The eduFire Blog » Koichi

Relive the Glory Days with eduFire Class Recordings

Koichi — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:21:43 +0000

If you’re like me and you wish you had something to watch now that the World Series is over (and you’re also sad that the Seattle Mariners didn’t make it to the playoffs), you’re definitely in luck. We’ve been secretly asking people for permission to take the recordings of their classes and put them up for your viewing pleasure.

Introducing, the eduFire Videos channel. This page is full of our favorite class recordings, from Bert Sperling’s class on Sperling’s BestPlaces (who did studies like “Sperling’s Best Places to Live”, to Avinash Kaushik’s class on Web Analytics, you’ll find something interesting (and educational) no matter who you are. We’ll be adding new classes approximately once a week, so make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed to get updates right to your reader.

Although this is just a little taste of what’s already there and what’s to come, here are some of our favorites, listed in easy-to-click bullet format! :)

Or, if none of these interest you, be sure to browse around anyways. There’s a lot more, and we’ll continue to add content in there every week!

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Looking for a Lead UI/User Experience Designer at eduFire.com

Koichi — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:55:32 +0000

Do you want to change the world by making learning fun for students and empowering teachers around the world? Are you fanatical about delivering world-class user experiences? Would you like to join a small team where you’ll be the lead UI/UX designer working closely with marketing, engineering and a customer-focused CEO to create the best learning experience possible?

Here’s the kind of thing we’re looking for (plus a little more about ourselves!).

You…

Think in terms of tasks and users when designing applications
Possess solid HTML/Javascript/CSS skills and the ability to produce interfaces that are fast and work consistently across browsers
Have knowledge of Y! YUI Library (http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/)
Have a portfolio online of web *apps* that you’ve developed
Aren’t scared off by code or the occasional controller
Are passionate about shipping products that delight customers and enjoy watching people use your product and learning from the experience (even when it’s painful)

Oh, and you’re looking forward to having a massive impact on the direction of the product and the look and feel of the site.

Us…

A small team of experienced professionals focused on doing one thing: Revolutionizing Education
Funded by a top-tier VC
Employ the “Getting Real” philosophy and engage in test-driven development and paired programming
Results-driven, we move fast and we don’t waste time with pointless meetings

Last but not least, we have fun, love flexibility and enjoy working on a revenue-generating product that already has a lot of raving fans (check out our forums and see what our community’s talking about).

If you like how this sounds, please take a few minutes and read the rest of our blog / manifesto and spend some time on our site. If this resonates with you, drop a line with ”eduFire Lead Designer” in the subject line to jobs@edufire.com. Please send us URLs of your work!

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Learn From Successful Entrepreneurs for Free

Koichi — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:34:04 +0000

We are so excited to present to you the eduFire Business Channel. It’s kind of like our language section or our test prep section except now we’re finally “getting down to business.” Subjects you’ll find here include marketing, entrepreneurship, business development, management, career development, and more! Better yet, to kick things off we’ve partnered with twenty entrepreneurs (and growing) who will share their stories and strategies of success with you. Don’t miss out on their classes. There are several up in the business listings already and more to come soon. Here is a sampling of some of the classes available right now.

A lot of the classes are free, so there’s no excuse not to sign up (unless the class fills up first, hurry!). There are, however, a growing number of SuperPass classes also available in the business category. By signing up for SuperPass, you would get access to all of these and more (every single SuperPass class in every category is free with a subscription). Here are a few more business classes to take a look at.

If there’s one thing we’re really excited about, it’s the fact that we’re helping people become entrepreneurs. We’re helping people gain the insight they need to get a job, start a company, or do something remarkable. You won’t find a more passionate and experienced group of successful professionals ready to show you how they did it. Do not miss out on this opportunity!

As Jon said, “Entrepreneurship is the engine that drives innovation and gives all us awesome stuff that makes our lives better like Google, Twitter, Facebook, ZipCar, Mint.com and Scribd (and thousands of other amazing companies). By helping each other out and teaching each other from our knowledge I truly feel we can change the world. If eduFire could play a small role in that I’d be incredibly happy.”

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3 Quick Tips on Becoming a Successful Learner

Koichi — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:46:12 +0000

I found this image in a great blog post that I was reading, and it really struck a chord. How about you? You certainly aren’t one of the 99%, right?

In all before-and-after success stories, there’s one thing that they didn’t tell you about: perseverance. Every one of these people had to work hard to be successful, and even though they make it look easy, it wasn’t! Nothing is as easy as we want it to be, but in the end, if you try hard and take the leap you will make it. Then you will be the one to make it look simple. Today, let’s look at three things you can do to increase your learning potential and be one of these success stories.

1. Write down your goals

You’d be surprised at how much this helps. There was a study done recently, where college students were put into three groups: The first group was the control group, and they did nothing. The second group were asked to come up with their “life goals.” The third and final group were asked to actually write down their goals. Later in the students’ lives the researchers found out how much they were making. Can you guess the results?

Group 1 (no goals): We’ll be comparing the success of Groups 2 and 3 against this group.
Group 2: Made 3x the income of Group 1
Group 3: Made 11x the income of Group 1

ELEVEN TIMES! That’s not too bad.

When it comes to learning, writing down your goals are important as well. What is it that you’d like to achieve? What do you wish to do with the knowledge that you are gaining? Who do you need to contact or meet to get there? By writing your goals down you are clearing the path to victory. Try this out with anything you are doing and watch your life improve!

2. Keep Yourself Accountable and Prevent Burnout

Have you ever gotten really excited about something, gone all out, and then ended up quitting because you worked too hard or got too busy? One way to prevent this is to create an accountability system for yourself. This approach is especially important when you are learning something on your own. Here are some quick tips to do better:

Learn with a Friend: If both of you get into it, learning can be a lot more fun and fulfilling. Just make sure you pick someone that learns at your pace, otherwise you’ll find that one person can get discouraged.
Start a Blog: Share what you’re learning with the world! Starting a blog has never been easier with platforms like Wordpress or Blogger. When you start a blog keep in mind that you are writing to an audience. A blog is a great way to share your knowledge, keep you learning, and stay accountable!
Learn From Different Places: It can be boring for your brain to learn from the same place. Go someplace public, like a coffee shop or library where other people are around. This will help you stay motivated.
Turn Off Your Internet! This is tougher than it sounds. If you have to use the Internet for whatever it is you’re learning, consider separating work and play by assigning them to different browsers. For example, all “fun” stuff goes on Chrome, and all the work stuff goes on Firefox. Make sure you stick to your rules!

3. Use the Right Tools

Figure out what you need to help you learn. Whether that’s the right learning environment, the right software, or the right teacher depends on you and you alone. We think that our SuperPass program is a wonderful way to learn incredible things, but there are other great resources out there as well. Here’s a quick list.

Flashcard Learning:  smart.fm, Anki, SpacedEd
Audio Learning:  LanguagePod101 (SpanishPod101, JapanesePod101, etc), iTunes
Learning from a Teacher: eduFire SuperPass, TeachStreet (Local teachers)
Community Learning:  eduFire, Busuu, Babbel, iTalki, LiveMocha, Lang-8

Then again, sometimes nothing beats a book, a pencil, and a reading lamp, right? Well… we’d probably debate that.

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Bacon Cookies and Goodbyes to our Intern Robyn

Koichi — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:20:42 +0000

Yesterday was the last day for our wonderful intern Robyn. Even more wonderful, she brought in Bacon Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m pretty sure we’re the ones who are supposed to bring things in (like donuts, as per eduFire tradition goes), but at least we all went out and got sushi later in the day (still not as good as the cookies). Bacon, c’mon!

Robyn did an incredible interny job for us, and we’ll miss her! She’s a hard worker, learned all about social media marketing, became a Facebook marketing hero, helped build our community, did some UI design work, wrote some site content, networked with some San Fran tech stars, and more. That’s not bad for a two month stint (feel free to use this blog post if anyone doesn’t want to give you a job – hey, hire this girl!).

When you go back to that Ivy League school of yours don’t forget about us, study a bit, and keep in touch! Thanks so much for all of your hard work!

P.S. That also might mean we are looking for a Robyn-replacement. You can ask about it via Twitter.

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Take eduFire Classes on Apple’s new Tablet

Koichi — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:05:34 +0000

Here at eduFire, every single one of us (except for a couple of traitorous interns) are Apple lovers. Everywhere you look you’ll see Apple products. iPhones, Macbook Pros, Mac Minis, and more. Now, for the first time ever, a brand spankin’ new Apple tablet… well, in our poorly photoshopped dreams, anyways. But you knew that right after looking at the picture, right?

Live Classes on the Go

With all the hubbub and excitement about about the may-or-may-not-exist Apple tablet, it got me thinking. The rumors suggest that there will be a version with a webcam, and a version that is made for “education,” whatever that means. Whether or not an Apple tablet includes a webcam, it’s the perfect platform for on-the-go eduFire classes. My guess is that you will be able to connect to a 3G network with these, which means you could technically take a class from anywhere that has a cell connection. Originally I had hoped my iPhone would get me onto an eduFire class (no flash support yet, sadly), so this may be the next best thing. No, it’s even better.

I have a dream, where one day anyone and everyone will be able to pick up their tablets, PC or Apple (or linux!), and learn something new from anywhere they want. Where people will be able to pull out one of these at the beach and take a lesson in marketing, or learn some Italian while listening to the waves hit the shore. Learning from bed or the passenger seat of a car will never be easier. A product like this, which could easily become more widespread than other similar tablets or netbooks on the market (c’mon, it’s Apple, people buy their stuff just because it exists), could really change how we learn online. You will no longer be tethered to your desk or modem, and learning will be able to happen anywhere. How cool would that be?

I also have a dream to not make horrible photoshoppings of things. Maybe I should take a photoshop class.

If you had one of these, where would you take a class from? I wonder who will be the first to suggest the toilet?

Apple Tablet image provided by Gizmodo, thanks guys!

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7 Free Online Resources for Homeschool Language Learning

Koichi — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:10:46 +0000

Of course, we think eduFire (not to mention SuperPass!) is an absolutely incredible way for any homeschooler to learn a language or new skill, but we can’t always go and toot our own horn when there’s so many others that do such a good job as well. Here is a list of seven free resources (besides us) that home schoolers can use to study a language quickly and effectively. With the web, using software on your computer is old. These resources are often better, more effective, and free!

Smart.fm

Smart.fm is one of the most in depth flashcard programs on the web, and it’s all free. With user generated lists there are an infinite number of possibilities, from Japanese to Spanish to art and more. They’ve done an incredible job studying how the brain learns new things and applying it to an application that anybody can use. No matter what you’re learning, it’s time to throw away your index cards and get Smart.

Lang-8

Lang-8 is so innovative when it comes to the idea of “community” learning. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent writing and reading on this website. Lang-8 means “infinite languages” (turn that 8 on its side), because it supports all languages. The idea behind Lang-8 is pretty simple, but also really effective as well. You write journal entries (or other content) in the language that you are learning. People who are natives in the language that you are learning will correct your journal entries using Lang-8’s fabulous set of correcting tools. Then, in theory, you would go help people who are learning your native language by correcting their content. I’m always really surprised (happily surprised) by the community and how eager everyone is to help each other out! Start writing now!

Busuu

Busuu is another community driven site, and does a great job making language learning fun! Using the site, it almost feels “game-like” which, when done well (like Busuu) helps kids enjoy learning. Busuu’s platform includes dialogues, interactive tests, listening practice, community, vocabulary training, and more! If you just visit their website you’ll see why it’s different from everyone else!

Babbel

Babbel is another site that makes learning fun (actually, all of these are!). Babbel believes that it’s important to “make the connection between different sense, and associations between diverse kinds of content.” I couldn’t agree more! Everything on the site has a picture or audio along with it, and learning is much more interactive than traditional learning resources, which essentially means Babbel’s system will adjust to your level over time.

iTunes

iTunes, believe it or not, is a great way to practice a language. More specifically, the podcast section (because it’s free). Did you know that you can scroll down to the bottom of the iTunes store and change your location? If you do this, you can’t download any content that costs anything, but you can (for example), change your location to Japan, then go to the Japan podcast section where you have access to a wealth of listening resources that comes from real, native speakers of Japanese. The great part is that when you change locations, all your menu items stay in your native language, which makes it really easy to navigate!

Twitter

Twitter has really boomed in the last few months, which means more and more people from all over the world are Tweeting in 140 characters or less. I’ve found that Twitter is great for both reading and writing practice, mostly because everything comes in such manageable bite-sized chunks. If you follow people tweeting in the language that you’re learning then it’s easy to read / translate incoming tweets just because they’re so short (and not overwhelming, like a text or newspaper translation). Also, for writing, you’ll find that it’s easy to write 140 characters at a time.You can do it in between other things, so you’re always making use of your time. Tweet! (don’t forget to follow @edufire!)

Innovative Languages (Pod101 Series)

You may not have heard of Innovative Languages by this name, but I bet you’ve heard of all their fabulous online products (JapanesePod101, FrenchPod101, etc.). Now, they do have paid versions of all these things, but they offer quite a bit of content for free as well. You can learn a lot from their free audio content, and of course, you can learn even more by upgrading your account. To see a list of languages they cover, just head on over to the products page and gander at the list in the left sidebar.

So what is missing from this list? Add your own favorite homeschool language learning resources to the comments section to help everyone out!

[img source]

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Finding a class just got easier

Koichi — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:23:08 +0000

eduFire just rolled out a new classes page, and we think you’ll really like it. We’ve added a lot of organizational bits and pieces, cleaned things up, and improved the individual classes pages (and how you create them). Of course, we’d love your continued feedback for future version 2.1. Our community members have been posting their suggestions here. So what new features do you get in Classes 2.0?

Classes Page

Featured Classes: It looks like featured classes are still being added up (only one right there now), but this will be a really powerful widget. We hope it will help you find some great classes to take (perhaps with your SuperPass subscription?)!

Your Friends are attending: Learning alone isn’t very fun, so now you can know some of the classes that your friends are taking (so you can join in!). Make sure you friend people you like so you can enjoy their company in a class later on!

More Organization: Now you can sort by All Classes, SuperPass Classes, and Free Classes (not to mention cycling down to starting soonest, alphabetical, recently added, and popular). We also added the most popular categories to the left to help you find what you’re looking for even easier.

Class Creation Page

We’ve also made a lot of changes to the class-creation page. We’ve added a few things (and removed some as well) to help you write a great description and really optimize the class that potential students see.

About this class, Prerequisites, & Syllabus: One of the things we found was that without much direction, a lot of teachers don’t describe their class very much (which contributes to a low attendance rate). We want to make sure we give teachers the tools and guidance to write a great description, so we’ve added the “prerequisites” and “syllabus” sections. Make sure to fill these out to give your students an accurate expectation on what they’re learning in your class!

Removed the “Recording / Not Recording” Choice: We decided to take this out and just make all classes available to those thirteen and up. So, record away! This is nice for students who want to go back and re-watch your amazing class!

Individual Class Page

There’s also been a lot of changes to the individual class pages. We decided to switch to a tabbed interface to help organize all the information.

Class Description: This is where we added the syllabus and prerequisite stuff. We’re hoping to see some nice descriptions here!

About Teacher: Now students can learn more about the person teaching the class, right from the individual class page!

Class Schedule: We’ve made a few tweaks to make it easier to see the schedule and where the class is at.

Reviews: Now it’s even more important to clone classes you’re teaching more than once! Reviews get their own tab, so now you can see what people have said about previous version of the same class.

What this teacher is also teaching: There is a list of the classes that the teacher is also teaching in the right sidebar. If you like a particular teacher, this is a great way to see what else you can take from them!

Please feel free to leave your feedback so we can continue to improve. We hope you like the new classes layout!

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Cynthia Garcia is our iPhone winner! (plus more opportunities to win)

Koichi — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:44:14 +0000

Congratulations Cynthia! Out of all the people who have signed up for SuperPass, you were picked at random to receive a $200 Apple gift certificate, just the perfect amount for a fancy new iPhone 3GS! I know everyone at the office is really jealous without our compasses and video recording capabilities. We hope you enjoy it!

But, if you didn’t win something this time there’s still hope. We’ll be giving out another set of prizes on July 4th (easy to remember for everyone in the US. Everyone else? Mark your calendars). Every SuperPass subscriber (including people who subscribed earlier) will be entered in this drawing, so whether you signed up previously or are thinking about it, you can get in on these fabulous prizes.

Win the eduFire Summer Learning Package

Everybody knows what the sun does to your brains (or the snow, if you live in the Southern hemisphere). We definitely want you to keep on learning this summer, so we put together a package worth $100 to help you study. Here’s what you’ll get:

An eduFire t-shirt
$25 LearnOutLoud gift certificate
$50 of 1-on-1 tutoring on eduFire with the tutor of your choice

Check your eduFire inboxes around July 4 to see if you won! Join SuperPass now to be entered (it’s only $1 for your first week, if you want to try it out)!

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Unlimited classes for less than $1 a day

Koichi — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:52:07 +0000

We think that the opportunity to change education is huge. Our ultimate goal, which we pound into ourselves, is to “revolutionize education.” We want to change the way people learn, all over the world, and make it easy and affordable to do so. Today we introduce what we think this is the first step towards achieving that goal: eduFire SuperPass.

We’ve been working on this for a long time now (thank you testers!) and we’re really excited to be able to share this with you today. Unlimited classes for only $29 a month (that’s less than $1 a day!).

World class teachers will become available to anyone anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. Teachers, we believe, will be able to make more money this way too, since they’ll have more students in their classes. More students will have access to the best teachers in the world, to native speakers of the language they want to learn, and to experts in niche subjects unavailable in the places they’re living.

But we need your help. If you want to sign up and try it out for only $1 this first week, then we’d love to hear your feedback on the experience. If you don’t want to sign up, please send me an e-mail telling me what improvements you would need to see before you yourself made the plunge, even if you’d never ever join. Either way, we’d really love to hear your feedback so that we can improve on the overall experience! I appreciate it!

An iPhone 3GS for one lucky subscriber

Apple announced their third generation iPhone, slated to come out on July 19, 2009. We’ll be giving away a $200 Apple gift card to one lucky subscriber on that date. So, if you’d like to get in on the raffle, sign up before then! Of course, the gift card can be used on anything you’d like in the Apple store, and we won’t be paying for the monthly bills that cell phone carriers tend to have with them.

Thank you all so much for your support. We are really looking forward to doing this with you, changing the world one day at a time.

Update: We’ve extended the contest by a few days and will be announcing the winner of the iPhone 3GS on Monday, June 22nd. Good luck!

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