I’m not convinced the idea of short tutorials works in all disciplines but certainly it does for Math and Science. As much as this body of work is impressive for the content, I’m more impressed by the passion and joy Sal gains from helping others learn. In addition the form factor here is worth exploring.  If you skipped the video go back and watch it and perhaps you can answer the following:

What are the implications here? Could a student learn Algebra with this without attending a high school class? What does it make us rethink when it comes to school and learning?

I’ve been listening to Chris Anderson‘s book "The Radical Price of Free" for free. It’s a long listen, over 6 hours and I’ve still got 2 more hours to go but it’s certainly helped clarify not only how free works, but how much money is to be made by free. Sound weird? Read/listen to the book.

My financial or economic knowledge is limited at best but as a consumer and producer I recognize a few things. While I make no money from this blog directly, I’ve been fortunate to indirectly gain financially and I owe much to the work and ideas that I share here and other places. Given that was never the intent of this blog, it’s simply a nice bonus. I recognize others try and utilize their blogs for financial gain either by ads or direct pay from outside interests. But for the most part this type of free seeks no compensation, it’s just free.

As any user of the web knows, there are oodles and oodles of sites and applications that appear free. Everything from google to yahoo, we roam around these internets and create, download, consume and communicate willy nilly with nary a penny exchanged. But it’s obvious there has to be a price. The book outlines the various ways this can work and some of those ways, such as ad driven sites, seem fairly obvious. Premium services is another common strategy. Some work well, others fail miserably. I’m glad I dont’ have to make those decisions.

Every term as part of my undergrad course, I ask my students to create a blog. I’ve used blogger, wordpress.com and edublogs. Each have their own benefits and downfalls. In general, here are my assessments:

Blogger

Pros: easy to setup, integration with google, customizeable, widget ready, easy to use, embedding capabilities
Cons: difficult to make pages, association with random blogs(although this can be removed), blocked in some schools

WordPress.com

Pros: Simple to use, easy to setup, some customization, open in most schools, great for page making, better for portfolios
Cons: embedding is limited,plugins limited

Edublogs.org (wordpress platform hosted and managed)

Pros: Associated with educators, some customization, open in most schools, great for page making, better for portfolios,embedding capabilities
Cons: lack of plugins, nagging ads to support

I’m sure I have missed some things but these are my observations. Feel free to correct me in the comment section.

My experiences is that most of them use this as a disposable learning experience. As much as I would love them to continue blogging, the vast majority do not. Some, pick up after a few years but by then they’ve moved to a new platform. For a new blogger, they have no idea of all the advantages or disadvantages of a particular platform, they just dive in because of an assignment or recommendation.

There have been many discussions about the value of institutions providing their own spaces for students.  Sometimes this isn’t an option and so part of my thinking is to provide pre-service teachers with the chance to discover alternatives.

This term I decided to have my students use edublogs. I know many teachers in my district who used edublogs a few years ago but have left because of performance issues. I was informed the performance issue had been resolved and was tipped off to the changes in the business model. It wasn’t until I began to have my students use it did it really hit me. The embedded ads make you feel as if someone else controlling your space and lack of plugins take away from the customizabilty.  I understand they need to make money. We can’t expect folks to continue to support these projects for Starbucks cards (although I don’t know how David Warlick does it) My issue is, and again, I’m not business person, just a consumer in this case, I personally will choose another option for my students to begin their blogging journey.  This is only my opinion and as much as I admire the work of James Farmer and Sue Waters, I’m not a fan of the free offering in this case. I’m not able to suggest a better, more viable model but given there are alternatives, I wonder if they might have to. Just one person’s humble opinion.

Oh, and did I mention is was completely free?

K12 Online Downloadable Flyer

Trust it to Will, Jakes and Dembo to cook up some fun and learning at the same time. The three met in alocal establishment in Chicago tonight and tested out UstreamTV. This free, live streaming site allows anyone to broadcast live to the world. I used it a few weeks ago to watch my daughter’s new puppy when we aren’t home. Easy to set up. The potential of a tool such as this is obviously much more powerful than watching puppies. Remember when people used to (they still do but let’s presume some progress) categorize blogs as cat diaries? I think we’re better at understanding the power of these new tools as learning tools.

I had a conversation today with a principal asking how to make the next steps in using technology. I mentioned Ustream TV as a connecting tool. Her eyes lit up. Mine did too.

As I read a couple of posts today about blocking content I realize I’m blessed to work with an IT department that understands its role very well. They want to provide a great service for teachers and students. This means considering these tools in the light of both security, performance but more importantly quality learning. As a rather brash advocate of these tools, I work with them and they with me on understanding the issues. Not matter what the issue it usually comes down to, “How can we make it work?” But I digress…

So back to the streaming video. Many are going to look at this and say, “big deal”. I look at this and my mind is whirling with possibilities. Classroom presentations, personal tv stations, unconference learning….you fill in the blank. Will, David and Steve asked the same question, “How can we make it work?” The 30+ participants asked similar questions. Mixed with some good fun, this was a good way to spend part of an evening. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach claimed it was better than anything on TV. You can watch it all here.

I captured a couple of minutes of this. The fun part anyway. If you want to know the awkward way I did this, leave a comment and I’ll reveal my secret.

Technorati Tags: willrichardson, davidjakes, teach42, streamingvideo, ustreamtv

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So if you teach this age group, download the book, read it online, whatever. Then ask you kids, “What is the web for?”

Technorati Tags: daveweinberger, smallpieces, children, kids, books

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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?

I’ll try anything once, as evidenced by the countless vacant activity in dozens of social networking sites.  But after reading Darren’s revelation and pointing me to Alan’s portion of the Open, Connected movie, it made more sense.  I could certainly point to several resources, connections and good fun discovered but spending a short time twittering.

Alan points to the experience I had today using twitter. The idea of having instant access and discovering incidental ideas is quite captivating. It reminds me a but of StumbleUpon which I although I haven’t used for quite a while, provided some great treasures. Twitter isn’t just about links and resources but personalizes things. The idea of nano blogging is nice outlet for me and others who struggle with creating fully developed blog posts.

I still don’t fully get it but I get it more now.

[tags]twitter, kuropatwa, d’arcynorman,alanlevine[/tags]

Pass along a review of the Blog Episode.

Update: As Michael points out in the comment below, it has to be a Canadian IP to view the videos.  So CBS isn’t the only one who believes in protectionism. Watch for it in the US soon on Chicago’s WGN.

[tags]cornergas, television,comedy,Canadians,Saskatchewan[/tags]

With the number of free offerings, how long will this type of pricing last? Even in little old Moose Jaw, we have free wifi in some places.

I’ll even add my house to the list. Come by 161 Marlborough and knock on the door and I’ll give you my WEP key.

6,9,12,17,33,43,47,51,74,78,95,98

PC World’s 100 Best Products of the Year

[rockyou 23617784]

Kinda cool.

My daughter is attending Humber College as a music student. She has been in the recording studio as well. She’s applying for a music grant with Factor. I’ll be helping her soon to set up a website to promote her music. A recent posting from the Freakanomics blog pointed out Jane Siberry’s distribution model. Bascially you determine how much you’re willing to pay. Here’s her statistics:

% Accepting gift from Jane: 17%
% Paid by determining price: 37%
% Paying Later:46%

Avg Price Per Track: $1.14
% Paid Below Suggested: 8%
% Paid At Suggested: 79%
% Paid Above Suggested: 14%
This type of free or user detemined payment model is certainly a new phenomenom that most of us have trouble completing understanding. It appears it may work. Basically if you have a product or other marketable skill, the long tail concept should work in your favour at some point.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on this one.

Here are Meredith’s songs in case you’re interested.

Nice innovative use of flickr. While products like Camtasia, Wink and Windows Media Encoder are much more powerful screencasting tools, I like the simplicity of using flickr.