What is the purpose of this blog?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

Friday, December 19, 2008

What/Who else will computers replace?




















From The Pioneer Press

"After 127 years of shouts, gestures and full-throated capitalism, the trading floor at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange permanently falls silent at 1:15 p.m. today. The exchange is shifting the last of its grain trading to computers, which means the raucous grain pit in downtown Minneapolis soon will be only a memory."

-Read Full Article

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Happy Holidays















Happy holidays and if you get an itch to read... well, you know... check out my blog. I've added a lot to the department resources links on the right.

It'll keep you busy!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Technology helped us find our lost cat!

Want a crazy story with a tech twist? Read on...

Somebody was at a party on Halloween in our neighborhood
(when our cat disappeared) and went around to a few parties only to discover a cat in their car when they returned home to St. Paul (9 miles away) and so they kept the cat a week or so and put up signs in St. Paul, eventually leaving her outside an animal shelter.

Someone saw my wife's ad on
Craigslist which stated that we had lost a cat on Halloween and called to say he had seen signs up in St. Paul for a cat that had been found on Halloween. He gave my wife the number of the guy who had found the cat and he gave her the name of the animal shelter where he had left her and she went on their website and lo and behold there was a picture of our dear Lottie starring back at us. We will pick her up tonight. Happy ending. And my wife = very happy! Technology can be your friend!

Monday, December 8, 2008

At a conference, oh my!

Yes I try to keep up with the latest, best, most wonderful in technology integration so I am at the TIES conference today and tomorrow with "Fearless Leader" Merry soaking it up. So far thinkquest.org rocks as does ning.com so check them out. I will add to this blog post as I learn more...

Watched a presentation on Second Life virtual world simulations and its academic applications. Not an application I am that familiar with but I see it's potential so I will investigate further.

Day Two. Data Data Data, snore... More when I see something interesting...

OK, this is way cool. Instant polling from computer OR cellphone and it's free: http://www.polleverywhere.com/

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Teachers keeping up with technology: I feel your pain...

I came across an interesting article talking about all the technologies constantly bombarding teachers and the difficulty of keeping up with it all. I feel your pain and want to help so hit me up with questions if you have them. I'm here for you...

To read article CLICK HERE

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Greg Bestland skypes the Ukraine during Grandparents Day

Hats off to Greg Bestland and the connection we made with the Ukraine live and "en direct" during Grandparents Day!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

10 Cool Sites

I found an awesome website that lists ten cool sites for each of the subjects below.




Art Museums
Arts
Astronomy
Blogs
Chemistry
Earth Science
Environmental Science
General Science
History
Invention
K-12 Resources
Kids' Stuff
Life Sciences
Literature & Drama
Mathematics
Media
Miscellaneous
Natural History
Photography
Physics
Psychology
Science Centers
Science Literature
Weather

So go there!

Online Visual Dictionary

Look up words in the Visuwords online graphical dictionary and thesaurus to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Awesome visual resource!
Go To Site

Friday, November 21, 2008

Site of the month, maybe the year!


Wow, Rich Enderton BLEW ME AWAY! with the Wolfram Demonstations Project, which are "internet project visualizations" covering a plethora of topics from the arts to science, math, business, puzzles, economics and on and on... You MUST check it out. You could get lost for days...

Thank you Rich!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Paperless Newspaper!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Sam Terfa's Science Websites

Sam shared these cool websites for you science buffs. I added them to the department links on the right.

Discovery Channel Videos
http://dsc.discovery.com/video/player.html

How Stuff Works Science Videos
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/science

Random Science Podcasts
http://www.sciencemadefun.org.uk/podcasts.html

Physics Tutorials Online Through Glenbrook
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/Phys/Class/BBoard.html

Physics Site for St May’s High School
http://www.stmary.ws/physics/home/notes/default.htm

HippoCampus Tutorials
http://www.hippocampus.org/

Science Web Seminars by NSTA
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/default.aspx

Periodic Tables
http://www.periodicvideos.com/ or http://www.periodicvideos.com/nyt/index.htm

EPA Website for Teachers
http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/kids/teachers_9-12.html

and even more!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/

http://www.reuters.com/news/science

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/video/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm

Google Flu Trends!







Jeremy shared with me the Google Flu Tracker site. pretty cool way to see trends as they develop across the country. CLICK HERE

Thursday, October 30, 2008

C-Span Excellent Government/Civics Site





C-Span "for the classroom" has put together a very good site covering:

Principals of Government
U.S. Constitution
The Legislative, Judicial and Executive Branches of Goverment
And More!

Sign up for free and enjoy...

CLICK HERE

Friday, October 24, 2008

Absolutely fantastic repository of U.S. History websites!


History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web has the most amazing collection of websites (and it's searchable!) that you can find. I've been looking for a really good resource for U.S. History and here it is! CLICK HERE

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Art Resources featuring our own Cynthia McGovern

I wanted to salute Cynthia McGovern for the wonderful set of art resource sites she suggested. They are simply fantastic. I've listed them in the Department Links in the right column but wanted to share them here too because they are just too good to pass up. Thanks Cynthia and enjoy!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Just How Tech Geeky Are The Candidates?

I figured with the election just around the corner it might be cool to read up on the candidates tech savvy or not so savvyness. Geek The Vote 2008 is a collection of articles about different tech issues and the candidates. CLICK HERE to read.

Top 10 Reasons You Must Blog

( Extract taken from Tony Karrer's blog.)

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Blog

10. Because you stopped learning anything new a couple years ago and it’s about time you started again.

Or as Karyn Romeis & Barry Sampson both said - I’ve learned more via blogging over the past year than I learned in the preceding several years!

9. Because it forces you to do your homework (Rodolpho Arruda)

8. Because this is how you are going to learn in the future.

“This is the difference represented in the shift from traditional classroom based learning and network learning. The idea of the latter is that learning occurs when the learner immerses him or herself in a community of practice, learning by performing authentic tasks, learning by interacting with and becoming a member of the community.” (Stephen Downes)

7. Because if you don’t we’ll think you’re lame and don’t know how to do your job.

“What can you know about a professional who doesn't blog his or her work? How do you know they are competent, that they have the respect of their peers, that they understand the issues, that they practice sound methodology, that they show consideration for their clients? You cannot know any of this without the openness blogging (or equivalent) provides. Which means, once a substantial number begin to share, there will be increasing pressure on all to share.” (Stephen Downes)

6. Because it will change your life.

“there is something that happens to a person when they hit that "publish" button - you cross a threshold - you move from consumer to producer - you put your intellectual neck on the line and I really think that you aren't the same person after that.” (Mark Oehlert)

5. Because you’ll hook up all over the place.

“all learning professionals need to exchange ideas with others, to test their ideas, to question their assumptions, to learn from each other in ways that come with dialog. Blogging is great for forming networks based on weak social ties.” (Bill Bruck)

4. Because learning is conversation and that blogging lets you have more and better conversations (Harold Jarche)

“The lack of formality and the ease of cross-referencing other blog content or references means is great to accelerate discussion and promote broader thinking and understanding.” (David Wilson)

3. Because Professionalism is more than consumption, it is contribution. (Rovy Bronson)

2. Because it’s “a swap meet for the mind.” (Nancy White)

1. Because your job depends on it.

“If for no other reason than your job is changing, and you might want to be engaged in the process of what your new job will include.” (Brent Shlenker) and “They don't get what blogs are about and possibly never will. We just need to encourage them towards retirement.” (Barry Sampson)

To read the entire article CLICK HERE

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Want to see how much CO2 is emitted live?

Breathing Earth is a website that tracks CO2 emissions along with birth and death ratios and gives a live graphic representation of the whole process on a global scale. Check it out here.

Google Moderator

Ever wanted quick feedback on a certain topic? A way for anyone to submit questions online? A way to do it on a topic you just thought up? A way for everyone to collaborate quickly on a topic whether they are in the room or not? Try Google Moderator. It you have a gmail account you're ready to go. Invite collaborators and you're off and running with a discussion. Just CLICK HERE and select "create series" to get started.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Thinkfinity - Best Online Resources For Teachers


Don't miss out on Verizon sponsored Thinkfinity which has has an absolute wealth of information for teachers. Just click here.




Saturday, October 4, 2008

Death Valley

Hello there from 29 Palms, California. Taking a little vacation to help my brother with the live Webcast of the Furnace Creek 508, a bicycle race that crosses California and through Death Valley for 508 miles! It awesome! Tomorrow we will have the live webcam up so check it out by clicking HERE

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Is there anyboby out there?

Hope you are checking out my blog but I'd love more feedback. Send me an email at kostman@minnehahaacademy.net or clicking on Comments by one of my posts... Please...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Top Web Tools Used by Educators and Professionals

The most popular and best tools teachers and other professionals use include:

Google Search (of course)

PowerPoint (still!)

Moodle (ultimate educator collaboration tool)

del.icio.us (bookmarks galore)

Skype (chat, video, collaborate)

Wordpress (blog, blog)

Google Reader (all that's fit to read in one place)

Wikipedia (Enclyclopedia Britanni-who?)

Evernote (this one made me go WOW)

Netvibes (feed everything into one webpage)

Jing (make free videos of whatever you do on the web)

Blogger (more blogging)

ToonDoo (easy comic strip producer)

Voki (add voice and more to blogs from your cell phone or computer)

Google Earth (Look, up in the sky! It's a satellite taking your picture!)

Google Docs

Want to learn more? Google them!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Teaching, Technology and Keith


Well I have this strange mouthful of a job title: Academic Technology Manager so I figured I should try to explain. I come from a long line of teachers. Both my parents were high school teachers, my grandmother was a teacher. Her mother was a teacher. Over the years I have taught English in Taiwan, Social Studies in France, English Literature to gang members in Oxnard, CA and Ancient Civilizations to 6th graders in Santa Barbara and computer classes to be sure. And all along the way I've been interested in technology and its multiple uses in the classroom. From the early days of the single Mac Classic computer to the computer labs, multimedia centers, laptop carts, wireless access points, video conferencing, PowerPoint presentations, Inspiration bubbles, Skype, Blogs, Wikis and Twitter of today I've always been searching for ways to help technology help teachers and students in the classroom and beyond. It's what I love, what I'm passionate about. But I'm not a techno-nut or geek or someone who thinks technology is the end all and be all. First and foremost I'm a people person. I recognize that it's just a stupid machine. And I know how that stupid machine can frustrate us all. But I also know that if properly used technology can be a wonderful tool. Basically, I just want to show teachers all the cool things out there that they can choose or not choose to exploit. I'm not going to force anything on anyone. I just want to show you what's out there. So keep reading my blog, keep sending me ideas and pull me into your classroom to show me what you've got. Ask me questions, make suggestions, pick my brain. I'm ready...

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I noticed something strange today at Bloomington

Take a look at the photo I took while we were working on computers today. Now I know why Jeremy is so good at what he does...

He has help! This is so unfair...

Monday, September 8, 2008

Collaborate with other musicians online







I'm back! Sorry, been a bit busy with the start of the school year helping with this and helping with that...

I stumbled across a new website that allows members (it's free by the way) to upload their music, complete or in snippets, and collaborate with other musicians around the globe. They feature a "Remix Wizard" application which is just a widget that gives fans the ability to remix and manipulate snippets of your music or someone else's. As they point out "it’s not just for Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails anymore." If you'd like to see how it works (simple) just CLICK HERE.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Alan November rocks!


Yesterday's talk by Alan November only served to highlight everything you read below. I'm so thankful to have someone come who can effectively articulate the need to integrate new technologies in school. Here is a link to his website: www.novemberlearning.com

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Knol = Google Knowledge Articles

Knol is Google's able-bodied attempt to serve up "authoritative" articles on a myriad of subjects. If you are looking for information on a subject or want to write like an expert about any topic go to knol.google.com

A New Take On Plagiarism From Down Under

According to an Australian online journal "cut and paste is not plagiarism". Read the whole article here to get the gist of this unorthodox point of view.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Absolutely Amazing Greek History Website!

"Interactive and extremely well illustrated, Odyssey Online's Greece uses a treasure trove of historical artifacts to illuminate all the concepts essential to a coherent study of ancient Greece. Comprehensive coverage includes death and burial practices of the ancient Greeks; Greek wars of conquest; the Greek warrior ethos; Greek gods, goddesses, and mythic heroes; Greek democracy; Greek architecture; geography of Greece; daily life in ancient Greece; and Greek epic literature and theater. Also includes an interesting sidebar about American cities that have Greek place names."

Go To Site

Sunday, August 3, 2008

High quality multimedia content - all subjects

HippoCampus is a project of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE). "The goal of HippoCampus is to provide high-quality, multimedia content on general education subjects to high school and college students free of charge." Don't pass up this valuable online resource which has something for everyone. To access, Click Here

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Any web page can speak to you!

In Safari, select the text from the poem below and then click on Safari/Services/Speech and select "Start Speaking Text". Your Mac should start speaking the text you have selected. To change the voice, simply go to System Preferences and click on Speech.

A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

John Keats

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Amazing list of 60 Projects using technology!


Here is an amazing list of projects that use Web 2.0 (videos, podcasts, wikis, blogs, twitter, websites, etc...) It is divided up into age groups so you can choose the level you want. Click Here for the PDF...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Future is Already Here at Some Schools

Schools have already started getting rid of textbooks, notepads, paper and even the schools themselves. A pilot middle school in Boston "offers a glimpse into the future." No textbooks, the students receive an Apple laptop at the start of each day. Students and teachers blog, classwork is done with Google applications, which are free. Much of the lessons are delivered via applications like iMovie, iChat and so on. Parents, students and teachers chat online and exchange files through "electronic drop boxes" provided on the school's website. And to top it off "U.S. enrollment in online classes reached the 1 million mark last year, 22 times the level in 2000." To read more on all of this CHECK THIS OUT

Monday, July 7, 2008

Are Students "Powering Down" When They Enter the Classroom?

Here is a video by enVisionMATH demo-ing one of their interactive math products. They point out that "America's students are growing up in a digital world of iPods, the Internet, instant messaging and computer games, but, until now, they have been 'powering down' when they enter the classroom.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

26 Learning Games to Change the World

When I saw the title I was intrigued, but it wasn't until I read the article detailing the games did I stand up and take serious notice. From "Darfur is Dying" to "Whack TB" and "World Without Oil" or "Climate Change" and more I was impressed by the seriousness of the topics covered. Now you can participate in a political adventure, learn to fight TB, donate rice to the United Nations World Food Program, save lives from malaria, role-play what it's like growing up in poverty and even more. Plus they're all free and browser based. Nothing to pay and nothing to install. Check it out HERE

iTunes U


iTunes isn't just for listening to your music. It also contains tons of free podcasts and a section called iTunes U. It's located in the iTunes Store section and contains plenty of resources for just every subject. So open up iTunes and check out the iTunes U...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Computers that can "feel your pain"


I just read an article detailing a program that actually detects users frustrations when they are working on a computer. Using sensors, the program detects students emotions allowing teachers to adjust their teaching methods. Hopefully they will expand the program to include the rest of us and our frustrations! To read the article CLICK HERE

Monday, June 30, 2008

Virtual Trips Save Gas


Think about it. With gas prices heading up and up, try saving some money by taking your students on a "virtual field trip." Read more about this idea HERE

Bye Bye Microsoft Office, Hello Google Docs


Well "the avalanche has started and it's too late for the pebbles to vote." Google Docs has been chosen over Microsoft Office by one of the largest school districts in Australia. Considering the strides Google has taken with its own software and the fact that it's FREE, it's no wonder this is happening. Now users can utilize Google's mail, write documents, make presentations and spreadsheets and more without having to pay a dime. Imagine ridding our budgets of Microsoft Office and the savings that would imply... Hats off to Google. Guess it really is a good time for Bill Gates to retire... Smart man... Here is a link to the article.

And here is a very important link to Google Teacher Academy Resources. Check out the agenda, materials, and additional links.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Connect With Schools Around The World!


I have been looking for websites that allow teachers and students from all over the country and world to collaborate on projects. With all the people, schools and resources out there it would be a shame to limit ourselves to our tiny corner of the world. With these links you will find the world to not only be a valuable resource, but also not that big after all...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Have you Googled Your School Recently?

You might be surprised what comes up. The following video gives some pretty candid examples of the power of YouTube and the way it impacts your school's presence on the Web. It isn't always in ways you would expect...

Radio Open Source


The best in user/expert generated podcasts can be found at Radio Open Source. They sum it up well when they state "Conversations are happening everywhere on the web, and they’re not just about computers or Star Trek. They’re about God and the world, people taking pictures and and comparing notes of what they see around them." If you want access to thousands of podcasts covering a million topics then check out Radio Open Source.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

For you coach!

Technology helping football players!

"Sensor-embedded glove technology can help identify whether a ball is being handled, caught, and thrown properly."

Check it out!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Learn a Language Online

I came across some wonderful resources for learning languages online. Many of the features are free, but premium paid membership opens up doors to exercises, written dialogue and much more. Check out some of these online lessons:

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Minnesota Virtual High School Graduates First Online Class


It was bound to happen. "Minnesota Virtual High School (MVHS) graduated its first class of 43 students last Friday. The school, a partnership between Minnesota Transitions Charter School of Minneapolis and Advanced Academics, was launched in 2007 and serves more than 1,000 students from all over the state." Her is a link to the ARTICLE in The Journal, as well as a link to MVHS HERE.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Not enough

I keep reading about schools that "buy laptops, printers, scanners, Web cams, electronic whiteboards, digital cameras, and video cameras." But so what?! What else is out there? What are they doing with all that equipment? I will continue my quest to find out, to push the envelope and to bring the latest and best technology developments to the classroom. But what is a classroom anyway these days? Do we still think of them the same way? The best classrooms break down their walls with technology. Just thoughts...

Friday, June 20, 2008

Skype is what and all you need


Skype is THE TOOL for online chat collaboration. It works on any platform and allows users to chat, video chat, share files and even collaborate in groups. The possibilities for online collaboration between students and students and students and teachers is unlimited. And best of all it's all free. You just download the software, install, go through a simple sign up, choose username process and voila, you are ready to go. Just share your username with other Skype users of your choosing and you are ready to start collaborating. So get rid of Yahoo and MSN Instant messengers and climb aboard the premier instant chat tool: SKYPE

Here is a link to the "tres hip" elasticillusion guys who give you a very quick introduction to Skype. Enjoy...

CLICK HERE

Saturday, June 14, 2008

I'm back, somewhat...

Well it's been a long ten days. I've learned about the marvels of medical technology and have been humbled by the expertise of the stroke trauma unit here at HCMC. They went out of their way and tried every new trick in the book and here I am, back to blogging. I just wanted to say I've missed everyone and have appreciated all the well wishes. I thought I'd share an excellent blog with you that has a lot of cutting edge information for educators. The blog is called the "cool cat teacher blog" and has videos from the latest Horizon Project that you should enjoy. Anyway, it's good to be back. It may be awhile before you see me on campus, but out here you'll find me on the web ever trying to find the latest information for you teachers to use in and out of the classroom.

Peace,

Keith

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Well I'm posting this in the Emergency Room just to show you can take it with you and keep working. Notified my wife, my boss and my family with my cellphone. Logged onto the hospital's WIFI and caught up with some work. Sent video email to my parents. Watched CNN News. And now I'm blogging. They registered me here with a portable computer. And all from the comfort of my hospital bed. I'll probably listen to some Spanish language podcasts if they keep me here much longer. 

Oh? What happened? I started feeling dizzy and the right side of my body started to go numb. They're doing a bunch of tests to see what's wrong with me. Hopefully they have the latest in technology! I feel better now. 

When it comes to your health I guess you want the best in technology!

Say hi to the other Blake if you see him...

Update to follow...

Monday, June 2, 2008

Touch Screen Turntable

A university student has invented a touch screen turntable that "allows technologically-inclined DJs to spin, scratch, and mix digital music, all while mimicking the physicality of DJing on vinyl."

Check out his invention here:


Final Product // ATTIGO TT from Scott Hobbs on Vimeo.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Explore the Universe in 3 Dimensions!

Celestia is an application that works on Macs and PCs that allows you to explore the universe in three dimensions. Check out a video of my first explorations:

Like it? Try it by clicking here...

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Zen and the Art of the Inner Twitter



OK, maybe you have heard of Twitter, an application that allows you to post from your cellphone or computer anything and everything you happen to be doing. Limited to 140 characters , but not limited in it's applications, Twitter is quickly becoming the fastest and most seamless way to post information to the Web. Sure, many people use it to post things like "sitting at Starbucks, drinking a latte" or "eating a bowl of cornflakes and watching Good Morning America" but Twitter is being used for much much more. Businesses use it to respond to customer queries and check on minute-by-minute trends and media groups often check with "Twitterers" as the first to the scene reporters. The first reports coming out of China minutes after the quake came from Twitterers. Teachers are collaborating with students to post project updates and share information.

Ok, you're saying "Twitterers?" Are you kidding me? I must admit that the terms they come up with for new application users is a bit ridiculous (Twitter, Vlogger, Blogger, Wikis, etc...) but the applications are becoming more and more ubiquitous by the day. For example, 170,000 blogs are created every day!

Well, I discovered that Twitter actually has Zen uses. Inner Twitter will send you a text message every hour (or however often you like) to remind you to "Stop. Listen. Pay attention to your breathing. Pay attention to what is before you. Forget yourself and become whatever resonates, like stillness, peace and beauty." And you respond in kind. Here are some recent Chime responses:

artemisthunder: in front of me is two days off!
Sue: a peaceful night...
Wendy Haylett: - Relaxing in acceptance of myself and my nature, work is easy and fun
artemisthunder: in front of me is a book
Sue: A glass of wine. A quiet evening.

Can Inner Twitter really "leverage the best of modern technology" and help us "live a good and satisfying life in the modern world?"

Find out at Inner Twitter

See my Wiki Twitter Pod Blog... post if you want a quick 5 minute tutorial on Twitter.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Google from your Cellphone!


For simple searches like weather, pizza, addresses, phone numbers, stock quotes just text your question to the Google SMS number 466453.

For example, I typed the following questions and got reliable results:

John F. Kennedy birthdate?
Pizza Minneapolis?
Weather Minneapolis?
Walker Art Address?

So if you need answers and a computer is far away try texting Google at 466453

Latest Doonesbury Sums It Up

Click for larger version...




View Articles on 1 Page

This may sound like a no brainer but I get tired of having to wade through internet page after internet page reading articles and constantly having to click next. I want to read the whole article in one fell swoop. My solution? If it's there, I select "Printable Version" and most of the time it opens up the whole article for me to read. Like I said, no brainer, but wanted to share...

Monday, May 19, 2008

Wiki Twitter Pod Blog...

Common Craft puts out videos that explain internet concepts such as Wikis, Twitter, Blogging, Podcasting, Social Networking etc in very plain English. I watched the Wiki and the Twitter ones and felt like I understood in just 5 minutes. Wiki example:



Want more videos? Here is a link to the Twitter one. Just click on "related posts for even more plain English videos" Just Click Me

Free Podcasts on iTunes



Now that the iTunes Store is working on campus I thought I'd share a free resource.

Open iTunes and select iTunes Store

In the Search Bar (upper right) search for free podcasts. I searched for "free spanish podcast."

Click on Subscribe to the ones you want. They will download and then you can play them back by selecting them in Podcasts.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Add voice without a microphone!


Choose a language (English, Spanish, or Italian) and type your text in that language. Then listen to the voice. Simple as that! Insert voice into your website, an email, wherever an mp3 will go...

A Tale of Two Blakes?


Which one is Blake and which one is me? People on campus are confused... But that's good.

Podcast from your cellphone


While attending a workshop at TIES in St. Paul on Social Networking Technology I was introduced to Gcast, an exciting podcasting tool. It's your own audio broadcast and it's free and easy to use! You can record voice messages, add music if you want and share it with the world. What intrigued me was when the instructor whipped out his cellphone, dialed a number, recorded a message and 2 minutes later it was live on the internet. The possibilities are endless for recording notes, lectures, instructions, concerts, etc and putting them up on the internet almost instantly. Just go to Gcast.com for more information. Personal broadcasting is simple.

Technology really is cool...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Newspaper Clipping Generator


And sometimes you just need some good clean fun. Generate your very own newspaper clippings with your own stories!



Click Here

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Digital Students Trapped in Analog Schools

A film by Marco Torres got me thinking...


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Free online courses from MIT

Many universities are beginning to offer free online courses. MIT has introductory courses in writing, biology, chemistry, computers, electronics, engineering, foreign languages, math, media, music, arts, physical education, physics, social sciences, and literature.

Here is a sample video file from Physics I: Classical Mechanics



Here is a video from Introductory Japanese on how to draw the brushstrokes for a the Japanese character ROKU, meaning Six



Plus there are lecture notes, readings, audio lectures, PDFs and much more. To learn more please visit MIT Open Courseware