on as in-kind initiative and provide an address and staff to direct folks to the Eduit team (primarily me). Since im telecommuntion this from Japan--it makes it difficult to always answer the phone--especially, now that my son was born on April 18.


 * Let me provide an overview to what the project is now looking at. Basically, what are the pieces well need to flatten learning:


 * 1) Online video editing software -- We are calling this Wikitube. Its open source, meaning anyone has access to it to make improvements to it. A excellent example is jumpcut.com. It will allow a Chinese teacher to take an segment of, oh let say, a PBS education video and easily do a voice-over and add chineese characters to a karaoke bar to match the voice-over. But it's bit more then simple editing software. What it will also do is "bookmarks" chunks of hosted video. For example lets say you want to do an education piece on Hamlet's soliloquy "To be or not to be?" with Wikitube you would be able to have a educational piece showing every version of it ever performed. It would allow you to take a book on tape and add images to it and create your own video. The key is it isn't creating separate recording its accessing the "bookmark" of the hosted piece.  As the name " Wiki" implies, anyone will be able to view the archived videos and bookmark and make fun educational pieces. Wikitube will have a lot of other neat functions, such as a test builder. (Strategic partners: identifying)
 * 2) Media Archive -- Where will ALL the educational videos be hosted that Wikitube will access? Here's were TVworldwide and EDUIT will work together to get access to all possible videos as far back as they go. We are calling this the EDUIT Media Project. We'll have to get partnerships with Discovery, BBC, PBS, etc... (Strategic partners : TVworldwide)
 * 3) Play-learn platform -- How do we get the kids off their play station, Nintendo DS, Xbox etc...? We do it by fighting fire with fire! We give them video games, but we tweak them so they are educational based and we throw in cool prizes, hands-on mentoring programs and scholarships for them to win. This aspect of the project is called K12 Online. It will be a very sophisticated piece of proprietary software.  It will be able to detect kids that are above the norm. It will allow them to progress at their own pace and go as far as they like. (Strategic partners: Fablevision and Educations Arcade)
 * 4) Educational multi-touch tablet PCs (ancillary-currently being investigated). We want to explore the feasibility to developing tablet PCs for K12 Online to run on. One Lap Top Per Child is distributing 100m laptops per year around the world. Many think the tool they have developed is inadequate for education. Getting PCs in the hands of kids  isn't a solution when they cant read or  write. K12 online will be 100% point-touch(click) system embedded around audio-video educational modules. Text, keyboard and mouse will be tertiary components. The ideal vehicle to deliver K12 online is maybe a 19" ergonomic, multi-touch "lap" tablet PC we are calling Teaching Tablets.  Kids will sit them on their lap and play and learn. They will prohibit general access to the Internet unless unlocked by the parent/teacher. Our gaol, is NOT to get into the harware business. We would instead seek to identify a maker and ask that $2 to be donated to EDUIT for TT sold.


 * Here's a strategic overview of the plan.


 * I appreciate the help and hope you can be our Educause champion--thanks.


 * Cheers,


 * Michael


 * PS. I did send Brian L. Hawkins an email propositioning the Educause to be a in-kind sponsor.  I was wondering if you can follow up with it? Also, I have asked that Alan Guinn, Eduit's president follow-up too.