All Blog Posts (9,941)

Portal Applications for Higher Education

This week and next I will be discussing two distinct approaches to implementing portal applications in a higher education environment.

I am going to divert from the type of tools and resources I typically post about (free or low cost web based resources and apps for educators and the instructional process) to take a look a powerful type of application that is becoming increasingly popular in higher education (as well as K-12). Portal applications allow designers and users to… Continue

Added by Kelly Walsh on August 25, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Don't Do Stupid Things... But if You Do, Don't Get Famous for Them or Post Pics of It on the Internet

So everyone realizes that virtually every Human Resources person worth their salt at almost any decent-sized organization in this country checks the internet as a means of doing a background check on potential future employees, right? I mean this is something I talk about with my high schoolers. Putting pics of yourself doing beer bongs, smoking out of real bongs, taking off your clothes or being absolutely SMASHED out of you mind on the internet is a bad idea. (Note: I am not naive… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 25, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

New How-To Video!

Calling all Remixers!

We just released a new How-To demo which gives you all of the important tips on how to use the Remix America editing software.

Students with more experience in editing can switch from the Easy Editor to the Advanced Editor. The layout of the Advanced Editor is a little more like iMovie and it has a couple exclusive features. For example, the Advanced Editor allows two layers of soundtrack, so you can insert a song AND do a… Continue

Added by Erika Johansson on August 24, 2009 at 2:24pm — No Comments

The Weekly Update: August 17 - August 23

Check out popular blogs and important stories from last week... MORE

Added by Shawn Roner on August 24, 2009 at 8:42am — No Comments

test

Added by Patrick L on August 23, 2009 at 2:28pm — No Comments

Athazagoraphobic (*) or MSPDS - Multi-Syllabic Password Displacement Solution

Athazagoraphobic* Multi-Syllabic Password Displacement Solution

(MSPDS - or How to create passwords that are easy to remember)

As an instructional applications analyst of a rather large school district in west Texas (EPISD), I have not only to remember several passwords for different accounts at different computers, but these passwords have to make sense so that I don't have to be consulting my Palm Pilot constantly. A password-generating solution came to me after… Continue

Added by Alan Hodson on August 22, 2009 at 4:42pm — 1 Comment

TSA, LAX and My Low-Cut Shimmery Underwear on Security’s Conveyor Belt

Walking through the airport to go do some PD for a school in Texas this week (BTW, I’ve been on the road WAY too much this summer) I found myself, as all of us inevitably do when we travel, in a security line.

A security line that was going absolutely nowhere.

Goodness, I said to myself, don’t we all just love how efficient airports are these days? And with nothing to do other than to contemplate the inner machinations of brilliance on display and try to take a… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 22, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Children and Worries

The school year is starting again. Using books is a great way to start discussions and get children to open up about what they are thinking. Books that can be projected on to SmartBoards are even better. Children have a lot of worries and the year 2009 brings more worries than prior years. These worries are carrying over to our youth. Why not combine the power of technology and the power of books to open the children up to a discussion that can free children of some of these worries and start… Continue

Added by Bernice Wonderly on August 22, 2009 at 5:50am — No Comments

A few laughs: who don't they help through the week?

Do we need a longer school year filled with more intensive learning for our nation's children? How in the world can you not vote yes when you see some of the products of our current system?

And if you need more proof, here's another 4 minutes worth of goodies...…

Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 21, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Opening the Doors to Web 2.0 for 21st Century Enrichment in K-12

Today marked a turning point in the history of our school district. We officially implemented a progressive social media policy which now allows us to begin offering Web 2.0 integration into our curriculum. Things began to change with a new district leadership team last year who fostered a belief in 21st Century technology. On the Friday before the semester started this year we held a rally where our Superintendent showed teachers A Vision of K-12… Continue

Added by David Ligon on August 21, 2009 at 1:35am — 4 Comments

Less dizzy, more confounded.

I am over the dizzying speed of web tool introduction, and have settled into overload mode. After a couple of days off my seat and out on the golf course I am now ready to enter the realm of "Why do I have to use all of these tools and abandon my current teaching methodology?"

After all I like sugar. Oh, honey is great in tea but it makes my oatmeal clump up. Sweet and Low artificial sweetener is besides artificial, bitter, I like bitter beer, and bitters in my whisky, but not in my… Continue

Added by Artie O'Connor on August 20, 2009 at 6:52pm — No Comments

642 Hours to Complete Race to the Top Application

Wow. Is this normal? Anyone know?

Education Week: Heavy Lifting Ahead for ‘Race to Top’ Applications

Added by Jacqui Murray on August 20, 2009 at 11:29am — No Comments

The Real Test of a Highly Qualified School Administrator Is...

So how do we create stronger bonds in our schools? I mean relationships are everything, right? Without camaraderie, without trust, without believing truly in the heart, soul, and good intentions of the people for whom we work, how can a school really be expected to function?

So I have a proposal. I say the only people who should be allowed to work as administrator in public education must pass the test of the wife as seen in this clip.

You wanna be principal of… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 20, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Move Over Netbooks!

There’s a new laptop on the market, and it might challenge the popularity of netbooks, particularly in public schools. Wal-Mart is selling the new Compaq Presario for only $299. Since July when the retail giant began carrying the new laptop, stores throughout the country have had a difficult time keeping them on the shelf. MORE...

Added by Shawn Roner on August 19, 2009 at 9:46am — No Comments

Best Sites For Labor Day, Copyright, Online Safety & More

Hi, Everybody,

Here are some of the latest "The Best..." lists:

The Best “Practical” Ed Tech Blogs

(http://tinyurl.com/lk2pbq)

The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly 2009

(http://tinyurl.com/kswjt3)

The Best Sites To Learn About Advertising

(http://tinyurl.com/l3f89y)

The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela

(http://tinyurl.com/ktfe74)

The Best Twitterers For Sharing Resource… Continue

Added by Larry Ferlazzo on August 19, 2009 at 7:33am — No Comments

Smashing Through Our Problems Head Through Glass First

This is interesting... an engineering student (yes, a graduate student in engineering) not understanding the concept of an automatic sliding glass door.

And so he SMASHES THROUGH THE THING HEAD FIRST!!

Now at first, I thought, well, the guy is just an idiot. Except, then I realized, don't we often try to solve a lot of our problems in schools in much the same manner -- especially in the realm of NCLB. I mean when they don't know the… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 19, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

The true sundial of my life.

New Year's Eve is -- and always has been -- one of the most over-rated holidays on the calendar for me. Perpetual disappointment. (Actually, is it even an official holiday or is it just riding the coattails of Christmas in some way?) And while I am totally a night owl and will happily stay up chatting about most anything with folks until 3:00 a.m. if the topic/company warrants it -- yep, been know to do it on school nights, too -- getting obliterated, counting backwards from 10 to 1… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on August 18, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Web based resources for Physically Handicapped students (and other special needs students)

Final post in a series on Internet resources for Educators working with Special Needs students.

This week’s post is a bit of a mixed bag. I’ll wrap up this 5 part series with some information on resources for students with physical handicaps (other than… Continue

Added by Kelly Walsh on August 18, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Box.net - A Collaborative Tool for Professional Networks

Reposted from Meg's Notebook

The cloud / desktop relationship and the desired "seamless" bridging of content between the two is still a bumpy one, that is why any foray into cloud computing and online collaboration by a professional community requires a communications understanding and agreement by all participants for the selected collaborative tool to work. Many of us will use… Continue

Added by Meg H on August 17, 2009 at 4:08pm — No Comments