Blog :: All

http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/a-celebration-of-succinctnes

In a world where we place so much value on competitiveness, we have awards for everything.
Now, there are the Twitties.
In a number of categories including “Best Tweet”, “Funniest Tweet”, “Smartest Tweet”, … various tweets from Twitter have been nominated as the best of the best for the year.  Not quite sure how, or why, or [...]

http://joanvinallcox.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/webtools-for-teachers-090620

YouTube - Sxipper in action
I use sxipper on my laptop; it’s great. The only problem is when I use someone else’s computer, I sometimes can’t remember my user name and password.
tags: sxipper

http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/links-for-2008-9-6/

Journeys - Where to this time?
Really rough Alpha but looks incredible from a graphics perspective
(tags: world web2.0 virtualworlds virtual_worlds travel social)

http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/september-gec-computers-in-t

This has been the summer of Web 2.0 for me. I’ve put a concerted effort into learning all that I can and expand my Personal Learning Network.
I have spent considerable time developing one of my Wikis and created a course for the summer for North American teachers who get July/August holidays called “8 Weeks to [...]

http://joanvinallcox.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/webtools-for-teachers-090520

Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves | Video on TED.com
“Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own — and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves?”
Just over 20 minutes - fascinating implications [...]

http://java.about.com/b/2008/09/05/tired-of-your-current-java

I came across another Java editor this week. It's called EditRocket. As well as Java it supports around 20 other languages; useful if you are or fancy becoming a multi-lingual...

http://themobilelearner.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/beyond-banning-rules-for-cla

I’ve spent some time in this blog looking at practical applications of mobile technologies in today’s classrooms.  While looking at theoretical ideas helps to frame conversations and direct one’s focus, practical ideas help to bring theoretical ideas to life. In this spirit, I would like to share some ideas about establishing classroom rules for cell [...]

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/383748962/13-for-f

1] FlickrVision: Great workshop tone-setter (mind you the risk will always be there for inappropriate photos...)

2] ClustrMaps: Easy to embed, and great for tracking site visitors. Scroll to the bottom of this page for a sample.

3] Google Maps: Easy to create; You can add text, hyperlinks, photos. An evolving example: CCK08 Participant Map.

4] Visual Complexity: Maps of many different types to show 'information'. See more than the screen captures by visiting the links from each page... simply amazing visualizations!

5] FlashEarth: Not quite Google Earth, but a full screen interactive model of the earth. Tour NASA map; open layers; Microsoft Virtual Earth...

6] TwittEarth: Twitter fans might like to see where international tweets are coming from. This is another great tone-setter.

7] Map of the World 2.0: A mosaic of logos recreates the planet.

8] Traveler IQ Challenge: A fast-paced game that rewards both speed and accuracy in plotting major cities on a world map. If you prefer to learn countries, a slower paced 'blackline master' game is available at GameDesign

9] MapMe.com: Create and share maps that include photos, audio and video.

10] GeoGraffiti: One for iPhone users! Add audio tags to locations you visit. Other users can use the GPS capabilities of their phones to listen to historic re-enactments; public reminiscing, or live anecdotes.

11] Music Map: Which bands are closely related to others? It is surprisingly relevant for finding artists similar to your favourites.

12] Intellicast: My favourite North American weather map resource. Animated radar is super-effective in helping me anticipate precipitation.

13] Global Political Map: This full screen, zoomable PDF is the best I've found. The map is accurate as of 2007. The 2004 version is also available.

Photo Credit: NASA

http://www.shack.ca/index.php?id=20

It was way past my bedtime but I actually stayed up to watch the Sarah Palin speech at the Republican National Convention. After hearing so much on the news, and some derision from “The Voice” on CBC’s The Current, I decided I would have a listen to what Governor Palin had to say.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed…not by what she said even though it definitely doesn’t match well with my political leanings…but how she said it. Not much enthusiasm, right off the teleprompter, obviously told to stay on message, or else.

But, that’s not why I am writing.

When the party was polling each state for their nomination, Arizona passed. I didn’t think much of it. Then, just shy of the almost 1200 votes required for nomination, all the states started to pass. Then I thought, what the hell is going on. Let us ask professor google. And then I discovered the Achilles heel of the Republican party and why Obama has been so successful with younger demos.

On the Republican National Convention website there was a blog…I thought to myself, “Surely someone on the floor will explain to this dumb Canadian why all these states are suddenly passing on their vote.” The only problem is, the last post on the blog was three days ago. Now I don’t want to cast stones because I am certainly not so speedy with the blog updates but really…three days ago?!? So then I head over to the DNC website. The last day of the convention saw 7 posts, 6 of which were video updates posted to You-tube. No doubt there were also micro updates to cell phones on Twitter and a DNC facebook group. The blog has a Tag cloud! Obama gets it. That’s why he has more money than he could possibly spend. He is tapping into the long tail…small payments from millions of people. And when it comes to getting out the vote, you can bet the SMS and emails will be flying. How will McCain get the young voter out?

Oh, and by the way, McCain is from Arizona. By tradition that state gets to cast the votes that nominate him. But, if they had kept their blog updated I could have gone to bed an hour earlier.

http://dougpete.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/tips/

Jeff Pulver created one of the most common sense posts that I’ve read about the whole genre of social media, blogging, etc. that I think should be required reading for anyone who wants to venture into this area.
His post was “Tips for Not-for-Profits Learning about Social Media“.
His focus, as the title suggests, is in the [...]