Osman Rashid, one of our founders, was recently interviewed by Bloomberg Television’s Jon Erlichman. Our CEO  touched base on a number of topics, including the question of cost, availability, and his thoughts on our future endeavors.

Click here for the interview, and make sure to stay “in the Kno” by contacting us at info@kno.com.  More updates to come very soon…

President Obama has stated that education is the “economic issue of our time,” and he set a goal, saying that America needs to produce “8 million more college graduates by 2020 in order to stay competitive with other nations.” The United States was ranked 1st in regards to the percentage of young adults with an associates degree or higher, and now we’re ranked 12th. With all this talk about education reform, here is how a student from our Advisory Panel would change our education system:

“Undergraduate education is fundamentally flawed in that it is restricted by income and varies by location. There has been a recent push to democratize education through freely-available video lectures, but the effort is half-hearted and unimaginative. I envision a ‘YouTube for education,’ where anyone may upload education videos (or any other type of media), which will be tagged, categorized, and rated by the community. They key is that anyone can contribute. I would make education more accessible by lowering costs and making class material a truly multimedia experience to help people of all learning types and levels of intellect achieve the most out of their education.”

Will there be a day when college students can earn a bachelor’s degree from websites like this? Only time will tell.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a middle-aged person say “back in my day,” I’d have enough money to go on my dream vacation to Tahiti. I’ve heard this phrase from my father the most, which led me to wonder what was life like back in his day? What was life like without internet and color television?

I delved into this a little more on a typical Sunday afternoon, the time every week when my father winds down from his hectic schedule and does things that he wants to do, as opposed to things he has to do. Every Sunday afternoon, it’s the same routine; he’ll lay down on his couch, take out a book and read until he falls asleep.

Then, I noticed what my younger brother does in his free time; he’ll surf the internet all day (YouTube) until he’s forced by his mother to finish his homework. What clicked in my head was how my brother was so very different of my dad – one uses his free time to surf the net, while the other uses his free time to read.

I understand that all families are different, and this scenario may not apply to yours. What I do think applies to all parents today is how heavily their children rely on the internet for acquiring information, and how most kids only read when they have to.

The internet is one of the most important inventions of all time, and those of us in America who are 25 years old and younger were raised in a time where the internet was always available. Although I am part of this younger generation, I understand the necessity for books, and I understand that surfing the net cannot replace the experience of reading a book.

In order to keep the younger generation interested in leisure reading, we need to bridge the gap between technology and books. A student who is part of our Advisory Panel was able to sum it up in one sentence – “[you must] always, always find a way to make the learning process applicable and practical.”

On August 4th, 2010, 14 Kno employees competed in the 26th annual JP Morgan Chase & Co. Corporate Challenge in San Francisco, CA. The 3.5 mile course was located along the Embarcadero, where we were able to get tremendous views of AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants baseball team), China Basin, the Bay Bridge, and Mission Bay.

The race began at 7:00 PM, and San Francisco provided some very chilly weather for the team to battle through. At the end of the night, we celebrated our performance with dinner at Palomino’s. After staying lean in preparation for the competition throughout the day, I literally inhaled my dinner as it was being placed in front of me.

All in all, the night was a success, but there was something about that night I’ll always remember. The feeling of completing an arduous task and then celebrating afterward over a great meal is really a feeling like no other, and it’s even better when you are surrounded by co-workers that you highly respect. I hope to have this same feeling after our product launches; here at Kno, we have been working tirelessly to make sure that our device launches on time and without a hitch, so that we can all celebrate together once again.

When it comes to technology in the classroom, there are a wide variety of opinions that teachers have. There are old school teachers who crack the whip at the mere sight of a laptop (and in extreme cases, freeze them with liquid nitrogen to prove a point). On the flip side, there are teachers who welcome in the new wave of technology with open arms, and do everything within their budget to bring in the newest materials. Teachers have to do what they can to find a median, because it’s apparent that technology is one of best ways to keeps today’s students captivated in the classroom.

We asked our Panel of educators to describe the role of technology in their classroom – here’s a great response:

“Academic competitive debate relies on deep knowledge of a broad range of topics. Because up-to-the-minute information is so important and because most of our class readings come from current research, nearly all our work is electronic.”

Since different areas of education require a different amount of technology, we here at Kno ask all the educators reading this “what technology is currently used in your classroom, and what technology do you wish you could have in your classroom?” Give us your thoughts!

As I was going through student feedback, I came across one particular response that I really liked. We recently asked students “If you could be the architect of education, what would you change?”

The student responded saying “I would stop the idea that all students must fit into a single mold in order to achieve ’success.’ I would train teachers to develop multiple ways of explaining topics, and to also learn problem solving strategies from their students.”

This response reminded me of a website that indicates what type of learner you are by answering certain questions. These types of exercises have always intrigued me, because I also believe that every student has their own way of learning that is most effective for them. There are certain people who retain information easier with pictures, and then there are some who are just naturally better with numbers. It would be very difficult for teachers to cater to every different type of learner that they have in their class, so the question is, what can we do to provide a great learning experience for every different type of learner?

Let us Kno how we can provide a better learning experience for you!

See Kno founders, Osman and Babur, in action presenting the Kno this past June at the All Things Digital conference http://bit.ly/cCDtHB

Great feedback keeps pouring in and we want to share these insightful thoughts with our audience. Here is what one student, from our advisory panel, had to say about the Kno:

“As an English Major, I would also like to see normal books available through the Kno’s bookstore, since I am often times reading works of literature, instead of a textbook. The Kno would still work great for this because of its 2-Page design, and because I could take notes on the pages. Personally I have a weird tendency to not like it when I have to underline and highlight passages in a normal book that I may read again, but with the Kno, it would be excellent because I could write upon the passage, and have the option to hide my writing.”

Our goal is to change the world of education by creating a new kind of textbook and your feedback is helping us get there!