Knowledgepreneur

How Video will Fix the Education System

After watching this video from a TED talk by Salman Khan I am inspired and excited that there are technology based solutions being made available to help our education systems, regardless of where you live.

I have long been concerned about our education systems and how they are failing the developed nations. The system has become a machine that spits out human lives without much concern for their actual preparedness to survive reality. The continuous pushing down of the curriculum, forces kids to learn more information than we ever had to and at a faster pace. The reality of this approach is that all those small gaps that students develop based on information they did not quite get, become serious knowledge gaps as they progress further through the system. The overall result of this approach leads to a higher number of students graduating that cannot read properly, write complete sentences, or handle math concepts at an adult level. The depreciating value of our knowledgebase in developed countries continues to grow based on this system - we need a new approach - Salman Khan is on to something with his Khan Academy.

Check out the website at www.khanacademy.org The site is free and can be used by Parents and your kids or I even challenge the school system to take a look at this and perhaps incorporate the Khan academy approach into your teaching.

Check out the video below of Salman Khan speaking at the TED conference - Love this!

 

Xobni - finally a better way to manage Outlook contacts

I have fallen in love..... Yes, Xobni has delivered new meaning to me, re-ignited my passion for using my email client - they have given me knowledge.

Ok, so I am a little dramatic, but I have used a ton of software in the past and I have experienced many broken promises in my quest to find a simple tool that will help leverage Outlook for a decent relationship manager. Well, Xobni delivers and does a few better. Not only does Xobni provide a more effective method of leveraging your contacts in Outlook, but it also tracks each email thread with that contact - maintaining an easily accessible history. Trouble finding that attachment sent by your co-worker last month, no problem Xobni also provides a listing of all attachments by each contact.

However, Xobni does not stop there. Every time you highlight an email to read Xobni updates with that persons information providing you with a summary of emails that you have sent this contact and what they have sent you. In addition, Xobni automatically searches each email for a telephone number and puts that front and centre for quick and easy access, as well, you will see a listing of all the people connected to both you through emails.

Click the organize tab at the top and you will see a summary of your appointments and tasks. Last but not least Xobni also highlights those people that you have not been in contact with from some time - helping you maintain your relationships.

The bad news to all of this is that Xobni is in closed beta, meaning you can sign up, but you will have to wait for an official invite to get your hands on this gem.

Xobni is not a CRM system, but it sure puts the steriods into your MS Outlook.