10 + 1 School Web Tools December 31, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Edubloggers, Link Collections, Tools.add a comment
Just in case you missed getting that present you had your heart set on this year, here is a consolation present in the form of a list of 10+1 web tools for use in school. Note taking, bibliography, and even specialized paper tools are available, including one on how to delay turning in an assignment by turning in a file that won’t open. I found this collection from Lucy Gray’s delicious links.
10+ Web Tools To Save Your Butt In School | MakeUseOf.com
Blogging in the Classroom – Langwitches December 31, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Safety, Tools.1 comment so far
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, author of the excellent Langwitches blog, put together a series of lesson plans to assist teachers who are interested in blogging for elementary students. To make things even easier, she’s posted the entire collection in .pdf format. Well worth looking into, especially if you aren’t sure how to get your students blogging.
Langwitches » Blogging Unit for Download
2008 Predictions In Review December 31, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in History, Humor.add a comment
About a year ago, I made a few modest predictions for 2008. I tried to make them generic enough to fit most developments, and even included an out for the unpredictable.
What do I think the new year will bring? The trend to smaller, more portable, networked devices will continue, mostly from the cell phone industry, although one hears rumors of new portable devices. I also think that open source will continue to invade the business world. I also think that Net Neutrality will be both more important, and more imperiled. Oh, and of course, something will come along that I didn’t expect, I probably won’t understand, and I’ll dismiss it as an unimportant passing fad, just like I did with Twitter in 2007.
Smaller, more portable devices made a big impact with netbooks in 2008, so that prediction looks sound. Open source is still only marginally accepted, so I’ll call that prediction as off target. Something I didn’t expect? I suppose LOL Cats would qualify for that, although I’m sure the site started long before I heard about it. LOL Cats? It is a site where visitors create captions for animal pictures, and vote for which ones they like. My youngest spends hours collecting her favorites!
more animals
2008: the Year of Online News Over Print, TV Still King December 24, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, Data, History.add a comment
Pew Research released another survey, this time showing that the Internet is now more popular than newspapers for Americans as a source national and international news. TV holds the top spot. This news is being reported by several online sources, so I’ve only linked to the earliest source in my Google Reader collection. I haven’t been watching TV today, so I can’t say if the survey is getting much coverage there.
TitusOneNine – Americans prefer news from Web to newspapers: survey
2008: the Year of the Laptop December 23, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Hardware, History.2 comments
Looking back, 2008 will be remembered for many things. On the technology front, 2008 is the year of the laptop. According to a CNET News article, laptops outsold desktops for the first time (world-wide) in the last quarter of the year.
Global notebook shipments exceeded desktops on a quarterly basis for the first time ever, with Netbooks playing a decisive role, iSuppli said on Tuesday.
For the classroom, laptops have many advantages. Space is often at a premium in classrooms, and desktops computers take up a lot of room. Laptops, on the other hand, can be deployed in any room instead of a dedicated lab room and stored when not in use. Laptops can also be used in any part of the room, something that isn’t easy to do with a desktop computer. Wireless networking also eliminates the need for cabling. There is the negative of having to manage battery power. Do you have access to laptops or a lab? Which do you prefer?
Best of 2008 Collections December 22, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Edubloggers, Hardware, History, Link Collections.1 comment so far
This is the time of year for reflection and the ‘best of 2008′ posts are popping up all over. Here are a few worth checking out:
- The Best Posts Of 2008 | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… Larry Ferlazzo’s collections of classroom tools are always worth a visit.
- The Top Gadgets of 2008 Just in case you were looking for a new cool gadget, here is a ‘best of’ collection from Wired.
- CrunchGear’s Best of 2008 plus the People’s Choice Best of 2008 Gala Awards Ceremony, and People’s Choice awards. The readers have spoken!
- Most Influential Edublog Post 2008 The Edublog Awards This is the list of Edublogs posts nominated as most influential for 2008.
Edublogs 2008 Awards December 21, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Edubloggers, Link Collections.add a comment
Edublogs has posted their 2008 award winners. This is an outstanding group of blogs in this year’s collection, a great place to look for bloggers of note to follow. Be sure to check them out.
http://edublogawards.com/and-the-2008-winners-are/
Pronounced Just Like It’s Spelled December 3, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
Okay, maybe not. The Internet is a place that (at its best) removes barriers.How To Say That Name.com is a site that has the potential to remove barriers by helping us all pronounce each other’s names. Names are closely connected to who we are, so getting the pronunciation correct can be a start to connecting with each other. It isn’t a complete compendium, but it is a good start! My thanks to KillerStartups for the link:
HowToSayThatName.com – Name Pronunciation Guide | Visit HowT…
