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LectureTools allows instructors and students to interact in new ways in and out of classrooms. Developer Perry Samson talks about its potential for learning and for the future of textbooks.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Perry Samson | Teaching | University of Michigan | Web 2.0

College instructors are increasingly using "student response systems" to encourage interactive learning in their classrooms. Most existing systems use "clickers," relatively limited standalone devices which students must purchase. Perry Samson, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Michigan, has developed a web-based technology, LectureTools, which allows students to use devices they already have: laptops, tablet PCs, even smartphones. LectureTools lets them interact in and out of a classroom in a wide variety of ways. For example, students can

• take notes and associate them with the instructors' slideware presentation,
• draw on the instructors' slides,
• ask questions of the instructor during the class,
• indicate their level of confidence with the material, and
• respond to a variety of questions. For example, students can answer questions using images; they can establish associations between concepts and ideas, and they can reorder texts, statements and arguments.
• Students can also review their notes and a lecture podcast or video after class.

In this video, Perry Samson talks about the present and the future of LectureTools and how it may save textbook publishing -- by providing an affordable and smart electronic textbook.

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Scate Technologies is a great example of a Southeast Michigan company that has been nimble on its feet in tough economic times. We discuss how the company has moved from on-site training, to e-Learning, to social media learning infrastructure provider. Future conversations will focus on revenue growth associated with their social media initiatives.

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Filed under: Jeff Holth | Lake Orion, MI | Network Businesses | Scate Technologies | Steve Sadler

In this interview with Scate Technology's Steve Sadler and Jeff Holth, we learn how Scate moved from a company that did on-site training to e-learning to software development. Scate currently has successful businesses in screencasting, website development, and social media.

After 9/11, the move from onsite trainng to e-learning was natural. There was an economic recession, and the recent terrorist attacks had put an additional, natural brake on travel. One day, an e-Learning customer asked Steve Sadler, CEO of Scate, how his company produced e-Learning materials so quickly. Steve showed him an internal tool, and the customer asked him how much it was. Steve said it was not for sale. The customer retorted it should be.

A light went off, and Steve moved to turn his tool into a product, Ignite, that allowed customers to create their own e-Learning materials. Shortly after, Jeff Holth, currently CTO, joined Scate.

Jeff then picks up the narrative by noting how Scate has continued to expand its offerings, recently moving into social media. Jeff envisions social media as community development around a set of shared ideas and interests.

In future episodes, Steve and Jeff will discuss how they are using social media, particularly a new product, ScreenTweet, to promote their business.

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A chief networking officer helps companies manage existing relationships and create new ones to further their business strategy. As the most used online business networking tool, we'll be focusing on how businesses can use LinkedIn to this end.

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Filed under: Detroit, MI | Networked, Inc. | Social Media | Terry Bean

Terry Bean, founder of Networked, Inc., bills himself as a Chief Networking Officer. Essentially, he helps companies:

• Create new relationships
• Manage existing relationships

The point of these relationships is to better enable the company's business strategy execution. Thus, Terry begins each client engagement focusing on the following factors:

• The company goals
• A definition of the ideal client
• A definition of the ideal business partner

In the past few years, Terry has been shifting his focus to online as well as face to face strategies. In the next few segments with Terry, we'll be discussing the most used online business network, LinkedIn.

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Shifting gears is designed to help corporate professionals overcome three challenges they will face as employees in small businesses: (1) The need to play soup-to-nuts roles because there is not much staff depth; (2) The scarcity of resources inside most small businesses; (3) The ambivalent business environment faced by most small businesses.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Diana Wong | Getting Hired | Innovative Employment | Shifting Gears

Shifting Gears is a program for retooling corporate professionals' skilsets to better meet the needs of small and medium businesses. Diana Wong, Shifting Gears' creator and Professor at Eastern Michigan University, lays out the rationale and benefits of the program:

• Small, growing businesses need the skillsets corporate professionals have to offer, but cultural issues prevent matches being made.
• In this buyers' job market, it's up to corporate professionals to sell themselves if they want to transition into a small business.
• In order to do so, corporate professionals need to retool their skill sets in the following ways:
  • First, they need to get a firm grip on the skills they possess and the value those skils can bring.
  • Second, they need to understand that they are no longer just a role player on a larger team but often a one-person band.
  • Third, they need to adapt to the scarcity of financial and other resources often prevalent in small businesses.
  • Fourth, they need to be able to deal with the less well-defined business environment that most small businesses face.

In future installments, we'll cover how the Shifting Gears program helps corporate professionals meet the challenge of retooling their skills.