

News Corp. Has a Tablet for Schools - yagibear
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/business/media/news-corp-has-a-tablet-for-schools.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0&pagewanted=all

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Adaptive
“We understand technology and we understand education” stands out as just one
of many hilarious claims in this article.

What News Corp. understands is the perversity of the American public school
system. They understand how to market to a system that has traditional, too-
close ties to a textbook publishing sector which uses public schools as a
captive market.

And this was particularly Orwellian: 'If a child’s attention wanders, a stern
“eyes on teacher” prompt pops up.' Because _that's_ the way to make kids
learn. Keep those eyes down, children.

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bengotow
I'm at SXSWedu this week and News Corp has spent a fortune advertising the
Amplify platform here. They've demoed many of their educational apps and the
content they're developing, and it actually looks well tailored to classroom
needs. It's a shame that News Corp is just about the least trusted brand in
the country, because any other organization—Amazon, Apple, Microsoft—would be
much more well received and praised for innovating within an industry which
needs it so badly. I don't trust News Corp with student data, but there are no
other companies creating an end-to-end platform this ambitious.

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seclorum
I can't think of anything worse than having Rupert Murdoch involved in the
education of future generations. Does anyone think this man has any intentions
other than pure control over the psyche of a generation? He has proven his
intentions with Fox News (an "entertainment" channel) and now we're going to
let him into the schools?

If anything, this should be a wake up call for a competitor to rise to the
occasion and ensure he does not establish control over this market.

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oscilloscope
It seems like a well-thought out platform that could work for school systems.
It looks like News Corps funded some idealistic, passionate people to work out
a solution that no other company seems to be attempting at the moment.

Amplify is one of the better concepts built on Android that I've seen. They
even demonstrate using Intents to aid a student's workflow, and integration
with Khan Academy.

It might someday be an entrenched drag on the education system like textbook
publishers, but a vision of how technology can improve education is something
we need. Right now a lot people are just incredulous that schools give
students iPads. It's a low bar and hopefully Amplify raises it.

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adamnemecek
Can't wait for the impending "Fox News Kids" video channel.

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mtgx
Some videos on it. Looks pretty good:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQLj4XM9RLc>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSNKoVrnFo>

