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By Richard Hamilton, August 10, 2009 12:23 pm

Back in March, I posted about Mobile Learning and it’s impact on Christian Education as part of a series on the Future of Ministry Education. In that post I said:

Discussions about educational technology do not answer larger questions of educational philosophy, but I believe they must be at the forefront of any discussion regarding changing how we train people for ministry. Technological advances fuel the future. We cannot be married to technology, but we also cannot let our inability to be innovative (technologically) handicap us. Unlike many of our predecessors, we must unshackle ourselves and utilize the cutting edge.

ReadWriteWeb posted today about CourseSmart’s new iPhone app which will allow students to access textbooks from their iPhone. Right now, CourseSmart has over 7,000 eTextbooks available. This may very well provide competition for the Kindle.

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By Richard Hamilton, May 5, 2009 3:04 pm

A little over a month ago, I posted “Mobile Learning: iPhone, Kindle 2 and the Future of Christian Education” examining, among other things, the potential for Amazon’s Kindle to be used as an educational tool. “I think the Kindle 2 is a completely untapped resource for [Christian/ministry] education.”

It looks like Amazon heard me…kinda.

ReadWriteWeb has an article titled, Would Students Even Want a Kindle for Textbooks? Amazon looks posed to release a Kindle specifically for college text books.

ReadWriteWeb asks, “wouldn’t it be more advantageous for students if Amazon and its partners released a Kindle for the Desktop similar to the Kindle for an iPhone app? Some of the current eTextbook offerings, like CourseSmart, already give students the option to download eTextbooks for a considerable discount.” Good call. While the Kindle iPhone app is a little difficult to use, laptops would seem to be the perfect solution.

So, why won’t Amazon do this? Because they would then have to face the reality that you don’t really need an e-book reader if they would be willing to release all their library via laptop friendly apps. Oh well.

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By Richard Hamilton, March 30, 2009 12:08 pm

TV still dominates viewable media, but young people want more social media options. Read more at ReadWriteWeb.

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By Richard Hamilton, March 26, 2009 10:18 pm

ReadWriteWeb featured Flat World Knowledge on their blog today. “Flat World Knowledge started out with a revolutionary idea, which was to start creating and publishing college textbooks that were absolutely free online.” This business model has been launched with $8 million from venture capitalists. What I find more exciting than free college texts books, is that Flat World is integrating social reading tools into their system.

Someone need to hop onto this model quick!!

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By Richard Hamilton, January 19, 2009 10:50 am

With the news this past week that Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence, Apple took a hit. Rumors flew on the net and their stock took a dip.

There is no doubt; Jobs took Apple from the brink to the market dominance they now enjoy. Not only is he a powerful leader, dynamic futurist, and a brilliant strategist; Steve Jobs is a rock star. His celebrity persona has captivated the hearts and minds of geeks (myself included) worldwide. His absence has brought a cloud of doubt over the future of Apple. This magnified by the fact that there is no public plan for an Apple beyond Jobs. What are the consequences? Jason Rothbart addresses this on ReadWriteWeb.

This got me thinking. What about the one-man-show type churches?

A lot of churches are built around a personality. I’m not just talking about the modern mega-church Rick Warren/Bill Hybles types. There are more than a few small churches that are built around one figure. (I assume in many cases, this is why these churches are small. That figure is not that impressive.)

What, if anything, should churches learn from Steve Jobs and his recent medical concerns?