Designs in Education

Steve Jobs: "People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint"

2011-12-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is a re-blog from Garr Reynolds "Presentation Zen." As usual, Garr manages to hit the nail directly. I remember a long time ago having a presenter come into my library with a Power Point. He was ready to present, but the flash drive did not work for him. He had to set the Power Point aside. Later, the faculty told me that he did better with out it. Power Point is a great tool, but you don't need it every time.

Re-post from Free Technology for Teachers

2011-12-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

This post is from one of my favorite blogs:

Nobel Prize Games for Learning About Science & Literature

from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)

This afternoon I Stumbled Upon an old blog post of mine that I wrote when President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. That post got me to take another look at some of the education aspects of the Nobel Prize website.

The Nobel Prize website has an educational games site designed to help students learn about subjects in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics. In all there are twenty-nine interactive games for students to play. Each of the science-related games and the economics game is based upon the research of Nobel Prize winners. The literature and peace games are based upon concepts central to the work of Nobel Prize winners in those fields.

FDR Day by Day

2011-12-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

Free Technology of Teachers by Richard Byrne is one of the best resources for educators that I have come across. Each day Byrne highlights a new resource. FDR: Day by Day is another one of those resources. This site, originating in the FDR library, combines primary documents of FDR's presidency with a timeline. One can follow all of the events of the Great Depression and World War II as seen through the eyes of FDR. Included are a variety of lesson plans.

Tribute to Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Steve Jobs famous commencement speech at Stanford University:

WE ALL LEARN

2011-09-29T04:17:00.000-07:00

Shared from The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education (Wiley Desktop Editio
kindle.amazon.com
As the WE-ALL-LEARN framework indicates, we are no longer participants in Aristotle’s world where one could conceivably read from every book or document written. In the twenty-first century, no one can know all. However, we all can learn. And the vital signs of intelligence in this century are related to access and use of knowledge when needed. Knowing where to look, how to access, and what to focus on are the powerful strategies of today.

Good

2011-09-28T16:59:00.001-07:00

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/mystery_solved.png

PowerPoint design

2011-09-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

Niall Ferguson: The 6 killer apps of prosperity | Video on TED.com

2011-09-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

A great resource for economics, history, and global studies: Over the past few centuries, Western cultures have been very good at creating general prosperity for themselves. Historian Niall Ferguson asks: Why the West, and less so the rest? He suggests half a dozen big ideas from Western culture -- call them the 6 killer apps -- that promote wealth, stability and innovation. And in this new century, he says, these apps are all shareable.

Aurora explained

2011-09-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

The Aurora Borealis from Per Byhring on Vimeo.

Interesting job

2011-09-16T04:49:00.001-07:00

What I like best about this video is it's ability to tell a digital story, even if a person doesn't understand the language.

Fjellsikrerne from Sindre TL on Vimeo.

Little League Sign

2011-06-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

This sign is from Daniel Pink's blog Emotionally Intelligent Signage. It certainly does convey the message:

Mark Twain

2011-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. - Mark Twain (attributed)

A Google a Day

2011-06-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a new site I may use in library media classes next year. A Google a Day poses a research question for students to look up, as well as an interesting Google app.

Endangered Animal Resources

2011-06-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a great resource from the Google Earth Blog:
Disney's Worldwide Conservation Fund
is involved around the world in a wide range of environmental conservation efforts. They have just unveiled a Google Earth Plugin-based visualization that allows you to fly around the world to see the places where DWCF is working to protect wildlife.

You can read more about their new Google Earth feature on the Disney Parks Blog, or try it yourself on their Google Earth Plugin-powered site.

Dilbert again

2011-05-18T05:18:00.001-07:00

Seth Godin on the Future of the Library

2011-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Via Stephen's Lighthouse. This is great food for thought:

Yep, gotta love Seth: The future of the library

“The next library is a house for the librarian with the guts to invite kids in to teach them how to get better grades while doing less grunt work. And to teach them how to use a soldering iron or take apart something with no user servicable parts inside. And even to challenge them to teach classes on their passions, merely because it’s fun. This librarian takes responsibility/blame for any kid who manages to graduate from school without being a first-rate data shark.

The next library is filled with so many web terminals there’s always at least one empty. And the people who run this library don’t view the combination of access to data and connections to peers as a sidelight–it’s the entire point.

Wouldn’t you want to live and work and pay taxes in a town that had a library like that? The vibe of the best Brooklyn coffee shop combined with a passionate raconteur of information? There are one thousands things that could be done in a place like this, all built around one mission: take the world of data, combine it with the people in this community and create value.

We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don’t need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime.”

Read it. Re-post it.

National Jukebox at the Library of Congress

2011-05-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

National Jukebox is another new resource at the Library of Congress. National Jukebox provides historical sound recordings from the early 20th Century. For example I was able to find this excellent recording of the Argentine tango Volverás made in 1925 by the Argentine Orquesta Típica de Caro

Nicely done!

2011-05-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Tribute to Martha Graham:

Sources of Disruption in Library Media

2011-04-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

This is worth a long look. Stephan's Light House recently posted Sources of Disruption in Library Land with the following chart from A Digital Outrigger. It's just a tool for discussion, but I like the way it is done visually. It certainly challenges us to take a more global view of the impact of the web on libraries.

History and the Doolittle Raid

2011-04-08T05:06:00.001-07:00

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy Digital Tools

2011-03-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

This comes from Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers and from Kathy Schrock's Google Tools and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Kathy Schrock has put together a great chart connecting Google Tools to each element of Bloom. This is a valuable tool for anyone looking for an application to address one of Bloom's elements. Another great resource mentioned by Schrock is Bloom's Digital Taxonomy , a wiki resource.

Magic washing machine

2011-03-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

Not only is this an excellent presentation, the author also makes a great argument of the importance of the washing machine as an invention:

Reinventing the research library (from MIT)

2011-03-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

This video via Stephen's Lighthouse was produced by the MIT library. It is also a good vision to consider for our school libraries, as we prepare children for work and education in this century. Note the emphasis on collaboration in learning.

MIT Tech TV

Organizing the book case

2011-03-01T05:10:00.001-08:00

From Steven's Lighthouse:

How to tell a digital story

2011-02-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here is an excellent example of a digital story. Is there anything left out? From Hiking in Finland by Hendrik Morkel.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

"What's the Use Case" from Seth Godin's Blog

2011-02-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

This is a re-blog from Seth Godin's Blog. He's absolutely right. How often have I approached a teacher with a software tool, an idea or a project without actually describing what the use is?

What's the use case?

Visit an architect. On the first visit, right after shaking your hand, she unrolls plans for a house. "Here are some sketches..."

Wait. That's backward.

Sketches for what? How do you know if I want a house or an office building? How am I to judge these plans? Is it a mind reading exercise?

The most effective way to sell the execution of an idea is to describe the use case first. And before you can do that, you need to have both the trust of your client and enough information to figure out what would delight them.

Then, describe what a great solution would do. "If we could use 10,000 square feet of space to profitably service 100 customers an hour..." or "If we built a website that could convert x percent of ..." or "If we could blend a wine that would appeal to this type of diner..."

After the use case is agreed on, then feel free to share your sketches, brainstorms and mockups. At that point, the only question is, "does this execution support the use case we agreed on?"

Don't show me a project, a website, an ad buy or an essay without first telling me what it's supposed to do when it works properly. First, because I might not want that result. And second, how else am I supposed to judge if it's good or not without knowing what you're trying to do...

Too often, we're in such a hurry to show off what we'd like to build we forget to sell the notion of what we built it for."

Finnish Library Association

2011-01-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Finland leads the world in education. Maybe this is why. (From Steven's Lighthouse.com)

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability

2011-01-13T06:18:00.001-08:00

This is another excellent presentation from TED. Well worth watching.

How do we do the right thing.

2011-01-06T05:48:00.001-08:00

Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by

2011-01-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

I just came across a wonderful children's book in Norwegian from the 1950's. Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by by Thorbjørn Egner. It's a fictional town where there is only one law: Kardemommeloven (The Cardamom Act).

The law is simple:

Man skal ikke plage andre,

(One should not bother others,)

man skal være grei og snill,

(you should be nice and kind,)

og for øvrig kan man gjøre hva man vil.

(and otherwise you can do whatever you want.)

It's now a famous expression in Norway. I love it.

Three Good Resolutions for the New Year from Daniel Pink

2011-01-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

Here are Three Good Resolutions for the New Year from Daniel Pink: The resolutions are from a new book Practically Radical: Not-so-crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself, by William C. Taylor.
1. I resolve to help my organization (and me personally) become “the most of something” in my field. It’s not good enough to be “pretty good” at everything. The most successful organizations (and people) are the most of something—the most elite, the most affordable, the most elaborate, the most approachable. For so long, companies were content operating in the middle of the road. Today, with so much change, so much pressure, so many new ways to do everything, the middle of the road has become to road to nowhere. What are you the most of?
2. I resolve to embrace a sense of vuja dé. We’ve all experienced déjà vu—looking at an unfamiliar situation and feeling like you’ve seen it before. Vuja dé is the flip side of that—looking at a familiar situation (an industry you’ve worked in for decades, problems you’ve worked on for years) as if you’ve never seen it before, and, with that fresh line of sight, developing a distinctive point of view on the future. The challenge for all of us is that too often, we let what we know limit what we can imagine. This is the year to face that challenge head-on.
3. I resolve to look for new ideas in new places. The more I study innovation, the less enamored I become of “benchmarking” the competition. What good is it to compare yourself against “best practice” in your field, especially if “best practice” isn’t that great to begin with? The most creative leaders aspire to learn from people and organizations far outside their field as a way to shake things up and make real change. Strategies and practices that are routine in one industry can be revolutionary when they migrate to another field. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas?

Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together

2010-12-16T05:07:00.000-08:00

Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer. An excellent biography of her can be found on the blog Amazing Women Rock. I agree with her as she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinker. This presentation from May 2009 is worth watching.

Great math resource

2010-12-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

Geogebra is a great math resource with plenty of free downloads: http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

How to make a tabbed notebook using Power Point

2010-11-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

Tom Kuhlmann's Rapid E-Learning Blog is one of my favorite resources for ideas. Today he provides a template for creating a neat tabbed notebook using a PowerPoint template:

A Guide to Web Technology

2010-11-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

Google has produced a nifty guide to Web Technology which is outlined in the blog TechCrunch. The guide is best viewed in Google Chrome. This is a great new resource, because it provides a good outline of the basic knowledge of the web that a student should have. I am considering taking the outline of the table of contents and putting together a simple curriculum of web technology fot the elementary school level. The guide provides some excellent safety tools that every student should know.

http://www.20thingsilearned.com/home

How Complexity Leads to Simplicity

2010-11-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

I have often used this (now-infamous) Power Point slide on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan as an example of poor design and poor presentation. Now ecologist Eric Berlow in a TED presentation shows how extrememly complex systems provide more information that can lead to a better, simpler solutions. He uses the Afghanistan slide to break it down to elementary points:

5 Amazing Lessons from Sir Isaac newton

2010-11-12T05:08:00.000-08:00

Below is a great article on Sir Isaac Newton reprinted in the blog Dumb Little Man by Mr. Self Development who is a motivational author; his blog is mrselfdevelopment.com:
5 Amazing Lessons from Isaac Newton:

1.Patiently Think
“If I have done the public any service, it is due to my patient thought.”
We don’t spend enough time patiently thinking! Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” If you would just block out some time daily to “think,” you could solve many of your problems. …You could even solve some of the world’s problems.
2.Labor to be Tactful
“Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.”
Solomon said, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” We can all polish up on our tact, our diplomacy, our discretion, our delicacy, and our gracefulness. Solomon went on to say, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances,” labor to be tactful in all you do.
3.Build Bridges
“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”
Tony Robbins said, “The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” This is why you must spend your time building bridges instead of walls. When we “build bridges” we are literally building a better life. When we build walls, we are stagnating our own growth. Joseph F. Newton said, “People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.”
4.Chase after Knowledge
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
There’s no need to recreate the wheel. To make progress all you must do is to build on what others have already done. Commence by learning what others know.
When you chase after knowledge, you strategically position yourself on the shoulders of giants; you are then able to see what others can’t see.
5.Pursue Truth
“A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true, for if the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding.”
We must pursue “truth!” There’s an anonymous quote that goes, “The truth is heavy, therefore few care to carry it.” Be one of those few who pursue truth both night and day. Blaise Pascal said, “Once your soul has been enlarged by truth, it can never return to its original size.”
Thank you for reading and be sure to pass this article along

Student video

2010-11-02T11:26:00.001-07:00

Check out this student created video using jaycut.com and a digital camera:

New Visualization Charts in Google Apps

2010-10-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

From Richard Byrne's blog Free Technology for Teachers is a nice piec e about using Google Forms and Spreadsheets to create charts: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/10/new-visualization-charts-in-google-docs.html

Using Power Point as a visual aid

2010-10-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a great piece from Garr Reynolds' Presentation web site. He does an excellent analysis of how to use Power Point as a supplement to a presentation.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2010/10/talking-clearly-visually-about-plastic-pollution.html

Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2010-10-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of outstanding video presentations on the author Washington Irving. The first is by a high school student. Notice how she uses the medium of video well with good transitions. The only thing she could have done better is to make the text easier to read by making it more in contrast to the background. The second is a cool animation of the author reading the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Bridge eaters

2010-10-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

This is a great use of time-lapse photography with a tilt effect.

Bridge Eaters from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.

Coach Wooden and Winning

2010-10-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a great blog entry by Vern Gambetta from Elite Track:

"Steve Odgers send me an email yesterday reminding me that it was John Woodens birthday and that Coach Wooden never spoke to his teams about winning. Never speaks volumes when you think of the championships and wins his teams accumulated. The message here, a message I have seen in everyone that are consistent winners, is that they focus on the process, not the outcome. If you pay attention to details, have a plan and get absorbed in the process then the winning is an outcome. Conversely think of the losing teams and organizations you see. They are always talking about winning. There are banners and slogans everywhere, but bottom line they are focused on the outcome and they make losing a self-fulfilling prophecy. They seem to find a way to lose. Winners find ways to win to because they have paid attention to the process. If they do lose there are no excuses, just learning, then back to the process."

This just re-enforces what so many others say about the importance of the process. It's what you do every day that defines you, not the short term results of winning or losing. If you focus on each day and get the best you can out of it, then the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

Responsibility in education

2010-10-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

Students in Finland are at the top of the world in student performance. One thing they teach there is personal responsibility. Teachers are responsible for their curriculum. Students are responsible for their learning. What does this mean for us?

New Library of Congress Catalog

2010-10-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

The Library of Congress has a new online catalog providing access to a large number of databases: http://eresources.loc.gov/

You can read more about it at: http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/09/a-new-catalog-in-town/

Practice

2010-09-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

How do you best move toward mastery? To put it simply, you practice diligently, but you practice primarily for the sake of the practice itself. —GEORGE LEONARD, MASTERY

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education

2010-09-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

From TED: Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the Wall" experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity:

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Tai Chi and Running

2010-09-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Tai Chi and Running: "While the book Chi Running has some weaknesses, I am thoroughly inspired to alter my running form according to the posture and energy flow p..."

Ayn Rand

2010-07-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

"We the Living" (1939, 1959) by Ayn Rand. Petrograd smelled of carbolic acid. Primus stoves. Life was tough, citizen.

Mountain Time Lapse

2010-06-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is Hiking in Finland, which is about ultralight hiking in the Nordic countries. What I particularly like about the site is the way they use photography to tell their stories. For example here is a fantastic time lapse video of a mountain camping scene. Check it out::

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from http://vimeo.com/timescapes on Vimeo.

Summer Reading List 2010

2010-06-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Summer Reading List 2010

Introduction to objectivist epistemology‎ by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff, Harry Binswanger
Objectivism: the philosophy of Ayn Rand‎ by Leonard Peikoff
Atlas Shrugged‎ by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead‎ by Ayn Rand
We the Living‎ by Ayn Rand
You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching by Swen Nater, Ronald Gallimore
Disrupting class: how disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns by Clayton M. Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, Michael B. Horn

Photo of the Day from Fotopedia

2010-06-14T11:27:00.001-07:00

Fotopedia is an encyclopedia of images, many of which can be used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.fotopedia.com/

Photo of the day on Fotopedia

2010 World Cup Resources

2010-06-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some cool resources for watching the 2010 World Cup:
1. Take a 3D tour of the stadiums on Google Earth: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2010/06/2010_world_cup_in_google_earth.html

2. View the Schedule in a cool Flash program:
http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/mundial/sudafrica-2010/calendario-english.html

3. Watch the World Cup live on-line:
http://www.epltalk.com/where-to-watch-the-world-cup-on-tv-online-radio-and-mobile-devices/19830

New Common Core Standards

2010-06-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

New Common Core State Standards have been adopted by the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Thinking out of the box.

2010-05-21T05:41:00.001-07:00

The Powerpoint

2010-04-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here is another example of how not to use Powerpoint. Unfortunately, it comes from our military.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?emc=eta1

Jay Walker's Library of Human Imagination

2010-04-09T05:44:00.001-07:00

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Jay Walker's Library of Human Imagination#links

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

2010-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished an excellent book on the history of the cod trade. The author brings out some interesting facts such as the secret pre-Columbus Basque cod fishing grounds, the value of salt cod as an international trade good in the molasses/rum/slave triangle and many other intersections of military, political and cultural history that involve cod.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

View more documents from Vette05.

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World#links

Dilbert strikes again

2010-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Is this a true example of the mis-use of Power Point or what?

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Freedom of Speech

2010-02-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

Friluftsliv: Log Blog Connections: Freedom of Speech

Don't Eat the Marshmellows

2009-12-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

Creative Commons: What every Educator needs to know

2009-12-22T06:15:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Creative Commons: What every Educator needs to know

View more documents from Rodd Lucier.

What matters now

2009-12-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting use of Scribd by Seth Godin. "What Matters Now" presents a series of ideas using one page per idea.
What Matters Now

Training

2009-11-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

Dilbert shows a lot of wisdom. It's a hard reality that tomorrow's workforce will demand fearless and independent learners. Self motivated people, who pick up new technologies, will have a definite advantage in the world job market. I constantly tell my students that they must be independent, self-motivated learners to survive. In fact, it's the main theme on my library web page. Some listen and some don't.

In a free market system, employers don't waste a lot of time with training. They just hire and keep those who know what they are doing, and like Dilbert's boss, they get rid of the rest. That's why the free market systems are still the only ones who succeed.

Government works in the opposite direction. How many government institutions and school districts spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on 'training'? When you analyze the new technology training, it has mostly been how to fill out forms on-line. I can't even sit through the classes any more. It's the bane of governments and organizations. I once sat through a mandatory two hour class on how to fill out on-line forms for inter-library loan. What's amazing is that the instructor and many of the students were actually excited about the class.

In the first Men in Black, there is a scene where Will Smith is applying to join the organization. The room is filled with super achievers from West Point, the Marines, NYPD, etc. When filling out the application, Smith is the only one with the common sense to use the coffee table in the center of the room as a writing table. Rip Torn then tells the other super achievers present: "Gentlemen, you are all we've come to expect from years of government training." Will Smith's only negative is his "conflict with authority." He is the epitome of a fearless, independent learner. He doesn't depend on 'training', he just jumps in.

Fearless, independent learners use coaches and instructors as needed, but they don't expect to be spoon fed. In fact, independent learners have a way of using an instructor to their maximum advantage. They quickly get to the heart of a question or issue.

My Argentine tango instructor, Walter Kane, is a fearless, independent learner. Our tango group recently set up a new web site using Google sites (Hudson Valley Tango). Walter has been able to pick up the on-line program with a minimum of instruction from me. In fact, he quickly grasped how to insert text and write in HTML (hypertext markup language) on the site. He lamented that it took him 3 and 1/2 hours to pick it up. It's that willingness to invest the time and effort on a task that separates the fearless, independent learner from the spoon feeder. A spoon feeder will sit through 3 hours of 'training' and come out with nothing. The Dilbert cartoon is right on target.

Web technology is about to change how we learn - Russell Moench, Venture Beat

2009-10-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a post worth reading
Web technology is about to change how we learn - Russell Moench, Venture Beat

from Educational Technology by Ray
The education industry is on the cusp of being massively disrupted by innovation in Web technology. Like other industries prior, it would like to pretend that it can weather the storm and continues business as usual, with only minor tweaking. We all know how that story ends. It won’t happen immediately, and the path won’t be a direct one. Marketing giants such foreign-language instructor Rosetta

From Daniel Pink

2009-10-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

This is from Daniel Pink's blog
Factoid of the day: Revenge of the nonspecialist
Published October 5th, 2009

Yesterday afternoon, I was reading Jerry de Jaager and Jim Ericson’s smart new book, See New Now, and came across this stunner:
“A study of the top fifty game-changing innovations over a hundred-year period showed that nearly 80 percent of those innovations were sparked by someone whose primary expertise was outside the field in which the innovation breakthrough took place.”

#IranElection Crisis: A Social Media Timeline by Ben Parr

2009-06-22T05:44:00.001-07:00

Ben Parr in "Mashable: The Social Media Guide" provides the most comprehensive history of the interaction of social media on the Iran election crisis: #IranElection Crisis: A Social Media Timeline. If it had not been for Twitter, YouTube and Flicker, we would have never known of the events in Iran. Certainly the mainstream media did not cover it.

Web 2.0 and the Iran Election

2009-06-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

From Ben Parr's blog "Mashable: The Social Media Guide" we have these amazing statistics on the #Iranelection:
Twitter: 221,744 “Iran” Tweets in One Hour
The Blogosphere: 2,250,000 Blog Posts in 24 hours
YouTube: 184,500 Videos on Iran, 3000 in One Day
The photo below is from one of these blogs: "tehran 24: Daily Photos from Iran."http://tehranlive.org/2009/06/17/demonstration-and-protests-to-election-results-the-5th-day/

Iranian Revolution on Twitter

2009-06-17T05:15:00.001-07:00

If you aren't following the Iranian revolution on Twitter, your missing out on one of the most important events of your lifetime. Here's a piece by Clay Shirkey on TED:

Library of Congress on Flicker

2009-06-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

The Library of Congress has recently published some of its most popular Depression era photos on Flickr:

Microsoft offers free tools for high schoolers

2009-04-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Re-blog from Educational Technology, Microsoft Corporation is offering Visual Studio and XNA Game Studio for free as a service to high school students. Will try to get it for my elementary students as they are very good at multimedia.

Become Really Good at Graphic Design

2009-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin provides an excellent summary of graphic design materials on his blog site.

Click through to see the plexo

Happy 20th Birthday, World Wide Web

2009-03-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine, but the World Wide Web just turned 20 today. For those under 30, it has been here forever. For those of us much older, it has changed our lives in dramatic fashion. At this moment, I am following dog teams on the Iditarod using live GPS readings on the web. I take something for granted that would not have been possible just a few years ago.

Another excellent TED presentation.

2009-02-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

David Merrill on TED

2009-02-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

Garr Reynoldsj just posted an interesting new idea from TED:

Stiffables are small computer blocks that can interact in amazing ways. Watch the video.

Liberal Arts

2009-02-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

My best friend from high school, Rick Ward, professor and Associate Dean at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, recently commented on the difficulty of recruiting students to a liberal arts education. As a liberal arts graduate, I have spent some time reflecting on this issue. There is no question that liberal arts has taken a pounding lately. For example, Friedman in his book The World is Flat calls for a national commitment to science and engineering. There is tremendous pressure toward "career" degrees. Every where you look, you find the question, Can Liberal Arts be saved?

But if you take time to look at the reality of today's market place, you find a need for the broad education and skills that a liberal arts education can provide. Consider a recent article in eSchool News by Dennis Carter "College web design courses fail with bosses" In this difficult economc climate, a study of web design employers finds they are looking for "broadly educated, open-minded, and self-motivated individuals" with a "general awareness of the web, social networking and culture, strong spoken and written language skills, [and] enthusiasm and commitment to life-long learning." Doesn't this describe a liberal arts education?

The skills needed to survive in this rapidly changing world are flexibility, life long learning, and self-motivation. What better place to recieve them than a liberal arts college. The problem, as my friend Rick states, is selling this to the college bound student.

Medieval Help Desk

2009-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

This video has been around a while, but it's still great.

Storyboarding

2009-01-29T07:39:00.001-08:00

Here's a useful short on the value of storyboarding in the creation of a multimedia presentation. Thanks to Garr Reynolds for the post on this.

Collaboration

2009-01-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

I am becoming more and more convinced that collaboration is the key not only to learning, but to the professional future of our students. Guy Kawasaki provides a great post about an article in Psychology Today by Carlin Flora called "Dream Teams," which is a study of collaboration in architecture, music, fashion, robotics. I spend a lot of time teaching collaboration to my students using Web 2.0 tools.

For example, students in our school have collaborated on a wiki about the Inauguration. Last year our 4th students, collaborated on a wiki about New York State. That same group of students scored very well on this year's State Social Studies Assessment.

I've learned a few techniques regarding wikis in the classroom. The most important is to establish a rule that students not add personal identification to wiki posts. The emphasis is on the group's product, not the individual's product. Students still gain satisfaction from recognizing their individual contributions on a wiki, and it's always possible to identify the editors through the history. That, of course, prevents bad behavior in the project. The wiki method offers the ability for student's to learn individual responsibility and group learning.

Students get excited about a wiki. One student, who often appears bored in my classes, got very excited after taking the state test. She informed me that the DBQ portion of the exam had focused on Peter Stuyvesant, and she had written an entire piece on him for our wiki project.

From TED: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

2009-01-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

25 Free Tools

2008-12-12T05:01:00.000-08:00

25 Tools

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: learning tools)

JogLab

2008-12-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a great site to improve memory:

http://www.joglab.com/

South Pole Race

2008-11-16T07:59:00.001-08:00

Here's a collaborative lesson idea: The Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race will feature 10 international teams of men and women who will compete in a 30 to 45 day journey to the South Pole on skis. Beginning in January, it will be possible to follow teams on their web sites and through GPS systems. Math and science curriculum connections could be set up where students graph team progress and calculate the amounts of food and supplies that each team member will need to carry on their pulkin (sled).

FlowGram

2008-09-11T05:04:00.000-07:00

Just discovered Flowgram thanks to a post on TechLearning.com. This looks like a great tool which allows the user to combine web information into a multimedia presentation. "A flowgram combines the advantages of slide presentations and screencasts with an interactive user experience that fully exploits the fact that almost all the information we might ever need is already on the web." I'll check it out for possible classroom use.

Tools for digital storytelling

2008-08-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a great site from Alan Levine's blog CogDogRoo: 50 tools for digital storytelling

Presentation Zen

2008-08-25T10:11:00.001-07:00

What do judo and PowerPoint have in common? You must read Garr Reynolds’ masterpiece Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery to find out. If you have ever experienced death by PowerPoint, then you must read this book. It is the most useful of my summer readings and a book that I will re-read many times. Reynolds teaches at a university in Japan. His knowledge of Zen Buddhism allows him to incorporate its culture and philosophy into a simple method of design and delivery using multimedia software, such as PowerPoint. He manages to draw connections between Zen simplicity and a professional quality PowerPoint, and then he shows the reader how to do it. This book should be required reading for every school administrator and teacher.

Voice Thread

2008-06-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Voice Thread continues to be one of my favorite tools for Web 2.0 in the classroom. Check out this excellent project by elementary students. I will definitely use this tool in my lesson planning for next year:

Redesigned National Archives Website

2008-06-16T06:02:00.001-07:00

The National Archives has recently redesigned its website. The site is very easy to use with excellent multimedia effects. Students will have the opportunity to explore digital vaults, where they can build their own personalized collection. Pages are interactive. Students can create their own projects, such as a poster. This site is worth exploring this summer for lesson plan ideas.

Learning facts vs. creativity

2008-06-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting professional development tip from TechLearning.com: "In fact, the world is changing even faster than schools. Instead of requiring workers who've memorized facts, the workplace needs knowledge workers who can think on their own and who are innovative and creative. This shift will require that teachers adapt their teaching methods. The difference between knowledge and information is that information is what you know and knowledge is what you do with that information." Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

I agree and disagree with this statement. An educated person needs a strong informaton base in order to function in the professional world. Memorization is an important part of building this base: In fact, Dr. Yoshiro NakaMats (arguably the most creative individual on the planet) argues for the Japanese education method of memorization up to the age of 20 in order to develop the human brain. See What a Great Idea by Charles "Chic" Thompson. I still find memorization to be an excellent thinking exercise.

In elementary school, I see young students struggle with the creative process, when they lack sufficient factual knowledge of a subject. For example, how can you make a digital story about the Civil War, if you lack an information base. I recall one student came across General John Pope while studying the Second Battle of Bull Run. Naturally, when he did a search on him, he got the Pope. His research project had all kinds of information about the Roman Catholic Pope's role in the battle.

At the same time, I agree with the TechLearning statement that innovation and creativity are the necessary tools for today's workplace. The challenge as an educator is to provide students with sufficient factual knowledge with which to face a world of innovation and creativity.

Another photo site

2008-06-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a great site mentioned in Walt Mossberg's blog from the Wall Street Journal: It's called shwup (www.shwup.com), and it's a free way to share photos in a common album. The problem with most photo sites, such as Flickr, is they aren't child safe. Just about anything shows up on them. This is a site worth checking out for safety.

Re-blogged: World Without Oil Game

2008-06-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

This post on Education For Well-being is worth checking out: World Without Oil Game June 4, 2008 WWO Site - WWO Lesson plans for teachers
I've checked the site out, and it would provide a great lesson opportunity in the upper grades. The site is a little confusing at first. A good place to start is the archive page.

New child safety tool

2008-06-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

"Kids' Net Access Gets Close Scrutiny From Symantec" by Jeremy Kirk, in the May 23 issuse of PC World describes the new service by Semantec that allows parental control of net access for their children. It will be released in March, 2009. I could not locate anything on their web site; however, it will be worth watching for their beta versions.

I am whelmed.

2008-06-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a concept for digital storytelling that I really like: It's called whelming. Check out the page below from Jake Jacobs' Discovery Channel Page. It is the concept of finding excitement and curiosity in simple messages. Too often we begin our creative process with concepts and ideas that are too complicated; then when we build a web site or lesson plan, it crashes and we blame the "technology." Thanks to Joe Brennan's post in his blog Digital Storytelling for making me aware of this concept.

The Cognitive Age

2008-06-02T04:55:00.001-07:00

David Brooks in a NY Times editorial speaks of "The Cognitive Age" as an alternative view of globalization. The fact that technological change is what drives the world, not globalization, is an interesting concept and one that again falls in line with James Burke's connections theory. Each new invention is a trigger that sets in motion a series of changes in the world. The ability to recognize that becomes the cognitive age. Thanks to Mike Eisenberg's post on the Big6 Blog for calling this editorial to my attention.

Timeline Creator

2008-05-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a great timeline creator from Steve Dembo's Digital Passports: "Dipity.com can serve as a traditional timeliner, and it will work well, but it can also become your FriendFeed with benefits."

I checked it out and it looks great. What a great wat to tell a digital story. I plan to use it with a World War II study I'm doing with students this week.

Google Earth

2008-05-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

Mixing Google Earth & Media
Today, May 22, 2008, 4 hours ago Power to Learn
Here's a resource that shows you how to mix the goodies of Google Earth with media. It's a pdf of a PowerPoint presentation written by Hall Davidson of Discovery Education. In Finally, Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Google Earth and Media,...

Wondering About Web 2.0

2008-05-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent voice thread.

Google's Literacy Project Page

2008-05-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

From Matthew Needleman's blog, here is an excellent reference to the Google Literacy Project Page http://www.google.com/literacy/. "A resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone interested in reading and education, created in collaboration with LitCam, Google, and UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning."

How NOT to use Power Point

2008-05-12T08:04:00.001-07:00

Here is a great video from Teacher tube on how not to use Power Point:

This should be seen by all administrators.

Using stories to cope with bullying

2008-05-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Clay Burrell of Beyond School uses the digital story method in an effective way to deal with bullying in school. His post "Meaningful Meme: Your “Bullied Then, Successful Now Stories" provides his own story of being bullied in high school.