Point A to Point B

Tag: Something for Everyone

  • Epic 2014

    Epic 2014 is a video I was introduced to more than a year ago. It is a summary of recentepic happenings in the world of technology and media, and goes on to predict what happens by the year 2014. It is certainly just one view, that of the creators of the video, but it is quite thought provoking.

    Check out the video here (http://mccd.udc.es/orihuela/epic/)

    After viewing the video, return here, and post your thoughts (by clicking the comments link above, just underneath the title of this entry):

    What types of things should we be doing in teaching and learning to prepare for such a future?

    Thanks for participating in this mental exercise!

  • Where Did September Go?

    So the last post was the day before the computer lab opened, and now *blink* and its the end of September already – yikes! Its been an awesome couple of weeks – the labs are humming with business, Open House went well, and some of our Staff Development initiatives are under way. Wow, what a month!

    Its only the beginning – there are some new projects in the “hopper” that look exciting. A lot of interest in video already, and its going to be cool.

    October, here we come!!!

  • Welcome!

    The computer lab opens for business tomorrow morning – its been a busy start to the year, but we are ready to go (for the most part – seems like there are always “loose ends” to take care of!).

    New question – now that we have settled in for a few days, what are you most excited about for this school year? What are you most looking forward to?

    Post here by clicking on the comments link above (underneath the title of this post).

  • Summer Haiku

    Welcome back, everyone! I’d love to hear how your summer was – so let’s try it in the form of ahaiku haiku. I’ve read up on haiku a little, and the “rules” for them are not set in stone – but typically one is set with 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and then 5 syllables in 3 lines, along with a reference to the season. Here are some from me:

    Teachers get the time to be learners in the summer – I had a great opportunity to go to Calgary, Alberta to learn in-depth about SMART Boards:

    Learning is so sweet
    Water the brain with knowledge
    Sunny Calgary

    It is also a time for teaching – I taught two workshops with Mrs. Calandra on Internet Safety, and one on SMART Boards:

    Time to surf and play
    Keep those predators away
    Use your brain always

    But the best part of summer was with my family – my kids are 3 and 1 – time with them is awesome:

    Warm sunny hazy
    Children laughing on the swing
    Lazy summer days

    So, I’d like to hear from you! How was your summer – leave a summer haiku here in the comments.

    Image citation:
    Elijah. �haiku.� Flickr.� 4 Sept. 2006 http://flickr.com/photos/evdg/973981/.

  • What’s the Beef?

    Blogs! Wikis! Podcasts! Aggregators! Web 2.0!

    In a salute to the great Wendy’s slogan of the 80’s, the “beef” of current trends in technology are NOT those things listed above. Those items (except for Web 2.0 which is a general label for all of the latest technology trends on the web) are awesome products of the real beef:

    RSS and tagging

    or more simply put,

    subscriptions and keywords.

    Those 2 items alone are the core of the current fury in technology. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows one to electronically subscribe to anyhing that they want to read, hear, or watch (provided whomever creates the work offers an RSS feed). Tagging, or assigning keywords, allows one to search or create content (text, audio, video) by topic.

    These 2 pieces form the foundation of how blogs, podcasts, aggregators and the like become powerful tools. By subscribing and keyword searching, you can create an extremely personalized and extraordinary web of information and learning.

    Thanks go to recent posts by David Warlick and Will Richardson to help push my thinking on this.

  • Open Source Sweetness

    So in the land of pesonal learning, I have been working with open source software to learn how this type of software can be beneficial. What is open souce software? For the most part it is FREE software that does all the things pay-for software does. People write code for this software in the interest of making good things, and are not looking for money.

    I have a computer that I built and have installed Linux OS on (instead of Windows or Mac OS). The particular version of Linux (called a distribution) is Suse version 10.1. Along with the OS comes the web browser, tons of utilites, and more so you can do all the things necessary without the price tag.

    Doing open source is not for the faint-of-heart, but it is well worth it. Since it is FREE, the possibilities are ENDLESS. Many corporations, and now schools, are switching to open

    opensuse

    source solutions to control costs. Open source may be in your future!

  • Revisiting an Old Friend

    A number of years ago I saw a quote on the cover of an educational periodical. It jumped out at me and resonated with what I have always felt. To this day I have that cover, albeit a bit beat up, taped to my desk. It is a quote from T.H. White in The Once and Future King:

    “The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then— to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

    To this day the quote is my favorite – I always find strengh in learning. Technology is doing things to learning like never before, but it is STILL the learning that is the key. Technology is an awesome vehicle, but not the destination.

    Everyone loves to learn something. What we need to do is connect the desire for learning with the content for learning.

  • Internet Safety: Student Version

    internet.gif

    Hey gang – start by reading the post below which has the adult version of this. Done? Good – now here it is again, but changed just a bit for you…

    There is a lot of scary information about what could (and has) happened to kids
    because of their behavior on the Internet. There is only one tried and true way to
    really help YOU stay safe on the Internet, and it is

  • Internet Safety: Adult Version

    internet.gif

    I attended the presentation tonight by FBI Agent Holly Hubert on Internet Safety. I have seen her speak before – she is excellent, and scary at the same time. Following up on what she said, here is an excerpt of the article Mr. Kramer & I wrote in the April 2006 PTSA Newsletter:

    There is a lot of scary information about what could (and has) happened to kids
    because of their behavior on the Internet. There is only one tried and true way to
    really help your child stay safe on the Internet, and it is

  • All it Takes is Money…

    We submitted an update to our 5-year Technology Plan today, along with our wishlist for technology purchases for next year. The wishlist shows exactly what we need now to meet all our technology goals, as outlined in the Technology Plan. The pricetag on the wishlist is a little over $200,000. It is not very likely that we will get anything close to that for next year, but if something comes up where a large chunk of maney becomes available, we know what we want and why.

    Actually, that amount of money is not crazy based on what it would do for our building. I’m not afraid to talk about what we are trying to do, and what it costs to do it. We are starting on a path in technology that is creating some cool learning environments, and the benefits are well worth the price.

    All it takes is money…