I started reading Ben Wilkoff’s blog Discourse about Discourse recently. Ben has been honored by Yahoo as one of the most connected teachers out there. His understanding of how technology should be put to use in the classroom is articulated in a series entitled the Ripe Environment. The core thought behind this series is that technology is worthless without usage, so lets stop talking about technology implementation and start using technology (in his more eloquent words):

The simultaneous personal and public experience of using all of the tools at the teacher’s disposal to tear down walls, collaborate with each another, and question the traditional role of technology in the classroom.

The corollary to this point is that the tools need to be accessible to teachers across a wide range of technical knowledge. So make it easy and we can really get somewhere.

The first unit in the Ripe Environment series is on Connection. This is where it really starts to align with PlansForUs. Here, according to Ben, are the three types of connection that create thee most value: The 1:1, The autograph (aka 1:many), The frame (aka many:many).

Like Ben, the PlansForUs team agrees that successful implementations require that a tool satisfies each of these connections within the application. Simplicity + mult-tier connections is a recipe for success.

Enjoy Ben’s series, it is superb.

by Tyler, CEO