To listen click on the Play button >
Download MP3
NECC is one of those conferences that I try to make it to at least every other year as it is focused on educational technology at the K-12 level. Since EIU is a teacher preparation institution this conference allows me the chance to connect with others from all around the world in person and share our experiences with one another. The conference has a huge vendor area as well as a large number of sessions provided by practicing K-12 teachers.
If you would like to experience some of the conference with me and other attendees you can follow me on my Twitter account, twitter.com/tomgrissom, you can also search for the #NECC09 hash tag as many people attending this conference will mark their tweets with this tag. I spend as much time outside of sessions as I do sitting in sessions as there are always informal meet-ups that occur at this conference. Twitter allows me and others to get instant updates that often lead to informal sharing of ed tech experiences. If you are attending NECC and would like to meet in person send me a Direct Message (DM) and we will see if we can get together in DC.
Technology Pick of the Week
My Technology Pick of the Week this week is a fun photoediting website that allows you to easily produce creative effects in your photos using Web 2.0 technology. The name of the site is befunky and a link is available in the show notes.
befunky – creative photo effects
http://www.befunky.com/
This site is very easy to use and you do not need an account to begin using it. You can browse photos on your computer and upload them to befunky and then it as easy as selecting the special effect you would like applied to your photo. Special effects include cartoonizer, inkify, charcoal, scribbler, and sunburst to name a few.
Checkout the befunky special effects at:
http://www.befunky.com/photoApps.php#
This site makes it easy to be creative and produce some nice looking artwork all at the click of a mouse. Even folks like myself that are not that artistic can produce some amazing artwork. Give befunky a try and let me know what you think.
That wraps it up for episode 91 of TechTalk4Teachers. Transcripts and show notes for this episode and archived episodes are available on the web at the Eastern Illinois University Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you have questions, comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu or leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog. Until next time, this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning.
Friday, June 26, 2009
tt4t_091 NECC bound and loaded for learning
Friday, June 19, 2009
tt4t_090 The revolution is digitized, Twitter, the new News source
To listen click on the Play button >
Download MP3
I first became aware of this by noticing a tag in Twitter named #CNNfail last Saturday night as it was becoming a trending topic in Twitter. Many people on Twitter that night wanted to see live coverage of the aftermath of the Iranian election and expressed their displeasure with CNN for not broadcasting live coverage by using the #CNNfail tag. CNN instead was broadcasting re-runs, and in the opinion of many on Twitter, were not covering an international event of interest to them. In fact many are still using the #CNNfail tag today one week after the Iranian election is over.
Twitter has in a sense become a new News source for many. Twitter users are experiencing real-time news from fellow Twitter users that completely bypasses the old media. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing can be debated. Journalist are struggling to find a balance with real-time news coverage while at the same time checking sources for validity and trying to provide a rounded view of coverage. Of course this introduces the reporters bias into the reporting but this has always been the case.
I have posted a link in the show notes to an article by Robert Niles titled, Lessons for online journalists from #CNNFail and the Iran uprising, this article explains the conundrum journalists are currently facing as technologies are disrupting expectations of those that consume the news. Why bother with traditional media if you can get real-time tweets from individuals who are directly experiencing the news event?
Lessons for online journalists from #CNNFail and the Iran uprising
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/200906/1752/
If you are interested in this topic this article is worth your time to read and ponder the age we are currently living in and how this episode may impact future News coverage as old media like CNN learn their lesson from the Iranian election coverage, or lack thereof. I must pause a moment and re-read that last sentence as I just called CNN old media, not so long ago CNN was the new kid on the block and established the first 24 hour cable network news (CNN) channel on June 1, 1980. That was 29 years ago and for those of us old enough to remember many were skeptical that the public would be interested in a 24 hour news station covering news from around the world.
Fast forward 29 years to the present #CNNfail debacle and it appears CNN has strayed from its roots at a time when more people than ever are interested in international news. I have also provided a link to an article in the show notes that describes a brief overview of CNN if you are interested in learning more about the history of CNN.
CNN – A brief overview
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2643
As I write this episode today the number one trending topic in Twitter is still #iranelection. Twitter has now reached a critical mass of users and the collective conscious of its users is becoming a very powerful thing. Many people on Twitter have changed their Twitter icon to a green tint to show their support for Iranians protesting the election results. When something is trending on Twitter I am sure that its impact has exceeded the expectations of the original founders of this service. Many times these trends are frivolous but sometimes, as shown by events this past week, a revolution may be in the balance.
I am sure that Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone never expected in their wildest dreams that they would get a call from the United States State Department asking them to delay routine maintenance on Twitter servers because of an election half-way around the world. A link from a Reuters article is provided in the show notes reporting that the US State Department did indeed ask Twitter to delay maintenance because they were concerned that it would disrupt one of the few remaining communication methods that Iranian citizens were using to get the word out about Iranian election protests.
U.S. State Department speaks to Twitter over Iran
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSWBT01137420090616
Having been in a previous position of life and death responsibilities as a computer systems administrator for a hospital I know first-hand the burden this level of support requires. Raising the bar of expectations that a service may be responsible for a revolution must be most humbling to its founders. Given Twitters track record with the Fail Whale and reliability problems in the past it must be a bit frightening that its services may be becoming mission critical to many users of its service.
People do tend to get upset if the service is not available and most have little understanding of the need for periodic server maintenance. Since Twitter is now a global service there is never a time that will not impact some users of its services so they do their best to minimize maintenance disruptions. The irony is that if they did not do this routine maintenance from time to time the entire service could go down. So here we are in a real-time world where the expectations of always connected services have become the norm.
Technology Pick of the Week
My Technology Pick of the Week this week is a reading recommendation called the Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning by George Siemens and Peter Tittenberger. Since many teachers are on or will soon be on summer break this handbook should be put on your summer reading list as it provides an excellent educational perspective on learning technologies and their uses in the classroom and online.
Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning (HETL)
http://umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies/cetl/HETL.pdf
While the target audience is for higher education faculty, teachers in the K-12 environment will also find it equally valuable as it mixes both pedagogy and technology to provide a foundational level of knowledge for transformational learning empowered by technologies.
That wraps it up for episode 90 of TechTalk4Teachers. Transcripts and show notes for this episode and archived episodes are available on the web at the Eastern Illinois University Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you have questions, comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu or leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog. Until next time, this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning.
Friday, June 12, 2009
tt4t_089 Analog TV says goodbye, hello DTV
To listen click on the Play button >
Download MP3
For myself and some of my neighbors in this part of rural Illinois this transition already has impacted the choices of TV channels available. Back in February I helped my grandparents install a new national branded digital TV converter box that allowed them to watch a few local stations. After having this converter box for some time now my grandparents were not satisfied with it and stated that the old way was better. After quizzing them about what they were missing they stated that there were a few channels they used to be able to get but that they could not get anymore.
I recently purchased a more expensive Channel Master converter box and replaced the existing branded version that my grandparents had purchased from Walmart. The new converter box does seem to receive more channels than the old one. There does appear to be some quality differences between different brands and models of converter boxes so you may want to do some additional testing if you are experiencing problems with DTV reception.
The other frustrating factor for my grandparents was that the converter boxes have a separate remote control with smaller buttons. Both my grandparents are near 90 years of age and this change really has personally impacted them as they have little understanding of the technical details. All they want to be able to do is watch a little TV from time to time and they do not understand the need for change because things were working fine before.
I will need to check back on my grandparents this weekend as the DTV.gov website has an Alert today that states that some people may have to “RESCAN” their channels after the switchover is finalized today. My grandparents have no idea what this means yet alone how to do it. I have provided a screenshot of the DTV.gov website in the show notes with the Alert message. Please check-in on your friends and neighbors to make sure that everything is OK after todays digital TV switch-over.
Technology Pick of the Week
My Technology Pick of the Week this week is from the recent E3 gaming conference that features some interesting new ways to interact with your gaming console. Most of us are aware of the Nintendo Wii and you may have had the chance to play some interactive games using the Wii controllers in games like bowling, tennis, baseball, and boxing.
Last week at the E3 conference Microsoft announced Project Natal, pronounced Nah-tall, that completely eliminates the controller all together and in fact makes YOU the controller! This is truly amazing technology and the camera sensors in the system can map movements of your body and interactively incorporate them into a variety of games. A link is available in the show notes.
Project Natal –XBox 360 – where YOU are the controller!
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/
Be sure to check-out this link as it has a video demonstation of what this new system is capable of including a boy playing a game using Karate moves to beat an opponent, a girl playing an auto racing game where her Dad is in the Pit Crew changing tires, and a family playing a Jeopardy-like game using voice recognition. This video may take a bit to download but is certainly worth the wait. To be fair this technology will not be available commercially for at least another year or so but it does give you an inside look into where the Xbox 360 gaming system is headed.
Long time listeners of TechTalk4Teachers may remember way back on Episode 18 that I gave an overview of how Johnny Chung Lee used a Wii remote to build a low-cost interactive white board. A link to Episode 18 is in the show notes.
Episode 18 – Johnny Chung Lee
http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com/2007/12/tt4t018-nintendo-wii-with-educational.html
It just so happens that Johnny Chung Lee is now employed by Microsoft and has recently been assigned to the Project Natal team. If you would like to see what Johnny has been up to I have also provided a link to his blog called Procrastineering in the show notes where he explains some of the basics of Project Natal.
Procrastineering
http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2009/06/project-natal.html
That wraps it up for episode 89 of TechTalk4Teachers. Transcripts and show notes for this episode and archived episodes are available on the web at the Eastern Illinois University Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you have questions, comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu or leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog. Until next time, this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning.
Monday, June 1, 2009
tt4t_088 The netbooks are coming, the netbooks are coming
To listen click on the Play button >
Download MP3
This will provide an instant 1 to 1 computing solution for our students. The netbook carts will be placed in two different buildings to serve the needs of our faculty and students. We are very excited to add an additional building on campus that previously did not have this capability so that more of our students have an opportunity to utilize technology resources.
Add in the fact that we saved over 70 percent that a full-sized laptop cart solution would have cost and our business managers are also smiling. When you can equip an entire classroom for 30 cents on the dollar then you have maximized your investment while at the same time impacted more students, a win-win situation. We were able to buy more than twice the number of laptops for the mobile carts for less than half of the cost of the old way of doing business.
The ITC has had experience with mobile laptop carts dating back to 2001. Before that time we used what we called the Computers on Wheels model, aka COWS, for a one computer in the classroom approach. Now, with over 8 years of experience with laptop carts for our classrooms we know that the addition of the new netbook carts will provide a beneficial classroom learning environment providing our students with access to 21st Century tools in the classroom.
When we first started using the mobile laptop carts we did not have any wireless access in any of the buildings on campus. Back then we had to take an 802.11 access point along with the mobile cart and find a Local Area Network jack to plug the access point into near the vicinity of the classroom every time the mobile cart was checked out. Since that time our campus has added wireless access in all of our buildings which makes delivering the carts much easier.
Currently the ITC has two mobile carts with full-sized Gateway laptops and one cart with Mac iBooks. The biggest benefit I am looking forward to with the netbooks is the up to nine hour battery life that the new eee PC 1000he models have. Students typically get between 1.5 hours and 3 hours of battery life out of the existing laptops we currently have in the ITC and this short battery life is the biggest hassle we deal with for our existing mobile laptop carts on a daily basis. The current mobile carts are routinely checked out from the ITC and are often are checked out in back-to-back classes. We try our best to rotate the carts so that the batteries will be fully charged but the popularity of the mobile carts with faculty often prevent having adequate time to recharge the batteries. This means that students often need to find an electrical outlet in the classrooms to use them. Having the possibility of full day computing with the new netbooks is something we are looking forward to.
Add in the capability of the eeeasaurus classroom presentation system with the new netbook carts and we truly do have a very powerful learning environment that is powered by technology at much more affordable costs than was previously possible. We are still waiting on the new mobile carts to arrive on campus but as soon as they get here we will be ready setup and deploy the new netbook carts and we are looking forward to providing this opportunity to our students.
LifeHacker has an article on the Five Best Netbooks this week with a poll of their readers. Head on over to the Lifehacker article listed in the show notes to read this article and cast your vote or see the results of the interactive poll. I am happy to report that the eee PC 1000he model we selected made the top five list.
http://lifehacker.com/5273096/five-best-netbooks
Technology Pick of the Week
My Technology Pick of the Week this week is an online collaborative whiteboard application that allows you to easily create drawings that can be shared with others. Dabbleboard allows you to easily create flowchart-like, as well as freehand drawings. You do not need to sign-up for an account and you can immediately begin to use this tool. Be sure to check out the links that are provided in the show notes for more information about Dabbleboard.
http://dabbleboard.com/
http://dabbleboard.com/tour
Top Ten Reasons to use Dabbleboard"
http://dabbleboard.com/tour#reasons
If you do decide to sign-up for an account Dabbleboard offers both free and paid accounts. With an account you can share your dabbleboard with others and it even offers an embed code that you can use to post to your blog or website. You can even download an image once you have created it so you have a permanent record of your whiteboard drawing. I have used Dabbleboard with a SMART board and it works very well, using your finger to draw freehand shapes is much more natural than with a computer mouse.
That wraps it up for episode 88 of TechTalk4Teachers. Transcripts and show notes for this episode and archived episodes are available on the web at the Eastern Illinois University Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you have questions, comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu or leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog. Until next time, this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning.
