Possibly The Most Important 5 Minute Video You Could Watch

FETC - UPDATES

Final Sessions Video Diary (3 mins):



Saturday (final day) - Attending an excellent Google "forms" presentation. Google this guy now! Rushton Hurley. Later, now at final couple of presentations. Can't wait to bring this stuff back and present. Very exciting stuff. Apple's "curriculum evangelist" is talking now, but after Rushton it's kind of a letdown.

• The most useful URL I found at the conference is Rushton Hurley
• The second is Tammy Worcester
• The Third is nextvista.org
  

Friday video highlights (10 mins)



Friday - Aloha! Got here early to go visit exhibits but they weren't open yet so I went and got my free FETC mug and coffee and started work on today's video update which I will put online tonight. Sitting in now on Google Sky/Mars/Moon and all they do including embedded podcasting, whoa... After lunch now, am at an educational "gaming" multiuser, virtual presentation... Very futurist... Here is an example of educational gaming frenzy:


Find more videos like this on DimensionM


Thursday video highlights:



Thursday Afternoon - Problem I'm encountering quite a bit is too many people and not enough space at these sessions... problematic... Got seated way early for the next session, yippee! Wow, this presentation rocks! Check out her website here: Tammy Worcester

Wow! Tammy's resources are the best! Can't wait to stockpile and share with you!

Thursday Morning - Well darnit I got here early to visit exhibition booths but they don't open until tonight. Met up with Merry who will be giving me an interview on what she's up to later today. Working on a short video that sums up the day. I will post it later this evening for the millions out there waiting! Right now I'm attending a session on using Social Networking Sites with Social Studies and English. Looks good so far.



Wednesday Afternoon - Learned that more Americans (22%) can name the 5 members of the Simpsons better than naming the 5 freedoms in the Bill of Rights (1%). Learned about using humor to make ideas stick. Learned that the eye goes towards images and color before it goes to black and white and text. Learned also that "laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people." Imagery and making ideas stick. PowerPoint images are "stacked in time" and linear. Putting images side by side instead of one after the other is far more powerful an imaging tool.

Wednesday Morning - I arrived blank and bleary eyed early this morning to attend the pre-conference workshops I had signed up for to discover that coffee wasn't flowing freely. I was already in a state of shock from the 32 degree weather (in Florida) and this put me into a stupor from which I wasn't sure to survive. The first workshop was entitled "Less is More..." which seemed kind of apt given the lack of temperature or coffee and it lived up its title by being one of the least entertaining or informative workshops I have ever attended. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say that it didn't wake me up. Poor guy, he really was well intentioned, but not a presenter. Maybe he should have attended my 2nd workshop entitled "Making Education Stick" which was all about how to make ideas stick with your students. I'll keep updating this post as things come up. More soon, I need to find some coffee...

Heading to Florida but...

Expect lots of awesome tech education updates as I rock and roll the FETC conference. I'm hoping to see lots of cutting edge ideas for use in the classroom and beyond. Expect the unexpected! Check back soon...

Excellent article about the Facebook world...

Learn more about Facebook by clicking here

Adding Gadgets To Your Blog

Free Video Editing Tool Online!

Why stop with photo editing when you can video edit too... ONLINE.
Free and easy and you aren't tied to software like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. So check it out by going to jumpcut.com

Excellent Basic Photo Editing Tool Online!

picnik.com has a quick and free photo editor that you can use on the fly. Plus, you don't even need to register, you click Get Started and then Upload. Click here to see.

Technologically Teaching Vol. 4

Technologically Teaching Vol. 4

Jan. 7, 2009
Happy New Year All!
Well, with the passing of another year it would seem a good time to remember some past very serious quotes about technology that have bit the dust:
"Email has no place at work" (1994)
"Internet access has no place at work" (1996)
"eCommerce is too high a risk for our company" (1998)
"Instant Messaging has no place at work" (2002)
"Social Software has no place at work" (2005)

I got these quotes at the last T.I.E.S conference I attended in Minneapolis just before Christmas and they seem to make clear that technology marches forward with or without the naysayers. So what to do? Hmmm.... Persevere I suppose and continue to give technology the human face it needs, for that human face as we know it may disappear.

One of the featured speakers pointed out that the ultimate technological situation would be one where everyone has a handheld computer (see iPhone, Blackberry) and ubiquitous access to the internet. Seems like we're already there.

Want more exciting/scary stuff? Check out this quote from Ray Kurzweil

The Law of Accelerating Returns
by Ray Kurzweil

"An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity -- technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light."

Did he say "merger of biological and non-biological intelligence"? Did he use the word "immortal"? Sounds good to me, but I suppose for many it sounds a bit frightening.

Want to read more about it?
Click here: http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1

Well, I just wanted to throw a few curve balls at you to think about in 2009. Enjoy!

And keep checking out my blog I'm adding new stuff all the time. See you in the real world (for now)...

"Tech Keith"

Plain English Videos on Computers Topics

The Common Craft Show has an amazing collection of videos which give very easy to understand explanations of technology subjects. I've highlighted their videos in the past, but they are so good I decided to push their cause. These include: web searching, blogs, wikis, podcasting, social networking and much more. So CLICK HERE to get started learning about all these cool concepts easily, quickly and most importantly, painlessly!

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

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!

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!

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/

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

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!

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

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!

Paperless Newspaper!

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

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

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

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!

• Art - Arts Connected
• Art - Princeton's Incredible Art Department
• Art - The Kennedy Center's Arts Edge

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

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.

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.

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