EduTechGeek

I like this point in the speech: "Yes, advances...

2011-11-26T06:13:00.001-05:00

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I like this point in the speech: "Yes, advances in technology do leave us all behind – temporarily. But that's the point. And those same technological advances also give us the tools to quickly catch up – and to improve our lives. One need only look at the productivity tables of the last half-century for proof of that. That same mainframe computer that once threatened our jobs, is now the laptop computer that lets us work at home and virtually communicate face to face with anyone in the world. Technology isn't leaving us behind; rather, as always, it pulls us along in its wake"

Resolved: The Average Worker Is Being Left Behind by Technology - Ricochet.com

Last Sunday, I found myself once again standing before a standing-room-only crowd at the Oxford Union, the world's most famous debating society. For a suburban kid who stayed as

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Where's the new stuff?

2011-05-12T06:26:00.000-04:00

It's over here: www.ronhoutman.com

Picture Post

2011-04-13T17:22:00.001-04:00

Write some stuff - here's a picture of something - continue typing

Alpaca

2011-04-13T17:01:00.000-04:00

Alpaca

2011-04-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

This is an alpaca

2010-10-09T06:32:00.001-04:00

test

2010-10-02T12:18:00.000-04:00

Your browser cannot play this video. Learn how to fix this.

The big idea (so far) from #ISTE10

2010-06-29T08:24:00.000-04:00

RT @mtrump: Technology doesn’t improve education, it changes it……TEACHERS improve education. #ebc10 #ISTE10

Cheating! In schools? Say it isn't so.

2010-02-03T07:01:00.004-05:00

This just in from the BBC, complete with a scary headline to drive traffic to the story:

Hi-tech exam cheating increases says Ofqual

Yes, cheating on exams exists. It has always occurred and now we have a new bogeyman - those evil cellphones! Here's the interesting part of the story, or as I like to say; How to scare people with useless statistics:

Figures from Ofqual show a 6% rise in cheating by candidates although the body points out cheating is still very rare, affecting 0.03% of exams taken.

So .03% of all exams taken had some sort of cheating occur. That's just HUGE isn't it? Not so much. The real issue is that we are still trying to quantify learning based on multiple-guess assessments. How about if we make the assessment non-Google-able instead, and assess student ability to locate data, and discern if that data is valid, and then use it to make new knowledge from that data?
Back to the story:

Another approach, tested in Denmark, has been to stop trying to prevent the use of technology in exams and allow pupils to have open access to the internet.

I wonder which country will have better creative thinkers in the coming years? My money is on Denmark.

Birch in transition

2010-01-02T16:08:00.002-05:00

Birch in transition, originally uploaded by rdhout.

All must pay

2010-01-02T16:07:00.001-05:00

All must pay, originally uploaded by rdhout.

STOP Collaborate and Listen

2010-01-01T06:55:00.002-05:00

This is a great year to fully embrace the disruptive change that we are living in. We better remember to collaborate and listen to each other, or we will never make much of a difference in our student's lives.

STOP Collaborate and Listen, originally uploaded by Erica Reid.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T06:03:00.000-05:00

Make it a great 2010 with peace, prosperity and lot's of learning!

Children who use technology are 'better writers'

2009-12-05T12:21:00.003-05:00

I really do like when the things you know from your own experiences in teaching are validated here and there in the media and in scholarly research. Case in point is the story from BBC News: Children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills, according to the National Literacy Trust.

I like this quote by John Coe as well:

"Young people aged nine and upwards are texting like crazy - inside and outside the classroom," he said. "It is a form of reading and writing. It might not be conventional but they are communicating, so there is a general gain."

Screencasting and Resources

2009-10-20T06:01:00.002-04:00

I've been doing a bit of screencasting lately and find that every once in a while, my laptop starts to stutter a bit here and there, as it chokes on the many background service that are inherent to a Windows-based PC.

Back in the day, I used to play a fair amount of MS Flight Simulator, Half-Life 2, and other heavy games, and stumbled across AlacrityPC via an online forum.

This great little piece of code allows you to shut down and terminate unnecessary services and programs with a click of a mouse before you run a resource intensive applications.

After I thought about it, I figured that what was good for the gaming stuff would be great for when I am doing screencast tutorials, working with multimedia authoring applications. Additionally, using this tool is pretty awesome to free up resources when I am presenting at conferences.

http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/default.html

38 Interesting ways to use Wordle in your classroom

2009-10-08T06:06:00.000-04:00

Alternatives

2009-09-27T09:29:00.005-04:00

To quote a colleague, "Free is Good!", and I have always been one to seek out quality freeware and shareware alternatives to commercial software. In the Information Technology courses I have taught in the past, my students always were in awe of the great programs we could find, just by using some good search terms, or by using a couple of great online directories.

I thought I would share my list, because keeping it in my brain just hurts too much:

Alternative To - I think their about page says it better than I can: Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you suggestions on great alternatives! Instead of listing thousands of more or less crappy applications in a category, we make each application into a category. Think of it like forever evolving blog posts about good alternatives to the software that you're not satisfied with.

File Hippo - Anytime someone asks me about downloading a piece of software, this is the first place I point them to. File Hippo is a magnificent repository of all the software you need to make your computer happy. It's all in one place and kept updated.

Let me put it this way, have you ever tried to find the JAVA plug-in on Sun's website? How about the Flash plug-in for IE, no wait Firefox... er.. Safari. If you know what I am talking about, then you need File Hippo. It's all in one place, without having to click about 4 times to get to the right page.

The third one I use all the time is OSAlt. This is another great directory of alternatives to commercial software, and I highly recommend you stick it in your bookmark list.

Behind the column

2009-08-27T19:41:00.001-04:00

Behind the column, originally uploaded by Storybook Rabbit.

What a great observation from 'Storybrook Rabbit'. Makes you think about having an LCD projector and a computer tablet a bit more.

The start of the journey

2009-06-28T07:17:00.003-04:00

This morning, I woke up a bit earlier than usual (4:44AM!) to make sure everything was in order before heading to GRR for my trip to #NECC. Everything went pretty well... until I faced the rest of the phalanx, lined up dutifully ready for inspection by the ever watchful security folks.

It's interesting that the five people in front of me had no idea that they needed to have ready: a boarding pass, some sort of ID, their toiletries in a baggie, etc. Interesting.

Anyway - here we go. Things will only get better!

EduBloggerCon from Home

2009-06-27T10:11:00.004-04:00

I'm not able to attend EduBloggerCon in DC (and will be at NECC on Sunday)... but I can from the comfort of my well connected computer-cave. I'm absolutely blown away by the advance in technology that allows all of this to occur.

I'm following everything via the blog.

BORING!

2009-06-25T08:24:00.006-04:00

Scott McLeod at Dangerourously Irrelevent posts something dear to my heart - the act of walking out on presentations that are less than engaging.

We have all been there... the presenter is reading a PowerPoint slide deck to us, they're unprepared, they trip over their words, use lot's of 'ums and ahs', etc. Frankly, it drive me nuts. I always give the presenter the respect they deserve, however, I will flee (with my hair on fire) any presentation that is not useful, engaging, or enthralling.

If I don't depart in a rapid manner, I will turn to other work on my laptop and engage in something a bit productive. Sometimes I will even make notes about what I shouldn't do in my presentations based on my observations.

So, if I walk out, don't take it personally. You are just not meeting my needs, but you are probably doing so for others.

EDIT: Doug Johnson at The Blue Skunk Blog has some additional points on the topic as well.

Can you hear me now?!?!?

2009-06-25T06:15:00.000-04:00

More and more as I present to groups, I am finding that the audio in my company provided HP laptop is not as room filling as it should. Recently our A/V technician showed me a Yamaha NX-U10BL he had tucked away. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by how nice the unit sounds, and the amount of audio coming out of such a thin unit.

It does distort at the high end of the volume setting a slight bit - but it sure beats the tinny audio my lappy puts out. I'll post more about this thing once I get my hands on my very own.

Wheeee - I processed 1.6GB of Information Today!

2009-05-31T12:46:00.001-04:00

According to an article via the WSJ, most 'information workers' make their way through 1.6GB of information every day. All I can say is:

Oh - and learn about RSS feed readers.

Twenty TEDs for Administrators

2009-05-26T05:49:00.003-04:00

Scott McLeod over at Dangerously Irrelevant did some digging around and found some great TED talks to share with your school administrators.

I like the idea of handing a school leader an MP3 player and asking them to give these a listen. In the past, I have went a bit 'old tech' and burned some of my favorite 'make you think' podcasts to a CD and put them in mailboxes around school.

Maybe that idea came from page 61 of Teaching As a Subversive Activity - which you should check out too!

Educational Podcasting in Woodland Park Colorado

2009-03-14T10:38:00.002-04:00

I think they're on to something! I think I have been preaching that what these teachers are doing works to my collegues for a coupe of years. I'm starting to see more and more adoption of the vodcasting model - and I hope it catches on.

The Stupidest Generation?

2009-02-25T06:18:00.001-05:00

Personality Matters

2009-01-31T07:03:00.006-05:00

Lisa Lane, over at her online teaching blog, pointed to a study in Management Science article/study about how people process information while attending a face-to-face versus an on-line meeting.

The study reports that:

...people in videoconferences tend to be more influenced by heuristic cues—such as how likeable they perceive the speaker to be—than by the quality of the arguments presented by the speaker.

Lisa noticed the same thing I have when presenting using Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting or Elluminate; that if you want to get a task accomplished, you need to go to where the people are. I'm finding more and more that the webinar tools are great for information transfer, training and such - but if you need to get a who's doing what by when project going, you need to have those face-to-face interactions.

As I reflect on my own learning, I know that I don't process video-based presentations as effectively as I do with face-to-face ones. Visual cues, body language, all facial expressions all have meaning just below our consciousness level and make a big difference to our uptake.

I wonder if this study looked at how the digital generation responds versus we 'experienced' educators? I'll have to look into that.

Beware of the outside consultants

2009-01-02T06:58:00.003-05:00

Scott McLeod at Dangerously Irrelevant has posted a great three-part series on so-called expert consultant that districts often bring in to 'fix stuff'. The latest post focuses on the obligations one has as a consultant. The points made are salient and worth a read, especially if you or your organization are planning on hiring a 'sage on the stage' to speak to your school/staff.

Another point made is that when an organization decides to bring in an 'expert' - they should do some due diligence and see what others are saying about the person/group and ensuring they are not spending money on some flavor-of-the-month that will have little or no lasting impact on the achievement of their students.

Firefox add-in/extension/whatever you call it of the week

2008-12-20T11:34:00.002-05:00

I just stumbled upon a very nice (whatever you call something added to Firefox to do cool stuff) called CoLT. It makes adding hyperlinks, in just about any format, easy as can be. Get it and make life easy.

Zounds!

2008-12-08T19:07:00.002-05:00

I just downloaded and installed Zoundry Raven as a method of posting to the blog. I ran into a couple of minor errors and bugs while installing... but a quick trip to their support forums cleared that up. So far so good.

Networked Student - Video Version

2008-12-07T15:36:00.002-05:00

Alec Couros posted this great video on his blog, Open Thinking & Digital Pedagogy. This video is a valuable way for educators trying to convince school administrators to open up access to the Internet in the classroom. The explanation of how students can learn through their personal learning community is straight-forward and hard to argue against.

PING! notifymewhenitsup.com

2008-11-30T11:28:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking this will come in handy for you IT geeks out there... As the name suggests this website application will watch a temporarily non-responsive website/page and send you email notification when it goes back online. All you do is - type in the URL of the website, enter your email address and click on the “Thanks” button.

http://notifymewhenitsup.com/

New Web Toy - VuVox

2008-11-30T10:50:00.001-05:00

Here's a new toy for your wiki/blog/digital presence of choice - VUVOX. Looks like a great tool for the creation of panoramas, colleges, RSS feeds and other interesting feeds. I'll add this to the list of cool stuff file.

Please retire

2008-11-29T13:23:00.003-05:00

Recently I spoke with a small group of teachers about the importance of using collaborative writing in their classrooms. We talked a bit about blogging, wiki's and discussion forums. One of the - shall we say 'experienced' teachers thought that all of this technology stuff would not improve student achievement, and that it had no place in the classroom.

Before my brain exploded, I thought - PLEASE RETIRE and let someone else teach your kids.

You mean... Facebook is actually good for something?

2008-11-23T13:16:00.003-05:00

A new study, funded by the MacArthur Foundation suggests that the mere act of just "hanging out" on social networking sites not a waste of time for teens...

"It may look like kids are wasting a lot of time online, but they’re actually learning a lot of social, technical and also media literacy skills..."

"Kids denied access to new media, because their family can’t afford it or because their parents, school or library restrict their access or time on social networking sites, are likely to be short on skills that members of their generation are expected to possess..."

Read the whole thing.

Geometry

2008-11-16T04:59:00.002-05:00

Ah yes, math... my great nemesis. I look back at my math experiences, and wonder how they would be different if I grew up with cool tools that would help me visualize what was going on.

So, as I was surfing around today, I found GeoGebra. From their website, “GeoGebra is a dynamic mathematics software for schools that joins geometry, algebra and calculus."

This thing is probably about the best thing since sliced bread... really. Tell your friends that math just became fun again!

Twitter for Teachers

2008-11-04T07:16:00.003-05:00

Gina Hartman, a technology specialist in the big MO built a nice PBWiki page called Twitter4Teachers.

From the about page - "This wiki was created to easily help new teachers connect with other teachers that have the same interests as them (that teach in the same content area). Check out the list of teachers below and add your Twitter name to the list too!"

What a great idea to be able to pick some Twitterers to add to your personal learning network.

Curriki

2008-10-11T07:40:00.004-04:00

A coupe of folks I follow on Twitter mentioned Curriki again. I've know about it for some time, but went back to see if the content is expanding, and most of all - is it worth my time.

Just a few thoughts: the site is pretty slow, much of the content is scattered about the web (meaning I could find it with a well crafted Google search), and many of the descriptions are very terse.

Right now - I'm going to give it a rating of 'meh'

Discovery of cool stuff hour

2008-09-14T16:25:00.003-04:00

In the last hour I learned about 3 cool things I want to use:

Atmosphir is a free platformer game / design tool hybrid for Mac or PC. Designers can create huge 3D interactive adventures, and then share them with an online community.

Teach2000 Flash Card maker is solution for those who believe in the power of learning through simple question/answer pairs. The software comes in both a "full" desktop version and a USB-portable copy, though both run basically the same. You enter question and answer pairs in a text box, separated by special characters or tabs, and can add second answers and notes to each item.

Yammer = Twitter + Where You Work. Yammer takes the familiar Twitter messaging system and applies it to internal corporate communications. I would love to see us use it at my place of work.

When you stop watching TV you find cool stuff :)

Swype Text Input

2008-09-10T20:05:00.000-04:00

Brownie Geek - Things you didn't know you needed

2008-09-07T17:30:00.004-04:00

You might not know this - but I have a weakness for brownies... so when I saw this blog entry, I knew I needed one of these: the presliced brownie pan from Slice Solutions.

I know this isn't really typical geek activity, obsessing over kitchen tools - but it IS hardware.

EduFire - Live Video Learning

2008-09-06T06:43:00.003-04:00

Now here's a neat site. EduFire has quite a collection of videos to help one learn all kinds of language related 'stuff' and includes the ability to locate a online tutor- and the flashcard language game is very engaging. Check this one out.

Google Teacher Academy Video

2008-08-23T16:47:00.002-04:00

Ooooh oooh! Pick me! (Horshack mode off)

Protecting kids from bad Internet stuff

2008-08-17T10:52:00.003-04:00

The How To Geek posted a cool method of using OpenDNS to filter and attempt to protect kids from bad stuff on the 'net. Smart kids can get around it - but it's still an OK method. Read the whole thing here.

Google Teacher Academy

2008-08-17T10:46:00.003-04:00

I just submitted my application and video for the Google Teacher Academy in Chicago, Ill. I can't wait to learn the result. I keep thinking of how cool it would be to network, collaborate and engage in conversations about how to put technology into the daily practice of our teachers.

The World is Flat and Free

2008-07-24T17:52:00.002-04:00

From: The Change This Blog
Beginning tomorrow, and running through August 4th, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Macmillan Audio will be offering the audio edition of Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat for free. Listeners will receive the audiobook in three easy-to-download sections, and soon after that, as an added bonus, will also receive an exclusive prepublication audio excerpt of Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America. The book itself will be released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on September 8th.

If you'd like to receive these free audio downloads, sign up at the following address: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/giveaway

Nimzy or the IceKUBE

2008-07-24T07:21:00.002-04:00

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger and getting one of these Nimzy speakers. Laptop speakers just don't do a great job - so... this thing turns and non-porous surface into a speaker.

Check out the video:

TED Talks Top Ten

2008-07-06T09:01:00.002-04:00

TED posted a list of their Top Ten TED's of all time. You can watch an overview and then proceed to the full length presentations.

My favorite is Sir Ken Robinson on his topic "Do schools kill creativity?"

The new learning

2008-07-06T08:41:00.005-04:00

David Warlick, at his 2 Cents blog, posted a reflection on comments made by Michael Huffman of the Indiana DoE about their 1:1 computing program:

"...our students are using our teachers." 'Using...' is new learning. 'Listening to...' is old learning.

From the "You had to do a study for this?" Department.

2008-06-29T15:20:00.002-04:00

I don't know if I can add anything else to this story - Proof is in: Career-oriented education works from the Las Vegas Sun.

Oh - except this: students crave relevant education, with great relationships and don't mind if it's rigorous on the way.

The synopsis of the 15 year study done my Manpower is here.

Where is my flash drive?

2008-06-28T15:32:00.004-04:00

I'm in the market for a USB-Flash drive again. It seems like each one I buy always has some downside and I don't figure it out until I try to use it. Some are too wide to fit next to another USB plug. Some connectors detach from the body very easily. Some have caps that get lost too easy...

My last perfect USB-Flash drive was a nice Sandisk 2GB Titanium Cruzer. It's missing.

So this time, I'm going to go even smaller than the last one and get a Corsair Flash Voyager Mini Flash Drive. Why? Well, it's a bit cheaper than the Sandisk, no cap to loose, and it doesn't have that awful U3 software installed in it (which I remove ASAP anyway).

So... we'll see how long this one lasts.

Social Networking is... educational

2008-06-24T05:05:00.005-04:00

Christine Greenhow, a research associate at the University of Minnesota released a study that says social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo offer educational benefits to students.

After all the noise in we often hear about the digital divide, the study also found that low-income students are just as technologically savvy as their peers, going against what many previous studies have shown.

In the study, the majority (94%) of students use the Internet, 82 percent go online at home and 77 percent have a profile on a social networking site.

When asked about educational benefits, the students listed technology skills first, followed by creativity and being open to new views and communication skills. Not to bad is it.

Take a look at the video clip produced by the college to hear the kids in their own words.

I use email. I am 'old people'

2008-06-24T04:36:00.003-04:00

I look forward to reading the trend analysis reports of technology use of tweens and teens by GenDigital - except when it makes me feel old.

The report results are from March 2008, but just recently published show teens and "tweens" are reading less, instead spending more time surfing the web, playing games, and watching TV.

That doesn't surprise most technology using teachers who see it on a daily basis. What does surprise me though is the description that 'e-mail is for old people' and 'e-mail is, like, so yesterday'. I guess I should have figured that out when they first said it two years ago.

Another indicator worth noting is that wireless phone ownership is up from 65 percent last year to 73 percent among teens, and 26 percent of tweens also owning a cell/wireless phone. Text messaging (no email here folks)is cited as the primary activity above actually talking to people.

Just a couple of thoughts - what are schools doing to integrate the communication tools that 73% of your teens are showing up with? How do you effectively go about banning something that ubiquitous?

CoverItLive

2008-06-23T13:01:00.001-04:00

Here's a CoverItLive test.

Wiimote Hacking

2008-06-23T05:58:00.003-04:00

After reading about Johnny Chung's Wiimote Whiteboard project, I simply HAD to build one. During the last few days of school this year, my students and I tore apart a few old TV remotes, got some old whiteboard markers, installed the software and had fun playing with Google Earth on the $30 interactive whiteboard that we built.

Well, it seems that Johnny has come up with a bit more for me to try now. Check out this video of his new project:

Fun stuff - and stuff to get your kids excited about what new kinds of technology will be in their lives in the near future.

I'm Here for the Learning Revolution

2008-06-20T06:01:00.002-04:00

The winner of the NECC "I'm Here for the Learning Revolution" button contest is Bill Moseley. I really like the message and the graphic... time to get a mug made.

Cyberbullying

2008-06-19T08:12:00.002-04:00

You will have one or more of these kids in your classroom. Take a look at this UK-based cyberbulling video. Important stuff to address, especially in the early days of the school year.

Change the world with learning games

2008-06-19T07:52:00.002-04:00

Jeff Cobb at the Mission to Learn blog, posted a great list of learning games. All of the games and simulations have the mission of exposing learners to some of the critical problems that face people around the world. Take a look, and be prepared to spend a lot of time on these compelling sims/games.

Rubik's cat

2008-06-18T16:18:00.003-04:00

Dumpr is a web-based photo editor that adds quick effects to photos like poor Rubrik Nepeta which took all of about 10 seconds to create. Upload photos to Dumpr from your computer, or grab them from Flickr or any photo URL. The real timesaver Dumpr provides is the quick link panel beside each picture it renders, which lets you quickly inject your edited photos into Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, and more.

Google Earth and Maps

2008-06-17T05:03:00.003-04:00

I have been using Google Earth and Google maps in my teaching and learning practice for quite some time, and wanted to share an awesome website.

Google Maps Mania is a blog started by another raving fan of GE and GM, Mike Pegg. He put a ton of energy into the blog and it finally paid off for him in an unexpected way - Google just hired him as a product marketing manager on their Google Earth API team.

Kudo's to Mike!

Historical Stumble

2008-06-12T16:55:00.002-04:00

While stumbling around the net - I found a nice addition to my bookmark list. C-SPAN Classroom has tons of free resources for civics and government teachers. They also have unrestricted use of video clips that can be downloaded or viewed as they stream.

PLN - not just another acronym

2008-06-11T06:03:00.003-04:00

Jeff Utrecht was reflecting a bit about PLNs (Professional Learning Network's ) and posted a interesting list of stages of adoption:

Stage 1 Immersion: Immerse yourself into networks. Create any and all networks you can find where there are people and ideas to connect to. Collaboration and connections take off.

Stage 2 Evaluation: Evaluate your networks and start to focus in on which networks you really want to focus your time on. You begin feeling a sense of urgency and try to figure out a way to “Know it all.”

Stage 3 Know it all: Find that you are spending many hours trying to learn everything you can. Realize there is much you do not know and feel like you can’t disconnect. This usually comes with spending every waking minutes trying to be connected to the point that you give up sleep and contact with others around you to be connected to your networks of knowledge.

Stage 4 Perspective: Start to put your life into perspective. Usually comes when you are forced to leave the network for awhile and spend time with family and friends who are not connected (a vacation to a hotel that does not offer a wireless connection, or visiting friends or family who do not have an Internet connection).

Stage 5 Balance: Try and find that balance between learning and living. Understanding that you can not know it all, and begin to understand that you can rely on your network to learn and store knowledge for you. A sense of calm begins as you understand that you can learn when you need to learn and you do not need to know it all right now.

U Tech Tips » Blog Archive » Stages of PLN adoption." U Tech Tips . 11 June 2008 .

I think I'm working on the balance thing right now... :)

The Final Thing

2008-06-08T09:10:00.002-04:00

The Final Thing (or Thing 23) is a reflection on the past 10-weeks. One thing I will take away from the blogging and discovering is that if one does not understand and embrace the 'new' stuff that is out there, you will be left behind - personally and professionally.

As professional educators our job is to prepare students to innovate, use new technology tools, and empower them to solve their own problems. Spoon feeding is not going to make them successful in the 21st Century By providing tools and opportunities for their creativity to flourish, they will do things we cant even have imagined.

We need to create learning environments that encourage and support failure, and risk taking... and teachers need to do be willing to depart from their tried and true and embrace new ways of working and teaching as well.

Thing 22 - Embedding the Video

2008-06-07T04:52:00.002-04:00

I thought I would share one of my favorite school-related videos for this Thing:

Thing 21 - A Series of Tubes

2008-06-07T04:38:00.004-04:00

What do you like or dislike about YouTube? Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning? Is YouTube banned in your building?

YouTube, if nothing else, is an Internet phenomena. It's interesting and is a pretty big time waster for adolescent males... but I thin the most important part is that it has given voice to those without one in 'big media'.

YT might be useful in the class for T&L, but within a very narrow scope. I have used several video clips in class to bring things I couldn't do there to the students - like demonstrations of static electricity and hard drive damage, Bluetooth headset hacking, and other tech topics.

YT, like many of the other user-generated video content sites is blocked in my building, and I don't think I would like to see it unblocked. I can just imaging the zombification occurring now...

Thing 20 - RSS Revisit

2008-06-07T04:28:00.002-04:00

Reflecting on RSS - I don't think I would be near as effective at keeping up with the news and technology 'stuff' I need to do my job without them.

My browser homepage is my Google Reader page, and - yes, it's an obsession.

Technology replacing teachers?

2008-06-03T04:55:00.003-04:00

In an online PLC (Professional Learning Community), a discussion thread about technology use by teachers popped up and the thought that if so much technology ends up in the classroom, then teachers might be 'outsourced' or made obsolete.

Well - If you can be replaced by a computer then you probably should be!

Technology will not be replacing teachers anytime soon, as far as I can tell, but one important fact in the conversation remains:

Teachers who know how to use technology effectively to help their students connect and collaborate together online will replace those who do not.

Another sure thing: technology is changing schools, and it's not going to go away.

Thing 19 - Mmmmm Del.icio.us!

2008-05-31T06:07:00.003-04:00

I have been using del.icio.us for quite some time now and have found it to be one of my most used web applications. The ability to access my bookmarks from any browser increases my productivity exponentially.

The other use for del.cio.us that is helpful, is using it as a topical search engine. If i am looking for something in particular, I'll use a tag search and chances are I will find exactly what I am looking for in a few short minutes. The reason this works - is that del.icio.us is essentially a human powered search tool, instead of a text-matching tool, like Google.

Oh - and with regard to my earlier post about Melvil Dewey... well, it seem, librarians are embracing del.iciou.us and other tagging sites.

Thing 18 - Tagging Folksonomy,and Social Bookmarking

2008-05-31T05:52:00.003-04:00

Using tags, or as it's know on the net - folksonomies - is very helpful in locating information. I am constantly using tagging on my own personal computer for example. In MS Vista, you can easily tag files and folders with your own words, so you can find them very fast as you need them. This works the same way out on the 'net, using sites that have organized their content using tags.

I'm even using tags to find other blogs in the 23-things project that use terms like 'thing' and 'resa'.

A disadvantage of using tags is that your description of an item might be totally different than others, and might not add to the larger group of users trying to find information. Additionally, there is a lack of precision when one describes something with a one-word tags.

I suppose if Melvil Dewey could see what was going on, he would not be amused.

What school should be like

2008-05-26T06:27:00.001-04:00

Harrison Central High School: A Commitment to High Tech
Sophisticated electronic gadgets such as probes and global-positioning-system devices catch students' interest.

Increasing Student Achievement Using Technology

2008-05-24T07:47:00.004-04:00

Here's a story about something that I have known about intuitively for quite some time: Student achievement is not impacted through the use of technology in their classroom UNLESS teachers are taught how to integrate tech into their daily practice.

I have been talking, even evangelizing about this fact since I stated in my teaching career after entering the field from the business world. It's heartening to see the conversations and research starting to trickle out that mirrors what I have been thinking.

A key quote from the CNET story is:

More than two-thirds of teachers surveyed in a recent inquiry said they were not getting any substantial improvements in academic progress from their participation in a one-computer-per-student program, said Tom Greaves, an education consultant and member of Project Inkwell. Project Inkwell was founded and is run by Mark Anderson, the organizer of FIRe and head of Strategic News Service, to help get technology into classrooms.

While that may sound dismal, last year it was even worse: only 17 percent of those surveyed said they were noticing substantial academic progress from one-to-one programs, Greaves said. The problem is that while computers are nice and all, they must be part of a teaching plan and a community's educational mission, and teachers need help figuring out the best ways to use the computers.

The observations were part of the Future in Review conference. Additional information about the study and how to best prepare teachers to integrate tech into their teaching can be seen at Project Inkwell.

Thing 17 - Slideshare

2008-05-24T04:49:00.002-04:00

Of all the tools out there, I have found that Slideshare is one of the most useful. I love being able to upload my slide deck to Slideshare so I can use it anywhere and anytime.

It even saved my bacon one time where I was to give a talk, and the laptop provided did not have PowerPoint on it. So, because I always think about back up plans, I logged into my Slideshare account, and presented using the browser.

Even more powerful, is the ability to post your shows online as embedded objects in blogs, wiki's and webpages - extending your thought further than your normal audience of learners.

Who knows - Slideshare might even help with this:

| View | Upload your own

Thing 16 - More on Cloud Computing

2008-05-24T04:27:00.004-04:00

Thing 16 is about online productivity tools. As I posted in the Thing 15 entry, we are seeing new ways to increase our ability to collaborate and increase our effectiveness every day.

The ZOHO.com set of products is quite extensive when it come to productivity applications. Zoho has really come in and eaten Microsoft's lunch on moving applications to the web. MS is trying to catch up, but is pretty far behind the curve right now.

Zoho has even extended some of their apps to work on web-connected mobile devices, so you can use products like Zoho writer, and notes right on your phone... and access your documents everywhere.

One concern by users is the thought of what happens when I need to work on something when not online? Well, Google has taken care of that as well. You can use Google Gears which will allow you to work on your online apps while offline and then synchronize them when you get back online. How cool is that!

All of these tools have a place in classrooms. Students can use word processing, presentation, spreadsheet and database applications anywhere they have an Internet connection. Additionally, many public Internet terminals, such as the library, can be used by our students to access their content as well, which diminished the digital divide just a bit.

Thing 15 - Google Docs

2008-05-22T19:51:00.004-04:00

Microsoft is getting nervous about all of this 'cloud computing', and thing like Google Docs, Zoho.com, and the like. People won't need to buy MS Office anymore for simple word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and presentations.

I'm getting to the point where I am using Google Docs more than I am MS Office, especially because of the convenience of being able to get to my documents from anywhere I have a connection to the 'net.

After introducing it to my students, I noticed a pretty fast adoption rate. They are using it for collaborative projects with their classmates, and also as their defacto word processor. A comment that I hear most often is that they don't have to carry a USB flash drive around, or worry about losing their stuff.

The only downside I have heard is that some of the school districts are blocking the entire google.com domain, which prevents students from using tools that make them more effective, efficient and productive.

Thing 14 - Podcasting

2008-05-22T19:38:00.003-04:00

The 14th Thing is a reflection on podcasting as a consumer or producer. I am already both of them. I have quite a few podcasts I listen to on a regular basis while doing things like mowing the lawn, or riding the stationary bike to nowhere.

As a producer, I have found that many of my students need that extra reinforcement on detailed topics, and podcasts help them out quite a bit. They might be slow to process lectures in class, and need a couple more listens to 'get it'. Additionally, podcasts are great for students that missed a day, or two - so they can catch up with where the class is when they return.

The only obstacles I have found is that I am going through lot's of headphones from Dollar Tree (one of my favorite stores...). The kids use them often to listen to audio in class, and for some reason forget they have them on sometimes as they leave their chairs.

Acceptable Use Resource

2008-05-20T18:36:00.004-04:00

School leaders today are grappling with the issue of technology use within their schools. As our customers (students) bring more and more technology to school, and expect to use tech in their learning, we need to look at modifying the AUPs in schools.

The School AUP 2.0 wiki is a great place to study, read and discuss AUPs with school leaders around the country. Take a look and contribute your thoughts.

Additionally, the site has some very interesting cell phone use models as well.

I have to learn more about Google Motion Charts

2008-05-20T17:02:00.003-04:00

Last year Google acquired a company called Trendalyzer, and I'm sure that most of the programmers joined Google (because they have free M&M's). In the last few weeks Google seems to have implemented the Trendalyzer tool. Google renamed it the Motion Tool and has added it to Google Docs.

This Motion Tool, as you will see from this example spreadsheet and data, certainly gives MS Excel a run for its money. Can you imagine using this tool in a presentation, or helping your students visualize data that they might otherwise not quite 'get' from a static set of number?

Feed me!

2008-05-20T16:39:00.003-04:00

As I continue my search to be the most effective infovore I can, I stumbled across an awesome way to keep track of content on websites you wish to monitor.

The cool thing is that is scrapes virtually any web page and converts it into a fully formed and fully coded RSS feed, which you can then subscribe to in your choice of feed reader.

The name of this cool thing is Feedity. This one is highly recommended!

Growing up digital

2008-05-17T05:56:00.003-04:00

I found a great survey via The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the disconnect that many adults (or parents) describe when surveyed about digital technology and media use in their children's lives. Download a PDF of the presentation entitled Growing Up Digital: Adults
Rate the Educational Potential of New Media and 21st Century Skills.

An important takeaway from the survey is that a majority of parents see digital media providing educational benefit to their students, but don't think it helps with their social or communication skills, which leads them to underestimate digital media's full educational potential.

After reading that chain of thought, I am thinking we need to get more of our parents into our classrooms or extend our classrooms way beyond the four-walls so they can see what is going on. In the multimedia class, which is part of an IT course I teach, I see our kids developing their communication, collaboration and social skills in an almost vertical manner.

Our students develop some of the most creative video projects I have ever seen. They put so much thought and creativity into development of these projects, it would be hard for any parent to conclude that what they accomplished is not developing their communication skills.

Students who came into our course and very non-communicative and 'introverted', are leaving with a new found confidence in their own abilities and communication skills.

I've seen it happen. Digial media works. Teachers need to give kids the tools, some structure and the creative freedom to do what they do best - create!

Thing 13 - More Podcasts

2008-05-11T06:33:00.005-04:00

I just added another podcast (or 'netcast') to my playlist: Cranky Geeks with John C. Dvorak. I kept forgetting that I wanted to catch his show, and Thing 13 reminded me to go get it.

I do wish there was a better podcast directory out there to find feeds. Performing my normal Google-Fu, I found a few more podcast rating/directory sites out there, but keep on going back to iTunes. A close second to the nice interface iTunes has would probably be ODEO.

Each of the 4 sites I visited have different rating systems, and different 'Top' lists of specific genre's of podcasts to download. I suspect that the iTunes list is a bit more well traveled than the others out there, so I think that's the one I'll stick with.

Learning to change

2008-05-10T06:23:00.004-04:00

Here's another video that I will be adding to my toolbox. I am finding more and more that these short videos can say more than a single person standing in front of a group. This video was part of a presentation for the Consortium for school networking - enjoy!

Thing12 - Podcasts

2008-05-09T20:13:00.004-04:00

As I posted on the 23 Things blog, I am a large consumer of podcasts. I have a pretty wide variety of 'stuff' I listen to on a regular basis, but to the point of podcasts I might use in class, I would answer it this way: I create my own podcasts for use in my class.

I have found that recording my lecture portions of my class with Audacity and posting them in our LMS helps my students in a couple of ways.

First, the students that miss class can review the lecture, and second, students can review the material at their convenience.

I also suggest podcasts for my students to put in their download list: Security Now, Buzz out loud, and TWiT with Leo Laporte.

Blocking the future

2008-05-04T18:31:00.003-04:00

Scott McLeod has an important article posted at the American Association of School Administrators site titled "Blocking the Future"

This part caught my eye:

[S]chool district leaders have a critical choice to make: Will their schools pro-actively model and teach the safe and appropriate use of these digital tools or will they reactively block them out and leave students and families to fend for themselves? Unfortunately, many schools are choosing to do the latter. . . . I can think of no better way to highlight organizational unimportance than to block out the tools that are transforming the rest of society. Schools whose default stance is to prohibit rather than enable might as well plant a sign in front of their buildings that says, “Irrelevant to children’s futures.”

Sound familiar?

Thing11 - WIKI WIKI WIKI (Again)

2008-05-04T09:09:00.008-04:00

Thing 11 would like a link to a self-created wiki. Hmmm, which one to choose... I maintain about 5 of them on wikispaces, but each is open by invite only to keep the riff-raff out.

So - here's one that has been set up just a test. It's for my organization, the Kent Intermediate School District in Grand Rapids. I also have another one at WetPaint.

I have used a few other wiki hosts as well, including WetPaint, PBWiki, and at Google Sites.

The big difference between blogging vs and wiki'ing (I know.. it's not a word - yet), is that wiki's are much more collaborative in nature than a blog. Everyone can edit the wiki but not the blog.

Additionally, I see more (school) organizations OK'ing the use of a wiki versus a blog. The word 'blog' scares the admin folks sometimes. :(

Thing10 - WIKI WIKI WIKI

2008-05-04T08:51:00.002-04:00

Thing 10 is a reflection on wiki's, their uses and hurdles of adoption and use.

I really do not see any downside in the use of wiki's in an educational environment. What better way to get people to collaborate! In my daily instructional practice, I use one of 3 classroom wiki's to act as a place where my students can interact with each other, and information from my brain can be stored.

Some of the hurdles at the beginning were getting the wiki site I was using unblocked from the Web(non)sense filter, but after that, I had no problems.

We have been using the wiki for collaboration and as a scheduling tool with members of our advisory committee as well. At the end of each semester we have IT professionals from business and industry perform interviews with our students. In the past the scheduling was done via email (UGH!) and led to many dropped balls and the attempt to heard cats.

After I implemented the wiki as a scheduling tool, all the problems magically melted away.

Thing9 - Online Image Generator

2008-05-03T05:37:00.004-04:00

My job is to keep my students engaged... and sometimes, using comedy within my presentations are the little crests of the wave that get them from one topic to the next. Using image generators are not only fun, and engaging - they can create a bit of a visual point where words alone might not suffice.

Thing8 - Flickr Tools

2008-05-03T05:31:00.003-04:00

After playing around in Flickr a bit, and with some of the fun AJAX tools online, I'm thinking I could use a few more picture/photos in my daily classroom practice.

I already use quite a few (in the hundreds) of pictures during the course of my IT classes, but can always add more interesting elements to the pictures by using photo manipulation tools.

So... here's my LOL CATS:

Now, if you have no idea what a LOLCAT is, then take a look at I CAN HAZ CHEEZBURGER.

I can't explain it... just go look for yourself - but be willing to waste about an hour of your life looking at page after page of cute animals.

Thing7

2008-04-26T05:10:00.004-04:00

I love the Flickr, but alas, my district does not, and I understand why. Part of the The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) says that a school that wishes to be eligible of eRate funding must enforce a policy of Internet safety that includes the use of filtering or blocking technology. This Internet Safety Policy must protect against access, through computers with Internet access, to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or (in the case of use by minors) harmful to minors.

So, Flickr, from time to time, may have some pictures that fit into the above categories.

Nonetheless, I have found a great use of Flickr (as I access it from home). I use the part of Flickr where users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license.

These images in the CC area, allow a person to use the images without fear of copyright issues, as long as one follows the licensing set forth by the owner. This is quite a bit different from using Google Images, where one never knows if they are violating copyright laws by using a picture in a presentation or elsewhere.

Motivation via Music

2008-04-22T20:15:00.000-04:00

WFMU's Beware of the Blog has seven peppy tunes from a 1960s LP designed to perk up employees... I wonder if I can use these on my students... hmmm.

Thing6

2008-04-20T16:11:00.002-04:00

Thing 6 is all about using photo sharing sites as part of your professional practice. I decided to use one of my own:

I live about 5 minutes from the Frederick Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park and love to hang out with my favorite sculpture. Any idea why I picked this one?

Thing4

2008-04-20T15:52:00.003-04:00

I posted a comment at RESA's 23 Things about RSS feeds and readers and how using RSS is way more than just a 'favorites' list.

The way i think about RSS readers is like this. Would I want to drive to the newspaper printing plant everyday to get my news? How about if I wanted a magazine - would I drive to where they are printed? No, I wouldn't. Both get delivered when there is new content.

So - why should I use the web by surfing to multiple sites? I want it all to come to me in one neat package as items are updated. How cool is that?!?

Thing3

2008-04-20T15:43:00.003-04:00

One of the very cool things about students using blogs is that it gives them a voice that may have otherwise not have been heard.

Some posts about Thing 3 at the RESA 23Things blog indicate a concern about predators and the like.

One should just do a cursory search for internet predator statistics and you will find many story's that really debunk the myths that 1 in 5 kids are approached by bad people' or whatever it is this week.

I, too, once thought this, until I started talking to my kids about their posts on Myspace/Facebook/Bebo/XANGA/Etc. By in large, they are very careful about their personal data.

This all comes down to ensuring that you are adequately supervising your kids activities online, just as you do when they are playing in the yard... and yes, it can be done.

Thing2

2008-04-20T15:35:00.003-04:00

I've had a go at blogging several times, but usually gave up, because other 'things' came along. In prior attempts, I had my own domain name, and installed WordPress or something similar on my own site... I think that's where my time went.

Having someone else take care of the technical side of things helps out greatly.

Networks

2008-04-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

"Networks don't have people. People have networks." - Demian Entrekin

The Big Shift

2008-04-17T17:08:00.002-04:00

Sheryl, at the 21st Century Learning blog presented 9 awesome principles for the implementation of educational technology.

It gets even better after beginning with this statement:

Principles for Managing Change

Long-term transformational change has four primary aspects: scale (the change affects all or most of the school), magnitude (the degree to which it challenges the status quo), duration (the change is incremental at first and then moves to exponential), and strategic importance (how ready the culture is for adapting to change). Yet schools will only see significant change when the change occurs first at the level of the individual educational leader- be that principal, superintendent, or teacher. Real change, transformational change happens when there is personal ownership of the new technologies and concepts. Today's new economy is all about human capital, which starts with the educators in a school and then extends outward to all members of the school community.

Read the whole thing.

Thing 1

2008-04-12T16:43:00.002-04:00

The thing about Thing 1 that is most poignant, is that change is happening so rapidly and the world that we are sending our students into is as well. The problem is - the education system isn't doing too well a job at understanding that it's a whole different world out there.

To borrow the masthead from one of my top-10 blogs, Dangerously Irrelevent, Scott Mcleod has placed this quote:

Our intelligence tends to produce technological and social change at a rate faster than our institutions and emotions can cope with. . . . Innovation is cumulative and the rate of change accelerates. We therefore find ourselves continually trying to accommodate new realities within inappropriate existing institutions, and trying to think about those new realities in traditional but sometimes dangerously irrelevant terms. - Gwynne Dyer, War, p. 441

That pretty much sums up what I see as well.

We Think

2008-04-12T09:11:00.002-04:00

Scott Mcleod at Dangerously Irrelevant posted this awesome video from Charles Leadbeater, author of We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity.

I'm going to have to borrow this one for an upcoming presentation. It still amazes me how a simple, poignant video can replace 10 minutes of a 'set-n-get'.

Internet Power!

2008-04-12T06:31:00.005-04:00

As you watch the video clip, reflect on where we are today in our use of educational technology in our classrooms and where the predictions had us. This video was made in 1995.

As you listen to the opening narrative of: "Many people believe that the Internet will have the same impact on society as the invention of the printing press did! It will change our world dramatically by making vast amounts of information available to everyone worldwide... if you know how to use it!" - think of the teachers and staff you work with.

Do they know how to use it