Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Those who follow me on twitter may know my wife has abandoned us for a week to visit my eldest daughter in Toronto.  While I really do do most of the cooking, in her absence I get a bit lazy. With two teenagers coming and going, it’s often just my 9 year old and me. Coming up with meal ideas can be tough. I posted this playful remark on twitter (see Clay’s description of how he views twitter) and John Pederson went ahead and created this  and then sat back and watched it unfold.

And while all this is easily dismissed as silliness, it demonstrates a number of things about networks. There are actually a few good ideas here.  I’ve often thought about a website to collect recipes. Yeah I know there are a gazillion out there already but getting a recipe from a trusted friend is always better. I liked Ramen Noodle Video link which I may even use on Saturday for a PhotoStory workshop I’ll be giving.  These things happen so much we take it for grant it. I’m blessed almost daily with great serendipitous learning experiences.

Clay Burell says:

Fun is fine, as long as you can demonstrate purposive learning at the same time. (I mean, come on, that’s the way I behave on Twitter - playful learning and sharing, sometimes pure socializing, other times pure teamworking - so why be a Gradgrind teacher and prohibit the same playfulness for my students when they network?)

I like to play and I like to learn. Play and learning go together well.

Technorati Tags: twitter, recipes, wikis, johnpederson, clayburell

I love the Street View feature in Google maps. Currently there are over 20 cities in the US that offer this close up view of all streets.  If you’re not familiar with Street View, check out these screencasts for more detail. 

I like the way this video combines Street View and humor. This is the kind of storytelling that works so well on the web. Short, funny and the remixing of familiar tools and themes.

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I’ve heard people claim that moving to digital learning can help eliminate “the dog ate my homework excuse.”

My daughter’s shar pei, snagged my 2.0 GB SD memory card and destroyed it. Let that be another lesson for all you kids out there.

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A few years ago, I had the privilege of putting together a video on how assessment works in the real world. I interviewed local people who talked about how assessment for learning works in their world.

One of those I interviewed was Scott Schultz of the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders along with defensive line coach and Hall of Famer Ron Estay. In the light of their recent victory, I thought I’d republish their interview. I did publish the entire video a while back but wanted to showcase this one in particular.

Not only is it entertaining (don’t forget to watch the blooper at the end) but in many ways helps bring assessment ideas out of a strictly educational sense and demonstrates its value in life. Congratulations Scott, Ron and the Riders on a great season and their contributions to our community in many ways including helping us understand the value of assessment for learning.

Technorati Tags: scottschultz, ronestay, saskatchewanroughriders, greycup, assessment

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I’ve also appreciated the use of time lapse photography. From watching a flower bloom to the changing of seasons, it’s a powerful technique.

I checked my Canon SD750 and realized it had the feature. So let’s give it a try.

I set it up tonight while I prepared a meal for my family and our friends. The total time of preparation was about 50 minutes. I set the time lapse to shoot every 2 seconds. What you have is about 2 minutes which I cut down to about 80 seconds. If you look carefully you should see a spill, boy in underwear and puppies.

This will prove to be a valuable tool for me. Check your digital camera and see if you can do time lapse. I think it’s very cool.

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I always like the question on the Did You Know video that asks, “to whom were these questions (the 2.7 billion searches per month) asked Before Google?” Turns out Google has been answering our questions for at least 200 years.

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So these three edubloggers go into a bar with a laptop and camera and begin to broadcast around the world…..

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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[tags]twitter,ninja[/tags]

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