Take Kids Deep Inside Where the Deep Web Hides

simulpost with TechLearningDr. Robert McLaughlin was one of our guests on the Wow2 show this past Tuesday night and made some interesting comments about and the importance of tapping into deep web resources.I think that many of us, myself included just forget about the importance of the deep web. And with fully 95% of deep web resources being free, there is no excuse for not exposing students (and ourselves) to this amazing part...

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Research 1.0 in a Web 2.0 world

I'm excited about tonight's Wow2 show that starts in about 30 minutes (9 pm EST) with Dr. Mary Friend Shepherd - Professor and Program Director for the PhD Educational Technology Program at Walden and Dr. Robert McLaughlin, Chair, ISTE SIG on Digital Equity; Chair, ISTE SIG on Innovative Learning Technologies andExecutive Director, National Institute for Community Innovations. It is going to be a great conversation.Here are...

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Acceptable Use Should Include Acceptable Filming

Protecting teachers and students from unauthorized filming is an issue as can be seen with what happened to this fifth grade teacher at an event that many people film -- the fifth grade graduation.The video's originator filmed the teacher at graduation with close ups of her face and zooming in on her lower anatomy and set the 3 minute clip to "hot For Teacher" before it was taken down off youtube when she found out about it last...

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Kids Making Money: Hacking iPhones and Catching Baseballs

Tenacity and DeterminationThis is an interview that George Hotz did about how he unlocked the iPhone. (A fact which he announced on his blog on August 21st.) Determined to use his iPhone on his T-mobile service, he reverse engineered it (over 500 hours of time) and made it so he can use it with his Tmobile service. He shared it on his blog and youtube (and has his own wikipedia entry!)He asks for a one on one talk with Steve...

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George Reyes To Retire As Google CFO

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – August 28, 2007 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that George Reyes has informed the company of his intention to retire as Chief Financial Officer. Reyes indicated that he will remain to assist in the search for a new CFO and to assure an orderly transition, which Google expects will occur by the end of the year."I’ve known and admired George since our days together at Sun," said Google Chairman...

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CNN.com Inks Multi-Year Advertising Agreement with Google

Exclusive advertising deal connects CNN.com with hundreds of thousands of advertisersATLANTA and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (August 28, 2007) – CNN.com and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced an agreement today that enlists Google’s AdSense™ advertising program to deliver site targeted advertising to CNN.com.Through this collaboration, the AdSense service places contextually relevant ads alongside CNN.com content, allowing both small and...

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Google to Present at the Citigroup Technology Conference

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – August 27, 2007 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced today that Sundar Pichai, Director of Product Management, and Nicholas Fox, Group Business Product Manager, will participate in a question-and-answer session at the Citigroup Technology Conference in New York. The session is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. Eastern Time / 1:10 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, September 6, 2007.To access the audio webcast of the...

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Online Connections Course gets a Cool Cat Teacher Award

Sometimes I just want to reach through the Internet and give a super big High-Five, hug, and "yahoo" all at once.This is how I felt when I read about Jennifer Dorman's class that she has developed called Online Connections.I also want to give a high five to the administration that had the vision (and trust) to give her the reigns for developing...

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How to share your smart board screen on your wiki

I'm really starting to fall in love with my Polyvision board (Smartboard). It has taken me a while to get comfortable with it and really run quickly between write and click mode, but I've just started doing something that my students LOVE.When I review for a test -- we've already taught and retaught. But we cover so unbelievably much that...

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How I get their attention: Businessweek's Future of Work

I love listening to both the Businessweek and Wall Street Journal podcasts. They are brief, pithy podcasts with great information that is applicable across the board.This week, I am requiring my ninth graders to listen to this podcast about the future of work. Here are the questions I'm asking them:As we discuss how things are changing, Businessweek has created an issue about the future of work. This is the world that you will...

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Summary of Edubloggerworld Activities today: Join the Brainstorm

It has been a busy day over at edubloggerworld with the fun virtual meetups and discussions. I have a lot to share with you. There are more people joining in to discuss some ideas and issues.I'm going to share with you the e-mail I just sent moments a go about my work today on this project to some of the other people who helped set this up.OK, I just spent five hours I didn't have but we all know the feeling.I posted the elluminate...

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Take your class Sky High with Google Earth

Ok, teachers of science. Go to Google and download the latest version of Google Earth and you will have a super cool new feature called Google Sky! View Google's mini tour to the left (which they handily posted to youtube.)This lets you turn heavenward to look at constellations and all sorts of things! You can explore: planets, constellations, the moon, galaxies, the life of a star, and the atmosphere.I'm also fascinated by...

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What do you think?

I'm helping out my friend Ellen who writes for a popular magazine -- she has the following question -- one that I love. Please respond here. Also share the name of your school.Web 2.0 opens many new avenues for creativity and expression. How do you use it to teach today’s young authors and artists?What do you think?This is my answer:I believe that Web 2.0 allows students multiple methods of displaying their knowledge and through...

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Come and talk about how we should facilitate connections!

Today at 3:30 pm EST - 4:15 EST I will be hosting a global meetup to talk about how we can facilitate connections and communications between educators around the world. There is only room for 50 participants so you may enter the room at around 3:15 -- first come first server. (ha ha)Join us in the elluminate room, and remember, we will be recording. (If you want it to convert your time, go to our Airset Calendar and set yourself...

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Introducing Sky in Google Earth

New feature in Google Earth enables users to explore space from their computerMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (August 22, 2007) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the launch of Sky, a new feature that enables users of Google Earth to view the sky as seen from planet Earth.With Sky, users can now float through the skies via Google Earth. This easy-to-use...

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I disagree with suspending the purchase of textbooks

I just have to disagree with someone I usually agree with. Wes calls for the suspension of textbook purchasing:"The purchase of paper-based textbooks, along with the dearth of analog testing materials now flooding most public K-12 schools, represents an enormous WASTE of taxpayer money which should be spent on more relevant and flexible curriculum resources and tools for learners: Namely, wireless, mobile computing devices (laptops)...

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Welcome back WOW2 show tonight!

The northern hemisphere of this big blue marble is heading back to school this time of year. So, we're talking to as many teachers as possible tonight on Wow2. If you're online in skype tonight, watch out -- send me a chat and let me know you'd like to share your back to school goals or cool new tools and we'll try to pull you in! (I'm coolcatteacher -- if you request my details, tell me the specifics of who you are or I won't...

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The most common struggles when introducing wikis in the classroom

Teaching is tough work, I mean, really tough. I've been a business professional, general manager, entrepreneur, and stay at home mom, and the only job tougher than being a teacher is a stay at home mom with toddlers!The first two-three weeks are difficult because you have to "train" the kids. Teach them the routines. Teach them the tools. Learn the process.This is my sixth set of students to have to teach how to wiki and each...

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Google announces a simple new way to embed Google Maps

AnnouncementAugust 21, 2007Starting today, Google Maps users can add a map to their website or blog just by copying & pasting a snippet of HTML. This new functionality enables Google Maps users to share and disseminate geographic information in the same way that YouTube users share videos. Bloggers and webmasters no longer need an API key or knowledge of Java Script to put a Google Map on their website or blog.To embed a Google...

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The Digital Citizenship Imperative

I just had a presentation from three tenth grade computer science students that literally blew me away on avoiding e-mail scams and internet fraud.(This is part of the initial internet security and safety module we do first in computer science -- I do a scaled down version in fundamentals. Safety first!)They shared the 2006 list of Top Ten Internet Scam Trends from the NCL fraud center.Here are some points that they made:Consumers...

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Be part of an Idea: Edubloggerworld

EdubloggerworldAnd there is another exciting project that I haven't talked enough about -- the kickoff of Edubloggerworld is this Thursday.There are so many things that are being worked on with this, but here is the idea.A centralized clearinghouse for FREE non-commercial events for educators -- whether you are a blogger or not. (perhaps including the word blogger is a misnomer -- it is sort of by bloggers but for all educators.)...

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This week at Westwood: What we're doing and talking about

This is the second full week of school and I'm almost through what I call my "orientation time."My keyboarding class (8th grade) has to learn that they come in quickly, get to work, and get to business. No goofing off, get to work. I always give out bonus notes (+5 points) the first week of school to the first student (s) who begin typing their lesson first. They save it and add it on to the grade of their choice before report...

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Its my privacy, or is it? (and what it means for our students)

simulpost with TechLearningI am editing to explain more clearly how this is different from regular public records. Several bloggers have noted that this information is already available, which some of it is. My additions are in italics.Ethics discussions belong "smack dab in the middle" of schools so that students will understand when they...

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