Is there interest in forming a group of Buzztouch Educators? If we decide to set up a group it would meet monthly. The group would share information and would possibly work on projects that make Buzztouch work better for educators. @GraciousWolf will be involved as well. If there is interest, I will form a list of interested BT users so we can find times to meet. Here is a list of possible tools that would help educators (from @GraciousWolf) 1. Google Drive access 2. DropBox access 3. Bracket Maker (editable fields) 4. Scoreboard 5. Form random teams with a simple shake 6. Ability to create "colouring" pages that would allow children/students to colour 7. Audio screens (ability to add voice recordings) 8. Easy attendance 9. Gradebooks In addition to this list from GraciousWolf, I would like to work on simple plugins that offer more variations on quizzes; for example, matching, put the list in order, or write in answers. Feel free to add your ideas to this post--I can start a list for the group.

Of course, I'll help wherever I can Sue - including helping you with plugins :)

We need you, Chris! I could see you making some seriously cool plugins for us. I should mention that the Vote Plugin could be extremely useful in a school setting already. It should be on the market sometime soon.

Yeah - the only issue with that one is that it requires a backend php file to record the votes.

Very eager to collaborate with the Buzztouch community on such a worthwhile endeavour involving educators - the cogs are already turning! Thank you, Susan, for getting this started. Hope to see more people jump on board the Buzztouch Educators group. :) Nicholas

FINALLY!!!!!! :)

This idea has been kicked around and chewed on for awhile here is my thoughts: There is so much "buzz" about user experience and making it more user friendly for new user on Buzztouch. Why not have the group get together on a package to be presented online and even in meetups for users who are willing to present in their local area? Several great attempts have done this on youtube, udemy and other training sites. This module could be used for training purposes on buzztouch and repurposed for others individual groups? I agree with Chris There needs to be backend for individual class participants but some things can be done with tools already out there: As a nursing educator there is a huge need for this in my field and I am very excited to see this happening! Educational Software Needs: (forgive me if I repeat) -Communication with instructors and students -Communication with instructor and instructor -Communication with student to student -Ability to Record Grades -Ability to Print Certificates -Video Live Streams -Peer To Peer Video Conferencing -PDF Plugins -Online Testing and Quizes -Web Form -Ability for Free/Paid -Ability to Receive Payments Brain explosion! Group participation would be so fun and EXACTLY what I have been looking for! Thanks Susan :)

Hey All, I'm not following, "Educators" please elaborate further. 1. are you saying form a group from current bt developers "members" to create tools "list 1-9" for the purpose of Educating those in the classic education system? In hopes to spark interest in BT and its capabilities like in Nicholas's Formative Evaluation video? Possibly to introduce BT to any educational level? "Ability to create "coloring" pages that would allow children/students to color" is this via a BT created mobile App. 2. if this group were to meet monthly, is this real world meetup.com setting or virtual goto meeting setting. To share ideas and create projects. Apps, Plugins, xcode, eclipse discussions? Your 1-9 lists seems like you are looking to create a BT academy of sorts, and i'm trying to figure out how the BT App Building platform ties in. I've taught and developed course ware and online educational platforms for various credited and non-credited computer learning centers in my early years as an instructor. Curious what percentage of Buzztouch Educators are out there currently that the formation of this group would help. Thanks Ed

@Sheri , Your ideas are great, I'm in this space already having done all the research developed prototype websites for clients to pitch to VC's an online educational system, module, everything requires a back end infrastructure and there are hard costs involved. I already built a facebook type member driven community website using joomla as the cms and jomsocial for the community integration. Then you have buddypress for the wordpress cms, last would be drupal another cms, moodle and others. all using php and mysql for the database. I did this for Arthur Murray Corporate so that all the franchise owners can communicate in video conference meetings globally, print certificates grading student payments all that, had so that instructors can track students, remind them of their schedules. Having a BT Academy (university?) maybe do bt crowd funding to launch the idea. Been there done that. I can point you guys in the right direction, each aspect of the brain storming wish list is great, but it is really time consuming but if you guys plan it out, it can be done. Just my experience and a heads up.

I have taught BT classes to various groups. That material can be donated and dissected for applicability. -- Niraj

Nice idea!! I like this, I'm all in.

Yes me too

Ok hot topics in education Standard based grading and data driven instruction.

I'm keen to get involved. Although a Buzztouch novice, I work in Adult Education (16+) and specialise in Information and Technology in Teaching and Learning - this project sounds like a great idea.

We need a way of saving user info when they open the app maybe a splash form screen. A nice presentation plugin. Maybe a slider type plugin for iOS android

Seems a great idea. Miguel

I am also very interested in educational applications. So I am in ;-). As I have developed some matching games and text input games (like "order the letters in a scrumbled word"), I would like to translate them into "Buzztouch / screen" language. Thomas

So BT Educators group's formation is to create Apps?

@Ed, I believe to create and converse about plugins and how to strengthen the development of education apps within the core of BT! I think Buzztouch will be awesome for Educational apps.

Ok so create plugins to build/add functionality to educational Apps within the BT core. got it, i thought its to build a udemy type thing

I’m interested…count me in!

I'm in.

Heres one of my educational apps https://vimeo.com/80271082

I will help where I can as well

@Feraco's app example is right on target. I would love to see more plugins that allowed more types of educational experiences. We can let the group shape where this goes. Initially the group will be information sharing, and then we can see where it leads us. I know David Book does a lot of teaching in schools as well, and it would be interesting to see what he uses for this. @Andria had a group of students (I think High School) make an app as a group project last year. Of course, we can review the recent work of @GraciousWolf, and see how we can use that in our own programs. I know the information sharing in itself will be valuable--I am not sure where this will go beyond that, although I am open to taking this beyond information sharing. My thought is that we would do a monthly GoToMeeting for one hour. It may be difficult to find a good time of day. Classroom teachers will not be available during the day in the US, but if we meet in the evening then it is too late for Western Europe to participate. Out of scope for this would be how to teach new users to use Buzztouch. What time of day would be good to meet? How would Thursday's work--at 3PM Pacific, 4PM Mountain, 5PM Central, 6PM Eastern? Or would it be better a couple hours later? I am afraid it will be the middle of the night for Western Europe, but anything earlier would be during the school day for the U.S. I want to make sure we have a time that works well for primary and secondary classroom teachers. Thank you for the great response to this!

Hi Susan. Count me in too please.

One idea is to alternate the meeting times - maybe start with your suggestion for meeting #1, record it, and have the next one at a different time.

Umm Wednesday 6pm Eastern would work for me!

In essence, the Buzztouch Educators group will examine ways of making the Buzztouch platform more educator friendly and accessible, one of these ways being the creation of teaching & learning plugins. That being said, there a lot of plugins that work for educators and all users alike (i.e. access to Dropbox/Google Drive to access files and documents). A second goal of the Buzztouch Educators group would be to enrich the new educator experience once joining Buzztouch. In the beginning, it can be difficult for new educators to wrap their minds around creating mobile applications for use with their students. Buzztouch U exists with a plethora of information and the Buzztouch community forum has always been top notch with user engagement and providing additional assistance. However, if this could be "streamlined" for educators, they may be more inclined and more confident in their ability to tackle their mobile application idea. All in all, since this group is just starting up, the beginning will be on brainstorming and gathering our ideas together and see how we can build off that, as Susan mentioned. As also mentioned previously, many elements discussed by Buzztouch Educators will also be applicable for Buzztouch users, new and experienced alike! It's great to see a bunch of you on board and I can't wait for our first discussion. Personally, anytime after 6 pm Eastern Time (up until 9 or 10?) would be good for me on a Wednesday or Thursday. :) Nicholas

Great news! Nicholas has agreed to be the chair of the group. I will be the facilitator. This is really coming together. I can do Wednesday's at 6pm EST. That would be 5pm for me in Minnesota. We have a standing developer meeting at 4PM EST, but it would always be over by 6pm EST.

I will set up the Kick Off meeting for next Wednesday at 6pm Eastern US time zone. We can talk about the best date and time at the meeting. If that is NOT a good time for you and you would like to participate, let Nicholas or me know so we can incorporate your feedback into setting a time.

Remember that our first meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday, December 4. Are all of you ok being listed on the committee? See the webpage below for the meeting details. http://whitebuffalomobile.com/bted.html

Yup :) You can be my project manager anytime girl! Thanks for organizing this and so much more! Busy Busy!

Is the creation of the buzztouch educators group going to be integrated into the BTU or a permanent section on this site, or are we developing ideas for possible new plugins to be sold or added free in the marketplace. Or like GW second goal we are developing additional training material to assist new educators?

The one thing that is not in scope for this group is working on the New User Experience for Buzztouch or BTU. There are other initiatives in the pipeline at Buzztouch to improve the New User Experience. It is important that we don't duplicate those efforts. Having said that, what inspired this is @GraciousWolf's work to teach teachers how to use Buzztouch to advance mobile in the classroom. So I would say it is in scope to continue his work. My personal interest is in having more educational type plugins available for use in educational work. Other than that, the group can shape what direction this is going. Initially we will all benefit from information sharing. It is hard to say what will happen after that. I would love for Buzztouch to be known as a tool that helps to bring mobile to the classroom, but it will evolve.

I hope that I can make it. Its a bit late for me over here now. But will it be recorded @Susan?