Net Neutrality – It Still Matters October 25, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality.1 comment so far
I haven’t blogged about Net Neutrality for some time, but there seems to be more of an effort to get Net Neutrality codified by law under the current Whitehouse administration. Of course there are other priorities at the moment, such as the health care issue, that receive a higher priority. For those of you who are new to this blog, or just aren’t familiar with the term, I like to think of Net Neutrality as a freedom of access to Internet services. Those who provide the access should not determine what I can and can not access. Why is this important? Check out the video below to get a better idea of the issue of Net Neutrality.
My thanks to Open Thinking for pointing out this YouTube video
Because They Care October 23, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Opinion, Tools.add a comment
Much of the criticism of Wikipedia, and wikis in general, stems from the open authoring design that lets anyone contribute content. There are limitations, but the idea that anyone can be an expert is more than a little unsettling to some. Still, that openness is also the whole point behind wikis. Authorship isn’t an accidental process. Motivation to contribute mostly happens when someone cares about the content. Take for example the linked Washington Post article below. Seems Adam Lewis, an ‘amateur’ historian cared enough about the Washington DC Wikipedia entry to fix it up. I think we should all care about something like Adam does.
How an amateur historian rescued D.C.’s Wikipedia page – washingtonpost.com
Wikipedia
Is Broadband Access a Legal Right? October 14, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos, History, Opinion.add a comment
TechCrunch is reporting that Finland has declared that broadband access is a legal right for all of its citizens. This might be a first world-wide. I’m guessing Finland won’t be the last country to declare broadband access a right. In an age where online participation in politics and access to government services is moving to the Internet, it only makes sense that we should all have access. Of course, how that is paid for is another question. How important is broadband access to you? To your country? What flavor of broadband access would you prefer? Wired, wireless, or cellular?
Applause For Finland: First Country To Make Broadband Access A Legal Right
Inventions for the Year 2020 October 8, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.add a comment
The BBC has a nice article on a project asking students to imagine helpful inventions for the year 2020. Among some of the 85,000 ideas submitted are magic pencils to automate their homework so they don’t have to do it, which sort of defeats the point of homework. Seems robots are going to be big in the future too. I’d like to see cars that drive themselves so we don’t have any more excuses for distracted or impaired driving accidents. In the classroom, I’d like to see a device that is a content delivery mechanism as well as a research tool and collaboration device, although I don’t think we’ll need to wait another 11 years to see that. What would you like to see? Besides magic pencils, what would your students like to see?
invention
BBC NEWS | Technology | Children draw own visions of 2020
Need More Bandwidth? September 10, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Humor.add a comment
Maybe I should upgrade to pigeon for my next network upgrade. I wonder how long it would take my ISP to offer carrier pigeon as an option. Just think of the bundle of services: satellite TV, phone service, and Internet pigeons! Read the BBC article for more details.
BBC NEWS | Africa | SA pigeon ‘faster than broadband’
Plan B and C and… August 7, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Tools.1 comment so far
I had the pleasure to present a few Web 2.0 tools to a group of Socials Studies teachers today, intending to use a ‘Jog the Web’ collection that a colleague of mine put together. Everything looked great. The accompanying wiki was set up, links to a PowerPoint they can download and use if they want, and links to two ‘Jog the Webs’. 5 minutes before the presentation everything was working just fine. 5 minutes into the presentation and Jog the Web stopped responding. Nothing. Checked the network, other pages were loading just fine. What to do? It is kind of hard to have people explore dozens of web 2.0 tools if the links to those tools are not available.
I started bringing up some of the tools I thought were in the collection. We looked at a couple of timeline tools, like xtimeline and Dipity. We talked about YouTube and how to request a teacher override. We checked Delicious, Animoto, and Blaberize. What tools would you show if you were under pressure to present and your original presentation was not going to work?
Maybe Jog the Web will be back up by the time you read this. If not, imagine a great collection of indispensable web 2.0 tools for the Social Studies classroom. So the simple solution would have been to list the links on the wiki as well to have a backup. It was a good reminder to myself to be prepared for problems. If you are committed to using technology, you always need a plan B and C, and…
http://www.jogtheweb.com/run/3wXQ2av1IcZl
Not Your Father’s Old Book July 27, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Hardware, Opinion.2 comments
Interesting blog post about a possible ebook reader with demonstration video. The video, embedded below, is a 9:21 YouTube video, so if you are blocked, you’re in luck. The poster, Mike Cane, has included screen shots and detailed comments. What would you want from an ebook? Do you think an ebook has a place in education? Does this change reading and writing literacy? Is this a fundamental or incremental change from the original? Sorry for all the questions. I’m hopeful, but not sure, about ebooks. I’m concerned that they won’t bridge the gap between book readers and those who don’t. I’m worried that book reading will become a lost art, and like Fahrenheit 451, we are responsible for it if that happens.
http://ebooktest.blogspot.com/2009/07/part-of-ebook-vision.html
Skill(s) + Community = Literacy July 18, 2009
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos.add a comment
I’ve always admired Howard Rheingold as an original thinker. As the education community continues to converse on the subject of literacy, or new literacies, Howard makes a case for defining 21st Century Literacies by placing skills within the context of communities. The July 2009 presentation is worth the 40 minute investment of your time.
