Just a quick note to let you know that our friends at the National Center for Learning Disabilities and Teachers Without Borders have launched a new course - A Primer for Educators on Learning Disabilities.

You can find the course here: http://nixty.com/course/LD-Primer

Course Overview:

The aim of this self-paced tutorial is to provide educators with introductory knowledge about learning disabilities and to offer practical, high-quality information and resources  to enhance professional development in this area that will facilitate improved student achievement. The tutorial is offered in an accessible, online format and includes audio, transcript and self-check components that can be personalized for a wide variety of professional development activities and settings.

This tutorial has been developed as part of a partnership between the National Center for Learning Disabilities and Teachers Without Borders, and was made possible by a grant from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust.

The OPAL team at UNESCO asked us to participate in the upcoming E-Oxford Debate with the above title. We are honored to be leading the ‘pro’ team. We’ll be arguing that mainstreaming open education is transformative because it solves 3 key problems governments, schools, and individuals face. Please join us by posting your thoughts throughout the debate. It starts on October 12 and runs through October 24. You can sign up and participate here: http://www.wsis-community.org/pg/debates/group:14358/phase/400536/4005

(Virginia Beach, VA) NIXTY, LLC, una organización que busca potenciar la educación para todos, se ha asociado con Maestros sin Fronteras para ofrecer la versión completa, en español, de su innovadora plataforma de gestión del aprendizaje. Educadores de habla hispana, así como instituciones formadoras de docentes ahora pueden aprovechar el conjunto de herramientas de los cursos, que incluyen:

Lecciones: Con elementos como presentaciones de Power Point, documentos Word, archivos PDF y videos; también pueden agregar exámenes y organizar los elementos de las lecciones con una sencilla herramienta.

Area de Exámenes: Los educadores pueden crear fácilmente cuestionarios para evaluar el aprendizaje y establecer parámetros de aprobación al finalizar el curso, pueden aportar retroalimentación a sus estudiantes y permitirles tomar nuevamente las pruebas.

Certificados: Crear certificados personalizados, imprimibles, que verifican la finalización del curso.
Canal Institucional: Promover su organización, presentar a los instructores y los cursos utilizando su logotipo e imagen corporativa.

Maestros sin Fronteras (MSF) utilizará la versión en español de la Plataforma de Gestión de Aprendizaje NIXTY para apoyar a sus miembros de habla hispana en todo el mundo, fortaleciendo los programas de desarrollo profesional y asociaciones existentes en México, y expandiendo sus programas en español a nivel mundial.

“Esta plataforma en español presenta una oportunidad única para Maestros sin Fronteras”, dijo el Dr. Konrad Glogowski, Director Ejecutivo de MSF. “En estos momentos estamos ampliando nuestros programas y asociaciones en países de habla hispana, con un énfasis particular en México. La plataforma NIXTY en español ayudará a acelerar el crecimiento y a ampliar nuestro alcance, además de ofrecer un mayor apoyo a los socios actuales y futuros. “

Durante los próximos meses, MSF y NIXTY lanzarán versiones de la plataforma en otros idiomas, incluyendo Francés y Portugués.

NIXTY combina una poderosa tecnología con la educación abierta para lograr el objetivo de potenciar la educación para todos! NIXTY proporciona una plataforma educativa que los estudiantes, educadores, e instituciones pueden aprovechar para cumplir sus metas de aprendizaje. Los elementos principales incluyen ePortfolios, Cursos, WikiCursos y Cursos de Educación Contínua. Visite www.nixty.com para más información.

Maestros sin Fronteras es una organización sin fines de lucro, líder en el campo de la educación internacional y el desarrollo profesional docente. Nuestro trabajo conecta a los profesores con información y con sus pares para crear un cambio local a escala global. Por favor, visite nuestro sitio web, www.twb.org para más información.

(Virginia Beach, VA) NIXTY, LLC, an organization with the goal of empowering education for everyone, has partnered with Teachers Without Borders to provide a full Spanish-language version of their next generation learning platform. Spanish-speaking educators and teacher education institutions can now leverage the full suite of course tools, including:

Lessons: Upload PowerPoints, Word documents, PDFs and videos; Add a quiz; Reorder items with the drag-and-drop tool.

Quiz Center: Easily create quizzes to assess learning and set pass rates for course completion; Provide feedback and enable retakes.

Certificates: Create customized, printable certificates that verify course completion.

Branded Channel: Promote your organization, feature courses and instructors; Use your logo and colors.

Teachers Without Borders (TWB) will use the Spanish version of the NIXTY Learning Management Platform to support its Spanish-speaking members from around the world, strengthen existing teacher development programs and partnerships in Mexico, and scale its Spanish-language programs globally.

“This Spanish-language platform presents a unique opportunity for Teachers Without Borders,” says Dr. Konrad Glogowski, Executive Director of TWB. “We are currently scaling our programs and partnerships in Spanish-speaking countries, with a particular emphasis on Mexico. The NIXTY platform in Spanish will help accelerate our growth, extend our reach, and provide stronger support for existing and new partners.”

Over the next few months, TWB and NIXTY will launch additional language versions of the platform, starting with French and Portuguese.

NIXTY combines powerful technology with open education to meet the audacious goal of empowering education for everyone! NIXTY provides an educational platform that students, educators, and institutions harness to meet their learning goals. Primary products include ePortfolios, Courses, WikiCourses, and Continuing Education Courses. Visit www.nixty.com for more information.

Teachers Without Borders is a leading non-profit organization in the field of international education and teacher professional development. Our work connects teachers to information and each other to create local change on a global scale. Please visit our website, www.twb.org for more information.

I read Sarah Lacy’s new book Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos, several weeks ago. It has been simmering in the back of my mind; my attention turning back to it again and again in light of recent events and the role of social media in unseating societal structures throughout the Middle East.

Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky is an excellent book. She takes you around the world in her travels to emerging countries. You feel like you are in the room (…or village hut) with her as she interviews these brave and risk-loving entrepreneurs. You get a real feel for the struggles their countries face, the real hardships the people encounter, AND, more importantly, how these key people are revolutionizing their corners of the world by solving real problems. Paul Carr has done an excellent job of highlighting a few of these personal stories here.

The key idea is that entrepreneurs in emerging economies are, and will increasingly be, huge forces in revolutionizing our global economy. Lacy starts off by illustrating how the Valley has lost its way by becoming too risk averse. She then shifts, through several poignant narratives, to highlight how entrepreneurs around the world are strikingly different in their ambition, heart, and risk. They experience the world fundamentally differently. They have lived with little, survived in war zones, and escaped genocide. They know what it feels like to struggle and are not afraid to return or to continue to struggle. Consequently, they can take big risks. They have little fear.

Global entrepreneurship is hugely powerful. Lacy writes, “High-impact entrepreneurship can do what aid, military intervention, traditional diplomacy, and revolutions can’t. Every country knows they want it…” It isn’t about the developed world vs. the emerging world. It isn’t about taking sides. It is about taking a meaningful, collaborative stance. It is about companies and investors moving beyond their comfort zones to help these ventures grow and expand. It is not an either/or situation (either we win or they win); rather, it is a both/and situation. We both win. Lacy, ever the business reporter and information synthesizer cannot resist coming to this conclusion. Interestingly, it is almost like the data forced her to see it. In her epilogue she writes:

“This book began as a study in one thing: greed-based entrepreneurship in places emerging out of chaos and giving rise to enormous Greenfield opportunities the Western world no longer has. The last thing I wanted to write was another book about global politics or feel-good social entrepreneurship. But over the course of my reporting, the topic of emerging market entrepreneurship became too big to be just about greed and fear. It was also about the wonder of technology and making the world a better place. It was about the ambition and ego and vision of a class of founders who wanted to topple the status quo for fun, for money, and for the little guy.”

Michael Horn and I agree that Sarah is one of the brightest people out there. She clearly sees and gets things way ahead of the curve. I think her take in this book is spot on. I fear, however, that most people will not realize it until it is too late. They’ll miss investing their time, energy, and money in collaborating with these folks. I don’t want that to happen to us. I hope we are smart enough to take what she has said to heart. After all, big risk, big ambition, and big heart sound like the same ingredients needed to transform education.

We are excited to announce that TWB recently launched their Certificate of Teaching Mastery Program on NIXTY. it is comprised of several courses and provides the student with a certificate highlighting their teaching competencies. TWB’s initial cohort is truly global with representatives from Nigeria, USA, Guatemala, Canada, Italy, Seychelles, Argentina, Kenya, Tunisia, Senegal, Thailand, Mexico, India, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Dominican Republic, Oman, and Cameroon. We are particularly excited about working with TWB, b/c they share our emphasis on open and empowering education for all.

You can view their press release here.

We are excited to announce that we have been invited to serve on the upcoming De-Classifying Education: How Entrepreneurs are Expanding the Boundaries of Global Learning Beyond the Classroom panel at Stanford. They interviewed a number of educational entrepreneurs and nominated us to serve along with a couple of investors and experts. We are honored and looking very forward to the event. If you live in the area and want to connect, then drop me an email at glen at nixty dot com.

Thanks again to the VLAB team for this opportunity!

How entrepreneurs are expanding the boundaries of global learning beyond the classroom

We’ve been covered by a number of great journalists and bloggers since our launch a week ago. I’m thankful for their efforts and wanted to make sure to capture all of the articles in one place. Please let me know if you’ve published something on us. If I’ve overlooked it, then shoot it my way and I’ll post it here. Thanks again to everyone for your support!

TechCrunch - Sarah Lacy - NIXTY Launches with Ambitions to do Build Something Huge in eLearning

Chronicle of Higher Education - Sophia Li - Online Course Construction gets a “Do It Yourself” Web Site

Boston Examiner - Alphonso Sintjago - NIXTY.com a New Provider of Online Continuing and Community Education

USA Today & Arkansas Democrat Gazette -  Bob and Joy Swabach - behind pay wall, so can read article here.

McGraw Hill Professional and Innosight Institute - Michael Horn - TechCrunch on NIXTY, Developing Countries as Big Opportunity

eLiterate - Michael Feldstein - New LMS Entrant: NIXTY

Kirsten Winkler - First Look at NIXTY

Hack College - Emily Chapman - NIXTY Offers Open Source Higher Ed

Could NIXTY Become the YouTube of Online Lessons? - Elizabeth Wellburn

Moodle Journal: Transforming the Consumption of Education

Cool Cat Teacher - Vicki Davis - Education Technology News

Center for College Affordability and Productivity - John Glaser - Innovating Out of the Status Quo

College Ready Writing - Lee Skallerup - An Open Letter to NIXTY.com and Adjuncts

Michael Daehn - NIXTY Review - NIXTY Helps you Make Online Courses for Free

Xplana - Smart Phones, Social Networking and LMS platform

We are delighted to have launched NIXTY. A number of people have been incredibly helpful in this process. We wanted to take a minute to say thank you to them for their feedback and support!

Bill Bean and Ron Hess - thanks for the ongoing honest critiques and support!

Tiffany Bregovi - for a dynamite paper on social media and charter schools. You are phenomenal!

Christine Agbuya - for the work with social media and business development!

Marshall Kirkpatrick - thank you for reviewing the site and giving us some specific and excellent feedback

Sarah Lacy - thank you for an amazing article and an ongoing education (no pun intended) on the globalized world. Can’t wait to read the new book!

David Wiley - thanks for all your pioneering work in the OER space, having a pragmatic vision, and 2 demo calls! Thanks also for your help and feedback on open education issues!

Toru Iiyohshi - thank you for the early consultation on the platform and suggestions for making it a better place to master teaching online

George Siemens - thank you for the recent consult and the need to move into learning analytics

Michael Feldstein - thanks for the critiques, publishing the early paper, and overall feedback and support

Michael Horn - thanks for writing a brilliant book and for helping us understand how to integrate disruption into our platform

Albert Wegner - thank you for a great business analysis and for the idea of WikiCourses (brilliant!)

Shawna Huggins Creech - thank you for all of the tips for making the system great for homeschoolers; thanks for all of the ongoing suggestions and for all of the bug testing!

Ann Zeise - thank you for sticking buy us even when it took longer to launch than anticipated! You are a homeschool treasure!

Jeff Barr - thanks for reviewing the product and the early words of support!

Dave Schappell - thanks for the really honest review, the practical tips, and the ongoing encouragement!

Ashish Gupta - thank you for all of your help building out courses!

Konrad Glogowki - thank you for your work with TWB and for the privilege of hosting the Certificate of Teaching Mastery Program.

Brandon Waterman - thank you for the technical support in our work with TWB.

Gabriel Weinberg - thank you for the consultations on gaining traction and for taking the time to review and give us critical feedback on the product. Looking forward to reading your book!

Marcela Morales - for an incredibly encouraging conversation and help with the OCW consortium!

Mary Lou Forward - for early feedback on how we can make this better for the open education movement.

Mike Caulfield - for feedback on making OCWs more accessible.

Tom Caswell - for his great feedback, work with OER movement, and ongoing support!

Ben Werdmuller von Elgg - for a great review and excellent tips on providing ’social glue’ to the site!

Robert Worthington - thanks for helping us better understand how we can support NGOs

Susan Henken-Thielen - for work with uexceltest.com and agreeing to be part of our pilot program.

Gabriel Truitt - for great and timely programming!

Vicki Davis - for the encouragement and post! Looking forward to checking out the Flat Classroom Teacher Certification program!

Bob Moesta - for very early product reviews and insights into hiring NIXTY

Mark Morley - for early feedback and encouragement!

Hacker News Community - for the help thinking through challenging problems and helping us envision what an ideal learning platform might look like.

Several months ago I met with Jeff Barr, Chief Product Evangelist for AWS, at Maggiano’s in King of Prussia. We had a great chat about AWS and how NIXTY might use it. Well, we have now finally launched and we are solidly built on top of Amazon Web Services. I wanted to highlight a few ways we leverage AWS.

NIXTY uses AWS to host all of our infrastructure;  Our application stack, consisting of MySQL, Lighttpd, Memcache, and web.py is hosted on EC2 nodes (with Linux).  S3 is used for backups and archiving.  AMIs and the robust API make scaling simple.

I imagine that many of the technical aspects are similar to how other startups use AWS. One thing that might make us a little bit different is how we use the Mechanical Turk service. Our mission is empowering education for everyone! To start, we wanted to populate NIXTY with 200+ open courses. There are just three of us running the company, and we’ve been bootstrapped since the beginning, so we didn’t have a lot of time or resources to get the job done. I posted the job on Mechanical Turk and within minutes we received several bids to help us build out the courses. To give you an example of what I mean, here is an example of a MIT open course; here is that same course in NIXTY. There was a fair amount of work done to optimize this course. Another example, we had a physics course that had a test with answers and solutions in PDF format. We wanted to provide this test in multiple choice format, so that people could simply choose the right answer. The problem was that we didn’t have any viable alternative answers (e.g., the b. c. and d. options on a multiple choice question). All we had was the right answer. Once again, we went to MTurk for the solution. We posted the exam and asked for someone with a physics background to come up with relevant alternative answers. The next day we had our test back with great alternative answers for all 10 questions.

MTurk continues to be an important service for us and will be even more so in the future. Educators have asked us for help building out their courses on NIXTY. They have the content, but they don’t have the time to build it out. No problem, we just post the job on MTurk and it gets done. Educators also often need help with research and other projects. In the future, we’ll have a teaching assistant option on NIXTY that will tie right into the MTurk service.

AWS has been a great way for us to build our startup. I highly recommend it.