RSS in Plain English
Thought this may help you to understand, or explain to others, RSS feeds. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.617098&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] I use Google Reader.
Building planes – as they fly
A wonderful analogy for what we are trying to do at the moment in schools, although you could, one imagines, read it very differently: [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.616735&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “EDS Airplane online | Duncan’s TV Ad …“, posted with vodpod
Evolvo – the video
We put Evolvo through his paces and recorded his emergence into the world and uploaded him to YouTube: [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.616278&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “Evolvo“, posted with vodpod
Evolvo – our first Spore creature
My daughters and I designed our first Spore creature after downloading the demo. It was pretty interesting to see Lucy and Sarah, at 4 & 2 years of age, discuss choices about the anatomy of our creature that would not usually be part of their vocabulary. ‘Evolvo’ certainly ignited the joy of learning – and […]
Constructivism
Constructivist teaching methods are IMHO essential, especially as we move into this new world with such powerful tech tools being at our disposal. More experienced staff haven’t had the exposure one would expect but all the prac students currently at the school are conversant with this theory. If we decide to use Moodle, and I think we will, this […]
Why the Web is Like a Rainforest
I was disappointed that – to my knowledge – no colleague at work took up the Dailylit service suggestion. It is a joy to find a thought-provoking piece you can read in a few minutes in your inbox. I’ve been reading The Best of Technology Writing 2006/7 by installment via this service and it has been brilliant. […]
‘The Revolution Will Be Digitalized’
The Revolution Will Be Digitalized is an interesting article on the Kindle and future of books. If you wander into Dymock’s you can have a look at the iLiad, an Australian released equivalent as, to my knowledge, Kindle is unavailable here.
Inanimate Alice
‘Inanimate Alice’ is a wonderfully innovative online text that tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century. Alice grows from an eight year old living with her parents in a remote region of Northern China to a talented mid-twenties animator and designer with the biggest […]
ClickView and IWB Professional Development
Six of us from DHS attended professional development at TIGS this afternoon on using IWBs. ClickView was in evidence and the classroom teacher who gave us a demo was a fan of this video library. It is essential the school budgets for this next year IMHO. Some more IWB links of interest: http://smarttech.com/ http://www.interactivewhiteboard.net.au/
Education revolution worries everyone apparently
Cost shock puts school PCs at risk in the SMH today is another example of common knowledge being reported as if it is news. Staff are quite rightly concerned about what it all means and even the enthusiasts will be ‘worried’ shortly considering some of the events that have been in the news recently re: our Minister that will […]
Education revolution
An article in The Australian, Education revolution worries teachers makes for interesting reading. Read it for yourself, but the statistic claiming only 27% of teachers – ‘…believed the internet was transforming the way they engaged their students…’ would be of fundamental concern. I would like to see the survey to understand exactly what was asked. And Greg Black’s […]
Journalism in the Digital Age
Howard Rheingold’s vlog has some interesting videos. Here’s one that asks the question, “What do journalism students need to know in the digital era?” [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.606073&w=425&h=350&fv=] more about “Journalism in the Digital Age“, posted with vodpod
Online video stats
For many youths, ‘entertainment and socialisation blend seamlessly’ and stats published this month show YouTube reached ‘4.1 million kids 2-11 and 8.9 million teens 12-17. That’s more than 5 million more teens than the No. 2 video destination, MySpace.’
Spore
Ironically, I wrote Boys and their Electronic Toys: Pleasure and Becoming Multiliterate (p67-72) published in mETAphor and SCAN, just after I gave up playing video games. Having a new baby, house and job demanded that I uninstalled European Battleground and the Total War franchise. My copy of WoW provided me with a free month subscription then […]
Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs)
DET has purchased an enterprise license for Promethean’s ACTIVstudio as the IWB Lesson Creation Software tool. Here are some links for TPL using IWBs: http://www.electroboard.com.au/trainingcentre/trainingmaterials.asp http://prometheanlearning.com/uk/ http://www.prometheanplanet.com/uk/
What makes a good HSC teacher?
What makes a good HSC teacher? is a great (updated) article by Wayne Sawyer based on research he did a while ago. Thoughts?
Laptops
The revolution is being televised: http://www.digitaleducationrevolution.gov.au/computer_fund/round_one/nsw.htm and it will be wonderful. We have an opportunity now to really start to innovate and re-position schools as relevant 21st century educational institutions. The challenges are extant but it is going to be exciting; the glass is half-full. View some laptop lessons.
Annotations feature at YouTube and more on Twitter
The annotations feature now available at YouTube has been used to make this interactive card trick. I’d love to hear any ideas on how this can be used with classes. Neither video can be embedded into vodpod, unfortunately, hence the links. Also, keen to hear how Twitter can be used with classes (I have posted […]
HSC examinations
Maralyn Parker has written about the Board of Studies this week and suggested cracks are beginning to show. The examination system relies on truckloads of papers being driven all over the state, then picked-up to driven all over the state for marking. How long before we consider the format of these exams and how it […]
Youth Twitter
Some staff are keen to use blogs and with the vodpod widget should be able to develop a good resource that students can access at home and school. I am sure good ideas will emerge as understanding grows. It is a pity that Twitter cannot be accessed at work; this Wired article explains the benefits. I […]
Screenagers
The Library of Congress is hosting a series of 4 lectures on ‘Digital Natives’ with speakers including Michael Wesch, Steven Johnson and Douglas Rushkoff. The first lecture has been webcast: The Anthropology of Digital Natives but you need RealPlayer to view. I will post subsequent webcasts as they are uploaded.
Challenges
We have had a second day of challenges at work without internet access. Soul Communications, DET’s ISP, has failed to impress and are being called ‘Two-Tel’ by their own staff; bodes well for our future.
Web 2.0 and Work
A tough day today. The internet was down all day and the SBR reporting system could not be accessed for more than an hour or two at the height of report season. It is frustrating that staff (and students) are blocked from using many of the Web 2.0 sites I take for granted at home but […]
Underbelly
Newspaper articles so often seem to be written in an historical vaccuum. Have Australians ever glorified ‘villians’ in previous eras, when the media was less pervasive? Of course, we can mention Ned Kelly and a whole host of bushrangers, along with more recent examples that are similiar to Carl Williams eg Chopper Read. Historically, ballads and folk […]