A Different Kind of Classroom

I recently came across a site called Khan Academy.  The website was started by Salman Khan who was tutoring his cousins across the country.  He posted lessons on YouTube so that his cousins would be able to view at their own pace. Khan began receiving feedback from strangers about how useful these videos.  After Khan realized that a lot of people can benefit from his videos, he founded Khan Academy.  This non-profit organization provides over 2,000 videos and tutorials of subjects ranging from grade school biology and mathematics to college level calculus and economics.

Screenshot of one of Khan's videos

There is an interesting aspect of this website.  During his presentation at a TED conference, Khan envisioned a "flipped" classroom setting.  In this setting, students are assigned videos from the website to watch at home as their homework.  Students can watch at their own pace and back at the classroom, they would do exercises or the supposed "homework."  This type of flipped classroom allows more teacher to student time as teachers are able to help students who do not understand certain subjects or topics.  Khan further expands on this idea by suggesting that students who already understand the topic can tutor the students who cannot.  This whole idea eliminates the traditional classroom situation where some students who are slower learners fall behind due to the speed of the class.  They would not be able to understand the harder topics.  Khan Academy allows students to really understand the material before moving on to a tougher concepts which build upon what they had previously learned.

It is great to see how the Internet and technology can provide a more flexible way of learning.  Khan Academy also provides tracking tools for teachers to see where their students are progressing and which ones need a bit of help.  Khan Academy has begun a pilot program in the Los Altos school district to test out the effectiveness of this type of new classroom setting.

If this resource was available during my high school years, it would have helped me tremendously.

Video of Salman Khan's TED Talks presentation:

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Artificial Artificial Intelligence

Amazon, popularly known for its vast web store, competitive pricing, and Kindle e-reader, has other venues of operations in different markets related to the Internet.  One market Amazon serves is the corporate market, where it provides other businesses with resources derived from the Internet.  During one of my E-commerce classes, I learned that Amazon actually runs a business called Amazon Mechanical Turk.

So what is Mechanical Turk?  Another name for this interesting business operation is Artificial Artificial Intelligence- in other words, fake artificial intelligence.  On the website, Amazon allows businesses to post up "HITs" or Human Intelligence Tasks, and anyone can go on the website and do these tasks and get paid.  Tasks range from having to find the best category for certain products to tasks such as identifying which picture is better.  The usual range of pay for each "HIT" is from a penny to 50 cents.  Amazon then compiles the data for the businesses and gives an average of the data acquired.  Companies are then able to then use this data to improve their business.  This Artificial Artificial Intelligence allows companies to accomplish what computers can not do, such as identifying the better picture or similar products.

It is interesting how Amazon began as a online bookstore growing into a big and successful player in Internet service and business.  Other than having a immensely popular web store and Mechanical Turk, they also provide servers and hosting options for businesses.

Tablets: The New Form of Computing?

With the launch of the iPad 2, many people are wondering if tablets would become the future of computing.  Many companies such as Samsung and Motorola are clamoring to get into the tablet market as Apple has shown that it is possible to make a profitable tablet.  However, would these kinds of tablets be able to replace the widely used personal computer?

Joshua Topolsky of Engadget believes so.  He believes Apple would continue to dominate the tablet market as they are focusing on the "experience of using the device" whereas other companies are mainly focusing on the specifications such as the power of the CPU or how much resolution the screen has.  Topolsky believes that the appeal of the user experience and form factor the iPad provides would entice people to switch from their desktops or laptops to mainly using a tablet computer.  However, this seems like a one-sided vision as this would only apply to mainly consumer usage.

Tablets are very entertainment centric.  It is more for consuming media such as watching movies or reading news.  It is difficult to type for long durations on a virtual on-screen keyboard and using fingers to navigate is not as precise as say a pen or a mouse would be.  Many businesses need an actual keyboard to type quickly when communicating through email.  Designers need more precision such as a pen input in order to create what they imagine.   It is very difficult to say that tablets such as the iPad would replace the personal computer entirely.  For media consumption, it is reasonable.  But for actual business functions, tablets will not substitute personal computers any time soon.

Egypt: Disconnected/What if it Happened Here?

During the weeks of political unrest in Egypt, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mubarak, was able to shut down all of its connections with the world.  Not only were they able to halt all telephone lines; the government was also able to stop all Internet communications.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Egypt relies on five major carriers for their telephone and Internet communications.  The government had enough power and influence to turn off all communications when its citizens began protesting.   This brings about the question: what if the U.S. government was able to shut down all of its communications from the rest of the world?


If the U.S. government was able to shut off all Internet communications, much of our nation's economy would dwindle as e-commerce and online retail sales are projected to reach to $197 billion in 2011.  E-commerce has grown rapidly, replacing many brick and mortar stores through mainly from the appeal of convenience and competitive prices.  Many day to day operations of businesses that rely on Internet connectivity, such as shipment notifications and online banking, would halt and would result in problems for the entire nation.  The U.S. government could technically shut off some of the Internet by ordering the top Internet providers to do so.  However, there are thousands of smaller Internet providers, making it difficult to shut down Internet access entirely in the U.S.  Our government's system of checks and balances would also prevent any authoritarian shut down of the Internet.  It would be really difficult for the U.S. to shut down all communications in the country.

More Info: CS Monitor, Telegraph

Intro

Hi I am Aaron.  I am currently a student at San Francisco State University and majoring in Business Admin with a concentration in Information Systems.  I am fascinated with technology and also of its impact in the business world.  From e-commerce to manufacturing, all businesses use some form of technology such as the internet to conduct their daily transactions.  This blog will dive into new business technology or issues and how businesses use technology for their daily functions.