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Showing posts from February, 2010

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/27/2010

Assessments in K-12 Science Curricula tags : assessments , science students craft an observable performance that often requires problem solving, inquiry, decision making, or role playing. These sometimes take place over an extended period of time. Performance assessments are often evaluated by rubrics, or performance scales QUIZZES, TESTS, AND EXAMS tags : quizzes , tests , assessment Student Learning: Observing and Assessing tags : learning , student , observing , assessment Fill Any PDF Form What is Fill Any PDF?   FillAnyPDF.com is a website where you upload your PDF form and link to it so other people can fill it out and sign it online. No software is needed. Any PDF form can be used, even if it's not "interactive", so you can get started right away. You can even invite a group to fill out your forms and track the results. Anyone that collects signatures or filled out forms will find FillAnyPDF.com to be a valuable time-saving resource. tags :

ICE2010 Increasing Productivity Through Software Presentation

These are my materials for the presentation Increasing Productivity Through Software

ICE2010 Learning Through Visual Information

Here is the slide deck for my ICE2010 presentation - Visualization Learning Complex Information Through Images

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/25/2010

MuseScore | Free music composition & notation software MuseScore is a free cross platform WYSIWYG music notation program, licenced under GNU GPL.Some highlights:  WYSIWYG, notes are entered on a "virtual note sheet"Unlimited number of stavesUp to four voices per staffEasy and fast note entry with mouse, keyboard or MIDIIntegrated sequencer and FluidSynth software synthesizerImport and export of MusicXML and Standard MIDI Files (SMF)Platform independent code, binaries available for Windows, Mac and LinuxAvailable in 20 languagesGNU GPL licenced tags : music , software , composition , musescore , free Professor Garfield Foundation: Internet Safety and You tags : internetsafety , cyberbullying , safety , garfield , onlinesafety , internet_safety , Internet Safety , foundation Official Google Blog: Google Voice, explained tags : blog , google , googlevoice Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

ICE2010 Administrator's Academy

Here is the presentation for the administrator's academy: The School Administrator ad Instructional Technology Leader. All of today's materials are available here as a downloadable .zip file

ICE 2010 3V Workshop

Here are the materials for 21st Century Learning with the 3 V's: Visual, Virtual and Verbal A workshop at ICE2010 that Aida Awad and I ran. Presentation is below and the wiki is here: http://3vs.wikispaces.com/

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/24/2010

Drumbot - tools for musicians tags : drumbot , web2.0 , metronome , music , tools , guitar Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

Response to: Google Apps for Education: Is It the Right Choice for Our Students?

Ben Grey pointed me to Karl Fisch's excellent post here on Google Apps Edu where he raises some good points - many of them we were asking way before Google Apps existed. For years we have provided students with network storage and every year we have faced the same set of questions: how do kids transfer it out, what happens if a student graduates and then needs something later, what if they don't own the programs they need to display their work after they leave (especially with programs such as CAD and digital imaging software - although many students don't have the MS office suite at home). Every year we have posted steps for copying and moving this information (we now include steps for their Google products as well). Overall (except sites) moving this material has become easier and the program used to run/display the work is readily available. Google's data liberation project is making it easier to get your data off or transferred all the time. I agree that kee

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/21/2010

Digital Video in the Classroom Digital Video in the ClassroomBack to Home Page   Why?Curricular Integration StrategiesResourcesVideo ProductionVideo Production Software TutorialsCopyright Implications tags : video , digital , visualliteracy Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

HSMLA Presentation 2/20/10

This is the slidedeck for a presentation I am giving to the HSMLA tomorrow at Maine South High School on Web 2.0. The idea is to make sure Web 2.0 tools are introduced and we chat about how they can be used to improve instruction.

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/19/2010

whitepaper_SIS_SaaS.pdf - Powered by Google Docs tags : no_tag Schools turn to storage SaaS for savings, security tags : saas The 5 Top Myths of Using SaaS For School Software tags : saas Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/18/2010

Novell's GroupWise Provides Lowest Cost of Ownership Among Leading Groupware Packages The GartnerGroup study, which examined costs on a three-year basis, reported the cost-per-user for this time period for GroupWise was $136.00; whereas the cost-per-user for Exchange was over three times higher at $486.00, and Notes was over five times higher at $719.00. tags : email , cost , gartner Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/17/2010

Nerd Merit Badges - Welcome Oh new merit badges I can earn as an adult. tags : humor , technology , Geek , badges , funny Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/10/2010

The My Hero Short Film Festival Biblioburro: The Donkey Library By Valentina Canavesio (5 Minutes) 'BIblioburro' follows Luis Soriano, a teacher in the small town of La Gloria, Colombia, as he travels into the hills and through the fields, on the back of his donkey, bringing with him books for children of the rural communities who have no access to any bookstores or libraries. tags : hero Exploring the Function of Heroes and Heroines in Children's Literature From Around the World If anything has universal appeal among children, it is a good story with heroes and heroines. Stories with rich descriptions of the lives and personalities of inspiring individuals (mythical or real, contemporary or historical) entertain as well as serve as role models for children. Through heroes and heroines of different cultures, children develop an understanding of societal expectations and norms in various parts of the world (Stan, 2002; Tomlinson, 1998), and what it can mean to live in a part

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/09/2010

Official Google Reader Blog: Follow changes to any website Feeds make it easy to follow updates to all kinds of webpages, from blogs to news sites to Craigslist queries, but unfortunately not all pages on the web have feeds. Today we're rolling out a change in Google Reader that lets you create a custom feed to track changes on pages that don't have their own feed.These custom feeds are most useful if you want to be alerted whenever a specific page has been updated. For example, if you wanted to follow Google.org's latest products, just type "http://www.google.org/products.html" into Reader's "Add a subscription" field. Click "create a feed", and Reader will periodically visit the page and publish any significant changes it finds as items in a custom feed created just for that page. tags : reader Google Apps Anyone thinking of using Google Apps for Education should be familiar with this agreement. tags : googleapps , google , edu This Googl

Exit Strategies and Google

A question that I am hearing a lot about lately is: with all of these schools jumping on the Google bandwagon what do we do if Google goes rogue and becomes EVIL? We leave. To do this we need an exit strategy. This is what I posted in response to this question on Miguel Guhlin's blog What IF...The Google Cloud Evaporates? This isn't a question that just just be asked with a Google product, or a product in the cloud. This is a question that I ask with every piece of software we purchase: "What is the cost of leaving this product". What if suddenly Microsoft announced that they were releasing a "patch" that allowed them access to your servers? What if the company providing your SIS is taken over by another company and you cannot get support for your product any more? What if your anti-virus company goes out of business and stops updating definitions? In all of these cases you need an exit strategy - and coming up with one on the fly is dangerous and expensiv

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/05/2010

Newton's Three Laws of Motion tags : physics , Newton , science YouTube - Tacoma Narrows Newsreel tags : bridge NOVA Online | Super Bridge | Build a Bridge tags : Bridges , interactive , science , engineering , bridgebuilding , architecture , structures , bridge NOVA Online | Teachers | Classroom Activity | Super Bridge | PBS tags : bridge , science NOVA Online | Super Bridge | Suspension Bridges tags : bridges , suspension , science NOVA Online | Teachers | Program Overview | Super Bridge | PBS Super Bridge Program Overview When the old Clark bridge at Alton, Illinois, became less fit for carrying traffic across the Mississippi River, a team of designers and engineers was called in to apply its knowledge of science and art to build a new bridge. The team faced numerous challenges. How could team members construct towers that would support the weight of the bridge, road, and traffic load? build a bridge while not interfering with river barge traffic? design a bridge that would be w

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/04/2010

FRONTLINE: digital nation: an online interactive learning tool for frontline's digital nation: 21st century schools: learning in the digital age | PBS Teachers are tapping into technology and digital media for learning. Watch How Google Saved a School and discuss the hype and the hopes for improving education through technology. More and more educators are tapping into the power of digital media and technology for teaching and learning. The variety of information resources available online is simply staggering. Explore how teachers and students are using the power of social media to promote students' active engagement, critical thinking and literacy skills. New Forms of Learning. It doesn't need to happen in school. Because it's visual, interactive and social, learning can happen anywhere with digital media as people collaborate and share about a wide range of topics and issues that matter to them. Technology and School Improvement. Technology may transform schools by p

My Bookmarks and Annotations 02/03/2010

CoSN Total Cost of Ownership Leadership Initiative tags : cosn , TCO , technologyplanning , TechPlan Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here.

Guest Post - 10 Social Networking Tools for Teachers

10 Social Networking Tools for Teachers Teachers who want to get into social networking or expand their current network can find many different communities, micro-blogging platforms, interactive marketplaces, learning management systems, and other helpful resources online. Here are 10 social networking tools created specifically for educators and academics. Applebatch - Applebatch is a teacher community and professional network for K-12 educators who want to build relationships, learn more about networking events, and explore job opportunities. TeachAde - TeachAde is an interactive online community and social network for teachers, college professors, and home schoolers. Site members can collaborate, communicate, and share resources online. We the Teachers - We the Teachers combines social networking with teachers resources to provide a useful online community for educators. Teachers can use the site to share lesson plans, communicate with like-minded teachers, and gain access to