Wednesday Video Recap

Take 10 minutes and follow my day at the Texas Computer Educator's Convention. It was fun filled! Will post a Thursday video recap too later tonight!

Sitting in on Free and Simple Web 2.0 Talk

Christopher Gardner was awesomely inspiring, excellent story. It sure was nice when he finally came out after all the bureaucratic Texas educators back patting, ugh... Now I'm watching a presentation on free and simple web 2.0 stuff. I'm actually a web 3.0 guy but whatever...

Oh my! He just asked people if they knew what Wikis were...

Waiting on Keynote Speaker Christopher Gardner

But I have to sit through all the Texas educator awards and blah blah bureaucracy...

Cell Phones, Eh...

Attending the "Cell Phones ON!" workshop today, highlighting ways to utilize cell phones in the classroom. Seems like a good concept but the trainer is less than magnificent. Oh well, things kick into high gear tomorrow with the Keynote speaker Christopher Gardner (from Pursuit of Happyness fame) and then all the concurrent sessions and exhibitors I will be tracking. Excited!

TCEA Video Update - Thinkfinity Training

Sometimes I feel sorry for teachers...

Benchmarks, Standards, Lesson plans, Learning objects, Motivational activities, Assessment tools, Classroom management, Experiential learning, Accountability, Bloom's Taxonomy, Multiple Intelligences, Collaborative learning, Concept mapping, Curriculum mapping, Dual mode delivery, Emergent Literacy, Experiential learning, Feedback, Grading rubric, Inquiry-based learning, Learning outcomes, Meta-competence, Module, Performance criteria, Portfolio Assessment...

Oh my...

A Mac in a Sea of PC's

Seems like I am the only cool guy here with my MacBook. What the heck are they thinking?

First cool link from Austin - Science!

sciencenetlinks.com

I'm in Austin!

Flew in last night to Austin and am at my first workshop, a Thinkfinity Training. Check out Thinkfinity.org for more information about this wonderful resource. Hope to have a video update by tonight. I need more coffee though...

Heading to the Biggest Educational Technology Convention in the Nation!

I'll be spending all next week at the Texas Computer Education Association Convention. I'm really looking forward to exploring and reporting on all that is up and coming in the world of technology and education. I'll be posting video, photos and text directly from the convention so come back all next week to see what I've discovered. Bon Voyage!

Schools, like newspapers, must adapt or die

Thoughts about the inevitable march of technology and how it will dramatically change the landscape of our schools...

Technology will force physical schools to adapt and go online and morph and change or die, similar to newspapers. If you look at how radically technology is changing the face of the newspaper industry, who can say it won't have the same effect on our school system? With so much content "going digital" isn't it just a matter or time before schools morph their ways "online" with "distance learning" and the like? How will that change our schools physically? What will teachers become?

And when we do produce online content, with M.I.T. and Yale and Harvard offering free online content of a wide variety of courses, how can small schools distinguish themselves and produce any content of value that will make people want to go online and learn from them and not the big boys or others who have already produced content?

What's the goal, the one unifying everything that we need from technology? It's really quite simple... One device with ubiquitous access to information via the internet. That's all we need. Paper, gone. Books, gone. Turning in physical anything, gone. With your one device (be it a tablet, a laptop, a kind of iTouch) you will be able to access and share information and collaborate. This is all you or anyone will need.

And while we're at it, one of technologies greatest promises is the way it will inform and transform student/teacher collaboration with its assessment tools. Assessment is one of the key components of technology in education. It will be big. It's time to start mining the information highway for visionary ideas on student assessment.

One more important piece of the puzzle! If kids are communicating via social networking what will become of traditional email? They don't even really use it. It's kind of "old school." We have to meet them on their turf and that is quickly becoming on Facebook and Twitter and the like, not dusty old linear email...

Well that's my two cents...

Science Videos with "The Mad Professor"

Merry forwarded me a fantastic article about the "Mad Professor" of Nottingham University. They have an absolute treasure trove of science videos, many featuring Professor Martyn Poliakoff of the University of Nottingham, at the "Nottingham Science Channel" on Youtube. With more than 6 million hits he must be doing something right. Check out the videos by clicking on Nottingham Science here

Who knew molecules had funny names?

Well I guess I didn't, but this cool website breaks it down and adds a whole lot more. For all you molecule lovers out there... Click Here

The Project Gutenberg is simply the best source for downloading books online free...

The one, the only, the best, Project Gutenberg. Download books and pop them on your computer, eReader or iPhone and read to your pixels content. Tens of thousands of books to download free. Here is the current Top 100. I was happy to see Sherlock Holmes beat out the Kama Sutra. Works well with the free Stanza app on iPhones by the way. Check out Project Gutenberg by clicking here...

The Most Extensive List of Online English Resources I've Ever Seen!

You've got to see it to believe it! Click here to see hundreds of resources...

Seems to be the week of Music and English

Been finding a lot of interesting Music and English sites lately. This one is the Wikipedia Sound/List "an incomplete list of full length copyleft/public domain musical works available on Wikipedia" It's pretty extensive for an incomplete list. From Bach to Boccherini and all points you'll find a lot of useful classical sound files. Check it out here...

Wow! Audio recordings of English Literature from Middle Ages to 20th Century.

Too cool! Norton Anthology of audio recordings from Beowulf to W.H. Auden!

• Middle Ages
• 16th Century
• Early 17th Century
• Restoration and the 18th Century
• Romantic Period
• Victorian Age
• 20th Century

CLICK ME!

Fantastic resource for English teachers and readers and writers everywhere!

Resources on American Lit, Reading Fiction, Sherlock Holmes, Medieval Literature, Major European Novels, Spanish Poetry and tons more. Please check it out here!

Classic Cat's Classical Music Resource

"Classic Cat aims to make Classical music more popular by making it more accessible. It does this by providing an index to over 5000 free to download classical performances on the internet, sorted by composer and work. The site is specialized in audio files, but contains also some video, sheetmusic, lyrics and midi links." Check it out here!

100 Open Courses to Learn a New Language

This site kind of blew me away with all their language resources. Check it out here: 100 Courses to Learn any New Language

Wonderful Virtual Body Site

The brain, skeleton, heart and digestion are summarized very well virtually... Comes in English and Spanish!


















Here is the site: http://medtropolis.com/VBody.asp

OK, this isn't tech ed but you will love it more than anything!

GETHUMAN.COM actually gives you the shortcuts to almost any major company so you can skip all the prompts and actually speak to a human being. See?! I told you you would love this... Just go to gethuman.com next time you don't want to speak to a computer...

How Cast: How to Videos Galore!

Thousands of "how to" videos that actually are coherent. Technology, sports, crafts, cooking, house and garden, health and nutrition, arts and media to name just a few categories. Find out more here: howcast.com

C'mon, you know you want to learn how to use a Neti Pot!

Print out your photo "poster sized" with block photos!

Want to print your photo and have it end up being really really big? Well go to http://www.blockposters.com and upload your photo and then print the blocks and put them together for a very large version!

Front Pages from 824 Newspapers? Go here!

Go to Newseum for today's front pages from hundreds of newspapers. Just click here...

Much too cool cell biology animations site not to feature!

Absolutely brilliant animations that cover the gamut! If you teach biology this site is for you... Click here to check things out.

Kid Port - online learning site for primary grades

"Kidport is an Internet-based educational service designed to help K-8 students excel in school. It provides a unique, multi-step program to create empowered learners, not simply good students."

Check it out at kidport.com

Michio Kaku's website - the future of science

I've always been a fan of and avid reader of Dr. Michio Kaku. He explores future science like nobody's business!
















Visit his Explorations in Science website here: http://mkaku.org

Fantastic Science Site Highlighting Threatened Species!

ARKive.org is a wonderful site dedicated to threatened species across the globe. It includes:

Wildlife videos
Images
Fact-files
A Google Earth Plugin detailing threatened marine species
ARKive Education
Darwin content

Go to http://www.arkive.org

This site was so weird I couldn't help but post

I really don't know what to say about this site. You just have to see it to understand. And even then... Click here: http://www.vectorpark.com