Category: EdTech

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Document Sharing with Scribd.com

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Document Sharing with Scribd.com
EdTech, General Technology

Keeping up with other education blogs often leads me to some cool new tools. Such was the case with Scribd.com. Scribd is a document sharing site that allows you to upload documents from multiple formats, then converts them into iPaper documents so that they can be viewable on the web. These documents are similar to … Read More “Document Sharing with Scribd.com” »

Classroom Swiss Knife

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Classroom Swiss Knife
EdTech, Gear, General Technology

Imagine an ultra-portable hand held device for the classroom that could do all of the following: take digital pictures record digital video record digital audio (for podcasting, etc.) ability to upload images and media to a variety of websites act as a media player for MP3 files and video e-mail collaboration calculator organizer/calendar type text … Read More “Classroom Swiss Knife” »

That’s LIFE

Posted on By Tom No Comments on That’s LIFE
EdTech, History and Genealogy, Internet, Photography

Google has partnered with Time/LIFE to make a massive collection of images available online through the Google Image Search funtcion. The announcement was made on the Official Google Blog today. This collection includes film, negatives, and even glass plates dating back as far as 1750, which have been digitized and are now hosted by Google. … Read More “That’s LIFE” »

The Battle of the Minis

Posted on By Tom 5 Comments on The Battle of the Minis
EdTech, Gear

Wednesday Ginger walked into my office with a small box with a Dell logo on it and promptly asked, “Well, what did you win this time?” I wasn’t quite sure. The box had my name on it, but I hadn’t ordered anything from Dell. It had to be a part for something, because it wasn’t big enough to hold a computer. Boy, was I wrong. The box had the new Dell Inspiron Mini inside, one of the tiniest notebook computers I’ve ever seen.

At the SC EdTech conference last week the Dell rep had mentioned these things and said I should really take a look. I’m guessing he was serious and sent me one to try out, so I decided to put it through its paces.

As mentioned, this thing is tiny. Here’s a shot of the unit sitting on top of my HP full-sized laptop, with my hand thrown in for good measure…

Dell Inspiron Mini Size Comparison

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EdTech Day 3 – Conflicting Interests

Posted on By Tom No Comments on EdTech Day 3 – Conflicting Interests
EdTech

Yesterday I went to sessions on policies and procedures. Today I decided to go to sessions on classroom integration ideas for technology. The ones I had selected deal with Web 2.0 resources and open source software. It was an interesting contrast, especially comparing the competing interests of yesterday’s presenters with today’s.

I arrived at the first session a little late due to a slight delay in checking out of my hotel. Kim Collaza was schedule to do a presentation on Web 2.0 resources. However, Kim was sick, and since I was late I didn’t catch the name of the person taking her place. Most of what she was showing I knew, but I did enjoy finding out about the videos of Lee LeFever, who has created an excellent series of YouTube videos explaining Web 2.0 concepts in plain English, with some entertaining animations.

During the course of the session, the presenter discussed several ways to get around filtering systems and policies imposed by the district. It was at that point that I started to take issue with what she was saying. I understand teacher’s frustrations with seemingly arbitrary rules about Internet access. I’ve also learned that teachers don’t often see the big picture, nor understand why a district imposes certain restrictions. And, I know that districts can go overboard, blocking access to resources that they have no business blocking.

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Starting from “Scratch”

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Starting from “Scratch”
EdTech

This is the first of two applications I’ve come across this week which I’ll be highlighting here. First is Scratch, a free downloadable programming application from MIT modeled on the old Logo programming language. Later I’ll be taking a look at DimDim, a free alternative to the popular GoToMeeting application. I first learned about Scratch … Read More “Starting from “Scratch”” »