January, 2012
Apple is expected to make an announcement with a focus on education this Thursday. A rumor claims that Apple plans to launch a “GarageBand” style software that allows anyone with an Apple device tools to create interactive textbooks. According to Steve Jobs biography, he had a much bigger idea in mind. He believed that the $8 billion a year industry was ready for a digital makeover. To learn more, visit Mashable.
December, 2011
PBS Kids and WBGH are currently testing a new augmented reality app for iOS that gets kids excited about math. To play the game, called Fetch! Lunch Rush, users must have pieces of paper with special marks and numbers on them. The app will then provide mathematical equations that the children solve by hovering their phone or iPad over the paper. The game will then award children points for correct answers. Rather than having the children focus solely on the app, the use of augmented reality encourages children to move around and interact more in depth with their learning experience.
July, 2011
MBA Watch, a social community for business students hoping to enter grad school, is making the application and testing processes much easier. The website has application information for major business graduate schools and even allows its users to follow and post on the schools’ profiles. Statistics are categorized on each university’s profile to show important information, such as the average GMAT score and the average age of the applicant, among others. For more information, please visit Tech Crunch.
June, 2011
Do Something, a national charity aimed to encourage teenagers to get involved in civic activities, has launched a new campaign to engage their members through mobile texting. Their goal is to sign up 3.8 million members with charitable causes by 2014, this would be a steep increase from the 1.2 million members they had by 2010. Do Something has been receiving grants and reorganizing their board in order to launch the new mobile texting campaign. The campaign will be based around texting teens on their phone list with new volunteer ideas, challenges, and words of encouragement to keep them involved and active in their communities. The texts will be sent by Do Something staff interns, called “Cause Concierges”, who will also be available to personally respond to any questions that teens send to the organization via text. For more information see The New York Times.
June, 2011
Rosetta Stone for the iPad offers users 20 languages to learn at their fingertips. Similar to the actual program, the app offers courses in levels of one through five, with four lessons per level. As the user progresses through the levels, the lesson get more difficult and offer less help. To aid users in learning the language, the application provides photos as a guide. To learn more, visit Gizmodo.com.
May, 2011
Chrysler’s Town & Country Minivan is helping eliminate illiteracy through the Facebook campaign, “Road to Literacy”. Users who want to donate must visit the brand’s Facebook page, click the Donate Now tab, choose a local school to donate to, then visit a local dealership to test drive a minivan. After the test drive, the user will be given a special code to re-enter on Facebook. From there, five books will be sent to the school of choice, and five books will be donated to a school in need. Chrysler will donate 150,000 books in total at the end of the campaign. To learn more about this campaign, visit PRNewswire.com.
March, 2011 Games were a popular topic this year at SXSW. One game, Find Your Future, being developed by The New York City Public Library will launch in May of this year. The game hopes to attract 15 to 29 year-olds who live in New York City. On May 20, the game promises to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience, for a one night game where “500 young people will explore the 40 miles of books stored under the floor of the library from 8pm to 6 am and work towards writing a book in that time which will be published and archived in the library for all time.” The game hopes to get more young people to visit the library. To read more, please visit: <http://madebymany.com/blog/games-at-sxsw-whats-in-the-future>
February, 2011
Patrón Tequila has created the Patrón Cocktail Lab on Facebook for fans with a love for their product and a desire to mix it in innovative and original ways. Fans can submit their Patrón cocktail recipes, view recipes that expert Patrón mixologists have created and vote on their favorite drink submissions. Patrón also posts interesting and useful tips for cocktail creation and bartending. With the steady trend of molecular mixology prevalent in the spirits industry, the concept of a cocktail lab should seem simple and obvious – yet we don’t see it often, if ever. Patrón has created both a fun and educational environment in which their fans are able to engage with their brand and with one another – which ultimately gets Patrón to ice that top-of-mind spot that brands vie for. Consumers not only get to enjoy their time spent on the brand’s Facebook page, but they actually learn and become more knowledge about Patrón tequila and cocktail creation in general, so the whole experience overall becomes more valuable to them.
February 2011
“The Good Shopping Guide” is a new mobile app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad by the Ethical Company Organization lets consumers make real-time comparisons of a company’s ethical behavior. With research on over 700 brands and 72 product categories, consumers can see how a company compares to others in terms of the environment, animal welfare, and human rights. They can also see a quick summary chart using the Ethical Company Index of the best performers in each product category. The transparency provided means shoppers can now make purchase decisions based on the ethical (or not) decisions of a corporation
October, 2010 MTV has launched an iPhone app that is aimed at stopping bullying among teens. The app, called “Over the Line” builds on website and Facebook app. Users can post stories and accounts of bullying experiences encouraging others to vote and think about those experiences.
April 2010
The History Channel partnered with Foursquare to promote it’s 12-hour television special, America, The Story of Us, on how America was invented. When users sign into Foursqare from different cities, they have the option of learning about historical facts of the area and can unlock the History Channel badge.
April, 2010 Chef Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef) launched a social media campaign, “Jamie’s Food Revolution” in an effort to change children’s eating habits in America. The revolution utilizes Oliver’s site, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and direct email in an attempt to promote healthier eating among kids.
April, 2010 Dr. Seuss with Oceanhouse Media has released another iPad/iPhone app based on the book The Lorax, meant to teach children about the importance of caring for the environment. Lorax Garden for the iPhone supplements the ebook as a game where users can plant trees and send email postcards.
March, 2010
The University of Missouri is set to launch multiple apps for campus services this coming spring and fall. The apps include Communication Services, Campus Dining, a map and tour applications. The apps themselves are being designed by students and will be set to work on a multitude of smartphones. Currently, students and IT services are in discussion for additional apps, such as dining menus, meal planning, and a news-consolidating app.
February, 2010 Tufts University is now accepting YouTube videos as an application supplement for undergraduate admission. The video application provides students a chance to share themselves with admissions. Applicants may post videos to showcase their talents and abilities in addition to submitting a traditional application.
