Do you offer ice cream or toppings?

As I get back into the swing of things here in Shanghai, the technology world continues at its fast pace of creating new and amazing programs that can be used in the classroom. One of the most exciting programs that has come out in the past months is the Jing Project.

The first thing that stands out about this new tool is that it was created by TechSmith. TechSmith is behind the very popular Camtasia Studio product. This is the same product that I use to create the U Tech Tips Screencasts. It is by far the best in the business for capturing your screen and allowing you to make videos as well as many other projects.

So what is the Jing Project?

The concept of Jing is the always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video…from your computer to anywhere. It’s something we want to give you, along with some online media hosting, to see how you use it.

So why? Why would a company that makes the best screen capture program give it away for free?

Because that’s the way the Web works these days.

In today’s fast paced information highway you not only have to have a great product, but you have to get people to use that product. They need to buy into what you are selling. Then there is the competition. With so many free great products on the Web, how do you sell a product that is worth hundreds of dollars? What the Internet has done is flatten the playing field, so a little company can now compete with larger companies…and in today’s world if you want to make money, you had better be willing to give the ice cream away for free.

So where do you make your money, what stands you apart from others? It has to be the toppings. Bring them into the store, get them excited about the ice cream and then make sure all those little extras are sitting around and available for your customers.

This is not a new concept. When my family used to grow corn and sell to local stores, the stores would sell the corn for a loss…but the butter would cost you twice as much.

So what does this have to do with education…with our students? Maybe nothing…or maybe everything.

Our students believe that things should be free (the ice cream). They have grown up with an Internet where any information you want you can get for free. Music is a great example. For this generation it has always been free. Sure you can pay for it, but who does (besides me)? You need a term paper, not a problem; a little search, copy, paste, and a free term paper is yours. Information is the ice cream of our day.

How do we engage students who are used to information being free? How do we get students into our classroom so we can sell them the toppings? How do we get them to dig deeper and understand this free information?

We give them the ice cream! We have to create an atmosphere of learning, a place that students want to come and want to learn. What do you give that is free that engages students? What is it that they come to your classroom for that they cannot get off the Internet in a faster, more visually stimulating way?

How do you engage this generation?:

So what are you going to do in your classroom this year that engages THESE students?

What is your topping? What is it that you can offer them that they cannot get anywhere else? How are you going to get them to dig deeper, to interact with knowledge rather than react from it? How are you going to engage students in the learning process and not allow them to be passive in their own learning? These are the toppings we need to sell our students.

This is our challenge!