…tech integration for teachers from teachers

As part of my paperless classroom experiment, I have used Glogster as a media-centric postermaking tool.  I like Glogster: it is flexible, easy to use and seemingly quite powerful.

I can see the lure of Glogster for teachers of K-12 content because it is incredibly easy to marry content and media.  I think Glogster understands the potential of their tool for education and Glogster EDU helps break that gap.

There is one huge problem with Glogster: it wasn’t made for serious presentations.

A look at their homepage makes my point: their samples are flashy, colorful and looking something put up in a 12-year-old girl’s locker.  Don’t get me wrong: there are plenty of applications for this type of media in schools but to use it for any topic of serious weight (the example I would use is a public health in Africa research project in my World Cultures class) would be silly.

Glogster needs add a pallet of design elements with a more serious tone.

Just a thought…

Wow.

There is a lot of smart about this device and it was about what I expected.  The iPhone OS, the minimalistic storage and the limited connection options make this an overgrown iPhone/iPod Touch was all something I assumed.

What makes this a gamechanger is the price.  For $499, you get a million devices in one.  I am every more blown away by is that they have cleverly built-in Office functionality for a mere $30.00 while giving their iWork a spin.  Very, very clever.

If you combine this with everything that I am already hooked in with the iPod Touch?  The remote music system in my house… The apps that sync my information like Dropbox… The map applications I use…

Maybe I’m wrong… but this is brilliant…

• Prompt Generator

  Writing prompt generator appropriate grade 4-12. Quick, easy…does the job

  tags: english, writing, prompt

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

I’ll be virtually watching tomorrow (it’ll be during my AP class… I wonder how I will juggle a complex lecture on nationalism in 19th century Europe and Steve Jobs) and I have been joking all week that I’ll have my credit card ready (that’s only really a half joke) but I think that tomorrow’s announcement will be something quite spectacular.  After months of research, I am fairly certainly that no matter what tomorrow’s announcement brings, I will probably still end up buying a Kindle next month.  That said?  Here is my best guess on tomorrow’s iThing:

• It’s more of a big iPhone than a netbook… that seems almost certain now with the leak from that publisher guy, who is probably getting roughed up as I type from street toughs from Apple.
• It is aimed more at consumption than creation, which, from one perspective, might limit its application in schools… for the same reason that a $300 netbook beats the similar eBook reader, the Apple device at $400-$1000 will be a much harder sell because the device can’t do much in the content creation realm.  I am not sure if that makes a difference for me personally as I don’t really do much producing in my iPod Touch and I use that for hours and hours each day, but I think there some logic that it limits applicability.
• It will rely heavily on the App Store… and I believe that Apple would like to use that model elsewhere in the future… they get too large of a cut of each title not to go heavy on the app store.

And?  If it is designed right… if Apple nails it… if Apple adds sex appeal to that already brilliant Kindle concept?  It will be a home run and will truly change everything.

I’ll be watch with y’all tomorrow!

That is all.

Dear Mother Google,

Okay, let’s be honest.  I *am* a shareholder in Google but I own less than a share (remember, I am a teacher).  But, I am not telling you this as a stockholder, I am telling you this as a trusted advocate and friend: you should buy Blackboard.

Don’t get me wrong: I am not someone who advocates the use of Blackboard in a lot of cases.  With the vastly superior, open-source Moodle available, Blackboard seems like a needless expense for a K-12 school, university or any education-related project.  That said, however, I believe adding Blackboard to your suite of tools in Google Apps for Education would make the system unstoppable.

Here is what I would expect out of that relationship:

1. Update of Blackboard: Unleash your software engineering know-how on Blackboard’s system.  Some argue that its dated and could use your help.
2. Integration into Google Apps for Education: Create a single sign-on for Docs, Calendar, Sites and Blackboard.  Yes, there are external tools that do this but if you made this a standard issue, it would create an amazing infrastructure, especially for smaller schools that can’t afford the IT departments to create this solutions themselves.

I know you are on a shopping spree.  Yes, it would be expensive.  But… it would be an amazing gift to the world’s students of all ages.

Much love,
Jason

That is all…

• After Google hack, Microsoft asks users to abandon IE6, XP

  If you are still using IE6 and XP you need to read this article. Time to upgrade IE or change browsers.

  tags: ie6, xp

• BumpTop 3D desktop enhancement: Organize, customize, be productive

  Bumptop is s a 3D desktop that acts like a real desk. This looks promising. I will blog about it in a few weeks…

  tags: desktop, 3d, interface

• Memorize Now – Home

  Memorize now is an online tool to help with memorization of text-based material. Memorize now gives you the ability to:
  - Display the memory item in full.
  - Show the first letter of each word. (See if you can recall the item just using those clues.)
  - Add more and more blank spaces to the item and see if you can still recall it.
  - Hide the entire item, try to recite it, then show it again to see how well you did.
  - If you need a hint, roll the cursor over a blank space to show the first letter of the missing word. Click on the first letter to show the full word.
  - In the Letters mode, click on any letter to see the full word.
  - There is a flash card function to test recall

  tags: flashcards, memorize, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

I have been consumed by the Kindle, Nook and other eBook readers lately, partly because I see these as a solution to the long-standing textbook problem in K-12 schools.  Certainly, there is an excellent debate coming on the virtues of eBook readers vs. the ubiquitous netbook.  If the market stays as is ($300 very functional netbook vs. $259 Kindle, for example), it is a knockout in favor of the netbook.  The functionality of a netbook soundly beats the largely read-only eBook reader.  However, with the eBook reader becoming the benefactor of stiff competition, the $99 eBook reader can’t be far off.  When the many, many eBook readers released this year, I expect the current champion of eBook readers, the very beautiful Kindle, to come down in price.

In many ways, it seems like the eBook reader can be an incredibly tool for our students.  Heck, the backpack weight issue alone makes eBook readers an a smart choice.  However, while I am convinced that the eBook reader won’t be a solution for schools until an infrastructure is created to make school materials truly eBook friendly.

Here are my concerns:

1.)  Textbook materials for K-12 aren’t available.  If you have adopted a textbook K-12 lately, you know exactly what I mean.  Sure, there are PDF versions on CDs and DVDs and MP3s of the textbook read aloud, but there is no K-12 textbooks released.  There are a ton of materials that you can use for free, certainly, but, the vast majority of  materials don’t come in an eBook friendly format.  Yes, you can read PDFs on many/most of the eBook readers, but I would guess that the PDF of standard textbook pages would be nearly unreadable on the 6″ screens on the eInk electronic paper.

2.)  There is no infrastructure for use of the devices in a K-12 school.  Among the constant stream of eBook reader coverage from this year’s CES was this snarky, insightful post from Gizmoto on the incredible number of eBook readers.  They write:

“There will soon be two kinds of happy ebook-reader owners. The people who paid a fair amount for a reputable ebook reader from one of the companies they already buy books from, and the people who spend like $50 on a no-name ebook reader that supports a lot of formats, who gets every book they can think of as a pirated copy over BitTorrent. Everyone else—both the buyers of tier-two ebook readers and the makers of them—are going to be screwed.”

For the sake of argument, let’s apply this logic to schools.

If you buy the Kindle, you are stuck at the Amazon store.  That works VERY well for personal readers as you can buy books on the fly from one of the most trusted suppliers of books.  There is no scalability here, though.  Certainly you could sync the eBook reader with tons of free content, but, most of the state-standard keyed, age appropriate material will be commercial.

If you buy any of the dozens of other eBook readers, you will have the ability to read tons of different formats, but, little commercial material that you don’t pirate.

The only way that eBook readers will be a reality is if we have an easy infrastructure that will make sense in a school or even a larger business or organization.  Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble or even the open source community need to structure an internal server service for just this purpose, a sort-of enterprise-sized electronic book warehouse that will track the complicated DRM that might come with commercial materials while still making it effortless to use a schools set of ebook readers or even a student’s or teacher’s personal eBook reader in a seamless way.

I strongly dislike DRM like the next nerd, but I have a feeling that unlike the music industry, I do not believe that the publishing industry will let it go.  That said, I also don’t mind compensating writers, but, the current schemes simply don’t work in the enterprise, including schools.

For now, I expect eBook readers to stay a critical tool for book-loving adults, professionals in the publishing world, only the most tech-savvy of our students.  They aren’t quite a solution for the textbook problem… yet.

That is all.

(Photo credit: Stillframe)

Google announced today that it is allowing users to upload any file to their Google Docs service. http://bit.ly/4rqh3q This is great that they are expanding their services, but they are late to the game on this one.  We have raved about Dropbox http://bit.ly/6uIy6E before, but Google’s announcement reinforces how currently, Dropbox is in a class by itself.  A quick comparison makes my point: 
Dropbox: 2 gigs of free storage, no file size restrictions, folder sharing, upgrade to 50gig for $9.99 a month.
Google: 1gig of free storage, 250mb file restriction, folder sharing, upgrade to 50gig for $12.25 a month.

I love everything Google and Google Docs is my main office suite, but I am having trouble seeing what value Google just added. I will be sticking with Dropbox, until Google beats them

• CES 2010: eBook Software And Apps Guide (PHOTOS, POLL)

  The Huffington Post takes on ebook software… interesting ones I haven’t heard of before…

  tags: ebooks

• Blio eReader

  This software looks promising… perhaps they could evolve a physical reader platform to go with it?

  tags: ebooks

• CES 2010: The ebook revolution | Technology | guardian.co.uk

  Looks cool, but who would pay $800 for that?

  tags: ebooks

• E-Reader Boom Kindles a Variety of New Options – NYTimes.com

  Ebooks invade CES in Vegas… ”The great thing about competition,” Oxman said, ”is it inspires innovation among the manufacturers.”

  tags: ebooks

• The e-book wars of 2010: displays and hardware

  A decent review of two of the larger e-book readers at CES in Vegas… author says they will be a “dime a dozen…” … let’s hope.

  tags: ebooks

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wow, wow and wow!

I am on a flight from Portland, OR to Dallas/Fort Worth on my way to the Big Easy and I FINALLY ended up on a flight with wifi.  Although I do fly quite a bit, I am usually on regional airlines that aren’t really equipped to offer this service.  The American Airlines MD-80 I am taking had Wifi available and I found a free promo code out on the ‘tubes to get the service for free.  This is SWEET!