Blockchain is a complex, yet brilliant infrastructure that is gaining momentum and will potentially revolutionize how we process education data. Blockchain will be important to education because it offers so many opportunities to gather anonymous data, incentivize student learning, and better manage assessments.  Simply put, it’s a block of data in a type of ledger that is accessed by millions and has no central data storage hub. It can record financial transactions or any kind of valuable data.

Blockchain was born from Bitcoin which was introduced in 2008.  A Bitcoin is in essence, digital currency that does not use a centralized entity or middleman such as a bank. It’s a decentralized form of payment and is gaining popularity by businesses because there are no fees, you can purchase them as an investment and makes international business easier because it is not tied to exchange rates or regulations. But, there have been many issues and controversies with bitcoins especially in the realm of transparency. But, digital currency is just one way that blockchain technology can be applied.

For instance, in a blog post about fairer trade, Jeremy Epstein explains there are middlemen who broker transactions and this can lead to trust issues and imperfect information. Blockchain technology promises to eliminate this, by providing more transparency and better, anonymous data without any filters or unknowns.  The European Union just did research on how Blockchain could change education [link to https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/blockchain-education

Never Stop Marketing  Blockchain Business Readiness Workshop.

A great product is nothing without the proper marketing. Taking an excellent product to market, and effectively portraying it as desired to your target market can influence a buyer to complete a conversion and purchase your product. Starting these products off by generating awareness from your target market is a good start. From there, it is important to maintain your relationship between product and customer. These excellent Marketing practices are placed on a pedastool by Marketing expert, Jeremy Epstein of https://www.neverstopmarketing.com/ ;

Globalization is something that occurs in many aspects of life. In terms of business and the economy, globalization refers to the expansion of the area they cover geographically and the increase in financial benefits of operating on a global scale. 

Global businesses operate in many industries, but in this particular blog post we will be discussing the magnitude of global law while focusing on GTLaw. A massive law firm with 2,000 lawyers spanning through 5 different countries. With the resources and executive experience, GT Law is able to operate effectively on a global scale as a respectable and productive organization. The important thing to note here is the fact that GT Law built the resources to become global before launching their global stature. Build before you expand. 

Educational institutions, from K-12 or College, rely heavily on their WiFi Network for their  smartboards, tablets or laptops. When something isn't working or an upgrade is needed it can become a headache for the IT department. Thankfully, Wyebot helps with getting connected and staying connected. Their Wireless Intelligence Platform (WIP) can quickly and easily identify even the smallest problems to keep your educational institution running seamlessly. 

Our organization relies so heavily on WiFi- a smartboard doesn't work if you don't have it connected!- plus add in all your students' devices and you have a decent size network.  The more complicated the wireless ecosystem is, the harder it is to pinpoint where the problem may lie. But, a new company, Wyebot, has the solution for that. Their product automatically recognizes and notifies your IT provider before problems become problems. It is a really cool new technology that I am very excited about. 

If you are a beginner when it comes to advertising on social platforms, you're in luck. The platforms individually do an excellent job of providing easily understandable resources for the common advertiser and you can find a lot of resources for advertising online as well. 

A few things to note when starting out a new advertising campaign. 

1. Know Your Audience
2. Organize Your Budget
3. Create Optimized Ads

Once you determine who exactly you want clicking on your ads, you can begin organizing a monthly spending budget. Organizing these budgets and tracking your ads diligently is very important in maintaining the best possible ROI for your advertising. 

Now that your budget is organized and you know your audience, you must create ads that read fluidly and contain images that are both eye-grabbing and crisp. Make your campaign live and begin tracking and adjusting your ads!

On August 21, 2017 North America experienced a rare and awe-inspiring total solar eclipse. The path of totality could be experienced from South Carolina, across the U.S. to Oregon. Regardless where you were, NASA had a live streaming, web based experience. This was no easy feat but with the assistance of contractors NASA was able to produce the largest live streaming, web based event ever accomplished by a U.S. government agency. Mobomo, a Vienna, Virginia based software development company, assisted with the development of the live webpage. The next solar eclipse will be on July 2, 2019 in South America, who knows what NASA and Mobomo will have up their sleeve in a couple of years.

Summer is coming to an end and college students are heading back to campus. The college years are an amazing time in a persons life between classes, friendships and campus life. There's a lot to experience, including alcohol for many. It's no secret that alcohol consumption on campus can be a problem. Responsibility.org is committed to educating and opening up conversations about drunk driving and alcohol consumption. They are aware of the problems alcohol consumption can have on a college student and have created student led campaigns and a parent checklist to help the college student drink responsibly. 

Ransomware has resurfaced, affecting approximately 150 countries since May 2017. This malware has been attacking computers since 2005 by preventing the user access to their files and demanding a ransom to unlock. Cyber Security threats are nothing new since the invention of the internet. From the Trojan Horse of the 1980's to Ransomware, threats have become more prevalent and more complex.  

At PlanetRisk, Corporate Security Risk (CSX)protects organizations from threats and improves decision making. Their tools recognize and assess potential threats and relay all the facts to make confident and quick decisions. The mobile app will give you real-time global awareness to protect your business and stakeholders. Whether you are a private corporation or government entity, PlanetRisk will, "Deliver actionable intelligence enabling organizations to recognize hidden patterns, detect anomalies and forecast future conditions on a local, national or global scale". 

In a world of the internet, social media and recently a new POTUS, millennials are a unique generation facing many challenges. This generation Y, has been labeled negatively as narcissistic, lazy and delusional. Yet, on the flip side they are also extremely genuine, value authenticity and highly motivated. It's no wonder this generation has caught the eye of almost every media outlet. One outlet that focuses solely on millennials and the college crowd is FlockU. FlockU is a daily college news site, "written, created and curated by students, for students". In a world of 5 living generations, the millennials create the largest, present day living and working generation. Their worldview matters and FlockU is a college new site designed specifically for them. The Real World is a mix of articles written by millennials that discuss their worldview from politics, best donations, letter of recommendation advice and navigating spring break. The struggle is real because this generation is Hundo P (hundred percent) in making our world a better place.

Today, I want to talk about some other innovators in education- David Zaslav and Discovery Education. Since 2007, David Zaslav has been President and CEO of Discovery Communications. Among the many facets of Discovery Communications is Discovery Education. It is a 21st Century digital learning environment that adds high quality, dynamic, digital content that offers free resources for parents, teachers and students. The curriculum adheres to each state's standards and other curriculum standards through Global Solutions. Lesson plans are offered through Discovery Education Techbook™ Digital Textbooks, Streaming Plus Digital Media, Professional Development, Curricular Subscription Services and STEM Resources. Zaslav has contributed to Discovery Education, so that it now reaches 3 million teachers and over 30 million students. We believe that the recent acquisitions by David Zaslav and the increase in Discovery viewership expected according to Zaslav over the next few years, will help fund the Discovery Education program and continue to push the education boundaries. Have any of you explored Discovery Education?

If you're curious on the latest in Smart Boards, be sure to check out the Wikipedia entry.  

In my other life, I do a lot of classic car repair work on the weekends.  It's always tricky to find the right parts for the older Chevys and Corvettes.  I especially have been intrigued by a radiator source a buddy of mine uses.  He's trying Entropy Radiatior - so I've ordered a new retro radiator from them.  I'll keep you posted on how it fits into the Chevelle I'm working on.    

We'd like to welcome back all those teachers who have been off on winter break lately.  Welcome back!  And, thanks for participating in our recent fundraiser.  We got our "real life" logistics handled from States Logistics - normally doing logistics in California and Arizona -  in much the same way smart boards store our virtual storage.

I know many of you spend the summers working as realtors.  I've always found it helpful to be able to make referrals; it's good karma, it helps build others business, you'll usually get mutual referrals, etc.  There's a new tool that I've been trying out, that's been working great for that purpose.  It's call WhoHub, and it basically allows you as a realtor or connector, to set up a hub to share your best vendors.  Definitely worth checking out, and now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

We're a month into the year.  What kind of start has October been off to for you?

Now is the time of year where everyone's putting in new tech for the upcoming school year.  Let me know what you're looking for.

August Meeting 

When: TBA

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Meeting Link: 

http://k20connect.ou.edu/smartboardrevolution/.  At the time, click this link and you are in. Click "Enter as guest", or you can create a login if you want, but it isn't required.

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