Is text-only enough for today's students?

a simulpost with TechLearningAfter an amazing trip to CNN this week, I have been thinking about how we tell stories as educators and how we teach students to tell stories. So, I'm going to give you a little quiz.1. Which tells the story the most clearly?"This past spring we lost 11,000 pecan trees in a terrible tornado that ripped right...

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Slidecasting on Slideshare

There is a cool new way to add audio to your slideshare. This slidecast shows you how.1 - Create a slideshow (remember if you have the new version of office, save it as the older version of PowerPoint.)2- Upload to slideshare.net3- Upload your mp3 file anywhere you have the license to -- it can be archive.org, podomatic.com, or even your ning.4- Go in and click edit slide show. 5_ You can then link to the mp3file and then synchronize...

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Leave the Excuses: Present at NECC Virtually, due October 3rd

NO excuse not to present at NECC. NECC has several ways you can present this year in San Antonio -- see the following:Session—one hour long unless otherwise specified; meeting room has a formal presentation station and a seated audience. There are 13 one-hour session time slots during the three-day conference with multiple sessions occurring concurrently. Lecture—one or more presenters, each of whom address the audience...

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See My Student Inventions

In the Invent this project, my students are .My students are inventing. All of them are posted on our private ning (sorry that you cannot see that.)But, I thought I'd share with you a few of their "inventions" which are just so cool.iCoach -- an interactive way to work with your iPod. You coach presets routines for you and you listen to the routine as you do it. You can add digital recordings after each set to give feedback...

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My new Web 2.0 workshop goes Live

I went very quiet for a while during the last two months, and now I am at liberty to say why.When Atomic Learning first approached me about doing a Web 2.0 workshop for them, I had to think about it. I've been doing some free videos that have been well received and I thought, "well, I need to do it and just give it away for free." And at the time, I thought about doing some of these for Julie's and my proposed K12 online workshop...

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Field Trip to CNN: Cool Cat Teacher Style

Right now I am blogging from the eleventh floor in the Omni Hotel in Atlanta where two students and I will soon be settling down for a little rest and perhaps a few giggles after a great day.Tomorrow, we are going on a VIP tour of CNN where we will learn first hand how they are integrating citizen journalism, podcasting, and social media into their work to break, make, and share the news around the world.My students have been...

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And I knocked my own feed down

Talk about a mess! The blog post from a couple of days a go made my feed size exceed feedburners 512K limit and my feed went completely down!Try as I may, the only way to fix this was to go back and remove the lengthy transcript from the post. So, now my feedburner count is down to ZERO -- (talk about giving a blogger a complex) - but the count restarts every day and should be back to "normal" in a couple of days.I'm sorry if...

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Declare war on the Ruts, Boundaries & Comfort Zones

I was pulled into Dean Shareski's phenomenal post PLC's Something's Missing.Dean says:"...they even reference rigorous standards and I think I heard the term 21st century learning (whatever that really is), I’m still fearful that the zeal to improve scores and test results leads to the perpetuation of school as we knew it and still know it....

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Can your daughters picture at a car wash be used for an ad campaign?

Creative commons will be put to test as will our interconnected world.A Dallas Family is suing Virgin Mobile's Australian ad campaign for inappropriately using a picture of their daughter snapped at a church car wash.The picture of 16-year-old Chang flashing a peace sign was taken at an April church car wash by Alison's youth counselor, who...

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Setting Meetings: Doodle or ????

So many of us are collaborating with many time zones, that handy tools to help us set a meeting are so very useful.I cannot remember the name of a site that "someone" mentioned recently -- so I looked around and found Doodle. You go in and enter the days and time slots that you can do the meeting -- pick 4-5 days and several time slots -- then, e-mail it to others, including yourself.Then, they can fill out a poll and state which...

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And the Walls Came Down

In some ways, I feel like we're in the midst of the Berlin Wall coming down except this is the virtual wall that has divided us since time began.Many of us have been working with the Google presentations software -- during the 20 minutes I was in today -- at least 10 different people dropped in -- just to look at the presentation many of us have been working on.Claudia Ceraso has come up with a fascinating way to link a presentation...

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If you teach writing -- a contest for your class

I am passing along this e-mail. I thought those of you who teach writing might want a chance for your class to WIN FREE MOVIE TICKETS! Cool.Hi Vicki, I came across your Cool Cat Teacher blog and thought you and your readers/colleagues may be interested in a new classroom-edition online Writing Challenge from Answers.com. Classes can enter the Creative Writing Challenge as a collaborative effort and learn new vocabulary...

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Google AdWords Introduces Google Gadget Ads, a New Interactive Ad Format

Engaging and flexible ad units give advertisers a new way to communicate with users online Honda featured the band "Fall Out Boy" in a Google Gadget Ad, which contained several dozen videos of the band and could be added to nearly any website including iGoogle.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (September 19, 2007) – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today...

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Disruptive Innovators Course for Librarians in Saskatchewan receives a Cool Cat Teacher Award

Sometimes I come across efforts and innovation and I just have to say, "YES!" they get it!So, I'm giving another Cool Cat Teacher Award to the librarians that are learning and cooperating over at the Disruptive Innovators Wiki. (Feel free to grab this graphic if you're from that wiki if you want it and link to this article!)Their statement...

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Flat Classroom 2.0 -- BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Julie and I have been working diligently on reworking the Flat Classroom Project on our template wiki. With the help of Wikispaces (Adam Frey), we've archived last year's project and are working to rebuild the main wiki. (It is a work in process this week, so forgive our dust.)Project AnnouncementAs a follow up to the award winning Flat Classroom project (see 2006 project), educators Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar), Vicki...

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Google AdSense for Mobile unlocks the potential of the mobile advertising market

AnnouncementSeptember 17, 2007The mobile device is fast becoming the world’s most popular gateway to information. In fact, there are currently more mobile devices worldwide than personal computers and televisions combined.As part of our ongoing efforts to develop new ways for users to find the information they need anytime and anywhere, Google announced today the availability of AdSense™ for Mobile, a program that contextually...

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Collaboration in the Cloud Gets Richer with Presentations Added to Google Docs

AnnouncementSeptember 17, 2007 As part of its ongoing efforts to enable users to take advantage of the web for sharing and collaborating, Google today added features for presentations to the Google Docs application. At documents.google.com, users can create simple web-based presentations that others can update and view from their own computers, even at the same time. The presentation feature of Google Docs is also available...

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Sharing Bookmarks: Easy Tips on How it is Done!

I think that the del.icio.us is one of the great unharnessed resources and that every educator should use this service.Ryan Bretag has challenged many to share the last five bookmarks they have made. I would take it one step further.Those of you who subscribe to my RSS feed know that you get to see my bookmarks.This is how I do it:1) I signed up for a free Feedburner account.2) After enabling the feed and previewing it. Click...

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What should be done about digital citizenship?

My post about the need for more literacy instruction has created a virtual firestorm of response.Why is digital citizenship an issue?A November 2006 Pew study found that:Eighty seven per cent (87%) of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept and 40 million adults use the internet...

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Cool Cat Teacher: Coming to Maine, Atlanta, Columbus (Georgia)

I don't get out much! I love my classroom and family and when I first got in the business world, I was traveling the country on a weekly basis working with cell phone markets. I've seen a lot and really love my home... the life of those who travel and do conferences is not really for me.However, there are a few things that are currently on my calendar, and if you read this blog and are going to be there, I hope you'll come by...

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