History of DyKnow

Professor Dave Berque envisioned a classroom where technology was used to re-engage students for learning. He wanted to increase interaction between students and teachers, gain more time for students to practice material and give his students the opportunity to apply their learning  to real word scenarios.  He also wanted students to be able to think about what was being taught, rather than simply copying it down. 

Applying his expertise in computer science, Dr. Berque set out to develop an application prototype that enabled collaborative communication via student PCs in the classroom.

Watch Dr. Berque tell the story of DyKnow's conception or read on... The History of DyKnow (10Mb FlashVideo)

As a PhD student, Dr. Berque was assigned to instruct a large class of 150 students.  To Dr. Berque's dismay, the first several weeks of teaching in this large lecture hall were ominously quiet, despite his efforts to spark discussions and engage students.  He efficiently shared computer science theory and related applications while making notes on a blackboard for  the packed hall of students.  But the students remained silent - no one asked a question or even raised a hand. Then one day, to Dr. Berque's delight, seven hands went up in the air.  Thrilled to finally field an inquiry, he called on one of the students to see if they in fact did have a question.  Sadly, they did not, but instead wanted to inform him that "The ceiling was on fire!" Sure enough, a light bulb was blazing above the heads of several students. Amazingly, of the nearly 150 people in the room, only seven students even noticed the fire at all!

Dr. Berque was stunned by the reality that his students' attention was consumed by scribing his notes from the blackboard. Over time this led him to wonder what students were really taking away from his lectures. Were they making the appropriate connections and learning the material for future application or were they only serving as "human copy machines"?
Some years later, the precursor to DyKnow Vision was developed at DePauw University where Dr. Berque was serving as a full-time computer science professor. Dr. Berque later connected with DePauw University alumni and Indianapolis entrepreneur David Becker to commercialize his interactive classroom software. Dynamic Knowledge Transfer, LLC (aka "DyKnow") was formed in 2003 when Mr. Becker, DyKnow CTO, Dan Sanders, and a team of developers set out to rewrite Dr. Berque's prototype and productize it as DyKnow Vision.

In the years that followed, the DyKnow team began receiving feedback from educators that to feel completely comfortable with technology in the classroom, they needed to be able to monitor and control, if necessary, what students were doing on their computers. From educator feedback, DyKnow Monitor was developed.
DyKnow now offers both Vision and Monitor to assist teachers in managing the classroom and engaging their students.  

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