Archive for May, 2007
TweetVolume: Teach42 is on par with Brie
I fully admit that some of these blog posts are full of cheese. And my tweets even more so. However, now I have a way to measure it. TweetVolume allows you to search for different terms and see how often they’ve been mentioned on Twitter. So I did a search for cheesy things, like Gouda, Swiss, Cheddar, Brie… and Teach42. I knew I wouldn’t be more popular than Swiss (let’s face it, who really is?), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was on par with Brie and beating the snot out of Gouda.
I call that a victory of sorts!
I suppose you could do other searches, like Mac’s vs.PC’s vs. Linux, Google vs. Yahoo vs. MSN, or Spiderman vs. Transformers vs. Shrek vs. Simpsons vs. Pirates. Share any interesting ones you come up with!
Google Maps keeps getting cooler
Two new features for Google Maps.
Firstly is the ability to jump into the map and get yourself a 3D view of a location. It’s called Street Views and unfortunately is only available in San Jose and New York right now. But it’s pretty sweet and adds a whole dimension to online maps. I know they aren’t the first to integrate this feature, but GMaps has always been the map of choice for me, so I’m stoked. Can’t wait till they add Chicago.
Secondly, is called Google Mapplets, and basically it allows you to embed javascript and flash into the description field of a Google Map pushpin. Why would you want to do that? Think virtual tours and field trips. Imagine a map of Huckleberry Finn’s journeys, with audio players embedded at every stop that read a passage from the book. Or Frappr type map where everybody can introduce themselves using an avatar, like Voki. Or perhaps document your own vacation, with embeded photos from Flickr and videos from YouTube. The possibilities are truly endless!
Got any ideas to add to the list?
Help a teacher out with some Podcasting research
Jane Nicholls is looking for some help with some podcasting research she’s doing. She’s looking at the question “In what ways does podcasting enhance oral literacies?”
If you could provide an example of your students demonstrating any of these things I would love to hear about it and incorporate it into my study. Please leave me a comment on this blog including the country that you are commenting from.
If you’re doing any podcasting in your classroom, try take a minute to help her out.
Women in Art
This is really beautiful. I’m ashamed at how few of these paintings I recognize though.
Hey Art Guy, think this could be a weeks worth of lessons, identifying all the women in this video?
Being there: A presentation that can really stand on its own
I’ve blogged a little bit about whether PowerPoints should be able to stand on their own, whether they are just there to support the presenter (and to be honest, the comments from everyone else are more valuable than the initial blog entry) and earlier today I mentioned how impressed I was with Alan’s K12 Online Conference presentation last year.
Well, he’s gone and done it again. Alan has posted a presentation he did recently called Being There: nets, tweets, avatars, and in its making some waves over on Slideshare. I’ve embedded it below, but use that as an appetizer. The meal is actually over on Flickr, where Alan has annotated his slides, complete with pertinent hyperlinks.
The presentation is fantastic and well worth watching. And the presentation of the presentation is even better. After reading through it on Flickr, I really feel like I was there in the audience with him. I don’t even regret not having audio to go along with it. Definitely establishes a new (at least new to me) model for using Flickr as a presentation device.
K12 Online Conference: Year 2
If you haven’t already heard yet, the K12 Online Conference is ramping up again for 2007. The official call for proposals can be found here. I really think what they put together last year was absolutely incredible, and is still a valuable resource to educators regardless of their experience level.
Last year I presented a session on mobile learning. While it went alright and got some positive feedback, I’m thinking that I could have done so much more. The most impressive presentation of the conference to me was Alan Levine’s session on new web tools. He did an incredible job of using those tools to teach people what’s significant about them. It really made me reconsider just how valuable a standard video really is, when there are so many other tools available. While the format I used was iPod compatible, it wasn’t the most effective for conveying the information I was sharing.
Anyway, whether you decide to pitch a proposal or just attend a few sessions, the K12 Online Conference is definitely one to keep an eye on!
Video explaining RSS
Interesting video explaining what RSS is. I dig it, but I do still think there’s a certain point where people’s eyes are just going to glaze over.
WordPress 2.2
Not even a week after I get my blog updated to WordPress 2.1.3, they come out with a new release. Guess I’ll have to upgrade to WordPress 2.2 now
Tuesdays with Tarski
Trying out yet another theme today, and I’m definitely digging this one. It’s called Tarski, and it’s described by its authors as:
Flexible and customisable, Tarski was created with blog authors in mind: it’s easy to install and personalise. However, Tarski is also highly extensible and employs a number of innovative features which the more technically-minded can take advantage of. Its clean and well-documented code provides an excellent basis for more extensive modifications.
I do have to admit, there’s quite a few features, and its certainly a theme that I could grow into well. There’s several pieces of it that I’m not using yet. I’m not thrilled with this particular banner (stolen from my old theme), but I had to put something there so I guess it’ll work.
One other thing, it employs something called “Asides“, which are essentially mini posts that don’t even get their own title in the timeline. I’m going to give them a try and see how I like them. May be a good way to clear out the bazillions of tabs I have open in my browser.