21st Century Bookshelf March 25, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Book Review.add a comment
From a tweet by Gary Stager, here is an Amazon bookstore devoted to the 10 essential books that should be on the bookshelf of every 21st Century educator. Educators still read and value books, right? Looks like I have a lot of reading to do. I think I’ll make use of my local library though, instead of buying them from Amazon.
http://astore.amazon.com/constructivistconsortium-20/
Interested in Timelines? March 25, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
Library Power has a nice discussion about a couple of online timeline tools, Mnemograph and Xtimeliner. Timelines can be very helpful in organizing information, outlining stories, or to compare changes over time.
http://libpower.blogspot.com/2008/03/what-time-is-it.html
Mr. Winkle Goes to School March 24, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos.add a comment
Mathew Needleman has posted an interesting video on his Creating Lifelong Learners blog called Mr. Winkle Wakes. It tells the story of a man who wakes up after sleeping for 100 years. He is very uncomfortable in an office building and a hospital because of all the changes and technology in use there, but he feels very comfortable at a school, where things are essentially unchanged. The blog post is linked below, and the Teachertube version is embedded here. Enjoy!
Download Video: Posted by videointheclassroom at TeacherTube.com.
http://www.needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog/
Net Neutrality Update for March 2008 March 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality, Opinion.add a comment
I haven’t mentioned Net Neutrality for a while, but in case you were wondering, it is still an important issue. If you are a little unsure about what Net Neutrality is, imagine that everyone in the US is receiving a service, and then that service provider decides to change the rules and charge people based on different ways that service might be used. If your electrical service provider decided today that they would charge extra for connecting solar energy devices in your home, that would be a deterrent to moving to alternative energy sources, right? What if they also decided to charge extra if you wanted to watch TV shows that argued against your right to use solar powered devices? That wouldn’t sit so comfortably, would it? Take it one step further and this service provider makes could make it financially almost impossible to purchase any devices that were not manufactured by them. Suddenly you are locked into a system that determines what you can do with the service instead of working for you.
Now I’m not saying that the electrical company is doing that, but your Internet service provider might be. Did you know that “nearly 99 percent of all residential connections are provided by incumbent cable or phone companies” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/americas-internet-future_b_92763.html?) Your cable company already decides which channels you have access to on your TV. Do you also want them to decide which Internet sites you have access to on your computer or cell phone? That is an essential question to Net Neutrality.
Earlier this year, Verizon and AT&T plunked down a combined $16.3 billion for the largest blocks of licenses to use the public spectrum up for sale on the “700 band.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/americas-internet-future_b_92763.html)
This means that a limited resource to provide Internet access was just sold to those same few limited companies that already make decisions about who does get access, and potentially what those subscribers are allowed to do with their access.Another part of Net Neutrality has to do with access. Many urban areas have considered (or have already started providing) free or reduced cost wireless access. In some places, this effort is falling short because there just isn’t enough profit for the providers.
EarthLink announced on Feb. 7 that “the operations of the municipal Wi-Fi assets were no longer consistent with the company’s strategic direction.” Philadelphia officials say they are not sure when or if the promised network will now be completed.For Cesar DeLaRosa, 15, however, the concern is more specific. He said he was worried about his science project on global warming.“If we don’t have Internet, that means I’ve got to take the bus to the public library after dark, and around here, that’s not always real safe,” Cesar said, seated in front of his family’s new computer in a gritty section of Hunting Park in North Philadelphia. His family is among the 1,000 or so low-income households that now have free or discounted Wi-Fi access through the city’s project, and many of them worry about losing access that they cannot otherwise afford (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22wireless.html.)
This means that our friendly ISP is already limiting who can participate in this great social collaboration experiment. It isn’t all hopeless though. Even the ISPs have to account for market forces.
Prices for Internet service on the broader market also began dropping to a level that, while above what many poor people could afford, was below what municipal Wi-Fi providers were offering, so the companies had to lower their rates even further, making investment in infrastructure even more risky, he said (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22wireless.html.)
So what’s next? The issue of Net Neutrality is still being debated. Legislation is working its way through congress (http://www.whereabill.org/#110_s215.) The FCC is holding meetings (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/03/20/18487350.php There are even things you can do to participate in this on-going debate (http://www.savetheinternet.com/=faq#help.) Your voice is important, but only as long as others have the ability to hear you.
This article was inspired by a single twitter from Will Richardson.
Timebridge March 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Tools.1 comment so far
By way of Lucy Gray (with one of the best education monikers of elemenous – lmno’s) here is a tool that provides easy access to calender sharing that combines with your current status to provide a sort of time-based twitter-ish service. For those of you that are organized around a schedule, this might be very handy.
Wikipedia How To March 21, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
MediaShift has a great post on steps to being a model Wikipedian. While some items are specific to only Wikipedia “6. Get Familiar with the Talk Pages.” other items apply to almost any collaborative or social-centric site. I really like “5. Be Bold: Don’t Get Discouraged.” and “4. Assume Good Faith.” These suggestions sort of remind me of the idea that we learned everything we needed in kindergarten.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/03/demystifying_wikipediahow_to_b.html
Twitter Everywhere March 21, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
Noticed two different blog posts on Twitter this morning. Each provides a different look into why one twitters.
http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2008/03/more-twitter-ty.html
http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/003307.html
Video conferencing March 20, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Tools.6 comments
Thanks to another Robert Scoble twitter, here is another new option for video conferencing called Orgoo. Very simple to set up a conference room, password protected, without even setting up an account. Very easy.
