+ Papyrus

With the growing popularity and widespread use of communication tools like texting, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, today’s students are more connected than ever. However, few educational solutions take advantage of these tools. Some schools use software like Blackboard, but the interfaces are clunky and outdated. Students don’t like it and faculty can’t or won’t use it. With that in mind, we present Papyrus.

Papyrus is an inexpensive, student oriented e-reader specially designed with collaboration in mind. It allows for on screen note taking with a stylus, as well as tagging the content. These tags are comments similar to those found on discussion forums, shared among all the students and the instructor in a given class. With all of this in mind, Papyrus also serves as a digital replacement for a student’s loaded backpack as it provides textbook, notebook and even a calculator all in one.

Papyrus’ stripped-down, specialized interface makes it accessible to a broad range of users. It’s simple enough that faculty and other adults won’t be intimidated or annoyed, yet functional enough that students will feel like they’re using something current.

One of the most important details about Papyrus is how it is so different from a traditional style tablet PC or PDA. First, the unit is far less expensive at around $100. With a combination of a removal of audio, high-end graphics card, Ethernet port, and a textbook publisher/manufacturer subsidy (due to the subscription based service now that they have no overhead costs of shipping/storage/most manufacturing costs since their books are now digital) the cost is quite reasonable. Second, the device has a much longer battery life (around 30 hours) from using an E-Ink screen. Third, Papyrus’ stripped-down, specialized interface makes it accessible to a broad range of users. It’s simple enough that faculty and other adults won’t be intimidated or annoyed, yet functional enough that students will feel like they’re using something current.

Many students don’t participate in class because they’re afraid of drawing attention to themselves. Papyrus places students in an environment which they’re already familiar with (Facebook, MySpace, etc), giving them a safe, familiar venue to speak out without unwanted attention. It also lowers costs for textbooks by eliminating manufacturing and shipping costs and passing the savings on to students.

Papyrus gives teachers the ability to respond to student issues as soon as they appear in a post and gives the chance to create a game plan for the next class meeting.

Papyrus gives teachers the ability to respond to student issues as soon as they appear in a post and gives the chance to create a game plan for the next class meeting versus going into the situation blind, wasting precious class time trying to figure out where to pick up from the last assignment. Most importantly, Papyrus provides collaboration and communication without the distractions of current technology like laptops.

With rising energy costs, other big beneficiaries to the Papyrus device include textbook manufacturers and publishers. This subscription based model means an optimized cost structure with steady revenue. Digital distribution lowers exposure to rising cost centers like fuel and raw materials. It eliminates the used textbook market, allows them to add rich content to books, and delivers updates and corrections without printing a new edition.

Papyrus may not be the end-all-be-all solution to better communication and collaboration in the classroom, but we hope that the concept can be a catalyst for discussion about improving the classroom experience for everybody involved. Please let us know what you think.

+ Design can Change: the Graphic Design community takes a pledge

I frequently visit Eric Karjaluoto's site, ideasonideas which is a excellent collection of essays on design. (Eric is a Partner/Creative Director of smashLAB, a Interactive strategy & web development agency in Vancouver, Canada.)

His latest essay grabbed my attention, Reflections on Y13: Seeds of Change. Needless to say, I had to check out their initiative he mentioned in the essay, Design Can Change. It is a resource and commitment of a group of Graphic/Interactive Designers who seek design solutions that encourage sustainable design. I look forward to seeing this promising initiative grow.

So, please go check it out.

+ Weblogg-ed urges teachers to get tech-savvy

As The Greener Grass focuses on communities, we see education as an opportunity where we can make an impact and start a dialogue on how to solve some of today's problems. One issue that seems to constantly stifle our education system is the use of technology in the classroom. For example, the use of laptops in classrooms can be both a learning tool and a distraction, as discussed in this NPR article.

One person taking on this challenge is Will Richardson. Will hosts Weblogg-ed and speaks to teachers on how they can integrate technology like blogs and wikis into their curriculum. One of his recent posts is on 21st Century Skills for Educators:

...if you’re not doing at least a little bit of social, networked learning and publishing that I can tap into and track and engage with, I’m just not as inclined to buy in when you’re talking about reforming education with or without technology...if you want your ideas to resonate with me and to be taken seriously, don’t just talk. Engage. Publish. Converse. Add your voice to the network of people who are living these ideas every day.

Check out the full post here.

+ Anyone Have the Answer to Question Three?

Last year I was enrolled in mechanics and calculus courses as a mechanical engineering student at the local university. I remember sitting in my room several nights, slamming my head against my desk because I just couldn’t figure out several of the assigned problems from the text book. After running a Google search for online homework help, I found an interesting website named cramster.com which offered message boards for users to post homework questions on a variety of math/science subjects while other users gave their own “unprofessional” solution to a problem. While I don’t remember exactly how the site worked at the time, I believe a user could pay a subscription fee to access an “expert” solution to their homework problem while answers posted by other users were free. The site seemed like a great concept, but for one odd reason or another, the site just never stuck with me.

After recently revisiting cramster.com based on the recommendations of a friend, I was surprised to see how much better I thought the site was looking. Students can now sign up for a free account, which entitles them access to odd numbered solutions in about 190 different math/science/engineering textbooks, posted lecture notes and practice exams, and the ability to ask, answer or find questions on the cramster “answer board,” or pay a subscription fee of $9.95/month or $39.95/year to receive additional benefits including solutions to all even numbered problems in textbooks, priority responses to questions on the “answer board” and more.

Overall, I think the cramster website is a great testament against the stereotypical thought that the best educational achievements come through late night solo study sessions but rather by collaborative efforts among students and educators to learn and grow together.

+ where u at?

A few years ago I got my first text message, “where u at?”. I was expecting to hear from my husband for a lunch date that day, when I got the message I knew it was definitely not James.
I was surprised to find out my cheap mobile phone had text messaging, and that proper grammar and punctuation had hit an all time low.
Fast forward a few years and I am also guilty of the same sins. My husband, a college graduate sent me the text you see below. I have also sent similar text messages.

In my defense, I probably only send a single text message a week. I am a Graphic Designer sans an iPhone. (You can let out a big gasp now.) I sometimes charge my phone, I sometimes forget it at home. It drives my family and friends crazy. I just don’t like to talk on the phone and I spend a lot of hours in front of a computer. I often find the most rewarding parts of my day are real conversions at work, reading a book, or just hanging out with my husband and my pooch.

The question we need to ask is if email and text messaging is impacting our grammar, punctuation, and speech in negative ways. I would argue that for my generation, it has lost a little formality. I frequently get emails from friends that are written completely in under case letters. I’d never send a client such a message but for making plans outside of work I feel it is completely acceptable.

Has the way we communicate lost all class? Has the English language has evolved or regressed? In this article, Wired Words, by Constance Hale provides a nice synopsis of the how current technology is influencing our communication. The article explores the changes our communication has undergone. In contrast to that article I also found this article by Fahmida Rashid, The Wired Are A Rude Bunch which explores the etiquette, or lack there of, when using our electronic gadgets. I believe both make some strong points.

I’m asking you the reader and viewer, what are your thoughts on this topic? You may just see your idea, comment, or observation evolve into a real concept.
We encourage your comments. (However, please do not grade me on my grammar.)

+ NYC Schools Take an Interesting Initiative

Within the past decade or so, major advances in communications technology have brought our communities closer together than ever before. Nowadays, children as young as 9 (or even younger in some cases!) have their own cell phones and no matter where they might be, they are only a few button pushes away from a parent. With a large portion of the cell phone market dedicated to pre-teen and teen texters, here is an interesting initiative by New York City schools I found at the Digital Journal via textually.org designed to reward students who perform academically well with rewards like air time, texting and games on free cell phones.

"When students in select New York schools score good grades, they won’t just be getting the kudos of teachers and parents -- they will also be rewarded with talk time, ringtones and games for cellphones given to them free. Digital Journal reports."

Whether or not you agree with the initiative, I think it can be agreed that it’s certainly a new approach to the age old problem of getting students to be more academically motivated in the classroom.