The Educon 2.2 conference is only 6 days away. Educon is one of my favorite conferences of the year. It brings together the top thinkers in education and provides an environment perfect for learning from others. This will be my third Educon and knowing how fast it goes by, I'm trying to savor every minute that leads up to it.Lisa Thumann is my conference buddy. We met three years ago at Educon and hit it off immediately. We both have two kids at home, so a trip away is both exciting and difficult for both of us. We try to make the most of our freedom, but feel the pull of home in the…
Selected by lizbdavis
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The Power of Educational Technology
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Anticipating Educon
21 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pm -
10 Tips for Beginning Bloggers
9 Jan 2010 | 4:25 pmMy brother has recently started blogging and asked me for some tips. I thought I would share them here. I started blogging in 2006 and it has been some of the best professional development for me that I have ever done. Blogging forces me to think, reflect and write about my experiences. Blogging helps me retain my learning and connects me to others who help and support me in my endeavors. If you don't yet have a blog, I recommend giving it a try. You don't have to blog every day or every week. Just establish a place Online to share your thoughts. If you give it a chance, I think you will find… -
Digital Journalism Syllabus 2010
30 Dec 2009 | 8:21 pmSecond semester I will be teaching a new high school course for the first time titled "Digital Journalism." It is an English elective for juniors and seniors inspired by and based on Howard Rheingold's Stanford course of the same title.I have been working on my syllabus for a while and have just completed a draft of my syllabus for the first quarter. It is a work in progress and definitely will change once the course starts.I would welcome and encourage your suggestions, questions and ideas! (In particular I am looking for two more short videos for the end of the quarter.)Thanks in advance! -
Facing my Fears in 2009!
21 Dec 2009 | 9:12 amFirst of all, thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Edublog Awards. I didn't win, but a lot of really great bloggers did. You can see all the winners here.On Friday last week I got up in front of my entire school community, 440 teen age boys and about 60 teachers, and sang a song. It was part of a Faculty Holiday concert that we do every year. I have never sung a solo in front of a large audience. The first time I did Karaoke was this summer on vacation and there were only about 50 people there. That was a huge accomplishment for me and this Friday was even bigger.I am a performer, I… -
I've been nominated for 2 Edublog Awards
15 Dec 2009 | 11:36 amVoting ends tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec 16th at USA EST 11.59 PM) (for my 10 Tips for Teaching Technology to Teachers post)Even if you don't feel like voting, you should check out all of the nominated blogs. It is a great way to find inspirational educators! I am honored to be in such great company.
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Pairadimes for Your Thoughts
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The Trap
7 Feb 2010 | 8:11 amBeing the edu-nerd that I am, I often look at parallels between my experiences inside and outside the world of schools and education, (see Bubble Wrap for another example). Now, two-and-a-half weeks into my Thailand & Vietnam holiday, such parallels are jumping out at me, and I think of them as ‘traps’. It seems that everywhere we go on this holiday there are tours being offered and trinkets to buy. The packages and prices are all designed to steer you to the ‘deluxe’ version, “…for just a little bit more, you can also get…”. Then on the way… -
Olympic and Blogging Fever
6 Feb 2010 | 9:13 amFor me it is a little bit difficult to think about the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics right now… I’m in a car outside of Hanoi, Vietnam heading to Ha Long Bay for an overnight boat cruise. The car ride is about 3.5 hours long and so I thought I’d use this time to plug a great project happening on the other side of the globe. If, (unlike me), you are at a school that is in session during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, be sure to share this link with your students. Chris Kennedy, Assistant Superintendent of West Vancouver School District, has helped to organize 12 student… -
Augmented Identity
15 Jan 2010 | 9:31 pmAugmented Reality (AR) has been around for a while. Fans of Monday Night Football have always had the television advantage of ’seeing’ the first down line conveniently added for their viewing pleasure. A more advanced version of augmented reality can be seen here, where you can see information about all the nearest subway locations in New York superimposed onto your iPhone’s camera view. And now from Ewan McIntosh I’m introduced to this application of Augmented Reality, possible due to face recognition software. Ewan says, “…In a schools context this could… -
Broken Presentations and Broken Photocopiers
14 Jan 2010 | 11:50 amYesterday morning I did a keynote presentation for our High School Pro-D day that I called: ’It’s not about the Technology -(and it’s not a secret)‘. I’ll share this online after I get back from holidays. The night before the presentation I sat and looked at what I had prepared and hated it. I wrote on Twitter: “I’m just over 10hrs away from presenting & want to totally revamp my presentation. Not a great feeling.” ~ It really wasn’t. I appreciated the support and advice given to me, especially from Lisa Thumann, Jen Wagner and Shelly… -
T’was two nights after Christmas… A story of lost innocence.
28 Dec 2009 | 9:55 amIt was only two nights after Christmas and both kids were tucked away in bed. Then the older of the two came from her bedroom and, doing all that she could to contain her tears, she sat on her mother’s lap. “Mummy, I think I’m old enough to know and I want you to tell me the truth… is there really such a thing as Santa?” The Discovery by Norman Rockwell We already knew it was to be her last Christmas fully believing in the magic of Santa. Most of her friends were already non-believers and she would often ask us “Do you believe in Santa?” “Well what do you…
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Sue Waters Blog
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Always Push Those Boundaries
21 Jan 2010 | 9:09 pmIt’s amazing how a blast from the past can be such a powerful reminder! I created Animoto video below over 2 years ago! It was unusual because as I said in the description: Had to push the boundaries of using Animoto by adding words and voice. Not because it was a good idea, it probably wasn’t, but the challenge was there so had to try! Since Animoto allows you to upload your own music I quickly recorded some audio (using Audacity) and uploaded it to put with my video. Today David N. left me the timely reminder in a comment: Happy to say I continue to push those boundaries and… -
Relaxing Is?
29 Dec 2009 | 1:57 amI’m currently enjoying a leisurely few days family holiday visiting my friend. Obviously I forgot to tell her dog I’m definitely NOT a dog person! And balancing a MacBook and dog on lap while working on an iPhone isn’t easy Send back the cat! Hope you’re all having a great holiday break and here’s looking forward to an exciting 2010! -
Edublog Awards – Thanks For Nominating My Sites
13 Dec 2009 | 5:44 amThis is a tough one, which Larry hinted at here… But I think it is important to take the time to thank those who nominated me and my different websites (Sue Waters Blog, The Edublogger and PLN Yourself) in several categories of the 2009 Edublogs Awards. Thanks Sue Wyatt, Jan Smith, Lesley Edwards, Burcu Akyol, Mike Sansone, David Truss, Gail Desler, Rliberni, Darcy Moore, and Shelly Terrell. I’m honored to have been nominated by you all (and apologies if I’ve missed anyone from the list — please let me know if I did as it defnitely isn’t deliberate!) As Larry… -
Using Public Google Waves For Personal Learning
30 Nov 2009 | 5:13 amThere’s always a shiny new toy– and with it the stampede to use. Yes that was also me once too Nowadays I’ve learnt very slow, steady saves time and my sanity. So I’m incredibly proud of the fact that I’ve never watched ANY Google Wave videos, read ANY tutorials and avoided every invite until I stumbled across a reason for investigating. My motivation was I discovered you can set up public waves that any one can join. I decided this was a good way for me and other educators to learn how to use Wave, by working together with each other, while also seeing how… -
Here’s how to get help — if you need assistance from me!
16 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pmYes I know unusual post but I wrote this post when I went away on holidays — now I’m updating with more current information because people still refer to it for assistance But the problem is every day I receive requests for assistance via my personal email account, work email account, Twitter, IM, comments on blog posts etc. So here’s the different ways you can get help: Step 1: Read through the Getting Started With Your Blogs information on Edublogs Help and Support site Step 2: See if the answer is on Edublogs Help and Support site Step 3: Ask for help in the Edublogs…
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Practical Theory
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EduCon 2.2 Reflections - What Do You Think?
5 Feb 2010 | 8:10 pm"What Do You Think?" Somewhat unexpectedly, I hit upon an epiphany during my Leadership 2.0 session at EduCon 2.2. I had a very simple structure to the session -- I listed in the description three ideas that I hoped would be common to the people who showed up. The short description on the conference site stated: If we assume that the schools we need are inquiry-driven, technology-infused and communities of care, what do leaders have to be to engender and nurture those ideas? From there, my idea was to simply attempt to build some common language around those ideas and then talk about…
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Bud the Teacher
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The Week in Tweets for 2010-02-08
8 Feb 2010 | 5:15 amMy beloved Prius will hit 99,000 miles today. It's not quite four years old. #Idrivelots # Cleaning my desk. Combined height of my two "to read" piles – 9.25 inches. That does not include my Instapaper account. # Has anyone written the definitive "Why YouTube Access for Students Doesn't Violate CIPA/eRate Requirements" post? # Just spent forty minutes working through some cognitive dissonance. http://twitpic.com/10wh4c # It's a Mac. It's a PC. Aw, who cares? Just get me to a browser. # @njtechteacher So worth it. When necessary. in reply to… -
The Week in Tweets for 2010-02-01
1 Feb 2010 | 5:15 amGood Monday, tweeps. Spending the morning in meetings. Then another one in the afternoon. And some email in the middle. # Turns out I like getting a paper on the nook. Just wish it was the Rocky. # ISTE tells me that I was wrong. Their "crowdsourced" keynote didn't self-nominate. His father, who nominated him, shares his name. # Forgive the error. # @msstewart Nah. The loss of advertising did the Rocky in. And bankrupted the group that publishes the _Denver Post_. in reply to msstewart # @wmchamberlain I can't say. But it appears that the nomination didn't violate that… -
SLA Isn’t THE Promised Land. (Emphasis on the THE.)
26 Jan 2010 | 9:42 pmI tweeted a possible title for this post out earlier tonight, and hurt some feelings. Understandably. My apologies – that wasn’t my intention, and sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain. I have nothing but the highest respect for the Science Leadership Academy and my friend and colleague Chris Lehmann. I think he’d agree with me on what I’m about to say. We’ll see, I guess. This weekend, 500 or so folks will descend upon Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA for the third Educon conference. It’s a wonderfully neat school, with a… -
I Am Not a Gadget (But I do like poetry)
25 Jan 2010 | 9:17 pmJaron Lanier, in his new book You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, writes: Every save-the-world cause has a list of suggestions for “what each of us can do”: bike to work, recycle, and so on. I can propose such a list related to the problems I’m talking about: Don’t post anonymously unless you really might be in danger. If you put effort into Wikipedia articles, put even more effort into using your personal voice and expression outside of the wiki to help attract people who don’t yet realize that they are interested in the topics you contributed to. Create a… -
The Week in Tweets for 2010-01-25
25 Jan 2010 | 5:15 amHorse. http://twitpic.com/yob6o # When did these come back? http://twitpic.com/yod4r http://twitpic.com/yod50 # @ktenkely All are home and resting. Thanks. in reply to ktenkely # Recovery day. Lucky. # Aw, nuts. (See previous RT.) # Starting my work week at a DLC team meeting at Hygiene. Great way to start the week. # Hygiene team will be building a "webliography." Fun word. # @jennar Theres will be. Looks like it's an established term. Even in Encarta's dictionary. in reply to jennar # @andrea_r My apologies. Pinged you earlier but I didn't see your situation. I'll…
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NYT: Education
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What Have You Been Taught About Sex and Abstinence?
9 Feb 2010 | 1:36 amStudent Opinion | Does sex education affect students' decisions about sex? -
N.C.A.A. Fails to Stop Licensing Lawsuit
8 Feb 2010 | 11:08 pmA district court judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit headed by Ed O’Bannon and arguing that athletes should be compensated when their images are used. -
National Briefing | New England: New Hampshire: Dartmouth Announces Layoffs
8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pmDartmouth College announced Monday that it would lay off 38 non-teaching staff members this week and “a similar number” in April. -
News Quiz | February 9, 2010
8 Feb 2010 | 10:30 pmSee what you know about the news of the day. -
A 'Dance of Beauty and Death'
8 Feb 2010 | 10:13 pm6 Q's About the News | What makes driving through the Kabul Gorge a "complicated dance of beauty and death"?
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Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?
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Indispensable
21 Jan 2010 | 4:08 pmScott McLeod recently shared 13 tools he couldn’t live without. Here are 12 of mine and 2 honorable mentions. iPhone – I know there was a world before the iPhone, but I prefer not to think about it. Increasingly, I use it more and more around the house in lieu of my laptop if all I’m doing is Tweeting or reading my RSS feeds. My iPhone Google Docs – Almost everything I write at least begins life as a Google Doc. Sure, it may end up in Scrivener or Pages for fine-tuning or formatting when it’s ready to be published, but for just getting something down “on… -
Teaching and encouraging creativity
6 Jan 2010 | 2:49 pmWhen I first saw the video of Ken Robinson talking about creativity, I sat and nodded my head in agreement. Most of the people I show it to do the same thing. But then most of us go back to business as usual. Is our current educational system even capable of addressing an idea as nebulous as “creativity?” Do we employ creative teachers? Creative leaders? Is it even a trait that we value when we interview prospective teachers or administrators? Do we have students who think of themselves as being creative? I’ve said out loud before, ‘You know – I’m just not… -
Technology and Plumbing
30 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pmI think some of us — for fear of being perceived as fundamentalist technology apologists — feel the need to qualify statements about particular hardware or software with the phrase, “It’s not about the technology…” I should know. I’m one of them. It’s about the learning, certainly. And the technology that supports that learning. But if the goal is to create a collaborative, networked space for learning then technology and the Internet are necessary catalysts. I’ve become increasingly reliant on certain online tools to get things done at… -
McLeod’s Slide Contest – Late Entry
31 Aug 2009 | 8:26 amI made this because I saw this and this on the same day. Then I saw Scott was having a contest, but the deadline had already passed. Then Dan made this and I got re-inspired. Plus, I hate getting beat at my own game. So I made this. Because I don’t like to be left out. -
The Larger, Smaller Conversation
15 Jun 2009 | 11:33 am[I posted this on LeaderTalk earlier today.] I had a whole post ready for my “official” LeaderTalk day last Friday but in the end I just couldn’t bring myself to click “Publish.” I was a little frustrated when I wrote it and I think it needs to simmer for a bit before it’s ready for prime time. Fast-forward to this morning and a great keynote from Karl Fisch about literacy in the 21st century. Karl said a lot of great things and challenged the thinking of a lot of people in the room. This led to some great conversations throughout the morning and throughout…
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Weblogg-ed
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Transformative Technology? Really?
8 Feb 2010 | 11:40 amSo I ran across this Smart Ease of Use video in the course of one of our threads in a PLP cohort and I have to say, I can’t seem to shake it. I mean, maybe I’m missing something here, but if this is a vision of “transformative” technology, we’re in some serious trouble. Worse, if this marketing piece actually does the job and creates sales of Smart boards, we’re in even bigger trouble. Is this really a vision of classrooms and learning that we aspire to? Is it all about being “easy”? And what does it say when the manufacturer of one of the most… -
EduCon 2.2
1 Feb 2010 | 6:31 amIf I could put in a few phrases what I took away from this year’s Educon experience it was this: Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology, so be it. And it was those first two that stood out, for me at least. I heard variations on those themes more in the last two days than the first two Educons combined. Maybe it was because there were more people this year. Maybe because we’re finally getting tired of talking about change, about waiting for something or someone else to change. Or maybe because when you get into a room… -
No Choice
21 Jan 2010 | 5:18 am(Cross posted to the PLP Network blog) One of my favorite things that Sheryl says when she talks about the challenges that schools face right now is that this generation of kids in our schools is the first not to have a choice about technology. Most of us grew up in a time when technology was an add on, and for many of us, we still see it as a choice, especially in education. (Just the other day I was at a meeting of about 25 school leaders and teachers to discuss how social learning tools can be infused into an inquiry based curriculum and only one person was using technology to take… -
Change Congress
20 Jan 2010 | 4:51 amIt’s no secret that Lawrence Lessig is one of my heroes in the way that he takes on meaningful efforts to change the world for (what I think, at least) good and his ability to articulate those efforts in compelling ways. It’s also no secret that over the past year I’ve become more disillusioned with the government here in the US. Mostly it’s a frustration about how nothing changes (or will change), how money is the motivator for everything that happens, and how much it feels like we have lost the best of our democracy to special interests. I was a huge Obama supporter;… -
No More High School–Play Along
14 Jan 2010 | 6:18 amSo this might totally fall flat on its face, but I’m wondering how all you out there who are deeply invested in social learning spaces might respond to this unlikely but hopefully compelling scenario: Imagine for a moment that high schools as educational places vanish from the earth. How would you go about educating the 14-18 year olds in your lives? What resources, programs, strategies, assessments would you use? Or what would we need to create in order for them to become “educated” in the current sense? What would that world look like? Could it even be done?
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HeyJude
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Printing on common paper? Unbelievable!
9 Feb 2010 | 2:52 am(via Memo From the Monastery) Filed under: Fun, Future Directions Tagged: e-books, Gutenberg press, printing -
Flat Classroom Project: Fresh start in a new world
6 Feb 2010 | 7:38 pmThe brilliant work by Julie Lindsay (Beijing, China) and Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, Georgia, USA) continues in The Flat Classroom Project 2010-1 which is now is well under way for 2010. The Flat Classroom™ Project is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students. This project is part of the emerging tend in internationally-aware schools to embrace a holistic and constructivist educational approach to work collaboratively with others around the world. One of the main goals of the project is to ‘flatten’ or lower the classroom walls… -
PDF sharing online
5 Feb 2010 | 11:01 pmWhat do you do when a graduated student sends you a pdf (on the weekend), needing it for a reference file for uni accommodation application? What do you do when you have no scanner or appropriate software on hand – and the silly form is meant for print use only? You ask your contacts on Twitter for help of course! I got lots of recommendations, but the one from @sandnsurf was the one that won the day. FillAnyPDF free PDF Editor. FillAnyPDF.com is a website where you upload your PDF form and link to it so other people can fill it out and sign it online. No software is needed. Any… -
Open Source ethos
4 Feb 2010 | 3:45 amI have been spending a bit of time thinking about The World is Flat by Friedman in preparation for the first Flat Classroom Project in 2010. Amongst other things, I thought about Open Source thinking and flat world communications which I planned to share in the Keynote kick-off. Well, you now how it is – I just couldn’t share everything I wanted to (lots out in the rough cuts), but the ‘finds’ are still inspirational. You have to be inspired by the powerhouses of Open Source software and Open Content. There is no doubt in my mind that an‘Open Source… -
ePUB an iRevolution?
1 Feb 2010 | 3:52 amOverlooked in much of the hype about the iPad announcement earlier in the week was a comment by Steve Jobs in the Keynote presentation where he mentioned that the iBooks app for iPad would take advantage of the popular EPUB format for electronic books. EPUB is the same format used by the popular Stanza [free, iTunes link] app for iPhone and iPod touch. It’s a free and open standard format created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and it’s designed for reflowable content that can be optimized to whatever device is being used to read a book file. ebook readers…
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EdTechTalk
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Teachers Teaching Teachers #184 - Renee Hobbs and Troy Hicks Discuss Fair Use - 01.27.10
8 Feb 2010 | 8:24 pmOur friend and colleague, Chris Sloan, from the Wasatch Range Writing Project in Utah invited Renee Hobbs and Troy Hicks to join us on this week’s Teachers Teaching Teachers. (By the way, if you would like to plan and produce (and later edit) a TTT webcast like Chris did for this episode, please email Paul Allison or Susan Ettenheim.) Our friend and colleague, Chris Sloan, from the Wasatch Range Writing Project in Utah invited Renee Hobbs and Troy Hicks to join us on this week’s Teachers Teaching Teachers. (By the way, if you would like to plan and produce (and later edit) a TTT… -
Teachers Teaching Teachers #182 - A student-centered follow up: More on games, YouTube, Twitter, and Research - 01.13.10
6 Feb 2010 | 9:45 amOn this week’s Teachers Teaching Teachers, we had some follow-up’s, and some room for new voices. Paul Allison invited several of his students from the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing, NY onto the show to explain more about gaming. These students were listening and in the chat room on TTT#181 the week before when we talked about gaming in schools with other teachers, researchers, and consultants. The student had asked for a student-centered follow up. Listen to find out where gaming is in their lives. And if that’s not enough, this week's podcast also… -
Week of January 30- February 5, 2010
6 Feb 2010 | 5:48 amWelcome to this week's EdTechTalk (ETT) newsletter. Educon 2.2 took place this past weekend at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Educon2.2 is in its third year, and is billed as both a conference and a conversation. Many ETT people attended and presented. All conferences are archived on the site.read more -
Instructional-Design-Live#4 2010-02-05
5 Feb 2010 | 10:03 amThis week, we discussed how to promote learning through asynchronous discussions, in many cases, the heart of online courses. Issues considered include: developing a sense of community, structuring discussions, setting expectations, assessment and strategies for facilitating quality interactions. Resources mentioned: Joanna Dunlap: Down and Dirty Guidelines for Effective Discussions in Online Courses 33:10 minutes (15.18 MB)read more -
2010-02-05 Seedlings on the Horizon Report
5 Feb 2010 | 4:21 amIf you have been waiting to read the Horizon Report 2010, listen up to this SEEDLINGS conversation. Alice, Bob and Cheryl take a stab at the highlights of the report. This report drives what is happening in post secondary education and it drives what the K-12 educators should be promoting for our students. Enjoy! Alice , Bob and Cheryl had our favorite conversation, the Horizon Report 2010! This is such a good report to provide the vision and checks and balances for our practice. The chat room was rocking too. Thanks for joining us. Let us know what your take is on the Horizon Report.
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Teach42
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Top 10 Web 2.0 for Educators – NICE Miniconference
30 Jan 2010 | 8:58 amWill be presenting in about 10 minutes at the NICE mini conference here in Illinois. Doing a revamped version of my Top 10 Web 2.0 for Educators. Most radical change is that I don’t have an aggregator in there. Still kinda torn about that. Part of it is that time is limited, but another piece is that I’m not positive that it’s as relevant as it used to be. Considering people are aggregating via their inbox, via iGoogle, via My Yahoo, within the browser and more. There’s so many ways to subscribe, that I’m not positive it’s worth including an aggregator in… -
Haiti 360
25 Jan 2010 | 9:38 amImage via Wikipedia With all the news about the disaster in Haiti, one of the more interesting things I’ve seen technologically recently came from there. I’ve seen 360 videos before, going all the way back to Quicktime VR and such. But this absolutely fascinates me. This video was shot on January 18th, and while watching it, you are able to use your mouse to look in any direction, up or down as well. Pretty stunning to say the least. And what an incredible way to provide students a window into the area. Can’t speak for you, but I’d love to see them run this through the… -
What could you do with Augmented Reality?
25 Jan 2010 | 8:05 amImage by Eric Rice via Flickr Augmented reality is one of the few technologies that have come out within the last few years that really have the ability to simply drop jaws. Primarily, it’s hung out in the marketing field, and been used in car ads and recently on the cover of Esquire magazine. Home versions include a DIY lightsasber and Addidas has announced plans to include an AR code into several of their upcoming shoes, allowing people to actually use the shoe as a controller for a video game. Seriously. I really couldn’t make that one up. The big question of course is, does… -
Vote for an ISTE Keynote
6 Jan 2010 | 11:45 amImage by jochenWolters via Flickr In case you haven’t been keeping up with ISTE’s dive into the crowdsourcing arena, the final voting is now open for the ultimate keynote presentation at this year’s conference. Your choices are: * Chris Lehmann * Alan November * Jeff Piontek * Peter H. Reynolds * Gary Stager I know most of the people on the list, and they’re all worthy choices. You should definitely stop by and cast a vote for your favorite. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what this has boiled down to. The process began with people proposing and voting on topics. -
Would you blog?
5 Jan 2010 | 10:07 amImage by Josh Russell via Flickr Like many other bloggers that I consider to be colleagues, my blogging has tapered off quite a bit over the years, and while some of the fault lies in myself, I put most of the blame squarely on Twitter. Why take half an hour to write several paragraphs, hyperlink it up and find an appropriate image, when I can just spout off 140 characters and move on? It just makes sense, right? That’s why I’m rather looking forward to Flutter’s official launch. I jest, but it does bring out an obvious reason why blogging is becoming less and less of a…
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Steve Hargadon
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Lisa Gillis on Virtual Schooling
9 Feb 2010 | 10:57 amDate: Tuesday, February 9th, 2010Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am GMT (next day) (international times here)Duration: 1 hourLocation: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page (here).Join me for a live and interactive interview with Lisa Gillis tonight, Tuesday, February 9th.Lisa… -
Great Reasons to Attend the CUE Conference This Year
9 Feb 2010 | 10:28 amI have a special appreciation for the annual CUE conference, held each year in Palm Springs, this year March 4 - 6. And no, it's not the unpredictable weather of Palm Springs at that time of year (did anyone else get caught in that blizzard a couple of years ago!?). It's that the organizers of CUE have been foremost in supporting innovative projects that have really benefited the educational community. CUE was home to the first ever EduBloggerCon. CUE let us set up the first Open Source Pavilion at an ed tech show, and let us run the first official Open Source speaker track. -
This Week's Live and Interactive Events at LearnCentral
8 Feb 2010 | 9:35 amBelow are this week's public, free, and interactive webinars from LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate. The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. Be on the lookout for Australia-time-friendly events as part of the new Australia Series!I also hope you'll consider hosting your own public webinars using the… -
James Paul Gee on Video Games, Learning, and Literacy
1 Feb 2010 | 12:58 pmDate: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am GMT (next day) (international times here)Duration: 1 hourLocation: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page (here).Join me and Ed Hill for a live and interactive interview with James Paul Gee on Wednesday, February… -
Shel Israel: Talk WITH Me--From Blogging to Twitter
1 Feb 2010 | 11:05 amDate: Thursday, February 4th, 2010 Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am GMT (next day) (international times here)Duration: 1 hourLocation: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page (here).Join me on Thursday, February 4th, for a live and interactive interview with Shel Israel on social media and…
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Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
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Merriam-Webster Word Games
8 Feb 2010 | 9:03 pmMerriam-Webster Word Games is an impressive collection of about twenty different games accessible to various levels of English Language Learners. I’ve placed the link on my website under Word and Video Games. -
“State Of The Unions”
8 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pmState Of The Unions is a very accessible infographic showing a lot of information about labor unions in the United States today. It’s also a bit sad to see. It would be very useful for students, particularly in Social Studies classes. -
Cool Idea For The Next ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival
8 Feb 2010 | 2:10 pmKarenne Sylvester has come-up with a great and creative idea for the next ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival on April 1st. It’s going to have a theme focused on teachers sharing lesson ideas. You can read all about it at her post, The Carnival of English Language Lessons. She’s encouraging bloggers and non-bloggers alike to participate, and has created a special submission form to use, which you can access at her post. So please don’t use the regular system at the blogcarnival site. Submissions are due by March 21st. It should be a fun and useful Carnival. In case you missed it,… -
“School Secretary Fired For Translating For Parents”
8 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pmCheck out the new post in my other blog, Engaging Parents In School, to learn about this strange but apparently true story… -
Layerpad For Webpage Annotation
8 Feb 2010 | 1:07 pmI’m a big fan of students annotating what they’re reading — either on the paper, or on post-its, and I feel the same about the web. That’s why I compiled the Best Applications For Annotating Websites list. Layerpad is the newest addition to that list. After registration, you can make comments on the site, and see comments others have made. In that way, it’s similar to Blerp. However, Layerpad doesn’t let you position the comments in different places around the page, which limits its effectiveness as a way for students to show that they’re using…
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Generation YES Blog
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Maple Avenue Middle School students in the news
9 Feb 2010 | 1:27 amStudents at Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga, NY got some well-deserved attention from their local newspaper, The Saratogian News. “Sixth-graders in Tom Coons’ computer class linger after the bell rings, asking for passes to come back during their study halls and lunch periods. The reason? They’re excited to use mini Flip Mino video recorders, digital photography, PowerPoint and computer animation to create projects that will earn them national recognition through “student technology literacy certification.” Maple Ave. is one of 45 schools participating in… -
Tinkering and Technology
8 Feb 2010 | 7:39 pmBefore this all slips my mind, I wanted to post some thoughts about the conversation I led at Educon 2.2 last weekend called Tinkering Towards Technology Fluency. I had a few slides prepared, and a general list of things I thought would be interesting to discuss, and some questions in case there was a lot of deadly silence. Well, that didn’t happen! What happened was that we had a really interesting conversation, which wandered a bit but no one seemed to mind. That’s the cool part about Educon, the conversations are the point. I learned as much from everyone there as I hope they… -
This Wednesday: Science of the Winter Olympics Webinar
8 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pmSounds cool! From the Learning Games Network: As part of our Learning Games webinar series, we invite you to join us this Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 for Olympics Science: Online Resources for the Classroom from NBC Learn. Description: On February 12th, the torch will light over Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Join the Learning Games Network’s Alex Chisholm and special guest Norman Cohen, producer at NBC Learn, to bring the science of the Winter Olympics home to your classroom. NBC Learn has collaborated with the National Science Foundation to create this series of video… -
ACEC2010 contests – media awards and t-shirt design!
8 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pmIn less than 2 months I’ll be going “down under” and keynoting the Australian Computers in Education Conference ACEC2010 in Melbourne Australia. When: 6 – 9 April 2010 Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Full details online: www.acec2010.info I’m excited about this and will write more soon about my keynote topic, but first, some fun stuff! From ACEC2010: The ACEC2010: Digital Diversity conference opens in just 58 days. There’s a lot going on in the ICTEV office as we get ready to put on the biggest ICT event for educators in Australia this… -
Constructivist Celebration at MACUL
4 Feb 2010 | 5:36 pmThe Constructivist Consortium in partnership with SIGTELE is bringing the popular Constructivist Celebration to Michigan! Plan to join in this MACUL pre-conference learning experience on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 in Grand Rapids. Participants will receive the day’s educational program, a hearty lunch and free software from Constructivist Consortium members, including five free tools from Tech4Learning: Pixie, Frames, WebBlender, Twist, and ImageBlender. This hugely popular workshop, also offered as a pre-conference event at the National Education Computing Conference (NECC/ISTE) sells out…
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Moving at the Speed of Creativity
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Beyond the Web 2.0 Hype: Focusing on What Really Matters by David Jakes
9 Feb 2010 | 11:59 amThese are my paltry notes from David Jakes’ METC 2010 presentation, “Beyond the Web 2.0 Hype: Focusing on What Really Matters.” I arrived a few minutes after this presentation started…. and unfortunately for my learning here (but good for my daughter) I had to step out to supervise a hotel swim before we check out later today. David’s preso is linked from: jakes.editme.com/hype. This entire session is being live-streamed and will be archived on the METC website. Beyond The Web 2.0 Hype View more presentations from David Jakes. www.ratemyteachers.com We need to be… -
Presentation links for #metc_CSD today (METC 2010 in St Louis)
9 Feb 2010 | 4:58 amWe’ve received some snow in St Louis, but the Midwest Educational Technology Conference (METC) goes on! Yesterday pre-conference workshops were held, and today and tomorrow are the “regular days” of the conference. Here are links to the resources I’ll be sharing in my sessions today. Storychasing Literacy (a.k.a. “StoryChasing: Empowering Students as Digital Witnesses”) Prior to the keynote this morning, I’m most likely going to share quotations from the Flickr group, “Great quotes about Learning and Change.” Both today and tomorrow,… -
Choose teaching
8 Feb 2010 | 8:07 pmGreat thoughts about why we should CHOOSE teaching from Gail Lovely: To be a teacher — choose it as a calling, not a job. Choose it to do something meaningful and powerful, with rewards only you might notice. Choose it to be a role model. Choose to be a teacher because you love learning. Choose to be a teacher because you love learners. Choose to be a teacher because you cannot imagine anything else so wonderful! Catch up with Gail by following her on Twitter. I had a wonderful opportunity today to visit with Gail both during Darren Kuropatwa’s afternoon workshop session (quietly… -
Telling a story with Google Search queries
8 Feb 2010 | 7:54 pmIf you were watching the Super Bowl last night on U.S. television, you likely saw Google’s advertisement, “Parisian Love,” during the third quarter. What a clever way to tell a story, through a series of Google searches and some well-timed sound clips. If you missed it, here it is, on YouTube (of course.) Is your school still blocking access to YouTube for everyone, including both teachers AND students? Time to unmask the digital truth. It would be great to see students use this method of “storytelling via screencasted Google search queries” to tell other… -
Notes from a Canadien Yoda: Darren Kuropatwa at METC 2010
8 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pmThese are my notes from a part of Darren Kuropatwa’s METC 2010 workshop, “Extreme (web 2.0) Lesson Plan Makeover.” I was only able to attend a little of the afternoon session. WOW. If you ever have a chance to hear Darren present in person, do not miss it. I do not use the title, “Yoda,” lightly here. It’s a term Marco Torres uses to refer to those people in our lives who are our wise mentors. If we could choose our own Yodas (and virtually, of course, we can to an extent) I would definitely choose Darren. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS BELOW ARE IN ALL CAPS…
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The Thinking Stick
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Learning 2.010 Conference: Where do we go from here?
3 Feb 2010 | 6:07 amFor the 3rd year David Gran has created the logo for the conference. This year taking inspiration from the World Expo which will be happening during the conference in Shanghai. In a world where content is continually changing, and you can learn almost anything for free, what’s the point of going to a conference? This is the question we started with in designing your Learning 2.010 Conference experience. The content is free and easy. If you want to learn how to use Facebook in your classroom, a simple search on Google will bring you back many hits on how teachers are finding ways of… -
You mean the teacher still matters?
2 Feb 2010 | 7:13 amFour great articles have come to light lately that point to research being done and what many of us in the Ed Tech community have been saying for a long time might just be on the horizon. That is that this technology stuff can improve education. So let’s start at Mashable one of my favorite Web 2.0 blogs to read. Back in August they posted a fantastic article titled What is the Future of Teaching? Until recently, online learning has mainly been of the expository sort, essentially a traditional lecture format adapted for the web. But newer, social and multimedia technologies are allowing… -
The iPad: Not the Right Product for Education
29 Jan 2010 | 2:08 amI’ve been reflecting the last couple days on Apple’s new iPad. The product that, before it’s announcement, some had claim would revolutionize education. If it does…..it will be a shock to me. I have nothing against Apple (I’m typing on a MacBook that I love), I just think this piece of hardware is not what we need in education. I had high hopes for this new piece of technology. Enough to stay up until 3am on a school night to watch the live announcement. Throughout the keynote, I was waiting to be wowed by something new, something different, something that would… -
Help a Newbie get to ISTE10
27 Jan 2010 | 8:23 amBeth Still grabbed me at NECC in Washington D.C. this summer and introduced me to Richard Byrne who was attending his first NECC conference. We had a nice chat and Beth reminded me that Richard was here because of her Newbie Project. She told me then and there she’d be hitting me up to spread the word when the new newbie was chosen. This year Beth is sponsoring Jason Schrage, as she tries to help bring another person to ISTE10 this year in Denver. Beth writes about Jason: Jason is an 8th grade social studies teacher in upstate New York. He is not afraid to try different tools and… -
Active vs Inactive Screen Time
25 Jan 2010 | 4:59 amA New York Times article was released this week. How did I find it? Our 23 year old Kindergarten teacher forwarded it to me from her iPhone. She only has the “essential apps” on her new iPhone….Facebook and the NYTimes. I’ve read the article a couple of times now and have rewritten this blog post no less than 3 as I try to make sense of what this means for kids today. The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study…
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21st Century Learning
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Smarter- for being at Educon
29 Jan 2010 | 8:22 pmDefinitions of smart on the Web: showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness chic: elegant and stylish; “chic elegance”; “a smart new dress”; “a suit of voguish cut” bright: characterized by quickness and ease in learning; “some children are brighter in one subject than another”; “smart children talk earlier than the average” fresh: improperly forward or bold; “don’t be fresh with me”; “impertinent of a child to lecture a grownup”; “an impudent boy given to insulting… -
Fruits of Labor
28 Jan 2010 | 6:53 pmIn education we do not get to see the fruit of our labor until many years have gone past. But when it happens it always makes a profound impact. Today was just such a day. As many of you know I worked with the Alabama Best Practices Center for four years in Alabama with schools across the state on a 21st Century Learners project. We worked with schools on reconceptualizing their teaching, classrooms, schools and districts in ways that would meet the needs of the networked learner. We pushed hard for reculturing and a shift in curriculum toward project/problem based learning. I remember… -
Leadership is…
27 Jan 2010 | 8:28 amLately, I have been thinking quite a bit about the shift in educational leadership that has occurred or has to occur in these changing times. What aspects of leadership works in this new era and what needs to shift in order to help school remain relevant in the lives of the students we serve. I turned to my Twitter network to get their take. (You can add these smart people to your network too and learn from them like I do as their Twitter user names are in the parentheses) I asked them to complete the sentence: Leadership is.. I went first… Leadership is about learning together, and… -
Why Are We Here?
13 Sep 2009 | 9:16 amPhoto credit: http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com/2009/01/dr-john-m-bennetts-solo-and.html In the PLPNetbooks community (Australia work) this blog post surfaced after my interview with Steve Hargadon on The Future of Education The Title of the post is the same as mine.. Why Are We Here? It follows: Ok … Now I’ve got your attention I’ve just finished listening to the lastest episode of the “Ed Tech Live” podcast in which Steve Hargadon interviewed our very own community leader Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. This is a great interview in which Sheryl talks about the PLP… -
PLP Described in Under a Minute.
3 Aug 2009 | 6:17 pmEver wondered what PLP is all about? Susan Carter Morgan shares about her PLP experience.
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Dangerously Irrelevant
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Video - Online learning
9 Feb 2010 | 12:24 pmHere’s a 10-minute video I helped make that advocates for P-12 online learning. Created by Intermediate District 287 in Minnesota, which heads up the Northern Star Online collaborative, the video features Mike Smart, 2007 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, and a number of other Minnesota educators and students. The video will be used for educational and policy advocacy purposes with community members, parents, administrators, and legislators. Here’s my favorite statement I made in the video (at 7:20): One of the things I think we have to ask ourselves as school leaders is ‘What’s our… -
Many service jobs will become globalized piece work
9 Feb 2010 | 6:18 amI’m reading a fantastic book right now: Futurecast, by Robert Shapiro. In the section on globalization, Shapiro notes that the first waves of globalization primarily affected manufacturing. Millions of American jobs were 'offshored' in the 1970s and 1980s as global companies set up factories overseas instead of here in the U.S. For all of the current rhetoric about ‘Benedict Arnold’ corporations that offshore jobs, they essentially have to since their competitors are doing so. Few companies can survive in a hypercompetitive global economy when they’re paying labor rates 5 to 25 times… -
Video - The Class
9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amHere’s the latest educational technology video that’s making the rounds. I know a few professors like this! “If you are here, why are we Skyping?” -
Grading student projects: Separating content from delivery
8 Feb 2010 | 9:33 amI am a big fan of student choice. When students work on projects, I think that they should have as much choice as possible regarding both the topic and the delivery. Choice increases student buy-in and ownership. Teachers allow choice of topics, not delivery When teachers and I talk about integrating technology into their lessons, I encourage them to try and build in more choice for students. Most teachers already allow students to choose topics of study, at least some of the time. For example, students are allowed to pick a historical figure, select a mystery book, decide what they sculpt… -
"Just tell me what to do"
6 Feb 2010 | 7:26 amSeth Godin wrote today that: People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe." I think another big reason is that most people spent at least 12 years of their life being deeply socialized in the “just tell me what to do” model. We know that schools strongly emphasize compliance in the name of order and discipline. We know that the fact-regurgitation model that still dominates schooling mostly leads to the student mentality of…
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Cool Cat Teacher Blog
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Reviving the Dream
9 Feb 2010 | 2:20 am"Sardis was a city of peace, not the peace won through battle, but the peace of a man whose dreams are dead and whose mind is asleep, the peace of lethargy and evasion," I came across this quote while studying Revelation and no- this is not a "Bible" lesson per se, but one about dreams. This previous quote was from William Barclay in his Letters to the Seven Churches (New York: Abigdon, 1957), 71 as cited in Gabelein and Douglas, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 448. These words completely haunted me as I pondered them. How many people do you know who have silently let their dreams die… -
Daily Spotlight on Education 02/09/2010
9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 amWhy Geolocation Services Are Exciting For Poets, Musicians, Educators & ComediansGeolocation overview from Marshall Kirkpatrick at the Read Write Web. Marshall says:"The era of location-as-platform for software development is just beginning. No longer of interest only to uber-geeks, everyday people are now reporting their physical locations online, often through their phones. Geolocation services are hot and ever more prominent ones (like Facebook) are believed to be right around the corner.This is a very exciting development for lovers of innovation. Today we asked some of our favorite… -
A Peek into Cool Cat Teacher's Classroom Right Now
8 Feb 2010 | 2:15 amSome really exciting things happened this past week. Just thought I'd share with you today about some of the things happening in my classroom in the hopes that there may be something to ponder here for you. It is every day to me, so really, none of it seems particularly revolutionary... that is unless I compare it to what my room looked like about four years a go before my teaching model and tools transformed. 8th Grade Keyboarding I still use the Old textbook my Mom used. (She founded this computer lab!) We don't use any video game or tools until the entire keyboard is learned. Here,… -
Battle for the Eyes
6 Feb 2010 | 6:15 amThe battle for the eyes is getting heated. If you'll read Context is King: How Videos Are Found and Consumed Online, some very telling trends are unveiled that make advertisers very uncomfortable. The article says: "According to a recent NY Times article, in the 1952-53 season, more than 30% of American households watched NBC during prime time, according to Nielsen. In fact, up until twenty years ago, you could buy a 30-second spot on CBS, NBC or ABC and reach “everyone.” Today, NBC’s prime time reach is 5%. Sure, NBC is lagging CBS and ABC, but neither the Tiffany… -
Daily Spotlight on Education 02/06/2010
6 Feb 2010 | 1:30 amMiss Brownsword: Wallwisher Feedback from Children's Questionnaires and Interviews.MOre wallwisher feedback. I heard via Twitter that they used it for feedback at educon.tags: education, learning, toolComputer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information from Alfred Thompson : What Are You Learning This SummerComputer science teachers planning this summer should look at this overview from Microsoft uber-blogger Alfred Thompson.tags: education, learning, computerscience_teacher, computerscience, techintegrator15 Interesting Ways to use Wallwisher in the ClassroomPresentation covering 16 cool…
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apophenia
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Upcoming Mary Gray talk on on "Out in the Country: Youth, Media & Queer Visibility in Rural America"
28 Jan 2010 | 2:50 pmIt used to be the case that all of the queer youth living in rural America ran away to the city to find others like them. The Internet has dramatically changed this. More and more, rural queer youth are building out networks of other queer rural youth, helping generate a rural queer identity. Think about what this means for the health and safety of queer youth. Think about what this means for the future of tolerance. It is with great pleasure that I will be hosting Mary Gray at Microsoft Research on February 10 to discuss her latest book: "Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer… -
Public by Default, Private when Necessary
25 Jan 2010 | 9:48 amThis post was originally written for the DML Central Blog. If you're interested in Digital Media and Learning, you definitely want to check this blog out. With Facebook systematically dismantling its revered privacy infrastructure, I think it's important to drill down on the issue of privacy as it relates to teens. There's an assumption that teens don't care about privacy but this is completely inaccurate. Teens care deeply about privacy, but their conceptualization of what this means may not make sense in a setting where privacy settings are a binary. What teens care about is the ability to… -
whose voice do you hear? gender issues and success
19 Jan 2010 | 5:42 pmGrowing up, I loved to debate. With anyone. My debating tone used to drive my mother batty because she thought I was yelling at her. Exasperated, I would often bark back that I was simply debating. Over the years, I realized that my debating tone is one of such confidence that people believe me to be stating facts, not opinions. My mother interpreted it as yelling; my classmates interpreted it as arrogance. I also began to realize that it was the same tone as that of my male peers. I never apologized for my opinions, never deflated them with "I may be wrong but I think..." I asserted. -
Facebook's move ain't about changes in privacy norms
16 Jan 2010 | 5:55 pmWhen I learned that Mark Zuckerberg effectively argued that 'the age of privacy is over' (read: ReadWriteWeb), I wanted to scream. Actually, I did. And still am. The logic goes something like this: People I knew didn't used to like to be public. Now "everyone" is being public. Ergo, privacy is dead. This isn't new. This is the exact same logic that made me want to scream a decade ago when folks used David Brin to justify a transparent society. Privacy is dead, get over it. Right? Wrong! Privacy isn't a technological binary that you turn off and on. Privacy is about having control of a… -
Race and Social Network Sites: Putting Facebook's Data in Context
29 Dec 2009 | 1:05 pmA few weeks ago, Facebook's data team released a set of data addressing a simple but complex question: How Diverse is Facebook? Given my own work over the last two years concerning the intersection of race/ethnicity/class and social network sites, I feel the need to respond. And, with pleasure, I'm going to respond by sharing a draft of a new paper. But first, I want to begin by thanking the Facebook data team for actually making this data available for public dialogue. Far too few companies are willing to share their internal analyses, especially about topics that make people uncomfortable.
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The Fischbowl
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Cory Doctorow Discussion Ustream Archive
2 Feb 2010 | 11:34 amWell, the technology worked fairly well for our Skype discussion with Cory Doctorow today. The audio on Skype wasn't perfect, but we could hear fairly well. And it froze up a couple of times for about 10 seconds, but then started transmitting again. We also lost the ustream once, which is why I've embedded two ustream archives below.Part 1 (about 17 minutes) is the first part (amazingly enough) of our discussion. We actually start about 3 minutes into the recording, as I hit record before we actually got started just to make sure I didn't forget. Then Part 2 is obviously the remaining portion… -
Discussing Little Brother with Cory Doctorow
29 Jan 2010 | 7:43 amAnne Smith and Maura Moritz's ninth graders are currently finishing up reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. Previously they read 1984 and their task is to look at both books and answer the questions:What have we learned - or what have we not learned - over the past 60 years [from Orwell's time to the present]? What does our future hold for us?This has been a fascinating unit to observe. Anne and Maura have brought in additional folks to speak to different aspects of each novel. They brought in our Western Civilization teachers to help our students understand what was going on in the 1930's… -
The Best (?) of The Fischbowl 2009
24 Jan 2010 | 11:03 amAs I have the previous three years (2008, 2007, 2006), this is the post where I try to pull together some of the most interesting blog posts from my blog in 2009. These are not necessarily fantastic posts, but should give readers that are new to the blog a place to start to get a feel for what this blog is all about.I posted 88 times in 2009, down sharply from 141 in 2008, 148 in 2007 and 199 in 2006. This is my 624th post since beginning in September of 2005.Here we go.January (10 posts)Best: Take Me to Your Leaders(s)Honorable Mention: I Just Want to Say One Word to You:… -
2010 AHS Faculty Dance Video
22 Jan 2010 | 1:48 pmAs I've said several times before, we take a break from the regularly scheduled content of this blog to bring you the 2010 AHS Faculty Dance (performed at our Winter Pep Assembly).It might not show up in AYP, or help us get Race to the Top dollars, but I think this is still a huge part of what a learning community should look like. -
Learning 2.0: You Are Going, Aren't You?
17 Jan 2010 | 7:38 pmLearning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2010 Edition) is fast approaching on February 20th - have you signed up yet?Let's review:Registration costs . . . $0Lunch costs . . . $0Sessions cost . . . $0Learning opportunity . . . priceless.We're about to hit the 100 mark in terms of registrants, well on our way to the 140 to 160 we've had the previous two years, and the session descriptions are now posted. You can attend physically or virtually, as we'll be streaming the sessions. While most folks will be from Colorado, you're all invited, and we have folks coming from Nebraska, Pennsylvania,…
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Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org
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DiigoNotes - Educational Technology in Public School Districts
8 Feb 2010 | 3:05 pmNotes below are taken from the newly released Educational Technology in Public School Districts: Fall 2008 report released December 2009 by Lucinda Gray, Laurie Lewis and Peter Tice from the National Center for Education Statistics.Lots of great statistics to make graphs out of in this report!This report provides national data on the availability and use of educational technology in public school districts during fall 2008. The data are the results of a national district-level survey that is one of a set that includes district, school, and teacher surveys on educational technology.The set of… -
Moodle and Wikis - Phone Support
8 Feb 2010 | 7:26 amNote: Click image above to enlarge.One of the challenges in having different systems in a school district involves answering the question, "How do I know which tool to use, Moodle or Wiki? What do I start with?" Any district that launches blogs, wikis and Moodles will encounter the problem if the focus is on the use of the technology rather than the instructional purpose.This diagram doesn't get at the instructional purpose, but it is a first step at separating out the ideas. If you know of better ways of achieving that purpose, let me know!Constructive criticism is definitely invited! This… -
DiigoNotes - No more National Writing Project? Funding Cut
8 Feb 2010 | 3:53 amNWP Site Leaders - working as colleagues to lead NWP sites Contact your Congressional representatives TODAY to support DIRECT funding for NWP! On February 1, the Obama Administration released its budget proposal. In that budget, the design for DOE funding has NWP consolidated with that of five other literacy programs, including our good colleagues at RIF, under a new competitive grants program aimed at improving literacy instruction. In order to secure the funding offered under this program, state education agencies would compete for funds, alone or in partnership with outside entities (such… -
DiigoNotes - Some schools rethink bans on cell phones
8 Feb 2010 | 3:50 amSome schools rethink bans on cell phones - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com Some schools rethink bans on cell phones Bans don’t work, so administrators explore using mobile devices to teach More than 100 students were suspended last month at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Conn. They had cell phones. The school’s total ban is at one extreme of a debate under way in schools across the country. As ever more powerful cell phones come closer to mimicking the laptop computers many pupils carry each day, teachers and administrators are wrestling with whether their utility as a teaching tool… -
Go Ahead...Rebel!
7 Feb 2010 | 4:08 pmImage Source: Finding Nemo, http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/cartoons/cartoon_images/finding_nemo_dory_marlin_angler_fish.jpgDr. Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) shares a quote from Seth Godin that is right on the money in describing our schools today:People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe."Source: Seth GodinIf there's no such thing as 21st Century Learning and skills--as some have asserted--then some…
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The PrincipalsPage.com Blog
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Weather Drama. Stop It.
9 Feb 2010 | 5:34 amEnough. Enough with the weather drama. I’ve had it (again). What’s weather drama? It’s the over exaggeration of winter storms. Actually, they aren’t even winter storms. They are days when it is going to snow. You know that happens occasionally during the winter months (unless you are smart enough to live in a warm climate and in that case… the rest of us despise you). It’s important to understand the subtle difference between a light snow and a blizzard. When “they” (and I will get to them later) call for 2 inches of snow it isn’t code for “panic”. But in today’s… -
Super Bowl of Stupid.
7 Feb 2010 | 8:44 amI’m not sure who will win the Super Bowl, but I’m positive who wins when Schools take on the Media. It’s a no brainer. The Media. Every single time. Well, not every single time. No, I was wrong. They do win every single time. Not because the Media is right, but because they have the last word. If you want to survive (not thrive, mind you… just survive) in school administration, this is something you have to learn. Don’t make decisions so incredibly stupid that the producer of the 10 o’clock news (11 o’clock for our friends on the East Coast) can get monster ratings… -
Google Me This.
5 Feb 2010 | 4:30 pmBuddy the Dog is man’s best friend. Or at least Mom’s Best Friend. On my behalf, Buddy was kind enough to put together a 1 minute video for the people at Google (which is all the more impressive when you consider he doesn’t have thumbs). Because of his good work, I’ve been selected as 1 of 50 school administrators in the United States to attend The Google Teacher Academy for Administrators (I’m no marketing major, but shouldn’t it be “The Google Administrator’s Academy”). This is a free professional development experience designed to help K-12 educational leaders get… -
January is Over. Seriously?
1 Feb 2010 | 4:02 pmHow is it possible that January is gone? Where did it go? I need more than 31 days to get used to writing 2010 on my checks. Never mind, I don’t use checks anymore… it’s 2010. It’s been 67 days since Thanksgiving. 37 days since Christmas. This amazes me. And saddens me. It’s been 164 days since my school year started (which means the countdown is on and we may just make it… and this doesn’t sadden me). All of this is hard to believe. There’s never enough time. And the time I have goes way too fast (i.e. weekends). When I was a kid, time… -
Good Coach/Bad Father.
31 Jan 2010 | 10:51 amIt’s possible I’m not going to win the Father of the Year Award anytime soon. Or ever. Actually it’s not just possible, it’s pretty much a mortal lock. It’s not because I call my daughter “The Evil Spawn” in a moderately well-read blog (although that certainly doesn’t help my cause). It’s because I coach her basketball team. One would think this would put me in the finals for the Father of the Year competition. Actually coaching 3rd grade girls in anything should at least get me in the Fast Past line to Heaven (this would be a Walt Disney World/Religious reference… so…
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Holy Kaw!
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13 geeky Valentine’s Day gifts
9 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pmLooking for a way to knock the argyle socks off your geeky lover this Valentine’s Day? Skip the computer programmer-themed porn and try gifting your nerdy loved one some HTTPanties or “Tweet Me” Sweethearts candy. The Huffington Post tracked down thirteen geeky gifts that scream “I love you, nerd face.” Full geeky gift list at Huffington Post. Get your geek on. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Google Buzz's official demo [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 11:25 amGoogle has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space—Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days. While this development is still unfolding, you can check out Google Buzz’s two-minute demo of Buzz in action both online and via mobile. What are your initial reactions? Another soon-to-be-forgotten Google product like Wave, or a Facebook/Twitter killer? Full story at Mashable. Total Google coverage. Permalink | Leave a… -
Darth Vader’s original wimpy voice [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 11:15 amImagine a galaxy far, far away where Darth Vader sounded like any other British bloke strolling down the corridors of the Death Star. Before James Earl Jones provided the menacing voice of the Dark Lord of the Sith, English actor and bodybuilder David Prowse delivered the lines from inside the Darth costume. While George Lucas never intended for Prowse’s voice to make the flick’s final cut, it’s weird to imagine how different Star Wars would have been with a different Vader voice. Full story at Huffington Post. Tons of Star Wars tidbits. Permalink | Leave a… -
7 things you didn’t know about condoms
9 Feb 2010 | 10:14 amRubbers. Raincoats. Inconvenient. Whatever you call 'em, condoms remain a must-have in the safe sex tool box. Long before the days of Durex and Trojans, men used animal intestines to protect their willies (that sounds lovely, eh ladies?) and still to this day use lambskin condoms for latex allergies and supposed extra sensitivity. Want to learn even more fun facts about condoms that will surely impress your friends and potential lovers? Check out Asylum's seven things you probably didn't know about condoms that includes tantalizing tidbits like: Vaseline + condoms = Disintegrated rubber and… -
Horror flick mirror scare mash-up [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 amHorror movies love to rely on cliches to scare the bejeezus out of us, but does it really surprise anyone that the axe murderer is going to pop in the reflection of a mirror? Ok, yes, it still totally sparks a few pee-in-pants moments. Check out this mash-up of mirror scare moments (fair warning: don’t watch alone in a big, dark, scary house): Full story at Four Four. Boo! Tons of scary and not so scary movie news. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Can Google Buzz Succeed Where FriendFeed Couldn't?
9 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pmGoogle just launched Google Buzz, the company's new social networking service which will be tightly integrated with Gmail. There can be little doubt that Google Buzz looks a lot like FriendFeed, the social aggregation service that was acquired by Facebook in August 2009. Today, FriendFeed's developers are Facebook employees and aren't likely to continue to improve the service in any meaningful way, while the active user community on FriendFeed continues to shrink rapidly. Given the similarities between the two services, we can't help but wonder if Google Buzz will be able to succeed where… -
How Google Buzz is Disruptive: Open Data Standards
9 Feb 2010 | 11:31 amGoogle rolled out a social stream service today called Buzz. It looks on the surface like Facebook, FriendFeed and other stream reading and writing services. It will compete with Facebook and Twitter. Under the covers, though, this major product was built by a team of people taking a radical new approach to online publishing: Buzz is all about open, standardized user data. Google Buzz data can be syndicated out to other services using the standard data formats called Atom, Activity Streams, MediaRSS and PubSubHubbub. That couldn't be more different from Facebook. Google has taken open data… -
Mobile Health: Will Network Applications Help Us Get Healthy?
9 Feb 2010 | 11:30 amLast week, we were at the mHealth initiative conference in Washington D.C. The keynotes were all about the impact mobile health applications are having in shaping the future of the health care system. Nothing demonstrates that more than the iPhone. In the 18 months since it was released, it has been perhaps the biggest thing to happen to health care electronic records, which has seen billions of dollars worth of investment in past decades. Mobile and wireless health applications directly impact the individual's health and have the promise of ensuring that when a patient leaves a doctor visit,… -
Foursquare Partners with Zagat, New York Times
9 Feb 2010 | 11:17 amFoursquare has come out strong in recent weeks with partnership deals that look to put it at the top of the location-based app game. Last week, it announced a partnership with Bravo, the style and fashion-centric television network, and today it has come out with a partnership with Zagat, the restaurant guide, and the New York Times. As we wrote last week, Foursquare is competing in an increasingly crowded space. These partnerships may help it attract a whole new audience and remain competitive against other services like Yelp that are just joining in the location-based arena. Sponsor… -
Live Blogging from Google: Launch of Google Buzz
9 Feb 2010 | 11:11 amThis morning, Google is announcing some exciting new features for two of its most popular applications. Team Red, as we affectionately call ourselves, is present at the Googleplex in Mountain View, and we'll be live blogging the event, giving you, dear reader, a fascinating play-by-play. Stay tuned for updates! The event will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific (UTC -8). Just refresh this post to see new content as events unfold. Additional on-the-fly research and images from RWW journalist Frederic Lardinois. Sponsor 11:11: The event is over! Time to chase people down and ask some more pointed…
