I presented a session titled "My Friend Flickr" at both the January NICE mini-conference and as a breakout session at IL-TCE. I've recorded both sessions, but have only posted the NICE audio file so far. Please visit my "handout" page which will walk you through using Flickr in education.
Great news for educators...
On March 22, 2007, Flickr rolled out content filtering, allowing Flickr users to flag their images as they upload them, and to also set "viewing" and "searching" preferences. I'm happy to report that my account has been reviewed as "Safe" by the Flickr staff -- which according to Flickr, means I am "good at moderating my own content."
"Safe" is one of three filters that can be applied to pictures. The other two filters are "Moderate" (some photos may be considered offensive by some people) and "Restricted" (for photos that are "unsuitable for children, your grandmother or your workmakes").
Flickr now provides a way to only search for "Safe" photos too! You can choose a "safety level" that applies to any site-wide searches you perform while you are logged in, and which can be adjusted on a per search basis using the the advanced search page at: http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/ -- note however, the content filter selections only appear when users are logged in.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Best Experience You'll Have All Summer!!
I know it's only Spring break, but now is the time to begin planning your summer and investigating your options for professional development. The Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) will again be offering summer seminar/workshops at various locations (a few will be held at Stevenson).
Also of note...
I am very excited to share that the Western Illinois University College of Education is taking their popular summer workshop on the road! "Summer Experience--North" is coming to Stevenson High School on Thursday and Friday, August 2 and 3!
Summer Experience is two fun-filled, theme-oriented days of hands-on technology integration sessions geared toward K-12 teachers, and sponsored by Western Illinois University's Office of Partnerships, Professional Development and Technology, in the College of Education and Human Services. Attendees receive quality professional development on a variety of current and emerging technologies that can enhance student learning.
For those of you wishing to travel to the campus of Western Illinois University, their dates for Summer Experience are, Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 and 26, 2007. See: http://www.wiu.edu/otep/summerexperience/ for details. Registration will open soon.
Finally, Apple Distinguished Educator, Lucy Gray has posted a comprehensive list of summer opportunities.
So much to learn... so little time!!
Also of note...
I am very excited to share that the Western Illinois University College of Education is taking their popular summer workshop on the road! "Summer Experience--North" is coming to Stevenson High School on Thursday and Friday, August 2 and 3!
Summer Experience is two fun-filled, theme-oriented days of hands-on technology integration sessions geared toward K-12 teachers, and sponsored by Western Illinois University's Office of Partnerships, Professional Development and Technology, in the College of Education and Human Services. Attendees receive quality professional development on a variety of current and emerging technologies that can enhance student learning.
For those of you wishing to travel to the campus of Western Illinois University, their dates for Summer Experience are, Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 and 26, 2007. See: http://www.wiu.edu/otep/summerexperience/ for details. Registration will open soon.
Finally, Apple Distinguished Educator, Lucy Gray has posted a comprehensive list of summer opportunities.
So much to learn... so little time!!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
More on Wikis...
In my previous post I invited readers to visit a wiki that was created for connecting the learning of those who attended IL-TCE. If you haven't yet considered using a wiki for your classroom... think again.
Why wikis? A wiki used in a classroom setting could provide an archive of lessons, and a long-term forum, as an archivable and searchable conversation among all members of the classroom — teacher and students. Students may expand on topics as they see fit, and teachers may guide the discussion where needed. It is a “many to many” technology, where knowledge is created for the benefit of all.
Check out Stuart Mader’s list of wikis in education at http://www.ikiw.org/category/wiki-uses/ and Mark Wagner’s online tutorial/presentation on wikis in education presented at the fall "K12 Online Conference" at: http://k12online.wm.edu/WikiWhileYouWork.mov
Thanks to two great companies, wikis are FREE and EASY for educators!
http://pbwiki.com, where creating a wiki "is a easy as making a peanut butter sandwich" (actually making the sandwich takes longer). If you set up your page in the education” category, it will be ad-free.
If you would like to help spread the word, pbwiki provides "Presenter Packs" which includes a free t-shirt, PowerPoint files and giveaways. See details at: http://educators.pbwiki.com
Just before IL-TCE, I had a great conversation with Ramit Sethi, PBWiki co-founder, about some of the new features and enhancements just released for PBWiki. Listen to this 9-minute phone interview!
http://wikispaces.com, will provide an annual “ad free” subscription to educators at no cost (regular $60 per year) Sign up at: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers. Adam Frey, co-founder of Wikispaces.com, presented several Spotlight sessions at IL-TCE.
I hope you will explore using wikis for your classroom. Remember, you are in control of who can add, edit or view the content. Wikis can be made public or private for your classroom. If you'd like to learn more, or have some guidance in setting up your classroom wiki, I hope to be presenting a summer workshop through ICE. Stay tuned...
Why wikis? A wiki used in a classroom setting could provide an archive of lessons, and a long-term forum, as an archivable and searchable conversation among all members of the classroom — teacher and students. Students may expand on topics as they see fit, and teachers may guide the discussion where needed. It is a “many to many” technology, where knowledge is created for the benefit of all.
Check out Stuart Mader’s list of wikis in education at http://www.ikiw.org/category/wiki-uses/ and Mark Wagner’s online tutorial/presentation on wikis in education presented at the fall "K12 Online Conference" at: http://k12online.wm.edu/WikiWhileYouWork.mov
Thanks to two great companies, wikis are FREE and EASY for educators!
http://pbwiki.com, where creating a wiki "is a easy as making a peanut butter sandwich" (actually making the sandwich takes longer). If you set up your page in the education” category, it will be ad-free.
If you would like to help spread the word, pbwiki provides "Presenter Packs" which includes a free t-shirt, PowerPoint files and giveaways. See details at: http://educators.pbwiki.com
Just before IL-TCE, I had a great conversation with Ramit Sethi, PBWiki co-founder, about some of the new features and enhancements just released for PBWiki. Listen to this 9-minute phone interview!
http://wikispaces.com, will provide an annual “ad free” subscription to educators at no cost (regular $60 per year) Sign up at: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers. Adam Frey, co-founder of Wikispaces.com, presented several Spotlight sessions at IL-TCE.
I hope you will explore using wikis for your classroom. Remember, you are in control of who can add, edit or view the content. Wikis can be made public or private for your classroom. If you'd like to learn more, or have some guidance in setting up your classroom wiki, I hope to be presenting a summer workshop through ICE. Stay tuned...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Following up on IL-TCE...
A mere two weeks ago I was presenting and attending the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators (IL-TCE). For those who were unable to attend, there are many resources available online. Both the Thursday and Friday keynote speeches were live-streamed and are now archived for your viewing pleasure. New York Times Technology columnist, and an all-around sincerely funny fellow, David Pogue, provided a great kick-off! Also available online are many of the presenters' handouts!
Kudos to Stevenson teachers Laura Brown, Andy Conneen and Dan Larsen for sharing their classroom success stories! Since our district was able to loan some of our laptops for the conference workshops, we earned a set of conference passes. We are sharing our discoveries and experiences from the conference using a wiki. Drop by and see what we have learned!
Kudos to Stevenson teachers Laura Brown, Andy Conneen and Dan Larsen for sharing their classroom success stories! Since our district was able to loan some of our laptops for the conference workshops, we earned a set of conference passes. We are sharing our discoveries and experiences from the conference using a wiki. Drop by and see what we have learned!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Sail on John!
One of the major reasons I began this blog, was to share innovative ideas and discoveries supporting education. My intent was to use this space in place of my "Tuesday Six Pack" of Technology Tips, which became a bit too time consuming to maintain as a webpage.
However, today, I have no grand discovery or innovation to share. Instead, I want to use this space to honor a colleague -- John Mundt.
There are certain people that come into our lives and leave a "mark." You know who they are... special people who, in part, define us ... because we are different after having known them. Sometimes they are relatives, friends, teachers, co-workers, neighbors, etc.
John was one of these.
John was the network guru at Stevenson High School until he "retired" in 2003 and went to work as the network administrator at Hawthorn District 73 in Vernon Hills.
One of John's recent email signatures read: "Be not simply good, be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau. John was more than good for something.
John taught me many things. We once co-taught a workshop on how to set up an email server. I was somewhat knowledgeable about email clients, but didn't have a clue about servers. John provided the learning I needed to appear credible as we shared the podium.
I loved working with John! He had a brilliant mind and was a stellar master of the vernacular. I was continually popping open the dictionary to look up words he used (such as frabjous and aegis). John was certainly not pretentious... he gave credit where credit was due. And, with John, you always knew where you stood.
John was honored for his many contributions to education at the 2005 Illinois Technology Conference for Educators. He was an active presence on a variety of listservs, always sharing his experiences and expertise.
Born in Wisconsin, John was a true "cheesehead" and Packer fan. He was a paddler, and shared great adventure stories.
Yes, John was indeed special.
John passed away yesterday at the age of 60.
Sail on John!
However, today, I have no grand discovery or innovation to share. Instead, I want to use this space to honor a colleague -- John Mundt.
There are certain people that come into our lives and leave a "mark." You know who they are... special people who, in part, define us ... because we are different after having known them. Sometimes they are relatives, friends, teachers, co-workers, neighbors, etc.
John was one of these.
John was the network guru at Stevenson High School until he "retired" in 2003 and went to work as the network administrator at Hawthorn District 73 in Vernon Hills.
One of John's recent email signatures read: "Be not simply good, be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau. John was more than good for something.
John taught me many things. We once co-taught a workshop on how to set up an email server. I was somewhat knowledgeable about email clients, but didn't have a clue about servers. John provided the learning I needed to appear credible as we shared the podium.
I loved working with John! He had a brilliant mind and was a stellar master of the vernacular. I was continually popping open the dictionary to look up words he used (such as frabjous and aegis). John was certainly not pretentious... he gave credit where credit was due. And, with John, you always knew where you stood.
John was honored for his many contributions to education at the 2005 Illinois Technology Conference for Educators. He was an active presence on a variety of listservs, always sharing his experiences and expertise.
Born in Wisconsin, John was a true "cheesehead" and Packer fan. He was a paddler, and shared great adventure stories.
Yes, John was indeed special.
John passed away yesterday at the age of 60.
Sail on John!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Setting the standards for the future? Refreshing the NETS.
As reported in eSchool news, ISTE (http://www.iste.org/) has released a draft of revised technology standards for students.
ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) first issued its NETS (National Education Technology Standards) for students in 1998, which, according to Don Knezek, ISTE's chief executive, identified skills and knowledge for using the tools of technology. According to ISTE, "More than 90 percent of U.S. states have adopted, adapted, or referenced ISTE's NETS in state department of education documents."
The proposed "revised" standards shift the focus to the skills and knowledge that students need to "learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital society … to produce and innovate” using technology. ISTE also notes that renewal activities are essential "within an evolving learning landscape, a connected global community, and a context of emerging technologies."
ISTE has put out a call to the educational technology community -- add your voice to the NETS*S Refresh Initiative! Click here to access an online survey
View a pdf of the draft here.
ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) first issued its NETS (National Education Technology Standards) for students in 1998, which, according to Don Knezek, ISTE's chief executive, identified skills and knowledge for using the tools of technology. According to ISTE, "More than 90 percent of U.S. states have adopted, adapted, or referenced ISTE's NETS in state department of education documents."
The proposed "revised" standards shift the focus to the skills and knowledge that students need to "learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital society … to produce and innovate” using technology. ISTE also notes that renewal activities are essential "within an evolving learning landscape, a connected global community, and a context of emerging technologies."
ISTE has put out a call to the educational technology community -- add your voice to the NETS*S Refresh Initiative! Click here to access an online survey
View a pdf of the draft here.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Podcasts! Podcasts! Get Your Podcasts!!
Have you discovered podcasts? Have your students? What do you know about Podcasts? Such as, did you know that Podcasts are basically audio files 'delivered' via the Internet? And, that you do NOT need an iPod or iTunes to listen to a Podcast? (Of course, having an iPod or other MP3 player, allows you to download and listen to the audio at a time convenient for you!)
One of the pieces in the Podcast puzzle is how folks go about "getting" Podcasts. You can easily click and download audio files from a website (but you have to first find the website, and then locate the links to the audio files). However, using a program such as Apple's iTunes (available for both Mac or PC), you can choose to subscribe to a variety of Podcasts (audio content produced on a regular basis), and each time you open iTunes, the most recent Podcasts download into your computer -- for FREE!
What's on your Podcast list? My favorite 'listens' come from educators such as Wesley Fryer, Bud the Teacher, Women of Web 2.0 and David Warlick. And now, Apple Distinguished Educators have begun a new Podcast channel... the Conference Connections, which promises to have a lot of great content coming. Conference Connections debuted last week with 15 episodes recorded at the Florida Educational Technology Conference. This is great for those unable to travel to education conferences! Kudos to the ADEs and the conference speakers who have agreed to make their presentations available online.
So, listen up, and check out the Conference Connections:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=213440691
One of the pieces in the Podcast puzzle is how folks go about "getting" Podcasts. You can easily click and download audio files from a website (but you have to first find the website, and then locate the links to the audio files). However, using a program such as Apple's iTunes (available for both Mac or PC), you can choose to subscribe to a variety of Podcasts (audio content produced on a regular basis), and each time you open iTunes, the most recent Podcasts download into your computer -- for FREE!
What's on your Podcast list? My favorite 'listens' come from educators such as Wesley Fryer, Bud the Teacher, Women of Web 2.0 and David Warlick. And now, Apple Distinguished Educators have begun a new Podcast channel... the Conference Connections, which promises to have a lot of great content coming. Conference Connections debuted last week with 15 episodes recorded at the Florida Educational Technology Conference. This is great for those unable to travel to education conferences! Kudos to the ADEs and the conference speakers who have agreed to make their presentations available online.
So, listen up, and check out the Conference Connections:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=213440691
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Hey... I created a Widget!
I made a widget this week to countdown the number of days until the IL-TCE Conference!
Widgets are pretty cool. They are small web-based "windows" that work with Mac's OSX Tiger Dashboard, and can be used to display snippets of information, such as stock prices, airfares, weather, or provide quick access to utilities like the dictionary or calculator. And, when active, they float over what is on your screen. On the Mac, you can bring up widgets by clicking the Dashboard icon on the Dock, or by pressing the F12 key. On the new "Mighty Mouse", the tiny scroll button, when pressed, activates the widgets -- teachers in the lab often are surprised when they press this while scrolling and the widgets pop up!
What if you wanted to create a widget, how would you go about it?
The first step is to figure out what makes up a widget. The Apple website is a good place to start. The Apple Developer Page has a tutorial to make a basic "Hello World" widget.
Basically, widgets are a combination of html, images and some special Javascript files, all "packaged" together. Control + click on the widget's icon (in your "House" > "Library" > "Widgets" folder) and you can "Show Package Contents." Once the package is open, you can edit and view the html file in a web editor/browser.
My IL-TCE Countdown widget (available on the ICE website) is a reworked version of the "Christmas is Coming" widget, originally created by Jonathan Gardner of Gardner Designs,. Jonathan graciously replied to my email, and granted permission to publish this!!
Widgets are pretty cool. They are small web-based "windows" that work with Mac's OSX Tiger Dashboard, and can be used to display snippets of information, such as stock prices, airfares, weather, or provide quick access to utilities like the dictionary or calculator. And, when active, they float over what is on your screen. On the Mac, you can bring up widgets by clicking the Dashboard icon on the Dock, or by pressing the F12 key. On the new "Mighty Mouse", the tiny scroll button, when pressed, activates the widgets -- teachers in the lab often are surprised when they press this while scrolling and the widgets pop up!
What if you wanted to create a widget, how would you go about it?
The first step is to figure out what makes up a widget. The Apple website is a good place to start. The Apple Developer Page has a tutorial to make a basic "Hello World" widget.
Basically, widgets are a combination of html, images and some special Javascript files, all "packaged" together. Control + click on the widget's icon (in your "House" > "Library" > "Widgets" folder) and you can "Show Package Contents." Once the package is open, you can edit and view the html file in a web editor/browser.
My IL-TCE Countdown widget (available on the ICE website) is a reworked version of the "Christmas is Coming" widget, originally created by Jonathan Gardner of Gardner Designs,. Jonathan graciously replied to my email, and granted permission to publish this!!
Monday, January 08, 2007
How "green" is your car?
File this under "Your Tax Dollar$ at Work"... from the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, this website provides Gas mileage (MPG), greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution ratings, and safety information for new and used cars and trucks. Compare vehicles side by side, find your car's Energy Impact Score, get tips on gas mileage, investigate the best and worst MPG vehicle ratings, link to local gas prices, and more. Visit: www.fueleconomy.gov
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
How geeks show they care...
... is the byline of GeoGreetings, a website that creates a message composed with "letter shaped" images (roofs of buildings for example) from Google Earth's satellite imagery. Type up to 40 characters and copy the url into an email to send your message. And, to make it easy for others to access the link, shorten it using "tinyurl.com" -- so instead of the 53 character link of: http://www.geogreeting.com/view.html?zdCW33*D+cuUhiZi, Tiny URL shortened my greeting to: http://tinyurl.com/y6gctk -- see what message the surface of the earth holds for you!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
My best "find" of 2006!
Ureka! For more than a year (well, not steadily, but off and on), I have been searching for a convenient and economical method for converting certain files (specifically created by Microsoft Works, Microsoft Publisher and Corel's Word Perfect) to PDF. Being a Mac user, I have had little, if any, success in viewing these -- until now.
While I was researching and preparing for several sessions I will be presenting at the NICE Mini-Conference on Jan. 27, and the IL-TCE (Illinois Technology Conference for Educators) at the end of Feb., I landed on the Technology & Learning's Podcast Archives -- which sadly seems to have halted production in Aug. 2006. Texas educator Miguel Guhlin's entry on Feb. 13, 2006, a PDF Primer, lists several web-based conversion programs, including a free Online PDF Converter from Neevia: http://convert.neevia.com. Miguel writes, "While this online PDF converter has a 1 megabyte limit per file--which may limit you if you have a document that has lots of images -- you can convert from a wide variety of formats (easily over 50) to PDF. Two nice features is that it allows you to add a watermark image of any text you enter on multiple pages. It also enables you to encrypt your PDF document."
Using the Neevia converter, I was able to view several student papers created using Works, and a club flyer created with Publisher. This is one helpful tool for those of us supporting educational technology!
While I was researching and preparing for several sessions I will be presenting at the NICE Mini-Conference on Jan. 27, and the IL-TCE (Illinois Technology Conference for Educators) at the end of Feb., I landed on the Technology & Learning's Podcast Archives -- which sadly seems to have halted production in Aug. 2006. Texas educator Miguel Guhlin's entry on Feb. 13, 2006, a PDF Primer, lists several web-based conversion programs, including a free Online PDF Converter from Neevia: http://convert.neevia.com. Miguel writes, "While this online PDF converter has a 1 megabyte limit per file--which may limit you if you have a document that has lots of images -- you can convert from a wide variety of formats (easily over 50) to PDF. Two nice features is that it allows you to add a watermark image of any text you enter on multiple pages. It also enables you to encrypt your PDF document."
Using the Neevia converter, I was able to view several student papers created using Works, and a club flyer created with Publisher. This is one helpful tool for those of us supporting educational technology!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Happy Holidays!
Here's a little holiday "freeware" treat for Mac users called SantaSnaps, created by iClip developer John Casasanta for the Cocoa Duel charity programming competition, with graphics and program icon created by Adam Betts.
SantaSnaps a Photo Booth clone with a holiday twist, and works with your external iSight camera if you don't have one of the new Intel Macs with the built-in iSight. Launch SantaSnaps, select a Santa beard, glasses, and hat, then position yourself behind the props. (Requires OS 10.3 or higher). Cheers!
http://macheist.com/SantaSnaps/SantaSnaps.zip
SantaSnaps a Photo Booth clone with a holiday twist, and works with your external iSight camera if you don't have one of the new Intel Macs with the built-in iSight. Launch SantaSnaps, select a Santa beard, glasses, and hat, then position yourself behind the props. (Requires OS 10.3 or higher). Cheers!
http://macheist.com/SantaSnaps/SantaSnaps.zip
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Get Firefox... how do they do it?
Firefox 2.0 is now available. Their website states this version is "now faster, more secure, and fully customizable to your online life. With Firefox 2, we’ve added powerful new features that make your online experience even better."
I updated my version last week and I am experimenting and enjoying some of the improved features. My favorite discovery happened yesterday when my computer was shut down unexpectedly. Once I restarted and launched Firefox, I was presented with a message asking whether I would like to resume browsing the page(s) that were open before the shut down.
This feature is called "Session Restore" and is explained on their "new features" website: "Session Restore: Losing your place while you’re doing things on the Web is a pain. Now, with Session Restore, if Firefox has to restart or closes when it comes back you’ll pick up exactly where you left off. The windows and tabs you were using, the text you typed into forms, and the in-progress downloads you had running will all be restored. You can even set Firefox 2 to always restore your previous session instead of loading a home page, so you’ll never lose your place again." What a concept! Read about other new features at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features.html#experience
There are also more than 1,000 add-ons for personalizing your web browsing experience. Check out: https://addons.mozilla.org/
Download your new version at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Enjoy!
I updated my version last week and I am experimenting and enjoying some of the improved features. My favorite discovery happened yesterday when my computer was shut down unexpectedly. Once I restarted and launched Firefox, I was presented with a message asking whether I would like to resume browsing the page(s) that were open before the shut down.
This feature is called "Session Restore" and is explained on their "new features" website: "Session Restore: Losing your place while you’re doing things on the Web is a pain. Now, with Session Restore, if Firefox has to restart or closes when it comes back you’ll pick up exactly where you left off. The windows and tabs you were using, the text you typed into forms, and the in-progress downloads you had running will all be restored. You can even set Firefox 2 to always restore your previous session instead of loading a home page, so you’ll never lose your place again." What a concept! Read about other new features at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features.html#experience
There are also more than 1,000 add-ons for personalizing your web browsing experience. Check out: https://addons.mozilla.org/
Download your new version at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Enjoy!
Monday, December 04, 2006
It's the little things...
A major portion of my day is answering questions about the "little things" that people are sometimes "stuck" on. Someone said I should publish a tip book, but I don't think anyone would actually read it... I'm sure I would still get calls. So, I thought I would do the next best thing and publish a few pearls of wisdom here.
Soft Paragraph Return
Many computer users are unaware of this common "Word Processing" feature. A soft return is explained on Wikipedia as: "one can manually enter a soft return by pushing shift and enter instead of simply enter." (On the Mac, that would be Shift + Return.) A major benefit of a soft return is to begin typing on a new line, without starting a new paragraph. In most cases, you would want a new paragraph, but if you were using the bullets and numbering feature in Word for example, sometimes you would like to itemize your thoughts without starting new bullets or numbers. Try it!!
Lost House, a.k.a. ... There's No Place Like Home!
(File this one under OSX tips). Someone recently explained how their "House" on the dock accidentally got "poofed" when attempting to move a file to the trash. Efforts to restore the House on the Dock by dragging it from the left shortcut pane in the Finder only made it "poof" from there as well. Where is your House when you need it?
Your "House" is your home directory in OSX's file structure. It can be located by opening (double-clicking) the Macintosh HD and then opening the "Users" folder. Every user who logs into the computer has his or her very own "house." Drag the House from the Users folder to the dock (to the right of the vertical line) for a new shortcut. You can drag it into the left window pane for an instant shortcut there too!
Your Window Doesn't Look Like My Window?
This is a tip for PC users who are unfamiliar with navigating on the Mac. The small "bubble" that is at the top right corner of every Mac "window" (technically called a widget -- but not the same as the Widgets available in Dashboard), when clicked, will hide all the tools or shortcut icons at the top and left panel of a window. Go ahead, click it now in your browser! When you want your tools to return, click it again. PC users intuitively click here to close a window and then wonder, "What happened?"
Enjoy!
Soft Paragraph Return
Many computer users are unaware of this common "Word Processing" feature. A soft return is explained on Wikipedia as: "one can manually enter a soft return by pushing shift and enter instead of simply enter." (On the Mac, that would be Shift + Return.) A major benefit of a soft return is to begin typing on a new line, without starting a new paragraph. In most cases, you would want a new paragraph, but if you were using the bullets and numbering feature in Word for example, sometimes you would like to itemize your thoughts without starting new bullets or numbers. Try it!!
Lost House, a.k.a. ... There's No Place Like Home!
(File this one under OSX tips). Someone recently explained how their "House" on the dock accidentally got "poofed" when attempting to move a file to the trash. Efforts to restore the House on the Dock by dragging it from the left shortcut pane in the Finder only made it "poof" from there as well. Where is your House when you need it?
Your "House" is your home directory in OSX's file structure. It can be located by opening (double-clicking) the Macintosh HD and then opening the "Users" folder. Every user who logs into the computer has his or her very own "house." Drag the House from the Users folder to the dock (to the right of the vertical line) for a new shortcut. You can drag it into the left window pane for an instant shortcut there too!
Your Window Doesn't Look Like My Window?
This is a tip for PC users who are unfamiliar with navigating on the Mac. The small "bubble" that is at the top right corner of every Mac "window" (technically called a widget -- but not the same as the Widgets available in Dashboard), when clicked, will hide all the tools or shortcut icons at the top and left panel of a window. Go ahead, click it now in your browser! When you want your tools to return, click it again. PC users intuitively click here to close a window and then wonder, "What happened?"
Enjoy!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Print Your Own Graph Paper -- free!
Credit to fellow ADE Lucy Gray for posting these to her blog!
* Free Online Graph Paper from Incompetech.com
Make PDFs of just about any kind of paper you might need in a school setting here. This site is not just about the graphing kind!
Visit: http://www.incompetech.com/beta/plainGraphPaper/
* PDF Pad
This is a fairly basic graph paper generator that allows you to specify type of paper and size.
Visit: http://www.pdfpad.com/graphpaper/
* Downloadable Graph Paper and Measurement Tools
Not only can you print graph paper at this math and science site, but you can also find printable measurement tools such as centimeter rulers and protractors. It looks like other math and science resources cited here might be worth browsing as well.
Visit: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/measurement/data/graph_paper.html
* Graphing Worksheets from Teachnology
This site includes printable graph paper as well as graphing activities.
Visit: http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/math/graph/
* Free Online Graph Paper from Incompetech.com
Make PDFs of just about any kind of paper you might need in a school setting here. This site is not just about the graphing kind!
Visit: http://www.incompetech.com/beta/plainGraphPaper/
* PDF Pad
This is a fairly basic graph paper generator that allows you to specify type of paper and size.
Visit: http://www.pdfpad.com/graphpaper/
* Downloadable Graph Paper and Measurement Tools
Not only can you print graph paper at this math and science site, but you can also find printable measurement tools such as centimeter rulers and protractors. It looks like other math and science resources cited here might be worth browsing as well.
Visit: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/measurement/data/graph_paper.html
* Graphing Worksheets from Teachnology
This site includes printable graph paper as well as graphing activities.
Visit: http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/math/graph/
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Keeping up with technology...
Do you ever feel that technology is advancing too quickly? Do you have a hard time keeping up with the latest trends?
Here are two websites you may want to check out.
ICT Leaders & Learners is a great place to visit for the latest in educational technology. You will discover tools for teachers and students, as well as "people to watch" and links to educational conference webcasts.
http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/leader/index.php
Also of interest from Alex Bosworth, is Live Marks. Not specifically for education, this website provides a "live" scrolling feed of websites that are being bookmarked in del.icio.us. It's amazing to watch.
http://sandbox.sourcelabs.com/livemarks/
Here are two websites you may want to check out.
ICT Leaders & Learners is a great place to visit for the latest in educational technology. You will discover tools for teachers and students, as well as "people to watch" and links to educational conference webcasts.
http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/leader/index.php
Also of interest from Alex Bosworth, is Live Marks. Not specifically for education, this website provides a "live" scrolling feed of websites that are being bookmarked in del.icio.us. It's amazing to watch.
http://sandbox.sourcelabs.com/livemarks/
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Information Overload?
Did you know...
• It's been said that a single issue of the Sunday New York Times contains more information than a person living in the 18th Century came across in their lifetime?!
In researching the source of this factoid I found several references, such as an article by Ian Jukes (http://ianjukes.com/infosavvy/education/handouts/fgtg.pdf ) who cited the Richard Wurman book, "Information Anxiety."
• There are more than 2.7 billion searches in Google each month, and a total of 6.4 billion searches asked of the top Internet search tools!? (http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156461)
To whom were these questions asked before the Internet?
If information about information is interesting to you, check out "Google Trends" (http://www.google.com/trends). With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often.
• It's been said that a single issue of the Sunday New York Times contains more information than a person living in the 18th Century came across in their lifetime?!
In researching the source of this factoid I found several references, such as an article by Ian Jukes (http://ianjukes.com/infosavvy/education/handouts/fgtg.pdf ) who cited the Richard Wurman book, "Information Anxiety."
• There are more than 2.7 billion searches in Google each month, and a total of 6.4 billion searches asked of the top Internet search tools!? (http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156461)
To whom were these questions asked before the Internet?
If information about information is interesting to you, check out "Google Trends" (http://www.google.com/trends). With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Google for Educators!
In July I attended ISTE's National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in San Diego. There was a Google booth and some folks taking names and email addresses for a new "teacher" connection planned for Google. This week, I received my first "Google Teacher Newsletter" which stated, in part,
Visit us at: http://www.google.com/educators for a teacher's guide to 12 Google products. You'll find information about each tool, examples of how educators are using them, and lesson ideas. You'll also find lesson plans and videos from our partners at DiscoveryEducation focusing on two of our most popular teaching tools: Google Earth and Google SketchUp.Google Earth's direct education link is http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html. Visit this site for some exemplary education examples, including using resources from our subscription-based video on demand server, unitedstreaming, and an inspiring message from the Discovery Educator Network Directory, Hall Davidson, "Google Earth enables teachers and communities to easily create tremendous collections of work integrating video, 3D buildings, photos, podcasts, or NPR stories."
We think of the site as a basic platform of teaching resources -- for everything from blogging and videos to geographical search tools and 3-D modeling software -- and we want you to fill it in with your great ideas. You can explore a Google tool you've never tried before, then tell us what you think about it. Or road test our lesson ideas, then follow the links to submit your own. And if you'd like to share your expertise with fellow educators, we encourage you to send us your story -- we'd love to feature it in this newsletter or on the site.
Monday, October 02, 2006
PLCs in Pinckney... they "get it!"
Many schools across the nation are either investigating or adopting the Professional Learning Community model, based on the works of DuFour and Eaker. As a regular listener of David Warlick's podcasts, I recently learned about one such school in Pinckney, Michigan (Episode 70, David Gets Geek!ed!). I followed the show links and discovered a wonderful posting by Tom McCurdy and Michael Partridge on "Podcasting and Professional Learning Communities" -- which details their work on adopting the PLC model at an administrative retreat:
Also, worth a listen: Geek!ed! Podcast Episode 034:
http://coverpage.pcs.k12.mi.us/geeked/?page_id=76
"This summer (2006) we were able to apply podcasting to Professional Learning Communities at a leadership workshop in Pinckney, Michigan. We had small groups of school leaders collaborate on questions that challenge PLC’s. We started by using traditional group strategies. Groups discussed a PLC question, recorded their responses on a flip chart, and reported their result to the bigger group. Then we turned on the tech! We gave each group brief instructions in the use of recording software and clustered each group around a microphone and laptop. We let them know that they had twenty minutes to discuss the next PLC question…and the resulting audio file would be posted for the world to subscribe to! The results were stunning. When the groups shared their reactions to being recorded, they unanimously responded that the quality of the conversations increased. The groups were more focused. They were not burdened with trying to record on paper what was being recorded for them. They also felt that they had to rise to a more professional place in these conversations. They reported that they were less likely to verbalize 'stream of thought.' Instead, they more carefully constructed their thinking before speaking. They also reported that they listened to each other more carefully. After the activity, when it was announced that each school would receive a microphone, there was an audible expression of excitement from them. Imagine that."Thanks for sharing Pinckney! Yours is a great model for demonstrating how technology can enhance the learning of our students (or our adults). Podcasting (and blogging) allow students to experience truly authentic learning by providing them with a "real" audience -- not to mention that it's a global one. Students will be challenged to be more focused, concentrate on a higher standard of conversation, and enhance their listening skills. Why would you NOT want to try this in your classroom?
Also, worth a listen: Geek!ed! Podcast Episode 034:
http://coverpage.pcs.k12.mi.us/geeked/?page_id=76
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