March 2008 Blog Posts (128)

Google Launches a Contacts Data API

I have been getting happier with the contact management tools available in Gmail...and some of the integration with other Google Applications.

I would like to see more social networking and social graph management tools, like their recent social graph api release.

Now Google has added another simple, yet powerful tool to their API arsenal. A common contact list has helped power applications like Gmail, Google Reader, and Google Calendar, and with the launch of the Google… Continue

Added by Kin Lane on March 19, 2008 at 1:44am — No Comments

Marketing Using Facebook

Was just reading Facebook Marketing Opportunities over at Digital Podcast.

I am currently playing around with several strategies for marketing our companies products on Facebook.

His statement about 8 ways to market on Facebook really stood out, and I have seen reciprocated on several other core marketing blogs:

* Application Development

* Group Participation

* Paid Groups

* Targete Ads

* Newsfeed Advertising

* Beacon Advertising

*… Continue

Added by Kin Lane on March 19, 2008 at 1:44am — No Comments

Why We Give More Weight to Facebook Application Development Over MySpace

I was just reading MySpace Developer Platform: Jim Benedetto, MySpace on Jeremiah Owyang's blog. He is at the Social Graph Conference in San Diego. I wish I was there.

Anyways he was posting a bunch of information about the MySpace development platform and it really shows an impressive approach on their part in reaching out to the developers community.

Their approach is much better than Facebook.

Yet we still give more priority to building Facebook apps and… Continue

Added by Kin Lane on March 19, 2008 at 1:43am — No Comments

Resources for podcasting in ed

Here are some mashups I've done to start off workshops on podcasting in education. It helps people to see the relevance and to come up with ideas for making their own podcasts. [Credits below.]

Fastest 5 Minutes in Podcasting

(audio; includes admin, PD, instructional, and student-produced)

Fastest 3 Minutes in Podcasting

(audio; includes instructional and student-produced)

* See my playlist for links to these. [I'm apparently not smart… Continue

Added by Karen Fasimpaur on March 18, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

The ever going demand of Tutoring

Looking at the current educational trend there is a strong demand for tutors in the United States and UK, propelled in part by highly ambitious students aiming for admission into high profile courses and competitive colleges and by others who qualify for publicly funded tutoring because of No Child Left Behind. Some online, offshore companies already provide NCLB tutoring; others say they will apply to states soon.

The big question that arises here is can students learn this way? To me… Continue

Added by Jasonrichmond on March 18, 2008 at 10:42am — 1 Comment

Interesting unit

I am planning a unit for May that is overwhelming right now. One part of the unit is poetry. I was inspired by the Favorite Poem project -- cool book. A call was made for people to submit their favorite poems -- not written by them -- written by others. They wrote a short explanation as to why it was there favorite poem -- how it touched them. The project group then contacted some of them to create video stories showing why this poem was their favorite -- the dvd is included with the book -- it… Continue

Added by mary moore on March 18, 2008 at 9:39am — No Comments

The Savvy Teacher’s Digital Toolbox: iGoogle Homepage

By Alix E. Peshette

Cross-posted from EdTech Gold Rush

Many teachers search the web for online resources, images, dictionaries, translation help, news of the day, interactive activities and blogs of interest. Those sites are often bookmarked and usually forgotten in the hodge-podge of the web browser Favorites list.

A lot of teachers spend the day with the web browser homepage showing on the computer monitor. Some… Continue

Added by Alix E. Peshette on March 17, 2008 at 8:00pm — 4 Comments

Enough is Enough

(crossposted at Durff's Blog)

This summer the Olympics are taking place in a country that is assisting genocide in another country AND in their own.

I call for a boycott! My small contribution will be to NOT watch the Olympics. I'm not an athlete (good thing or we would surely lose) so I can't refuse to participate that way. I'm not the CEO of a major funding source for the games. What I can and will do is not tune in to any tv… Continue

Added by Durff on March 17, 2008 at 6:46pm — No Comments

Look at the interactive fun Purim (halloween) invitation we put on our school homepage

Visit this link: Hillel School Purim Party Invitation
You choose a mask (right tab), than color its area using the color palette (left tab).

The game-online-invitation was developed and donated by Netica
Isn't it fun?

Added by Or-Tal Kiriati on March 17, 2008 at 7:02am — 1 Comment

Something to remember?

I just returned home from North Carolina where I presented at the NCaect conference, I took my wife and her mother along so they could revisit Fayetteville, the place they had spent some a precious years while my wife's father was stationed at Ft. Brag. My son and I were in tow as the two women came face to face with two similar but different re-aquaintences with the past. I have revisited powerful places and felt the strange realignment of past and present as my mind rummaged through closets… Continue

Added by Kevin on March 15, 2008 at 10:00pm — 4 Comments

New listserv for charter school teachers

Cross-posted in several places....

http://groups.google.com/group/charterschoolconnections

I could have started another ning... but I thought I'd start with a good old-fashioned listserv!

I'm starting an unofficial and informal listserv for people interested in or working in charter schools across the country. The inspiration for this is the wonderful ISED listserv… Continue

Added by Lucy Gray on March 15, 2008 at 9:55pm — No Comments

MACE

U Scream, I Scream we all scream for UStream. That was my presentation title at the MACE conference in Manhattan, Kansas. My first speaking engagement. As a teacher you know you must speak to a crowd daily and so it should have come to no surprise but was I ready to speak about technology tools to others. This must be something others see in me, speaking publicly. The event went without a hitch. MACE is another great opportunity to become absorbed, inspired and ready to delve into the… Continue

Added by Teresa Morgan on March 15, 2008 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

Seeking Expertise

So, this past week I was involved in a committee meeting. This committee's job is to create faculty development opportunities at the small liberal arts college where I teach. We are in the process now of planning next August's "welcome back" faculty-development day. Ordinarily we bring in an outside speaker who dedicates at least half a day to a workshop on a relevant topic. So, the question came up, "What should the topic be next August?" After listening to a couple of tired ideas, I asked my… Continue

Added by James E. Schwartz on March 14, 2008 at 8:41pm — 1 Comment

Assessing students in a constructivist classroom

This special edition is up at http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/

April's edition will focus on assessing creative projects. You can submit articles at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_2804.html

Added by Deirdre Bonnycastle on March 14, 2008 at 3:33pm — No Comments

Inclusioncast is launched

It is not much, but I am proud to announce the birth of my very first podcast. Check it out at my blog.

Added by David James on March 13, 2008 at 10:34pm — No Comments

It's Not About the Tool

I'm listening to and watching a presentation Will Richardson gave at Manhattan High School yesterday I wish I could tag the video and write notes (tag) in places as I watch it like you can on Viddler which Ryan showed me the other day.

[Twitter Moment: I couldn't remember the name of the taggable, shareable video site and unfortunately I didn't post it to my delicious, so I just sent… Continue

Added by Lee Ann Spillane on March 13, 2008 at 5:42pm — No Comments

Blogs, Phones

I noticed something the other day. Try not to laugh, but I think the light went on in terms of tags. I use tags, though I think mine are a bit random, but as I was reading Will Richardson's blog the other day I started to see how many people's tags fit together. Just a small ah-ha I suppose. How much time does it take folks to cull through tags. I'm thinking of David Warlick's August presentation… Continue

Added by Lee Ann Spillane on March 13, 2008 at 4:00am — No Comments

Thoughts as a result of Wesley Fryer's video "Strive to Engage not Enthrall" PD video.

With our laptop program we have teachers that want to have technology available and accessible, so they select to have classroom discipline and do manage and observe the students. This is a big emphasis out our middle school. I have had 3 Internet browsing violations from those students in 3.5 years compared to the high school; I may have that in a month. I feel that the reason our middle school teachers do a good job is that they do get up and observe students, interact with them while they… Continue

Added by Dean Mantz on March 12, 2008 at 11:14pm — 2 Comments

Thoughts after reading Wesley Fryer's weblog on school Internet filtering.

As a former teacher and now the Director of Technology for a school district in Kansas, I agree with many of these comments. I too am deeply involved in developing our technology and providing a "Differentiated" scheme to our school district Internet as well as providing additional training for the implementation of technology as a resource and not just another tool.

Our school district has a 1:1 laptop program with students in grades 7-12. The lower levels of students are about… Continue

Added by Dean Mantz on March 12, 2008 at 10:30pm — 2 Comments

[title: unknown]= nonsense poem

Think of when he was in this big spotlight
a standing meerkat or something.
I decided at the football game,
dordados distress was characterized as a devil.
It beat down from a doctor's office
though inconsistent to dress,
I came in, faustus, out of it,
like a goddamn watchman.

Added by CAtHERiNE on March 12, 2008 at 12:00pm — No Comments