Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Web 2.0 Keychain Users - iConnect iLearn in the 21st Century


"This is a place for users of the keychain to share your versions and your experiences!"
  • Kevin H Informal leadership activity Certification/authentification activity Informal learning What emergent activity might this be evidence of? 
  • Emerging?  Since contemporary certification in areas like this is so slow or non-existent (a characteristic that is likely to grow in tech areas as the rate of change accelerates in an open source/massively multi-developer world) then I might look for alternatives to "badges of expertise" that we see here with the keychains.  The little laminated keyring cards are little diplomas the growing weight of which visually signifies ones growing weight of authority. 

Monday, June 29, 2009

Iran: Crackdown on Dissidents Silences Opposition | theTrumpet.com

  • tags: emergence, leadership

    • ehran’s brutal crackdown on Iranians protesting against the country’s June 12 election results, which has largely succeeded in clearing the streets, has received extensive media coverage around the world. At the same time, however, the Iranian authorities have been conducting another crackdown behind the scenes that is perhaps more consequential.
      • The opposition in Iran might be said to be informal in many ways. Who leads in their Twitter Revolution? - post by tellio

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Test

  • tags: no_tag

    • I’ve been spending time over this past year reflecting and evaluating on how I can be more effective in teaching writing — both to English Language Learners and my mainstream ninth-grade students.
      • In Kentucky writing teachers have had to cope with the 'demise' of the writing portfolio in their own classrooms, but perhaps what's worse they have had to deal with its demise in other content area classrooms. - post by tellio
    • the extraordinary The Write Institute curriculum
      • "The WRITE Institute is a National Academic Excellence model for sustained professional development in writing. WRITE establishes partnerships with schools, districts, and county offices of education to improve student achievement by building teacher efficacy and skills in the teaching of writing." - post by tellio
    • “authentic audience” — in other words, someone other than me.
      • I like this very simple definition. Writing to learn, yes, but mostly to do since the object of all teaching is to get student to use what they learn. Writing to learn that does not result in 'doing' of some sort is... A WASTE OF EVERYONE'S TIME. - post by tellio
    • I’ve also been trying to pull together a list of easy online sites where students write more for an “authentic audience” and meet the following criteria:
      • I am a sucker for lists like this. I am just going to visit and annotate a few of these, not a bad idea for students to do either using Diigo and a blog. - post by tellio
    • * The writing required would be short, not lengthy pieces, that could be done in a reasonable amount of time — a few days at a maximum and preferably less.

      * The creating and posting process is simple — accessible both to my English Language Learner students and to me.

      * Posting the piece does not necessarily require any kind of ongoing commitment for communication — once it’s up, it might be interesting to check-back after awhile to see if there have been any reactions (if the site is set-up for that kind of involvement), but it’s really just a matter of sticking it up there in a place that gets a fair amount of “traffic” and  knowing that it’s likely others will read it.

      * There seems to be some kind of enforced standards for all the content that’s posted on the site.  In other words,  when students explore it to see models of what others have written, it’s unlikely they will encounter something that is inappropriate for classroom use.

      • Larry Ferlazzo's Authentic Writing Criteria in a Nutshell 1. Make 'em short to produce and do. 2. Make publishing simple and accessible. 3. Write and done and move on to the next task. 4. Make sure the publishing site has a cop. - post by tellio
    • What Percent lets you state a simple opinion
      • you need to sign up to comment, but does allow you to do a little more indepth research on issue. - post by tellio
    • Recipe Key lets you drag-and-drop items into a virtual pantry
      • Perfect for classroom recipe books. Perfect for family living activities. Students need to know about online food info. This is one of many. In fact it would make a very authentic writing to get students to gather cool, student-centric food/recipe websites together for an annotated post. - post by tellio
    • Shelfari, though, seems like a very reasonable alternative. Students can create their own virtual bookshelf and write reviews of them.
      • I use this one and find it to be excellent. You could start a new shelfari for your class, open up a new discussion, then have students discuss the book selected. After a round of discussion you could ask students to pick a top five then create a rubric in groups that would be used to evaluate the next round of writings. I know it would have to be adapted, but wouldn't this make for interesting action research as you compare first and last discussions using this method. - post by tellio
    • Library Thing is similar to Shelfari
      • Go here just to see this: http://www.librarything.com/zeitgeist - post by tellio
    • Zunal is a free and easy way for students (and teachers) to create webquests (though they might be more appropriately called Internet Scavenger Hunts).
      • Great idea in their demo for a math teacher to use writing as learning. http://zunal.com/webquest.php?user=1 - post by tellio
    • Travel DK, which lets you easily create your own online travel guides including writing reviews of attractions (Thanks to Diana Dell for the tip).
      • OK, you are taking a fieldtrip or a class group (Ok imagine you have the money to do this or just do it virtually). Do this guide first, then do 'reporting' while there, then do a follow up. Print the book and allow folks to buy it and buy one for the library. Documenting one's life is an old idea, but now everyone can do it. Shouldn't we show them before they make a dog's breakfast of it on MySpace or Facebook? - post by tellio
    • Students can pick a painting, or create their own artwork, and then write a story about it at  The Art of Storytelling
      • A great idea, execution is very simple, requires a quiet place for students to record. Constrained to the art in their museum, but still a great way to demo the process that multimedia production might go through: image-->script-->voice-->product-->publish. - post by tellio
    • Students both asking and answering questions at the various online Wiki-like sites like Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers, and Wikianswers (yes, the last two are indeed different sites) are definitely examples of writing for an “authentic audience.” 
      • I can't even begin to draw out the implications for authentic writing here. Perhaps the class could keep a list of running questions that need answering at one of these sites. Allow any student to publicly add to the list, take a cellphone picture of the list, prilnt it out and allow students to work at "fallow" times of the day. My motto in any classroom: always have something cool to do. - post by tellio
    • My Hero is a site where students can write about people they view as…heroes. You can register and create a multimedia webpage about your choices, but, even better (at least, in my view), you can go to the Guestbook area and write a short piece that appears immediately (there are automatic filters to screen content, plus it’s manually screened later).
      • This site has evolved quite beautifully over the last five years into one of the most interesting project sites on the web. If you like multimedia then you might like to start the year doing a film. Check it out: http://myhero.com/myhero/go/filmfestival/ff_inform.asp - post by tellio
    •  

      BBC Memoryshare is a “place to share and explore memories.” The site has a cool-looking timeline where you can access memories that people have written — on just about anything.

      • Start you class's memory book, assign a class historian, begin to think in historical terms. The more you look, the more opportunities arise. - post by tellio

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

My Languages: Skype Interview : Social Bookmarking


  • Is tagging a cognitive activity ? Does tagging force you to reflect on categories to find the correct key word?
    Yes, but I feel that it remains quite personal too. Lately, I attended an Elluminate session on tagging for Flickr. We were asked to tag a picture and we then compared all the different words and categories suggested-fascinating... For photos the choice of categories is maybe wider but I believe that we also get the categories to fit our needs. The question is always: if I want to find this again to do… what key word do I need?
This would be a valuable icebreaker in a social networking class.

NECC 2009 Attendees | Program | Search Results Details



This is the question isn't it.  The answer is oftentimes balled up in the question. Or perhaps we already are swimming in the answer?  As Izaak Rabin once said, "If  a problem has been a problem for a long time, maybe it's not a problem.  Maybe it's a fact."  What is the fact that we are overlooking because it is hiding in plain sight?

PasturePoultry : Message: RE: [PasturePoultry] Re:Speckled Communist Americauna - Barbara and Connie

  • Tales of Strange Chickens--taken from the PasturePoultry Group on Yahoo
  • (I doubt they were Cornish Crosses.
    • A few years ago several chickens fell out of a truck hauling them to
      slaughter. They ended up living in the median of I-5 near an overpass.
      Since there was room to pull over, people started to put out food and water
      for them. They lived there happily for months. I don't know if they were
      finally picked up or got squished; the highway department wanted them gone
      because locals would slow down to look for them and they were a traffic
      hazard. And the highway department guys are locals, too, so I am guessing
      they caught them. I never saw them squished, and they were big birds when
      they grew up - Cornish crosses.

      Alice Royle

      Union Point Custom Feeds

      Brownsville, OR

      www.unionpoint.com

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Google Wave the Next Killer App? — Virtual Real Estate Marketing


    • Google Wave is really much more than a basic collaboration application, actually it’s really many things:

      • a real-time communication platform.
      • blogging
      • tweeting
      • email
      • instant messaging
      • social networking
      • photo sharing
      • video sharing
      • forum discussion
      • data collector and collaborator

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Clay Shirky on Information Filter Function





Failure of the filter

eg spam
    not abouit increase in volume, but a failure of filter
    
 All filter solutions are temporary
 
 You have to assume that spam will never go away therefore a filtering problem
 
 A general design problem--a social system problem
     Applying to other systems
         former student-FB change--implications/total disaster privacy meltdown.
         Grimmerman?
         managing privacy prefs- an unnatural act
         privacy is a way of managing info flow. 
         slow ripples b4, quakes now
         
Moving from an evolved system into an engineered system
       Our personal life is no longer personal
      " The inefficiency of information flow is not a bug it is a feature."  
      
 Filters are both outbound and inbound--now this is a new idea to me 
 
 A story about the in and out flows of filtered info
 
     Facebook Chemistry Study Grouip_chris avenir
         school charges him.
         147 charges 1 for setting it up and 146 stkudents
         cheating--publication of individual work in a collaborative environment is cheating
         CA response--what about tutoring
         
 Problem
 
     welcome to community ---conversation join us
     or we do qc on their minds.
     collide very difficult
     FB cause the methods to collide
     
 If you have to make that choice you will make the wrong choice.  FB is not a mimeo. it is different in kind not degree
 
 Ryerson says the real groups are just way too big.  FB is free rider tolerant unlike real world.
 
 Our job is to require stukdents to figure things out.  With the unfilter on--well...
 
 The new context:  we are to information overload ::  fish are to the sea  It is just what we swim in.
 
 If you have the same problem for a long time maybe it's not a problem, maybe it's a fact.  Izaak Rabin
 
 No college of future tomorrow            
 
 We have had info overload since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century what has changed now is this:  the old filters are breaking,  designing new filters doesn't just mean updating the old filters.  
     eg digg voting 
     eg tagging
     
 When you feel overloaded you have to ask now:  what filter just broke,      
 
 
 
 
                


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Education World ® Technology Center: Doug Johnson: Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology

A useful list of seven general priniples for every tech using teacher. - post by tellio

  • 1. Empower kids with technology.

  • 2. Creatively find and use resources.

  • 4. Put kids in touch with the world.

    • "Flat Classroom"
      • Love this teacher's work, but the metaphor is devastatingly bad and the writer she has latched onto is a hack at best and an apologist of the privileged at least. Warning to all--beware of the metaphors you embrace--they represent the outer limits of behavior if you own them too much. - post by tellio

  • 5. Accept the role of co-leaner.

  • 6. Use the kids’ own devices to teach them.

    • "Students are increasingly and unstoppably bringing in personal communication devices -- cell phones, cameras, game devices, iPods/mp3 players, netbooks, laptops, and PDAs. Brilliant teachers know how to use cell phones to poll their classes; create podcasts of lectures for later review; use games to teach difficult concepts; and make "Google-jockeys" of student wireless laptop users."
      • Best quote and a roadmap for learning that I need to seriously embrace. - post by tellio

  • 7. Delight in the discovery, the newness, and the fun technology holds.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

PhD is just a bumpy road, sooner or later I’ll be there — Mathemagenic

  • tags: no_tag

      • PhD is just a bumpy road, sooner or later I’ll be there

        by Lilia Efimova on July 23, 2004

        I knew that doing a PhD is about ups and downs, but it’s a kind of special fun to discover the bumpy road as you go along. This time it’s about mixed feelings of discovering a good paper…

        I’m reading A Confessional Account of an Ethnography About Knowledge Work by Ulrike Schultze (spotted it some time ago, but got a version only yesterday) and my feelings go everywhere between:

        • gut feeling of finding one of “the papers” that can make core foundations of my research
        • thinking “why the hell I didn’t find the paper a year ago?”
        • admiration of research done by someone else and a way of presenting it
        • loosing confidence thinking “I will never be able to do it that good”
        • happy insights and “aha!” moments – “now I know what to do!”
        • getting a bit down understanding how much time doing it will take
        • trying to get myself together “it’s just a bumpy road, sooner or later I’ll be there”…

        And I’m still in the middle of reading it :)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Blogging Innovation: Innovation in Education - Latest innovation articles, videos, and insights


  • Am I innovating? This article will provide a touchstone for personal evaluation.
    • Teaching Moves Beyond the Classroom
      • I have always thought that social software, starting for me with blogs and commenting, was a way to punch holes in the classroom walls so that my students could escape to the real world. The Web is an inherently subversive communication medium. I have never understood why fundamentalist tolerate it at all. It is their downfall because of the assumptions that underly it--diversity, multiplicity, tolerance, and freedom for all among others. These values are woven into my desire to use technological innovations in the classroom.
      • But how much do I really use technology in the classroom to enable differing and perhaps more informal learning that matches "real" learning in the "wild".
      • I used this article to challenge my own work and to set goals for the coming school year.
      • There are four areas to consider in assessing where I stand:  social media, online video and other media outside the classroom, gaming,  cellphone/mobile learning


    • Social Media
      • What social media do I use? Really use. Facebook, but barely. Twitter, professionally but not with students. Diigo, personally and professionally, but only scratched surface with students GoogleDocs, personally and professionally, but only begun in classes. 
    • Online Video Creates a Global Classroom
      • I use online video regularly to make points, to open discussion in class. I have brought in data visualization tools (see NYT) 
    • ###############
  •  
  •  
    • Even Britain's grandly named Royal Society provides free webcasts of their events and lectures.
      • I need to do more to expand the idea of the classroom? No, I need to expand the idea of what it takes to learn in this newly connect up world. I need to expand your consciousness of what is required to be a learner today. - post by tellio
    • Gaming Gets Serious
      • I am not doing anything here. I don't even own a gaming console or even handhelds like the PSP or Nintendo DL. How can a noob teach this when he is not entirely convinced that we are just recreating classrooms inside of silica. Rigid, rigid silica. Ask students, explore with students, point stuff out to students. In fact before every class I need to have a Webslide of potential cool places to go and learn, but never mention learn because that truly is putting the cart in front of... - post by tellio
    • Mobile Learning Comes Into Its Own
      • I have been waffling about on deciding whether or not to get texting at a monthly rate for my phone. I have to do way more of this. I need a smart phone. I am using the iPod touch as my second computer and am adding apps for it on a regular basis (Educate is the latest one) This is where most of my students live. This is where I need to weigh in much more completely and in a regular committed way. - post by tellio

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Untitled

  • tags: no_tag

    • I’ve been spending time over this past year reflecting and evaluating on how I can be more effective in teaching writing — both to English Language Learners and my mainstream ninth-grade students.
      • In Kentucky writing teachers have had to cope with the 'demise' of the writing portfolio in their own classrooms, but perhaps what's worse they have had to deal with its demise in other content area classrooms. - post by tellio
    • the extraordinary The Write Institute curriculum
      • "The WRITE Institute is a National Academic Excellence model for sustained professional development in writing. WRITE establishes partnerships with schools, districts, and county offices of education to improve student achievement by building teacher efficacy and skills in the teaching of writing." - post by tellio
    • “authentic audience” — in other words, someone other than me.
      • I like this very simple definition. Writing to learn, yes, but mostly to do since the object of all teaching is to get student to use what they learn. Writing to learn that does not result in 'doing' of some sort is... A WASTE OF EVERYONE'S TIME. - post by tellio
    • I’ve also been trying to pull together a list of easy online sites where students write more for an “authentic audience” and meet the following criteria:
      • I am a sucker for lists like this. I am just going to visit and annotate a few of these, not a bad idea for students to do either using Diigo and a blog. - post by tellio
    • * The writing required would be short, not lengthy pieces, that could be done in a reasonable amount of time — a few days at a maximum and preferably less.

      * The creating and posting process is simple — accessible both to my English Language Learner students and to me.

      * Posting the piece does not necessarily require any kind of ongoing commitment for communication — once it’s up, it might be interesting to check-back after awhile to see if there have been any reactions (if the site is set-up for that kind of involvement), but it’s really just a matter of sticking it up there in a place that gets a fair amount of “traffic” and  knowing that it’s likely others will read it.

      * There seems to be some kind of enforced standards for all the content that’s posted on the site.  In other words,  when students explore it to see models of what others have written, it’s unlikely they will encounter something that is inappropriate for classroom use.

      • Larry Ferlazzo's Authentic Writing Criteria in a Nutshell 1. Make 'em short to produce and do. 2. Make publishing simple and accessible. 3. Write and done and move on to the next task. 4. Make sure the publishing site has a cop. - post by tellio
    • What Percent lets you state a simple opinion
      • you need to sign up to comment, but does allow you to do a little more indepth research on issue. - post by tellio
    • Recipe Key lets you drag-and-drop items into a virtual pantry
      • Perfect for classroom recipe books. Perfect for family living activities. Students need to know about online food info. This is one of many. In fact it would make a very authentic writing to get students to gather cool, student-centric food/recipe websites together for an annotated post. - post by tellio
    • Shelfari, though, seems like a very reasonable alternative. Students can create their own virtual bookshelf and write reviews of them.
      • I use this one and find it to be excellent. You could start a new shelfari for your class, open up a new discussion, then have students discuss the book selected. After a round of discussion you could ask students to pick a top five then create a rubric in groups that would be used to evaluate the next round of writings. I know it would have to be adapted, but wouldn't this make for interesting action research as you compare first and last discussions using this method. - post by tellio
    • Library Thing is similar to Shelfari
      • Go here just to see this: http://www.librarything.com/zeitgeist - post by tellio
    • Zunal is a free and easy way for students (and teachers) to create webquests (though they might be more appropriately called Internet Scavenger Hunts).
      • Great idea in their demo for a math teacher to use writing as learning. http://zunal.com/webquest.php?user=1 - post by tellio
    • Travel DK, which lets you easily create your own online travel guides including writing reviews of attractions (Thanks to Diana Dell for the tip).
      • OK, you are taking a fieldtrip or a class group (Ok imagine you have the money to do this or just do it virtually). Do this guide first, then do 'reporting' while there, then do a follow up. Print the book and allow folks to buy it and buy one for the library. Documenting one's life is an old idea, but now everyone can do it. Shouldn't we show them before they make a dog's breakfast of it on MySpace or Facebook? - post by tellio
    • Students can pick a painting, or create their own artwork, and then write a story about it at  The Art of Storytelling
      • A great idea, execution is very simple, requires a quiet place for students to record. Constrained to the art in their museum, but still a great way to demo the process that multimedia production might go through: image-->script-->voice-->product-->publish. - post by tellio
    • Students both asking and answering questions at the various online Wiki-like sites like Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers, and Wikianswers (yes, the last two are indeed different sites) are definitely examples of writing for an “authentic audience.” 
      • I can't even begin to draw out the implications for authentic writing here. Perhaps the class could keep a list of running questions that need answering at one of these sites. Allow any student to publicly add to the list, take a cellphone picture of the list, prilnt it out and allow students to work at "fallow" times of the day. My motto in any classroom: always have something cool to do. - post by tellio
    • My Hero is a site where students can write about people they view as…heroes. You can register and create a multimedia webpage about your choices, but, even better (at least, in my view), you can go to the Guestbook area and write a short piece that appears immediately (there are automatic filters to screen content, plus it’s manually screened later).
      • This site has evolved quite beautifully over the last five years into one of the most interesting project sites on the web. If you like multimedia then you might like to start the year doing a film. Check it out: http://myhero.com/myhero/go/filmfestival/ff_inform.asp - post by tellio
    •  

      BBC Memoryshare is a “place to share and explore memories.” The site has a cool-looking timeline where you can access memories that people have written — on just about anything.

      • Start you class's memory book, assign a class historian, begin to think in historical terms. The more you look, the more opportunities arise. - post by tellio

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Google Teacher Academy Application

Links to the good Google stuff:

Google Classroom Activities

Google Tools for Your Classroom

Google Posters for Your Classroom

Google Education Home

Untitled

  • tags: no_tag

    • first draft
    • Accept the Chatter
    • “Flow” won’t happen every time we write.
    • We diffuse our focus and use up valuable writing energy when we try to “reason with” or overcome  distracting thoughts. The solution to creating fantastic first drafts is much simpler.  First, accept that “mental chatter happens.” Then, redirect your mental chatter as you write.
    • Redirect
    • Ever notice that when you’re just about to get a shot, the nurse suddenly asks about your job, your family or your summer plans?  When we’re faced with a task we resist (getting a shot, writing a first draft), it’s much easier to relax when we’re focused on something else.

       

    • “Swiss Cheese Draft”
    • Step #1 - Limit Your Focus
    • Decide What the “Cheese” Is.  
Before you begin to write, choose one element (”content” or “form”) to define your Swiss cheese draft’s structure.  In other words, answer the question, “what’s the ‘cheese?’”
        •  
        • If you’re drafting a persuasive essay, you may want to sketch out the basic structure of your argument, using placeholders for specific facts, anecdotes or context to support your points.  This emphasis on drafting the piece’s structure is an example of a focus on form.
    • Once you’re defined your “cheese,” write a one-sentence statement of “what I’m going for in this draft” and put it at the top of your screen or page.  (Tip:  you may choose to emphasize the word “draft” as a reminder.)
    • Step #2 - Limit Your Time.
    • Decide to spend a specific and limited amount of time writing your Swiss cheese draft.  For example, “I’ll draft my new article for the next two hours, until 12 noon…no more, no less.”
    • (Tip:  To stay focused on your project, send a friend a “bookending” email, Tweet or text message.  Tell them you’re starting your draft, and describe your time limit.  Let them know how long it’ll be before you report back to them with a quick progress report.  Bookending is amazingly effective!)
    • Step #3 - Mark the Holes as You Go.
    • As you write, use placeholders such as “X”, “[REWORK],” [??]” or  “_________________” to hold space for things to add later.
    • Step #4 - Notice and Redirect.
    • 
As you’re writing, your mind may still speak up and try to distract you from writing.  If this happens, here’s your chance to greet it wisely.
    • “Sit tight, now…I’ll be with you shortly.”
    • Step # 5 - Cure the Draft Before You Revise
    • Your finished Swiss cheese draft may be cured and ready to revise as early as two days after creation.  It may need longer to settle.  Let your aesthetic palette guide you, and when it’s time to sample your draft, enjoy your flavorful first effort.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Larry Ferlazzo's Authentic Writing List

    • I’ve been spending time over this past year reflecting and evaluating on how I can be more effective in teaching writing — both to English Language Learners and my mainstream ninth-grade students.
      • In Kentucky writing teachers have had to cope with the 'demise' of the writing portfolio in their own classrooms, but perhaps what's worse they have had to deal with its demise in other content area classrooms. - post by tellio

    • “authentic audience” — in other words, someone other than me.
      • I like this very simple definition. Writing to learn, yes, but mostly to do since the object of all teaching is to get student to use what they learn. Writing to learn that does not result in 'doing' of some sort is... A WASTE OF EVERYONE'S TIME. - post by tellio

    • I’ve also been trying to pull together a list of easy online sites where students write more for an “authentic audience” and meet the following criteria:
      • I am a sucker for lists like this. I am just going to visit and annotate a few of these, not a bad idea for students to do either using Diigo and a blog. - post by tellio
    • * The writing required would be short, not lengthy pieces, that could be done in a reasonable amount of time — a few days at a maximum and preferably less.

      * The creating and posting process is simple — accessible both to my English Language Learner students and to me.

      * Posting the piece does not necessarily require any kind of ongoing commitment for communication — once it’s up, it might be interesting to check-back after awhile to see if there have been any reactions (if the site is set-up for that kind of involvement), but it’s really just a matter of sticking it up there in a place that gets a fair amount of “traffic” and  knowing that it’s likely others will read it.

      * There seems to be some kind of enforced standards for all the content that’s posted on the site.  In other words,  when students explore it to see models of what others have written, it’s unlikely they will encounter something that is inappropriate for classroom use.

      • Larry Ferlazzo's Authentic Writing Criteria in a Nutshell 1. Make 'em short to produce and do. 2. Make publishing simple and accessible. 3. Write and done and move on to the next task. 4. Make sure the publishing site has a cop. - post by tellio

    • What Percent lets you state a simple opinion
      • you need to sign up to comment, but does allow you to do a little more indepth research on issue. - post by tellio

    • Recipe Key lets you drag-and-drop items into a virtual pantry
      • Perfect for classroom recipe books. Perfect for family living activities. Students need to know about online food info. This is one of many. In fact it would make a very authentic writing to get students to gather cool, student-centric food/recipe websites together for an annotated post. - post by tellio

    • Shelfari, though, seems like a very reasonable alternative. Students can create their own virtual bookshelf and write reviews of them.
      • I use this one and find it to be excellent. You could start a new shelfari for your class, open up a new discussion, then have students discuss the book selected. After a round of discussion you could ask students to pick a top five then create a rubric in groups that would be used to evaluate the next round of writings. I know it would have to be adapted, but wouldn't this make for interesting action research as you compare first and last discussions using this method. - post by tellio

    • Library Thing is similar to Shelfari
      • Go here just to see this: http://www.librarything.com/zeitgeist - post by tellio

    • Zunal is a free and easy way for students (and teachers) to create webquests (though they might be more appropriately called Internet Scavenger Hunts).
      • Great idea in their demo for a math teacher to use writing as learning. http://zunal.com/webquest.php?user=1 - post by tellio
    • Travel DK, which lets you easily create your own online travel guides including writing reviews of attractions (Thanks to Diana Dell for the tip).
      • OK, you are taking a fieldtrip or a class group (Ok imagine you have the money to do this or just do it virtually). Do this guide first, then do 'reporting' while there, then do a follow up. Print the book and allow folks to buy it and buy one for the library. Documenting one's life is an old idea, but now everyone can do it. Shouldn't we show them before they make a dog's breakfast of it on MySpace or Facebook? - post by tellio

    • Students can pick a painting, or create their own artwork, and then write a story about it at  The Art of Storytelling
      • A great idea, execution is very simple, requires a quiet place for students to record. Constrained to the art in their museum, but still a great way to demo the process that multimedia production might go through: image-->script-->voice-->product-->publish. - post by tellio

    • Students both asking and answering questions at the various online Wiki-like sites like Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers, and Wikianswers (yes, the last two are indeed different sites) are definitely examples of writing for an “authentic audience.” 
      • I can't even begin to draw out the implications for authentic writing here. Perhaps the class could keep a list of running questions that need answering at one of these sites. Allow any student to publicly add to the list, take a cellphone picture of the list, prilnt it out and allow students to work at "fallow" times of the day. My motto in any classroom: always have something cool to do. - post by tellio

    • My Hero is a site where students can write about people they view as…heroes. You can register and create a multimedia webpage about your choices, but, even better (at least, in my view), you can go to the Guestbook area and write a short piece that appears immediately (there are automatic filters to screen content, plus it’s manually screened later).
      • This site has evolved quite beautifully over the last five years into one of the most interesting project sites on the web. If you like multimedia then you might like to start the year doing a film. Check it out: http://myhero.com/myhero/go/filmfestival/ff_inform.asp - post by tellio
    • BBC Memoryshare is a “place to share and explore memories.” The site has a cool-looking timeline where you can access memories that people have written — on just about anything.

      • Start you class's memory book, assign a class historian, begin to think in historical terms. The more you look, the more opportunities arise. - post by tellio


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Monday, June 15, 2009

Lexipedia - Where words have meaning

http://www.lexipedia.com

 

Thought about the grammar demo today at the WKUWP24 and ran across this.  Try it out.


Thursday, June 04, 2009

Big-name movies and shows, now starring you - Springwise

    • Remove the lead vocals from a hit song, and you've got the makings for karaoke. Erase a lead actor from a popular film, and you've got the idea behind Yoostar.
    • Yoostar is a new technology that includes all the tools consumers need to digitally insert themselves in the place of original lead actors in famous movies and television shows. Included in the USD 170 system—slated to become available in July—are a studio-grade web cam with built-in dual microphones and remote control, portable green screen, professional stand, and Yoostar software that is PC- and Mac-compatible. Yoostar’s patented Active Immersion Technology begins by digitally removing original actors from iconic Hollywood scenes, creating clips with roles that need to be filled. Among the films to be available, for example, are “The Godfather,” “The Terminator” and "Psycho," thanks to Yoostar's partnerships with Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., Lions Gate Films, the NBA and “Sesame Street.” The system will ship with an assortment of such clips featuring 38 different roles, and more will be available for purchase and download from Yoostar's continuously updated library of film, television and NBA moments.
    • Once they choose the role they'd like to play, consumers will simply step between the camera and the green screen, get in the character's position and start filming. They can deliver faithful, on-script performances or choose their own interpretations; the number of takes is unlimited, ensuring that the user gets exactly the performance they want before wrapping the scene. In addition to recording scenes to their Mac or PC for local viewing, users can also upload and share them on Yoostar's site, where content is available for viewing, rating and competition. In true social networking fashion, user profiles, communities of friends, and embeddable players and widgets will all be available.
    • f there's anything the prolific members of Generation C(ontent) love more than creating their own content, it's giving well-known content a spin of their own. Could this lead to the discovery of the silver screen's own Susan Boyle? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, following its July 1 release online, the Yoostar system will become available through retailers on Aug. 24; might be a good idea to be one of them. ;-) (Related: Tuning in to a personalized radio tributeOnline auditions for a crowdsourced movie.)

      Website: www.yoostar.com


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Sunday, May 03, 2009

TubeChop - Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? (05:08)

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/11657

Free Agent Student Nation

Teachers are going to either wear new hats or be irrelevant to students.  Becoming irrelevant may be harmful to the students because they need some guidance in their "free agency".  At least they need it until they can ride to wherever they want to go without us.  Ultimately, we must marginalize our role in their learning lives by empowering them in theirs.  When they learn how to learn I believe that is a teacher's greatest reward.  Gratitude is great, but you really cannot expect it, else it would not be gratitude. 

Sunday, April 05, 2009

25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Strips.


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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Want to keep your job? Be happy. | csmonitor.com

  • tags: no_tag

    • Research shows that an attitude of gratitude in trying times can not only help you keep your job, but get you the job you want.
    • he characteristics of recession survivors and found that those who avoided being cut were cheerful, likable, generous contributors, and not necessarily the most skilled and proficient.
    • don't be the guy who's always in a bad mood, reminding colleagues how vulnerable everyone is. Who wants to be in the trenches with him
    • When productivity is in decline, Anderson says, other factors gain more value in the decisionmaking process about who stays and who goes.
    • "If you stay positive, you'll have more influence on how things play out," advise Ms. Banks and Ms. Coutu.
    • They say survivors and those who leverage layoffs to their advantage focus on anticipating the needs of customers and those above and below them inside the office.
    • "If you are truly, truly miserable, even in a bad economy, you may be better off doing something else: taking a break, going back to school, or working part time. It's valid to ask ourselves: 'Do I enjoy this? Why am I here?' Reevaluate."

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

Bibliography Software: Endnote vs. Zotero » The Backward Glance

  • tags: no_tag

    • Lincoln Mullen

      This is what I’ve done to make sure that my Zotero library is backed up: In the settings, I moved the library into the directory where I store all my research files. If I ever need a backup of the library, I can just ZIP the directory and put the archive somewhere safe. (Actually, now that I’m on a Mac, Time Machine backs it up automatically every hour.)

      If you wanted to back up a specific set of references in Zotero, could you just highlight them all and export them as an RDF file?

      If the next version of Zotero syncs to the cloud, that will definitely take care of any backup worries.

      I hope that’s helpful. And I hope your dissertation is coming along well.

      • How to ensure that your valuable research is not lost. Export to rdf, zip, store offsite/cloud and elsewhere onsite. - post by tellio

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Untitled

  • tags: no_tag

    • In a snapshot taken at my first "wedding
      • Stats with a story about gender expectations and roles. - post by tellio
    • We pin our hopes for happiness on romantic love so early
      • More stories about how early ideals of romantic love are "pinned"on us. - post by tellio
    • harder.
      • The first section ends here. Introduction--fulfillment through love is central to our culture. Myth and fantasy shape this desire. - post by tellio
    • storm.
      • Second section ends here--Marriage and love. The idea that a passionate love leads to lifelong married bliss is really a new one. - post by tellio
    • maintain a buzz
      • Third section-- Biochemistry and love: there is a biochemical aspect to love that complicates this long-term institution. - post by tellio
    • experience.
      • Section four--marriage and love revisited: many are attempting to re-invent or preserve marriage and love. - post by tellio
    • ncreasingly, Fisher and other researchers are coming to view what we call love as a series of complex biochemical events governed by hormones and enzymes. "People cling to the idea that romantic love is a mystery, but it's also a chemical experience," Fisher says, explaining that there are three distinct mating emotions and each is supported in the brain by the release of different chemicals. Lust, an emotion triggered by changing levels of testosterone in
      men and women
      , is associated with our basic sexual drive. Infatuation depends on the changing levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and phenylethylamine (PEA), also called the "chemicals of love." They are natural--addictive--amphetaminelike chemicals that stimulate euphoria and make us want to stay up all night sharing our secrets. After infatuation and the dizzying highs associated with it have peaked--usually within a year or two--this brain chemistry reduces, and a new chemical system made up of oxytocin, vasopressin, and maybe the endorphins kicks in and supports a steadier, quieter, more nurturing intimacy. In the end, regardless of whether biochemistry accounts for cause or effect in love, it may help to explain why some people--those most responsive to the release of the attachment chemicals--are able to sustain a long-term partnership, while thrillseekers who feel depressed without regular hits of dopamine and PEA, are likely to jump from one liaison to the next in order to maintain a buzz.
    • it's obvious that something radically different is needed.
      • Marriage is dead, long live new marriage. - post by tellio
    • something transcendent.
      • The future of love or how to solve the problem of marriage. - post by tellio

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Executive Order -- Presidential Records

    • By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish policies and procedures governing the assertion of executive privilege by incumbent and former Presidents in connection with the release of Presidential records by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) pursuant to the Presidential Records Act of 1978,
      Good on ya, Obama. - post by tellio

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Saturday, January 17, 2009

2¢ Worth » A 2.0 Sort’a Day — Part 2: Learning 2.0

    • You see, what’s new, and cool, and so much in the spirit of 2.0 about this experience is that it is about conversation, and about conversation being turned into content.  It was easy to record Dan’s answers and the audio (and video) of the students’ questions.  But to have the students (and visitors) engaged in a parrellel, even subterranian conversation about what’s happening in the open air and to have that conversation available for later reference and work, seems extremely powerful to me.
    • Students are not being taught.  They aren’t learning to be taught.  They are learning to listen and respond, to sythesize and to share, read, work, and reword.
     
    More and more I am seeing this shift toward a “publish then filter” model. What this means is that we have to develop seamlessly easy methods for gathering in digital data, publishing data, and then figuring out ways to dip the cup into that data for discrete drinks. Tagging the data will be difficult especially in “river”-type audio and video feeds. Gather, filter, publish/produce: our new mantra. It seems to me that we are redefining what self-reflection means, too. Now we need to dip that cup into our own lifestream and we need to show ourstudents how to do this as well.
             To think a little further here:  what we are doing is turning the mind's black box inside out and remixing it with the world.  We are learning how to quantify what we do on a digital palette.  For example, my blog has become more of a "stream of web consciousness" than a place to post.  I still do both there, but now I am more interested in the clutter that has arisen in there from my social bookmarks, my twitter, my various shared feeds.  I am "publishing" in ways that are very different from the text way we are so used to.  With the advent of personal informatics we are creating our own idiosyncratic databases, our own 'examined lives".  Mine is very crudely realized, data hardly visualized at all, but take a look at Nicholas Felton's annual report on the state of Nicholas Felton

Is this a large part of where teaching is going?  Are we becoming fllter mentors?  Data concierges?  Are we becoming data points loosely joined?

I really like this idea at the college level, but am uncertain about its applicability for younger learners.
- post by tellio

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Monday, January 12, 2009

'It takes 2 to know 1': Shared experiences change self-recognition (1/10/2009)

    • Sharing an experience with another person may change the perception we have of our own self, such as the recognition of our own face. "As a result of shared experiences, we tend to perceive other people as being more similar to us, and this applies also to the recognition of our own face. This process may be at the root of constructing a self-identity in a social context," says Dr Tsakiris who led the study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK.
    An argument for diversity in all aspects of our lives.