2 Cents Worth » Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New World Wide Web

Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New World Wide Web: "Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New World Wide Web I’m copying and pasting this in from Ewan Macintosh’s weblog, Edu.Blogs.Com. Hope you don’t mind, Ewan. I’m getting ready to present a session at a regional conference, and I want to get this post out there. Terry Freedman, an independent education consultant in London, coraled some pretty forward thinking educators, and me, to write a little something about Web 2.0. The contributors are listed below. I think that the project came out very well, and it’s free, as a downloaded PDF file. Coming of Age The book provides a set of stories, describing the ways in which Web 2.0 technology can be used in schools, particularly as a way of supporting social, collaborative learning, and a more individualised curriculum. I am flattered to be amongst some really thoughtful (and cool) educators and adventurers in the Web 2.0 world:"

Gcast. Make your voice heard.

Gcast. Make your voice heard.: "" What fun! I just made my first podcast using this service - all you need is a phone and you can make one. What does this open up for people? Educators can easily use this idea - and not need to be tech savvy at all.

Teach42 - Education and Technology, by Steve Dembo » GCast.com - An great resource for EduPodcasters!

Teach42 - Education and Technology, by Steve Dembo » GCast.com - An great resource for EduPodcasters!: "GCast.com - An great resource for EduPodcasters! Filed under: Tech — Steve @ Apr 25, 06 | 1:14 pm Huge kudos to John Blake for pointing out this one out to me. GCast.com is a sister site to GarageBand.com, which has long been known for being a great source for ‘pod safe’ music. GCast is similar to Audioblogger.com but has some great features that give it the nod in my book. First of all, it’s perfect for mobcasting. You can dial up a phone number, enter in a pin and record a podcast via phone. My one problem with Audioblogger was that you had to enter quite a few numbers before you could record your podcast, too many to remember. This is nice and simple. A phone number of your choosing and a 4 digit pin. Easy. Second reason I like it is that it creates an RSS feed for your recordings automatically. If you don’t have or don’t want a blog, you don’t need one. It’s an instant podcast, enclosures and all. In fact, it’s even iTunes compliant! Third reason I’m a big fan is that you can upload your own mp3 files! You were never able to do that with Audioblogger. You recorded via phone and that was it. Gcast is providing free hosting for your audio! Only stipulations is that it has to be an MP3 and encoded at 44.1khz. Not a big deal at all. Fourth reason is that if you DO have your own blog, they provide full URL’s for your podcasts so you can handle your own RSS feed if you want. They also provide a groovey little player that you can embed into your blog or html site to allow people to play your podcasts. There’s a bunch of other features as well, but I’ve seen enough to be a convert. I tested it out a bit and find it extremely easy to use. Unlike OurMedia.org, the publishing process is pretty speedy. It took about three minutes for my test podcast to go live. I’ve had it take hours to go live on OurMedia.org and "

Teleflip Home

Teleflip I don't use SMS much - but the idea intrigues me - so I really like the ability to send an email message to someone (cellnumber@teleflip.com) - I do have some friends and family who do SMS - this may add me in.

TechCrunch » The State of Online Feed Readers

This looks like another good Web 2.0 item TechCrunch » The State of Online Feed Readers: "The State of Online Feed Readers Posted by Frank Gruber Syndication is undoubtedly the heartbeat of the web 2.0 movement. A feed reader, the most common solution to consuming synidcated content, saves the user time by monitoring countless sites and sources and providing near real-time updates to one location. There are a number of different types of readers: web-based, desktop, Outlook based, etc… This post is focused solely on web-based feed readers. I’ve included the big guys plus some up and coming readers with outstanding features and/or performance like News Alloy, Gritwire, Attensa and FeedLounge."

edublogs.org - free blogs for education professionals | Free blogs for teachers, librarians, researchers, writers, lecturers and other professionals i

Free blogs for education professionals: EduBlogs may be the vehicle I need as I prepare the Web 2.0 course. Looks like something I'll be signing up for.

eSchool News online - New course teaches instructional gaming

eSchool News online - New course teaches instructional gaming: "New course teaches instructional gaming Teachers explore the benefits of computer gaming as a classroom tool By Robert Brumfield, Assistant Editor, eSchool News advertisement eMail this article Send us a news tip Discuss this article Print this article Reprints & Permissions More Headlines TOP PICKS: from eSchool News readers # Discover the latest news and information on technology products and services! Go inside the 'Product News Update' # Explore over 4,000 company profiles--with product profiles, research and white papers, and funding solutions! Go inside the 'Technology Solution Center' # Learn more about the key organizations who support the eSchool ideal in education. Go inside 'eSchool Partners Update' # Post eSchool News headlines on your school websites—FREE! Go inside our 'Content Exchange Program' # Hear what fellow educators are saying about the latest school technology initiatives. Go to the 'Ed-Tech Insider' blog Top headlines this week: Stanford targets gifted high schoolers AP: States omit minorities' scores Free online courses teach tech skills New Va. law: Teach web safety Tech helps teach complex reading skills A developer of educational video games for the classroom is offering what is believed to be the first comprehensive professional development course for educators who want to incorporate instructional computer gaming into their curricula. The course comes as interest in gaming as an instructional tool appears to be on the rise."

Healthier Testing Made Easy

Healthier Testing Made Easy: "Healthier Testing Made Easy Tests don't just measure absorption of facts. They teach what we value. By Grant Wiggins Download This Page Download a PDF of this article photo Credit: Thomas Reis Here's a radical idea: We need more assessment, not less. Seem crazy? Substitute feedback for assessment, and you'll better understand what I mean. The point of assessment in education is to advance learning, not to merely audit absorption of facts. That's true whether we're talking about that fourth-period pop quiz, the school play, or the state test. No one ever mastered a complicated idea or skill the first -- or fifth -- time. To reach any genuine standard, we need lots of trials, errors, and adjustments based on feedback. Think of assessment, then, as information for improving. This idea takes a while to get used to if you teach, test, and move on. The research could not be clearer, though: Increasing formative assessment is the key to improvement on tests of all kinds, including traditional"

Moving at the Speed of Creativity » Blog Archive » F2F conversations and dialog as the answer

Moving at the Speed of Creativity » Blog Archive » F2F conversations and dialog as the answer: "F2F conversations and dialog as the answer Andy Carvin wrote a thoughtful post today on the Digital Divide Network about the recent controversies over blogs (and all webpages) being censored by some school district Internet filters if they use/mention the word “MySpace.” Andy cites my post “Censored for Relevance,” which I also made available as a podcast over the weekend. In his post and reflection, Andy asks the following: How do you spread a campaign when the very act of describing the campaign gets you censored? Good question. I think the answer is simple, however. We address this situation through face to face conversations and dialog with other educators. There has been a good deal of discussion in the edu-blogosphere about concerns over “the echo chamber.” In other words, are we just writing and ranting to ourselves in the blog ether, and not really affecting the minds, attitudes, and actions of a majority of teachers, educational administrators, and policymakers? This discussion is warranted, but I see little cause for alarm. The blogsophere is going to continue to grow in its scope of access and its impact. RSS is not even supported in the current version of Internet Explorer for Windows. That will change when Windows Vista arrives, and slowly but surely, more people will gain knowledge of and access to the tools of the read/write web, including blogs. The voices of the blogosphere (including mine, Andy’s, Miguel’s, and many, many others) are not going away. We are not going to be silenced. In fact, we are going to grow in power, because we are going to continue collaborating and working together. Just as the Chinese government is not going to silence the collective voice of its people crying out for self-determination and respect for other basic human rights, short-sighted and reactionary school districts banning the .....

Kids outsmart Web filters | CNET News.com

Kids outsmart Web filters | CNET News.com: "Kids outsmart Web filters By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: April 19, 2006 4:00 AM PST Last November, Ryan, a high-school sophomore, figured out a way to outsmart the Web filters on a school PC in order to visit the off-limits MySpace.com while doing 'homework' in the computer lab. A teacher eventually spotted the social network on the screen in front of 'Ryan,' a fictitious name for a real student attending school in Phoenix, Ore., a small town with a population of about 5,000. The teacher flagged the activity for the school's technology expert, who then followed Ryan's tracks online through the school network. Ryan had apparently set up a so-called Web proxy from his home computer so that when he was at school, he could direct requests for banned sites like MySpace through a Web address at home, thereby tricking the school's filter. (Web, or CGI, proxies can be Web sites or applications that allow users to access other sites through them.) 'I eventually tracked down the (Internet Protocol) address, so that it doesn't work for him anymore,' said Don Wolff, tech coordinator in the Phoenix-Talent School District, adding that Ryan didn't face disciplinary action. 'It's against our acceptable-use policy, but he's not going to quit trying, (and this way) we can keep learning.' 'This is a hot new trend among kids for getting around Web filters,' Wolff said. 'It's going to be the constant battle. No matter what you put up, kids are going to work around it.' -- Lynn Beebe, school counselor Web proxies are almost as old as the Internet itself as a means to route Web traffic through an anonymous domain name or circumvent content-filters, and they've long been the territory of corporate networks and the tech savvy seeking privacy. Nowadays, an increasing number of teenagers are setting up proxies on home PCs to sidestep school filtering traps, in addition to using free proxies set up on the Web, according to technologists at schools and at content-filtering technology providers." ......

HandBrake homepage

HandBrake homepage: "What is HandBrake? HandBrake is a GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter. HandBrake was originally available on the BeOS, but now has been ported over to MacOS X and to GNU/Linux. A Windows port is being worked on."

Mindfulness: The practice of being “here” | 43 Folders

Mindfulness: The practice of being “here” | 43 Folders: "Mindfulness: The practice of being “here” As I mentioned in a recent Lifehacker interview with Matt, I’ve been casting about for a good way to work in my newfound interest in mindfulness, or the ostensibly Buddhist practice of bringing your attention and focus back to the present moment, primarily through breathing and awareness. Well, here you go: one rank Western novice’s collection of blurbs and excerpts on an ancient (yet oddly timely) method for easing yourself back into this moment — any day, at any time, and in anything you choose to do."

Xdrive : Secure Online Storage

Xdrive : Secure Online Storage Looking for a way to store and share data - yet be able to access it from anywhere? This may be one solution. Especially when you work in in multiple locations, or have people who need to share information, but do not have access to a network drive from all locations.

Thinking Out-loud! » My Space

Thinking Out-loud! » My Space A great look at kids and their use of social networking - worth a look if you are concerened about the use of technologies like blogging in schools.

2 Cents Worth » Podcasting Session

2 Cents Worth » Podcasting Session David Warlick describes a session he attended on podcasting - and five reasons why a classroom should podcast:

• Communication with parents/community
• demonstrate learning
• student ownership of product
• authentic audience
• METS (Michigan Ed Tech Standards)

Mich. first to mandate online learning

eSchool News online - Mich. first to mandate online learning Michigan became the first state in the nation to have students experience some form of online instruction before receiving a diploma when the state legislature on March 30 approved a bill to ratchet up the state's graduation requirements.

ZeroSpan - share your iTunes

AboutZerospan - Zerospan - Trac I have many songs in iTunes - but no way to access them while at work - this appears to be an application which may allow it to happen. Worth a try!