KMS&T Digital Media - KMS&T Digital Education and Training

KMS&T is a full service media design agency with an international reputation for training and professional development; management of global development projects; creation of social media; and game and application design and development. We've been together for over a decade and have the processes, tools, and imagination to make the abstract real.

Our current clients include Revolution Analytics, Carveniche, San Diego Unified School District, National University, James Marshall Consulting (San Diego Global Zoo, Corporation of Public Broadcasting, Public Broadcasting Service), Chungdahm America, Let’s Go Learn, STI Education Data Management Solutions, and Chungdahm Learning.

Our mission is to assist clients in meeting their business mission and goals. KMS&T (previously Hillman Consulting) was formed in 1998 and incorporated in California in 2006.

New York Times Education Articles

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NPR News Feeds for Education

2012-01-21
Apple Lays Seige to the Ivory Tower

Apple's seismically stunning announcement on Thursday might finally disrupt education with the same quiet power that Wikipedia disrupted knowledge ownership. Three free apps that might shake the education environment: iTunes U, iBook2, and iBook Author.

iTune U from The Verge: "Even if you aren't a full-time student, there's educational content to peruse; Apple has teamed up with some of the world's top universities (Duke, Harvard, etc.) to offer course materials to the non-full-time students of the world (that includes lecture videos, etc.). Additionally, while iTunes U used to just be available for university students and professors, Apple is now making it accessible to K through 12 teachers and students."

iBooks 2 from Huffington Post: "An updated version of the original Apple e-book app announced about two years ago -- is a free application that will not only allow users to highlight text, look up words and make flashcards, but also view images, videos and 3D models inside interactive publications."

And last but maybe most promising to upset the typical way info reaches students: iBook Author from Mashable: "Designed to be used with the iPad and published in the iBookstore. Using an iPad, users can transfer a Proof of a book to their device to view inside iBooks 2. After the user is satisfied with the proof, the book can be published using iTunes Producer directly into the iBookstore. Users can also export PDF copies of the book if they want to distribute something in a more traditional way (or need non-interactive galleys)."

2011-12-15
A Conundrum: If NCLB has lower standards than CCSS and 48% of schools fail to meet NCLB....

Won't the more rigorous Common Core State Standards initially cause more schools to fail? Nina Mandell's article "Study: Nearly half of U.S public schools failing No Child Left Behind standards," in the New York Daily News today reported that the Center on Education Policy found that 48% of U.S. schools did not make adequate yearly progress. "'Whether it's 50%, 80% or 100% being incorrectly labeled as failing, one thing is clear: No Child Left Behind is broken', Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. 'That's why we're moving forward with giving states flexibility from the law in exchange for reforms that protect children and drive student success'." New standards may be a starting place, but change has to happen in the classroom not in the rhetoric.

2011-11-20
China Daily Reports on "Flaws" in Chinese Education System
Not too long ago, US media were abuzz with stories about how poorly U.S. students are doing in comparison with students in other countries, in particular with students in Shanghai. (See NY Times article from December of 2010.) Want another perspective? Read "Flaws in Our Education," which describes how wealthy Chinese parents are emigrating to get a better education for their children. Why? "Children in China have no say in what they learn. They normally learn by rote and are forced to study the subjects that help them in examinations for a school of a higher grade, especially the college entrance exams." The final statement in the article might describe the opinion of many U.S. educators: "As long as exams-oriented education continues, parents will look overseas for a better way to educate their children."