tt4t_040 Asus eee PC increased battery life on the way…

It’s Monday, June 2nd, 2008 and welcome to episode 40 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. Like many of you the spring semester is now behind us and I look forward to working on some new projects that I have just not had the time to get to. The problem is things were suppose to be slowing down by now and that has just not happened. We are installing new computers for faculty and in some of our classrooms and labs over the summer so that work is just now beginning. Plans are to have everything installed and tested with plenty of time left to explore some new technologies this summer.

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The mini-laptop movement intrigues me as an affordable way to provide mobile computing to students inside and outside the classroom. In the past, in my opinion, laptops have been too heavy and too pricey to implement on a wide scale. Short battery life and access to slow wireless connections have been additional problems. There is news today that the new eee PC 901 is scheduled to be out this summer with the new Intel ATOM based processors that are suppose to require less energy to operate. Preliminary reports indicate a 4 to 6 hour battery life for this new model. While that is much better than the current 2 hour battery life in existing models it is still not enough to last an entire school day. A link is provided in the show notes to an article about the new eee PC Model 901 if you are interested in learning more.

eee PC 901 – new model with Intel ATOM based processor
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/146545/asus_shows_off_atombased_eee_pc.html

Asus Website
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/

The eee PC mini-laptops offer a laptop computer that weighs less than three pounds for approximately $550.00 If purchased in bulk this price should be available for less than $500.00 Still not the $200.00 mini-laptop that was originally envisioned by the one-laptop-per-child group but things are definitely getting cheaper and new models are offering less compromises on features. This price point is less than half-price of many existing one-to-one computing initiatives.

One Laptop Per Child Website
http://laptop.org/laptop/

We have recently tested the eee PC 8G model with Linux and are very pleased with its capability. The number one complaint I read from others is that the keyboard is too small. Newsflash, this is a mini-laptop model! I do have large hands and the keyboard is a bit cumbersome to use but I can adapt for small amounts of typing. If I want to type for longer periods of time I just plug-in a full-size keyboard to one of the three available USB ports and have no limitations. For those that say the screen-size is too small I can plug-in a VGA monitor and have a full-size screen also available if I so choose.

For now I am anxiously awaiting the new eee PC 901 model with the improved battery life. The 8G model gets approximately 2 hours of battery life and that has really limited my use of this model. The form factor for me is in the sweet-spot of not being too small as to have to use two-fingers to type and not so large that I would leave it in the office when I go to meetings. It is also rumored that a Wi-Max option may be available in the near future that would improve wireless speeds. That is if Wi-Max is available in your area. Currently Wi-Max is not available in this part of rural Illinois. If anyone has the new eee PC model 900 or gets the new 901 model I would love to hear your experience with this laptop. Please leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog to share with others.

As I mentioned on the last show I will be attending the National Educational Computing Conference better known as NECC in San Antonio, Texas at the end of this month. If any listeners are planning to attend NECC and would like to meet up at this event please drop me an email at techtalk@eiu.edu and we will see if we can arrange a time and place to meet while in San Antonio. I would love to meet fellow listeners/readers face-to-face to compare notes so please let me know if you are interested.

NECC 2008 San Antonio Link:
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/

Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is a new text to mind-mapping tool that works really well especially when used in conjunction with a SMART Board. This is a Web 2.0 open-source service that is used to create a simple mind map from text. When you visit the site on the left-hand side of the screen there will be a text box with an example. To use this site simply erase the content in the example text box and type in the information you would like to have displayed in mind map form. When you indent the text using the Tab key the indented text will become a sub-category of the text above when the mind map is created.

Text to Mind Map Tool
http://www.text2mindmap.com/

This text to mind map website is a very simple tool but as teachers know the more ways that we can present material to students the better chance there is for students to understand and retain the information. Mind maps are great tools for visualizing student conceptual understanding and can be used by teachers to quickly assess student understanding of a topic by simply glancing at a student created mind map. Having things represented by both text and in graphic form also reinforces the information presented using multiple pathways. Students can manipulate the mind map using the interactive SMART Board and this gives the students an added layer of interaction and kinesthetic learning. Here is a hint when using this site with the SMART Board. There is a new feature released this month called Freeze Map that when checked allows the user to move the mind map entries. You can use your finger to click and drag the content objects and place them in the way you would like to have it displayed on the SMART Board. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

That wraps it up for episode 40 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to make a comment or suggestion 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

tt4t_039 Up, Up, and Away….

It’s Tuesday, May 27th 2008 and welcome to episode 39 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. I hope all had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend and had the opportunity to honor our veterans. Here in the midwest we had rain off and on all weekend so hopefully everyone was able to get in their cookouts between the rains. As graduations conclude across the country and schools recess for the summer I invite fellow educators to stay tuned to TechTalk4Teachers as I plan to continue producing episodes over the summer.

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There may be a week or two that I do not post an episode when I take vacation but I will let you know ahead of time. At the end of June I will be attending the National Educational Computing Conference better known as NECC in San Antonio, Texas so I should have plenty of new material to cover when I get back. I am really looking forward to this conference as this is the largest educational technology conference in the nation and there will be thousands of educators from across the world attending. If any of you are attending NECC and would like to meet up at this event please drop me an email at techtalk@eiu.edu and we will see if we can arrange a time and place to meet while in San Antonio. I would love to meet fellow listeners/readers face-to-face to compare notes so please let me know if you are interested.

NECC 2008 San Antonio Link:
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/

Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is the recently released Worldwide Telescope website developed by Microsoft Research. If you have any interest at all in Astronomy this is an absolute must see website. It does require a client download and uses Internet Explorer so those with Macs will have to boot into Windows if you have that option to use this site. If you meet the system requirements to download the software it is definitely worth it to fully experience this wonderful resource for educators.

This site is like a combination of Google Earth that meets the heavens and the Hubble space telescope. I was blown away by the high definition NASA images available at this site and this site alone could be the textbook for a multi-semester course on Astronomy. There are several canned demos that you can also view. One of my favorites is the Earth at night that shows all the lights on Planet Earth. You can really tell the industrialized world from more remote areas from space. Most striking was the absence of light from North Korea as compared to South Korea.

Here is a quote from the Worldwide Telescope that explains what it is:

“The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe.”
A link to the Worldwide Telescope is provided in the show notes.

Worldwide Telescope
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/

What is the Worldwide Telescope?
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/whatIs/whatIsWWT.aspx

Once using the software you can use your mouse to scroll through the night sky and zoom in and out on objects in space. When you zoom in you will be presented with a high definition image from thousands of space objects and terabytes of data including deep space objects like galaxies and Messier objects. You can also view the sky from different vantage points on Earth. There are exquisite photographs of all of the planets and moons in our solar system and many demos of moon eclipses and demos where astronomers lead you through a guided tour of Space. If you are a science teacher this is an excellent site to spend some of your summer leisure hours reviewing. After exploring this site I think you will be inspired to break out that telescope and go outside and view the marvels of the heavens this summer.

That wraps it up for episode 39 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc, just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to make a comment or suggestion 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

tt4t_038 An elephant in the room, can OpenID help schools?

It’s Monday, May 19th 2008 and welcome to episode 38 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. I recently had a conversation with some colleagues about how many of the Web 2.0 technologies seem to offer wonderful possibilities for educators but there is often a reluctance at the district level to implement projects that offer new and exciting possibilities for teachers and students on a wider scale. There always seems to be an elephant in the room about using Web 2.0 technologies that few want to talk about. The elephant is the need for established acceptable use policies and guidelines for Web 2.0 services that are followed up with practical procedures for creating and managing user accounts.

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Whose responsibility is it to create Web 2.0 accounts? Is it the teachers? Is it the parents? Is it the schools? Internet safety is a prime concern for all educators that use the Internet for classroom activities. States are beginning to mandate Internet Safety courses as more and more of our students venture onto social networking sites that can be a dangerous place, especially for K-12 students if not used appropriately. Many students are using these technologies at home whether the school (or the parents in many cases) allows this use or not. Establishing policies and guidelines on the front-end can help to avoid potential problems and abuses that can occur without clear expectations and boundaries. Many schools do require parental permission before beginning Web 2.0 projects and these projects should be discussed and approved with administration before any new project begins.

Even with the administrative and parent/gaurdian approval being met there is still a recurring set of issues that educators face everytime they want to use a new Web 2.0 service. First you have to establish an account with a userid and password that is unique to the service you are wanting to use. In doing so the user agrees to a Terms and Service agreement that probably 99.9 percent of users ever read, yet alone understand. For Web 2.0 services like MySpace there is a clause that states that users must be at least 14 years of age to establish an account to use MySpace. To complicate matters most Terms of Service agreements also state that they can change the terms of use at anytime for any reason. Another problem is that on the web there is no way to verify the accuracy of the account information so it is very easy to get an account even if a student is under the age of 14. Usually in less than five minutes anyone can get an account on many of these social networking sites by simply filling out a form. Many parents and students don’t even know this age limitation exists on MySpace and many parents may not even know their child has a social networking account. When a user signs-up for an account they are agreeing to the Terms of Service that truthfully represents oneself and the user agrees to meet all of the terms of use for the account.

This anonymity of the web is the first problem that we educators face along with the fact that you never really know who is on the other side of that userid. This anonymity often offers a false sense for security and privacy especially for younger users that do not stop to think about the consequences of posting information to the web. Many times information that is meant to be private becomes public because it is so easy to copy and re-disseminate digital information on the web sometimes without the users permission.

So here is a proposal that may help the recurring problem of establishing Web 2.0 user accounts with the emerging OpenID standard. This proposal may help with some aspects of management but it will not solve all of the issues related to Web 2.0 accounts for school use. A few episodes back on TechTalk4Teachers I introduced you to the OpenID initiative that offers the promise of establishing one central account that can be used by multiple Web 2.0 services. Here are some of my thoughts on the OpenID movement from an educational perspective. First as a parent I want to have access to my childs online accounts just in case problems occur or in case I need to disable the account due to inappropriate use. Since the OpenID movement is in the beginning stages of development I was wondering if there would be a way for OpenID to create a hierarchical account structure that could identify parent level access for a childs account? Perhaps there could also be a field that would identify if an account belonged to an underage student and therefore could be used by Internet sites to help protect the account from inappropriate material on the Internet not suitable for minors.

Businesses might also find this OpenID hierarchical account structure useful. Information technology services whether for a business or a school utilize their own internal directory structures that allow control of access to user accounts if needed. When the accounts move to the Internet information technology services have no control or access to accounts and can thus create a number of problems not the least of which is the loss of control over IT functions that help protect businesses and schools. A third category of this hierarchical structure could be for a trusted Administrator account like a superuser account for the business or school that could allow schools or businesses to access accounts if needed similar to what information technology department deal with on a day-to-day basis.

There are problems with this method as well since all activity is tied to a user account that can be traced to the userid so privacy concerns can arise here as a users activity can be tracked. There are also issues of who owns the user account; the business, or the school, or the teacher, or parent, or student? There are no easy answers but these issues need to be worked through on a case-by-case basis. Until these questions are answered we will not see wide-spread adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in schools because these basic questions need solutions. For now many schools are taking these Web 2.0 services in-house where they have control of the servers and accounts but many schools lack the resources and personnel to make this a viable solution. We need access to these resources that can scale and at the same time offer some degree of local control when needed. I know this is probably wishful thinking but as more and more services become available in the cloud we need to find solutions to these problems that stop many educators from using Web 2.0 services out of the gate.

What do you think? How are your schools using Web 2.0 technologies and addressing the policy issues of using software-as-a-service (SAAS) applications? What keeps you from using Web 2.0 services in the classroom? Please leave a comment on the TechTalk4Teachers blog to share your comments with others.

Tom’s Technology Pick(s) of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is actually a two for one mention for a helpful Web 2.0 service for storing and organizing photos online along with a cool browser plug-in for previewing online photos and videos. First for those of you that don’t already know about Flickr; the Flickr service offers an online storage space for you to upload and share digital photographs with others. You can establish a copyright or creative commons license regarding how you would like to share these photographs online with others. Flickr is part of Yahoo and has been around since 2004. If you have used the del.icio.us social bookmarking service this concept will seem familiar to you as del.icio.us is also from Yahoo so you will see some commonality between the Flickr and del.icio.us services. To learn more about del.icio.us be sure to checkout the archived version of Episode 12 of TechTalk4Teachers.

TechTalk4Teachers – Episode 12:
http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com/2007/11/tt4t012-social-bookmarking-its-mmm-mmm.html

The Flickr service is built around uploading photos for online storage and tagging of your digital photographs by keyword so that you can organize and easily find them when you need to. Like del.icio.us you can search on a keyword tag for your collection or also see the photographs of other Flickr users tagged with the same keyword. Since we are dealing with photo content there is not a completely safe way to screen the content of all pictures tagged and therefore any use of this service in a classroom setting needs to take this into consideration. This service may be blocked by content filtering services at schools for this very reason. A link to the Flickr service is provided in the show notes.
Flickr.com – Online photo sharing site.
http://www.flickr.com/

My second Pick of the Week goes to a plug-in for the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers that is a really cool new way of previewing photo images or videos on websites. This requires a download of the plug-in for your browser of choice but once installed offers an attractive and easy method for viewing photos online. The name of this browser plug-in is PicLens. The PicLens plug-in works with Google images, Flickr, YouTube, and other websites that display photographs or videos and allows the user to quickly scroll thru tons of images very quickly to find what you are looking using a very attractive 3D interface. Like the Flickr service the user needs to be aware that photographic and video content cannot be guaranteed to be appropriate for all audiences so as with all of these services be very careful with any photographic and video content from the web. I recommend that you download material you wish to use that is safe for classroom use rather than rely upon an open service that may contain inappropriate content that can change at anytime.

PicLens – Provides an immersive full-screen 3D viewing experience for viewing photographs and videos online:
http://www.piclens.com/site/ie/

If you have not seen PicLens in action I encourage you to click on the link provided in the show notes and view the demo on this very impressive browser plug-in.
That wraps it up for episode 38 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode along with archived versions are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to make a comment or suggestion 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

tt4t_037 So many choices, so little time…..

It’s Monday, May 12th 2008 and welcome to episode 37 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. This week is the beginning of our summer session here at EIU and I am looking forward to a little more relaxed atmosphere and have hopes of getting to some projects over the summer that have been on the back burner. The problem is determining what projects I should focus my attention on because there are so many I would like to explore.

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So I thought I would turn to you, the listener/reader, and ask what technologies you are currently using or what technologies you are interested in using for educational purposes that warrant further investigation?

Back on Episode 16 of TechTalk4Teachers I selected a Web 2.0 directory called GotoWeb20 as my Technology Pick of the week. I have provided a link to this directory in the show notes if you are interested in seeing a listing of Web 2.0 companies that this website offers.

Web 2.0 Directory
http://www.go2web20.net/

As of December 14, 2007 there were 1859 Web 2.0 companies listed in this directory. As of today, May 12th, 2008, there are now 2382 companies listed. Thus there has been a net increase of over 500 new Web 2.0 companies listed in this directory over just the past five months. Granted many of these companies are small startups hoping to make it big in the Web 2.0 space and many may not have educational applications but the sheer number of new choices make it a daunting task for educators trying keep up with the rapid pace of development currently underway. How do we even begin to qualify these services to validate if they have worthy educational value?

We are living in the wild, wild, west days of Web 2.0 where companies are fighting for recognition and a valid business model that will keep them in business. With so many choices how do educators find resources that are useful and at the same time have any sense of confidence that the companies will be around next year?

Education is about the future. As we prepare students for the future the number one ability, in my opinion, is teaching students how to learn, and re-learn. No human can possibly keep up with all the innovations currently underway and even if we could this would be a never ending cycle as new innovations continually appear. So perhaps it is time to reevaluate my strategy of trying to keep up.

As I approach the summer I am torn between exploring breadth versus depth of some of the new Web 2.0 tools. My approach may change but as of now I am leaning toward revisiting some of the older Web 2.0 tools that I have successfully used and investigate them further and deeper, sometimes less is more. Having said that we are in a time of tremendous innovation and I worry that I might miss something of value as I narrow my focus. What do you think? How do you handle your quest for new knowledge of the wild, wild, Web 2.0? Please leave a comment in the blog or send your comments to techtalk@eiu.edu so we can share them with others. As I talk with other educators I know many feel the way I do so I am interested in how you approach your learning about Web 2.0 services.

Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is the new Smart Notebook Version 10 software. A link is provided in the show notes to the Version 10 Notebook software along with some great tutorials on some of the new features. Version 10 of the Smart Notebook software is now available for download at the Smart Technologies website. Be aware that you will need the serial number of a Smart Board that you use in order to download this new Version 10 software as Smart Technologies have changed their download policies and procedures. Here is a brief summary of new Version 10 Smart Notebook features: First the Table Tool.

Table Tool:
Educators have been asking for a Table tool for a long time in notebook and I am happy to report that Version 10 does in fact offer a table tool. It is very easy to create a table however it was not that easy or intuitive for me to move the table once it was created. To move the table, something most teachers will want to do, you have to select the entire table by drawing a selection box around the table. Next you click the gray button in the upper left corner of the selected table and hold and drag the table to the area of the screen that you want. The Table tool also features a shades feature that allows the teacher to place a shade over each cell in the table. This can be useful for teachers that want to reveal material in a step-by-step fashion. It also has some interesting game possibilities.

Object Animation:
This feature is a lot like the animation feature of PowerPoint. To animate an object or text click on the pull-down menu of the object or text and select Properties. From here you will be able to select an animation such as fly-in, fade, rotate, and so forth.

Themes:
Educators have also been asking for Themes similar to PowerPoint styles and Smart has also delivered on this feature. There currently are not that many choices for Themes that come standard with Version 10 but you can create your own Theme by using a JPG graphic of your choice.

Magic Pen:
This is my second most favorite new tool just behind tables. The magic pen allows you to draw a circle and the circle will become a spotlight tool to draw students attention to the area of the notebook file you want students to pay attention to. Drawing a square with the magic pen places the magic pen in Zoom mode and you can zoom in to an area of the screen you would like to magnify to see more details. The magic pen fade tool is a tool you can use to make non-permanent notes on a notebook slide. When you use this feature the notes you make will fade away after 10 seconds. This is a great idea because so many teachers annotate a notebook slides to draw attention to certain points but do not want the notes to be permanent. If you use the magic pen fade tool the notes will automatically erase for you.

Shape Tool:
The shape tool allows you to draw freehand shapes and have them recognized and changed into the intended shape that is much neater than you can draw freehanded. The shape tool recognizes squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, triangles, and more.

The Smart Technologies website does a good job explaining the new features of version 10 and I encourage you to visit this site to learn more and watch the demo tutorials on these new features. A link is provided in the show notes. If you are a new Smart Board user or current version 9 user these demos will quickly get you up-to-speed with the new features of Version 10 of the Smart Notebook.

Smart Notebook Version 10
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Board+software/default.htm?WT.mc_id=nb10_spotlight_image

That wraps it up for episode 37 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at http://www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you are using Version 10 of the Smart notebook software let us know what you think about the new version, if you would like to make a comment or suggestion 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

tt4t_036 Podcasting With Third Graders – Project WOW

It’s Monday, May 5th 2008 and welcome to episode 36 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. Last week we held an open house for members of Project WOW that showcased the projects that our local third graders have been working on. It was a beautiful day and despite the wonderful weather we had a great turnout as many parents chose to stop by to see the work of their children. Project WOW is headed up by Judy Barford, a professor in the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle Level Education department here at EIU, Project WOW partners with two local third grade classes.

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This is the tenth year for Project WOW and this project has achieved much success over the years. Project WOW began with a project based learning approach that matched EIU preservice teachers in teaching methods courses with local classrooms. This approach has produced countless authentic learning experiences for both the preservice teachers and the third grade students.

This year Project WOW selected an Abraham Lincoln unit that produced many great projects. Children were grouped into teams that created concept maps, lessons, and podcasts about the life of Abraham Lincoln. The children also listened to several guest speakers about the life and times of Abraham Lincoln and some of the many jobs Abe had worked at over his lifetime. The preservice teachers helped create webpages for each team of third grade students that tied together all the projects including a podcast produced by each team about Abraham Lincoln.

Many teachers are doing great work across the nation and you often need to look no further than your own backyard to see excellence in action. Too often this work goes unrecognized. We as teachers need to see more great examples and share more with others in order to improve our own teaching. If you know of some good examples of how you or other teachers that you know are using technology to effectively improve the teaching and learning process please drop me a note so we can share with others. I would also love to hear from listeners in other parts of the country, or world for that matter, about successful methods used for integrating technology into the classroom experience. Please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu with your examples.
Be sure to also checkout the Spring 2008 semester of the Abraham Lincoln version of Project WOW, a link is provided in the show notes.

Project WOW Spring 2008 Abraham Lincoln Edition:
http://www.eiu.edu/~ilheroes/lincoln/index.html


Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week

My technology pick of the week this week is another Web 2.0 service that I hate to admit that I am finding more and more of a need for as I get older. Jott is a service that allows members to use their cell phone to call a toll free number and leave a message. While you can do that with regular voice mail services Jott takes the possibilities to the next level. Once you record your voice message Jott transcribes the voice mail into text and then can send the message to your cell phone as a text message and/or to your email box depending upon how you setup the service. This can serve as a useful reminder for things that you might otherwise forget. The service has been around for a while and the website says that it is still in beta but it has received a lot of press from major news sources. Here is a quote from the Jott website explaining what the service offers:

“Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Jott Networks operates a voice to text service that makes staying organized and in touch easy. Jott allows consumers to easily and safely send emails and text messages, set reminders, organize lists, and post to web services with their voice. Since its introduction in late 2006, Jott has made world class voice transcription accessible to anyone with a cell phone. Life is busy. Talk to Jott. Get Simple Back™.”
http://jott.com/jott/about.html

A link to the Jott service is provided in the show notes.

Jott
Coverts your voice into email text messages, reminders, lists, and appointments.
http://jott.com/

The educational implications for a service like Jott are many. Most teachers and many students now carry cell phones with them. As many teachers know students have their cell phones with them often even when they are not supposed to. Now the really cool part is that not only can you Jott yourself a note using this service but you can also enter contact lists for others that you want to Jott. For example I entered my wife into my contact list and called Jott, here is how the Jott entry went.

Jott: Who do you want to call?
Me: Gail
Jott: Gail Grissom, is this correct?
Me: Yes
Jott: Beep.
Me: Hi , Gail this is Tom. This message is from a new Web 2.0 service called Jott, it will send you a text message and an email message, talk to you tonight. . Hangup.

In a few minutes my wife had the transcribed text message on her cell phone and an email message from me in her Inbox. Now the really cool thing is that I can also send a text message to my daughter who is the texting guru in the family. I hate to type text messages on my cell phone using the small number pad. With Jott all I have to do is call the Jott service, select my daughter as the recipient, and record my message. I let Jott do all the transcribing and delivery for me. I am not going to let the secret out of the bag just yet as my daughter will be amazed at my new found texting skills.

You can even create a group in your contact list although I have not done this yet. Imagine creating a group list of students in your class and having the ability to send a bulk email to all members in the group with a transcribed message from the teacher! I can hear students groaning across the nation now.

For now signing up for a Jott account is free. Standard text messaging rates do apply so be sure you know the impact this service may have on your phone bill.

As with all technologies there are policy implications for Web 2.0 services like Jott. First, students and/or parents may not want to be bothered with messages from the school. Some phone numbers are unlisted and there are also privacy concerns. Parents may not want messages from the school being sent to their email accounts. Schools should consider setting up age-appropriate policies to address concerns before implementing new services in a school setting. Just because a technology makes something possible does not mean that a school should do something new just because it is possible. Like most technologies these services can also be abused if used inappropriately. Having policies and expectations on the front-end can address some potential adverse consequences before they become a problem.

There are three other features of Jott that bear mentioning. First, you have the ability to record reminders that can be delivered to you at a future date and time. Secondly, you can use the Jott service in conjunction with Twitter to send transcribed messages to your Twitter account using your cell phone. I have not used the Twitter feature as I am concerned about the accuracy of the transcription as sometimes Jott does not provide perfect translation. You need to make sure to enunciate your words carefully and talk slowly so Jott can make an accurate transcription of your voice messages and remember that Jott messages are limited to 30 seconds. Thirdly, Jott when used in conjunction with your calendaring program can add calendar entries. So far I am liking the Jott service but this is still in the novelty stage for me. In the past week or so Jott has increased my productivity as I have been able to send myself messages while in the car or away from my computer to remind myself of tasks that I need to do. Do you use Jott? If so I would love to hear your stories about how you are using this service.

That wraps it up for episode 36 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode along with archived versions are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to make comments or suggestions please leave a posting on the TechTalk4Teachers blog or send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu. Until next time this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning.

tt4t_035 End of another semester

It’s Monday, April 28th 2008 and welcome to episode 35 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. This week is final exam week at EIU and as I look back over the past semester my classes have really accomplished a lot. We have taken a project-based learning approach to classes and we have covered the standard productivity software like Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Every student has created a webpage and completed many other projects. We have covered many Web 2.0 technologies including blogs, wikis, and podcasts.

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Every student created their own Jeopardy-like game using the Smart Board notebook software. Students also created a PowerPoint that incorporated interactive questions using the TurningPoint Student Response System, better known an clickers, and have had the opportunity to spend an imaginary $5000 budget for technologies they would like to have in their first classroom. The last project of the semester featured the new Flip Video cameras that the ITC recently purchased. I gave my class the assignment of testing these cameras out and running them through their paces. For the most part the reviews were positive and most students were able to successfully use the cameras without reading the manual. Many students installed the supplied software and created their own mini-movie in less than a half-hour. Some students imported the clips into Windows movie maker and used that to edit, while others used Pinnacle Studio. For a fast way to produce videos I think the Flip cameras are going to be a big hit in upcoming classes and for special projects that require short video clips. Best of all the Flip video cameras are affordable for all classrooms. Looking back over all the projects we created we had a pretty full agenda this semester.

Flip Video Camera Link:
http://www.theflip.com/

I am proud that all students successfully completed class and now that my students have the tech knowledge and skills to successfully utilize technology in the classroom it is time to learn more. I encourage all students to continue to utilize the technologies learned in class as they learn more about pedagogy in their upcoming teacher education courses.

Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is a recommendation that I gave a student in the hallway as they asked me if I knew of a flowcharting/brainstorming program for a quick diagram that she needed. I recommended a Web 2.0 website called bubbl.us and a link is provided in the show notes. As with many Web 2.0 services bubbl is spelled weird. To check it out go to bubbl.us

Free web application for Brainstorming
http://bubbl.us/

Now I have not signed up for an account at this website but I was able to create a flowchart diagram very easily and export the resulting file as a jpeg image by clicking on the Menu button at the bottom of the page and then selecting Export. This web service is like Inspiration but unlike Inspiration bubbl is free. It is not nearly as full featured as Inspiration but it will do in a pinch. If you signup for an account you will be able to save your bubbl files and link them to your website or blog. If you are in need of a simple concept map give bubbl a try and see if it meets your needs.

That wraps it up for episode 35 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode along with archived versions of previous shows are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to send your comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu. I would also like to thank the listener from Canada that left their comments on the TechTalk4Teachers blog regarding the audio versus video podcasts episode. For all the EIU students out there good luck on finals and we will see you again next semester. Have a great and safe summer break. Until next time this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning

tt4t_034 New choices for affordable small laptops for on-the-go teachers and students

It’s Monday, April 21st, 2008 and welcome to Episode 34 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. As the end of another school year approaches schools across the country are finalizing budgets as well as planning for next years budget needs. One thing that I am currently investigating is a new category of small laptop computers that have begun to get a lot of attention in the tech circles. The small laptops go by different names from subnotebook, mini-laptop, Ultra Mobile PC’s also known as UMPCs, and ultralight laptops among others.

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One thing that has recently caught my attention and the attention of technology coordinators and others responsible for budgeting decisions is the decline in price for many of these devices. The UMPC’s have been around for a number of years now but most UMPC’s were above the $1000 price point, at least the ones I wanted. The UMPC’s offer a small form factor and a high cool factor but justifying costs is difficult for the average school budget. This year the ASUS eee PC has generated a lot of buzz in the industry with a mini laptop that weighs less than three pounds and has a starting price of $399.00 for the 4G model. The eee PC by definition is an ultralight laptop. The keyboard is small but not so small as some of the smart phone devices that require a stylus to type with or the tiny thumb keyboards that I find difficult to operate.

The ASUS eee PC may fit a nice niche for schools. First the small keyboard is not a problem and may actually be better for children who have small fingers. Secondly with a price of $399 for the Linux version and $499 for a laptop configured with XP the eee PC is getting the attention of K-12 schools and universities alike. Linux offers users the basic functionality but the XP compatible version now allows the use Microsoft Office that nearly everyone is familiar with. The eee PC features 4GB and 8GB flash-based hard drives, 802.11 wireless networking, USB ports, built in web camera, a 7 inch screen with 800x 480 resolution, and a SD card slot. The other downside of the flash drive is a small amount of storage space but if users have Internet connection you can take advantage of Microsoft’s Skydrive for additional online storage space or purchase an external USB hard drive, or use a regular USB flash drive. This subnotebook space is also not standing still, a new model ASUS 900 will be coming out next month according to ASUS and will have a larger screen display. It is also expected that ASUS will be releasing the Intel ATOM based processor models later this summer. The ASUS eee PC’s have a lot going for them but there is also some new competition.

The other subnotebook that has caught my attention is the HP 2133 manufactured by Hewlett Packard. The 2133 features a 92% full size keyboard and is slightly larger than the ASUS eee PC form factor. The 2133 features a 120GB hard drive with prices beginning at $499 and a well configured model starting at $749 including a built in web camera. It is a little larger form factor than the eee PC but some of the things that attract me to this model is the larger sized keyboard, the higher resolution screen (1200x800) that reduces the amount of scrolling required when viewing web pages. The 2133 is available in Linux, XP, or Vista. Microsoft has recently stated that the XP operating system will be available until 2010 for the subnotebook category of computers such as the eee PC and 2133. If however you buy a full-size laptop or desktop Microsoft has stated that it will require users to buy Vista beginning June 30, 2008.
There are other smaller form factor devices on my radar screen including the Nokia 810n that is a small pocket sized device with a small pullout keyboard and uses 802.11 wireless networking to connect to the Internet. The Nokia 810n, like its sibling the Nokia 800, are Linux based devices that are meant for keeping in contact with the office while in the field. The keyboard on the 810n is so tiny that it is not practical for me to type letters easily for longer emails but it is an attractive choice for slipping into your pocket and taking it with you on the road where 802.11 wireless is available.

So there you have it three small form factor devices with a price of less than $500 for the basic models. This space is heating up and I am sure we will be seeing additional choices with more functionality going into the next school year. The new ATOM processors by Intel will also give manufactures the ability to increase battery life and experiment with smaller form factors. This is an interesting time in this market and the affordability along with portability and connectivity will be changing the way teachers and students are using these devices inside and outside of the classroom.

The ASUS eee PC, HP 2133, and Nokia 810n serve different niches in the small laptop line of products, there are tradeoffs between pocket-sized 810n and mini laptops but there are beginning to be some economical choices for educators. The form versus function debate continues to be challenge as the smaller devices lack the power that desktop users have come to expect. Links are available in the show notes for more information about the eee PC, the HP 2133, and the Nokia 810n.

ASUS eee PC (4G and 8G)
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-the-windows-xp-version-of-the-asus-eee-pc

New ASUS eee PC Model 900 coming in May 2008 to USA
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/update-eee-pc-9.html

HP 2133 subnotebook:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4352

Nokia 810n
http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n810



Tom’s Technology Pick of the Week
My technology pick of the week this week is inspired once again from the Twitter service that I have recently reactivated. Please listen to episode 32 and 33 of TechTalk4Teachers if you would like to learn more about Twitter. Twitter allows users to send short messages that are less than 140 characters throughout the day to keep the people in your network updated on what you are doing. Because 140 characters is such a small amount of characters you need to be very brief and to the point when posting messages to the twitter service. Many users also want to post web addresses as part of their twitter message but many web addresses seem like they are a mile long and often take up too many characters for a twitter message, enter TinyURL. TinyURL.com is a service that allows users to copy and past a long web address into the TinyURL website and the TinyURL will shorten the web address to a shorter address that users can use to share with others. This is great for Twitter users where space is at a premium.

TinyURL.com
http://tinyurl.com/

TinyURL can also be useful to teachers that want to share URL’s with others or their students. To use the service just copy the web address of the webpage that you would like to have converted to a shorter format. Go to tinyurl.com and paste the web link into the box that says Make TinyURL and click on the button. Wait a few seconds and in a moment a new smaller web address will be created to share with others. Now all you have to do is copy and paste this new TinyURL as the address and share with others. This is definitely helpful for Twitter users who are concerned about the number of characters used to post in their tweets. To give you a sense of the number of characters saved I just did an example where the original URL was 85 characters and the new converted URL was only 25 characters when I used Tiny URL, a savings of 60 characters! The next time you are in need of a shortened web address be sure to checkout tinyurl.com.

That wraps it up for episode 34 of TechTalk4Teachers. Show notes for this episode along with archived versions of previous shows are available on the web at the EIU Instructional Technology Center website at www.eiu.edu/itc just click on the Techtalk4Teachers Podcast link. If you would like to send your comments or suggestions please send an email to techtalk@eiu.edu. Until next time this is Tom Grissom, keep on learning