Idea #123 Textbook BS

Okay, so today's great idea is to write a textbook on Instructional Technology.  I know, the problem with the book would be that technology is always changing, therefore the book would constantly need to be updated or it would become out of date and useless pretty fast.  On second thought, scratch that!  That's an even better reason why I need to publish a book.  After purchasing my textbooks for my final semester of undergraduate classes, I spend an amazing $542.98 on books.  I am taking 7 classes of course, but still come on this is crazy!  I thought the idea was to help students succeed in college, not have them declare bankruptcy by their graduation date!  But, hey with everyone else making money for this I thought this could be another one of my great ideas!  Let's see....I would publish the book in hopes of selling the books for $134.95.  The average right now is $75-150 per book.  So, I came up with this random number because it's kind of a "happy medium" between the prices.  I can't be too expensive or people won't want to use it in their classrooms, nor can I be too cheap because then people will think the book is "crap" because it's priced too low.  The ninety-five cents at the end will make people think they are actually getting a great deal at a great price and for some odd reason people would rather buy a product that has an odd number in change verses an even priced number.  Hence, the reason every product in the world is priced at $7.99, $1.97, $2.98, etc.  (Except for the famous Dollar Store in which case they beat the odds!)  Thank you Dr. Long, my Marketing instructor for that tid-bit of information!  Something from your class did actually get into my long term memory.  Back to the textbook, I'm going to low-ball this one and say that only 2 colleges use my book the first year.  They are both very small colleges and have around 50 students who take Instructional Technology each semester.  That would be 100 students per college per year.  That would be 200 students total who would need to purchase the book.  It's going to be brand new so I am not totaling the amount for used books, rentals, and the students who will not buy the book.  (Which by the way is so stupid to me for a variety of reasons.  Why pay $500 to take a damn class but you won't purchase the book that goes with the class for $100?  Whatever, people are crazy!)   Anyway, after one year the total profit would be $26, 990 on one book!  I know you have to pay the publisher and the other people that need their cut.  But, let's look at this logically...$20,000 is actually MORE as a full-time college student that I make a year right now!  Heck! Sounds like a great idea to me!  I'll start writing....as soon as I read the other 7 damn books sitting in front of me that I haven't touched!  (What's more stupid than not buying the book for class???  Purchasing the book and never opening it!)  Crazy, ingenious, I prefer the later.

Great Idea # 101

Since I have been working on netTrekker, there has been a lot of discussion about best ways to use netTrekker and how to effectively use it in the classroom.  Today's great idea is to use the TLI documents for NW Arkansas to put folders up by grade level and nine weeks based on standards in netTrekker.  Starts today!!!  Goal is to be able to show Teresa in about 2 weeks!  :)

Great Idea #100

With Apple's new release of the iPad, there has been a lot of negative feedback.  I think people were expecting Apple to blow all of the other products off the map with this release!  The iPad is a good product.  It combines the MacBook, Kindle, and iTouch all together!  The name that Apple announced (iPad) has had tons of negative feedback as well!  I can understand this for the most part.  I mean, come on, you're APPLE for crying out loud!  Can you not have a more original name?  Some were thinking it would be called the iSlate or something else a little bit more exciting!  Which made me think of my great idea #100!  Apple needs to create a product that combines ALL of the features of the Macbook, Kindle, and iPod Touch but, this time make a product specific for education.  The teacher's would have the main features.  The students would all have a product that would match the teachers.  The teacher would have control over the student machines.  Allowing him/her to control screens, offer help, and all work done on the teacher's machine would be able to be viewed on the students.  The students would be able to submit their work to the teacher, chat with other students, and explore on their own.  For example, a teacher could be explaining how to solve a Math equation on her machine, and the students would be able to look on their machine to watch the teacher solve that problem.  Now, this of course would be recorded for students to refer back to whenever they needed.  The teacher could then say, I want you to complete exercise # 52 on your boards.  The students would then have access to their online text book and would have a pen that would allow the students to work the problems on their machines.   When completed, the students would be able to submit their problems to the teacher.  The students could then practice the activity on a downloaded App that the teacher has made available for students.  When completed, students could search the internet for resources, work on other assignments, or ask questions back to each other.  All which could be viewed by the teacher.  When the student changes classes, the student would then just "touch" the name of the teacher whose class they are in!  The teacher would know immediately who was absent or present in class by who signs in.  This information would be sent directly to ASPCN to report attendance.  The teacher's machine would be called an iTeach and the students, you guessed it, iLearn!  :)  Come on, Apple!  Let's get with it!  I can't wait for you to invent this!  :)

Great Idea's Start Now!

For about the past 5 years, I have been sending my "Great Idea of the Day" ideas to different people but I have never actually kept track of them.  Starting today, my "Great Ideas" are going to start with number 100.  Now, I will be able to hopefully keep track of my ideas and refer back to them!  :)  Saying this,  I do fully understand that no one will probably ever need to refer back to them.  However, in the rare case they do, they will be able to and they will all be organized!  I couldn't start with "Great Idea #1" because it would infer this is would be the first great idea I have ever had.  Nor could I start with "Great Idea #10,000" because that's kind of conceded.  Therefore, I have decided to start at a good, solid number to get me started!  :)  So, get ready for my great ideas!  I will be posting two today!  I am also going to look through past emails to see if I can find some of these old ideas and see if I can post them too!  :)

Apple's New Bundle of Joy

Apple released their new iPad this morning!  It was estimated there were 1,500 new tweets every 10 seconds on Twitter about the new iPad!  It quickly became the #1 topic on Twitter only taking 20 minutes to reach the #1 spot!  So, what's all the hype about the iPad?  Here are some of the features I took note of...

• 1/2 inch thick
• Weighs 1 lb and 1 oz
• Aluminum
• 16, 32, or 64 GB
• 10 hours of battery
• 1 month of standby battery life (Yes, that's 1 MONTH)
• Wireless
• eReader (or iReader)
• iBook Library of virtual books from App store
• Runs all Apps from App store
• Data Plans from AT&T $14.99 for 250 mgs/month or unlimited for $29.99
• Free AT&T wifi
• Price Tag- $499

Basically, it's a Macbook, iPod Touch, and Kindle mixed together!  The downfalls are there's not a camera and it doesn't do your laundry....yet!!!  :)  Gotta love Apple!