Monday, March 15, 2010

Keynotes

Leslie Fisher delivered a very interesting keynote. While she did speak of technology tools that can be used in th classroom, she also spoke about tools that can be useful in life. To be honest, I am not a super tech junkie outside of work.. sure I am on teh web 20 hrs a day.. sure I check email constantly.. but I don't text, I don't surf through my phone, I don't have an Itouch (I have an Ipod shuffle though), and I don't immerse (or is it drown) myself in geekie tech...

Here are some notes I took... I really hate this netbook teeny tiny keyboard!!!

tripit.com plan your itinerary

evernote.com take notes on teh web - app for mac, pc, iphone, droid, etc...
text recognition - write and scan... I am going to try this...

http://etherpad.com collaboration tool I am going to try this...

zamzar.com converts from one file format to another. I have some great free tools that I can use, but I am going to try this...

UStream.tv post videos live as they happen. I have been told that the quality isnt so great, but nonetheless I am going to try this...

mozy.com online backup for Mac and PC 2GB for free or $5 per month unlimited I might try this.. I have files backed up but not remotely... this (for 2GB) is pretty decent. Unlimited seems like a good deal too.

smugmug $70 per year for unlimited photos No thanks.. flickr works great for me. There is always Picasa too, and quite honestly for that price I could rent webspace, buy another domain and ftp up and down all day long.. sure.. it wouldnt be as user friendly for relatives to download pictures, but.. well... whatever... I hate that Kodakphoto share thing.. and no I don't want a pic of your kids on my coffee mug.. haha

Why pay for any of this stuff? That's my question. With all of the free stuff available, there is no need to go to the pay sites. JMHO

www.zeevee.com/zinc I am going to try this...

livescribe.com
microhone to record meetings, camera to capture what you are wrtiing uploads via usb

keyspan presenter remote
usb hookup
This little piece of hardware looked great. Control the mouse, aim a laser pointer, etc... however... for the classroom it might promote the "Sage on a Stage" performance..

More to come.. Im starting a session on "Technology and the Special Education Classroom" now.
despair.com

From Parent Conference to ASSET Conference



Last week ended with parent teacher conferences. We spoke about how each student has grown and improved over the last marking period. We also spoke about our hopes and concerns for the remainder of the school year. Fast forward a few days and I am now sitting in a large room at teh Huntington Hilton waiting for the conference to officially begin. They keynote speaker this year is Leslie Fisher. When I attended two years ago, Rushton Hurley was the speaker, and he was excellent. I expect that she will be just as inpiring.

The vision of Educational Technology is focused and optimistic, but in these tough economic times they will be scrutinized. Technology hardware is always impressive, but it is gathering dust it shows its true importance. By the same token, technology much be used to create learning opportunities that might not be possioble otherwise. As a professor told me many years ago; "What an exciting time to be a teacher!" If you watch the news, you see talk of laying off teachers and cutting services. Technology will be a tough sale if those events come to fruition.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I Tube... Do You Tube???

I have found myself using Youtube.com more and more in my classroom. From explaining Pasteurization to vandagraph machines to simply putting music on in the background of collaborative activities, the sights and sounds of multimedia can add another dimension to the learning experience.

An unfortunate side effect of this dynamic resource is that it is always changing. In the past, I had been using TeacherTube, as it is more 'school friendly' and easier to be trusted, but the sheer size of YouTube's arsenal cannot be ignored. I always make sure to screen every video that I want to show BEFORE I show it. That is common sense, teachers. You don't want to find that movie of the monkey peeing into its mouth instead of the Schoolhouse Rock video you expected when it is in front of your class. (yes that movie does exist)

To help us combat the inappropriate (insert subjectivity here!) Google, the parent of YouTube, has introduced Safety Mode.



It will filter out what has been deemed unsafe, and won't allow those results to come up. It will also shut comments off unless you choose to view them, and it will edit out 'foul language'. How nice! There are some gliches, of course, but this is something that I will be using in my own classroom from now on.

I will continue to screen vids beforehand, of course.