Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

As I prepare for my session at BLC, I’m on the look out for great ways to enhance the google earth/map experience. No doubt there are already a vast number of phenomenal ways to add rich content to place, but I’m still waiting for the ability to embed video. Yes, we can link to video and have it play in a browser but somehow that leaves me a bit disappointed.

I came across this site via my del.icio.us feed thanks to Quentin.  (If you don’t already have a del.icio.us network you subscribe to, go do that now).

This is some type of  mashup that does embed youtube videos but at present, it’s not open for others to add their own content. If I knew something about API’s I may be able to take advantage myself. I does appear that the inclusion of video is not far off. Maybe it’s already there and Tim Lauer just hasn’t blogged about it yet…I doubt it.

[tags]googleearth,googlemaps,video,mashup,timlauer,quentindsouza,del.icio.us,blc2007,blc[/tags]

My wife snapped this photo at her elementary school’s water day. Care to add a caption?

There’s is no other time of the year that illustrates why we need to change more that the end of the year. Kids complete 10 months of learning only to bring home garbage bag full of paper which is going to likely end up in the trash. There will be a few diligent parents who harvest a fine piece of art to go into their scrapbooks but not many.

Yesterday I listened to a great interview by Jon Udell with Dr. John Willinsky. A statement was made when referring to student work “Who is ever going to see this work again?” They discuss the need for students to create and build public knowledge. Students ought to be building on the work of the past and add, modify and make it better. (see wikipedia for more evidence) If you really understand the point of Web 2.0, you get this. What message do we send our students when we cannot give them a reason to save their work? How about, “it’s not that important”?

Our school division is moving data off an old server to a new one. Much of the work there consisted of old teacher websites and other projects long abandoned. I was asked if I had anything over there I wanted to keep. I’ve probably got lots of stuff created in html but still have a few pieces I use and link to. I’m going to have these moved over and perhaps even updated. But even if I don’t update, there is work there that I’m proud to share and keep.

• E-journalism
• Full Coverage (coverage of 2003 teachers’ convention)
• Digital Video in Education
• Moose Jaw Schools Today

I look back to my experiences in developing this sites in my pre-web2.0 days and realize many good ideas have been born from these. In particular some of the work I did with Moose Jaw Schools using video demonstrates the relevant, authentic learning we continue to strive for today. Back then, more time was spent on technical issues but concepts of citizen journalism fall directly in line with blogs, wikis, et.al.

I also want to try out a new video tool. I suspect it may not buffer as as fast as youtube but thought it looked good.

Untitled
from shareski

[tags]archiving,studentwork, moosejaw, schools,video,journalism[/tags]

I was perusing the EdubloggerCon photos and was trying to attach names to faces. Some were fairly recognizable but few names were tagged. This photo from Brian Crosby caught me eye. The gentleman in the bottom left has a large baseball for his wallpaper. I immediately figured it was Jeff Utecht and I was right. Jeff’s passion for baseball is revealed during his many twitter updates on Mariner’s baseball which he follows closely despite the time difference in Shanghai.

I commented on his blog and he let me know that it was a bit weird. This is part of the appeal of twitter as it tends to allow people to share more personal information among friends. (So maybe I shouldn’t be blabbing it here?…too late Jeff). It builds community and provides an opportunity to mini-blog without too much thought given its 140 character limitation. Many others have written much better stuff on twitter so I won’t go on too much here. Read Alan’s twitter stuff to understand it better.

So I thought it might be fun to play a little game. Email me a link to your current wallpaper or attach it and a link to your blog. If I get at least 5, I’ll set up a little matching game. I’d especially like these because they are major flickrites.

• Tim Lauer
• D’Arcy Norman
• Stephen Downes
• Steve Dembo
• Alan Levine

• Any EdubloggerConner or NECCer would be great

In case you had any doubt, here’s my current wallpaper:

[tags]wallpaper, edubloggercon,edubloggercon2007,necc2007,jeffutecht,flickr,briancrosby,twitter[/tags]

Found this handy tool via twitter and I think Darren? Easypost.ca allows you to write a letter and send it to someone’s real address. I tried it and it worked great!

I thought it was kinda cool. Must be an upstart company as indicated by this on their FAQ section:

Who operates EasyPost.ca?
Some cool people from Canada and a small team of hamsters.

Anyway, it’s only in Canada…I love saying that. Maybe there’s a US equivalent?

Here’s a great story and idea passed on to me by friend Jim.

The Simple Truth of Service Movie

Whenever the mention of television comes up among educators, there are invariably those who denounce it as a waste of time. You can sound very educated simply by telling others you don’t watch TV.  I call them TV snobs.

There’s a number of good discussions happening about this topic and all seem quite passionate. While I respect these opinions, I disagree. I’ve chimed in a bit but feel I need to make my own statement. It’s not the first time.

I’m trying to examine what folks have against TV. Here’s what I think the arguments are and why I dispute them:

1. Quality of programming…too much crap. I might say the same thing about the internet, books or video games. Don’t buy that one.
2. Captive audience, full of advertising. Ever heard of Google Ads? Perhaps less pervasive but there are ads everywhere. Magazines and newspapers do it as well. Not many anti-magazine readers out there or anti-newspaper readers. If we think that video games and books are pure, we could go to pay per view for all televsion. To me it’s just about a different economic model. They are all interested in a buck
3. It’s a passive activity. Is watching youtube videos active? Why is reading seen as a such a highly cognitive activity? The brain may be processing information a bit more but it’s been proven that tv makes you smarter.
4. Lack of user control. Admittedly this may be the most valid point. You can only watch what’s on now…limited selection. One word: TIVO. Most likely don’t use this regularly but most internet users have never heard of RSS either…but they will.

I don’t believe you have to watch tv or that if you don’t you’re missing out.  You don’t need tv to be a well educated person.  What television does best is tell good stories (movies, sit-coms, dramas) , showcase live events (news and sports) and inform (discovery channel, how to shows, etc….)  You can get all these things in other formats but television provides a good format for this type of media.

I don’t do video games. Most of the games kids play in my opinion are too violent and are highly intellectual. But I certainly won’t be wearing the “I don’t play video games” badge.

The converge of media is not going to stop. Eventually we may not distinguish whether we are watching TV, viewing a webpage, playing a game or reading a book or the news. It’s already happening. It’s just information and entertainment in a various formats. My father-in-law downloads 12 newspapers everyday and takes them to the local coffee shop where he reads them off his laptop while the seniors spend $1.25 everyday to read one hard copy and get their hands full of ink.  I could argue that those who dirty their hands on ink filled newspapers are making a bad choice, hurting the environment and themselves.

Sorry but to me it’s no different.  It’s about format and choice. I wonder why we are so hung up on format? I like TV.

Image: Tesla on the Telly
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/90200225/

[tags]television, tv, bad, media[/tags]

Up until a few years ago, my attitude toward summer vacation was fairly universal as a teacher was fairly universal. Counting down every day, minute till the school year was done. Moving out of the classroom a few years ago didn’t really change that anticipation. But the last year or two things are different. I still enjoy July and August but not in the same way. It’s partly because of my job. As a classroom teacher, your job in many ways comes to a complete stop and September offers a new start with new kids and often new teaching assignment. There is a finality about June, not to mention the need to have time away from kids and the demands of the classroom.

For me though, I don’t get as excited as I once did about June and it’s not just that I haven’t spend 185 days with kids, although that does make a difference, but as I said before, I still longed for summer vacation even after I left the classroom.

Here are a couple of reasons:

1. I’m still working.  This summer I’ll be teaching an undergrad class at the University of Regina. I’m very excited about this opportunity. It’s entirely online which allows me to roam freely about and this summer I will be roaming. I’ve had great freedom to design the course the way I’d like and it will be an exploration of social software and new pedagogies.  It runs from July 3-August 16. I also have 4 other workshops/sessions. One at BLC in Boston and 3 here in Moose Jaw in mid August.
2. Learning Never Stops. This is really the reason right here.  I used to shut down in the summer. Never thought about work or school. I can’t do that for extended periods of time. I love learning, reading and writing. I’ll take short breaks for a couple of days but really don’t want to miss out. While the blogosphere may take a bit of a vacation, there are enough learners like myself who do not shut off in summer. Connected learning is addictive. This is not to say others shouldn’t take a break. Maybe there are other things you’ll spend the summer learning, or maybe lying on a sandy beach is what you need.  For me, I’ve never taken a “beach” or “cabin” vacation where you leave it all behind for more than about 3 days. Our summer vacation will include driving to Boston, New York City, Toronto…a total of over 7,000 km or 4,500 miles.  For many that doesn’t sound very relaxing. That’s the way I like it.

I think it’s called life long learning or something like that.

Image: June 2, 2006
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedsherarts/158937491/

[tags]school, summervacation,learning[/tags]