Brennie's Bytes

Community and Collaborative Comicstrips

2008-06-11T05:27:00.001+12:00

Bitstrips is a site that has taken on the collaborative model for the creative side - telling stories with comics.

Bitstrips helps you create your characters and tell your story through their process of "Design, Create and Laugh." It has used a collaborative model that allows your to share your comics, get feedback, track how many people have viewed your comic, other comics by the author, etc....

This art form has been around for a long time and is one that most of us have grown up with. As kids, it was one of the first tools that really motivated many of us to read.

So what is it that attracts young and old to comics or cartoons? Many adults today still enjoy this form of media. Is it the way the story is told? Is it the visual with the text? There has been a lot of research done on the art of telling stories through comics.

I have used Comic Book Creator in the classroom and teachers and students love it! Classes have used it for developing study reviews or presenting an idea/project.

Use Comics to help students understand a difficult concept or theory - first have students develop a story around the concept. Characters don't have to be "real people" and they can give live to concepts and theories. If students have developed a storyboard first around their story, they could present it in a variety of ways. Staging the story and taking photographs (like frame-by-frame animation), then uploading the images into Comic Book Creator. Students could draw the images and scan them or draw in Photoshop Elements and then the images then import them into Comic Book Creator.

Students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia have been drawn to programs like Comic Book Creator as it has allowed them to be able to express themselves and tell their stories.

Don't think comics are just for kids.....this can be a very powerful way to get kids hooked into learning and telling their stories.

Other Links:

NACCAE (National Association of Comics Art Educators) http://www.teachingcomics.org/

Comics in Education http://www.humblecomics.com/comicsedu/

Comics in the Classroom http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev105.shtml

Comics Art Education http://www.educationatlas.com/comics-arts.html

Comics in Education http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=4

Better Education Through Comic Books http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/51650/better_education_through_comic_books.html

Motivating Through Comics http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=42174&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Creating your comic avatars in Bitstrips.

Starting your Bitstrip comic panels.

How can the Internet make the world a better place?

2008-06-10T04:45:00.000+12:00

How can the Internet make the world a better place?

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is using YouTube to find out what you think. OECD is a "global forum for new ideas to create prosperity in developed and developing countries."

In Seoul, Korea, on 17-18th of June, "government ministers from more than 40 countries, global business leaders, technical experts and academics are meeting to work out how the Internet can improve the world."

You have a chance to have input. Some of the rules of engagement to participate are:

participants must be at least 13 years of age
videos should be 1 minute in length or shorter
participants are encouraged to "think outside the box" and be original, creative and imaginative.

read further points surrounding rules of engagement.

Remember, you only have until June 16th 2008 (Korea time) to upload your submissions.

Science Resource gateway to over 50 million pages

2008-06-09T04:40:00.000+12:00

Over 30 databases and more than 1,800 scientific Web sites from 13 federal government agencies can be searched at Science.gov.

Categories include:

agriculture & food
applied science & technologies
astronomy & space
biology & nature
computers & communication
earth & ocean sciences
energy & energy conservation
environment & environmental quality
health & medicine
math, physics & chemistry
natural resources & conservation
science education

Featured websites:

Fueleconomy.gov

Mosquito Control

National Earthquake Information Centre (NEIC)

The Visible Body - 3D Human Anatomy

2008-06-08T12:48:00.005+12:00

The Visible Body is a complete 3D model of the human body:

muscular
digestive
circulatory
respiratory
urinary
nervous
skeletal systems.

The Visible Body is free to use - just register online and begin exploring this web delivered application.

Be sure to read the F & Q to cover further questions - such as student logins, future versions, etc.... This site has been developed by the team at Argosy, an education publisher.

Create your own Pinhole Camera - from Handheld to 3D

2008-06-07T15:54:00.006+12:00

Corbis is a "creative resource for advertising, marketing and media professionals worldwide" based in Seattle.

Corbis has created some great templates for Pinhole cameras that can be freely downloaded.

Move the lesson to the next level......
Once students have created their pinhole paper cameras move them into the visual 3D world.

Download a free 3D program such as Google SketchUp
and have the students design their own Pinhole Camera in 3D. Once they have completed that, import it into Deep Exploration and watch the magic. Students will be able to bring their Pinhole Camera to life. Students can learn what it is like to become digital instructional designer. Using Deep Exploration they will be able to tell/present their digital story on how their pinhole camera is put together what happens inside when the camera takes the picture - showing the end user how to use it.

This interactive 3D story can then be published in any of the Microsoft products (Word or PowerPoint) and Adobe Acrobat. Students can continue building their story around their interactive 3D story with further research (text) and 2D images.

Other links:

Wikipedia: Pinhole Camera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera

Pinhole Gallery - hundreds of pictures from artists around the world that have used a pinhole camera
http://www.pinhole.org/

Make a Pinhole Camera from a Pringles chip tube http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/pringles_pinhole.html

Pinhole Visions - the art of pinhole photography
http://www.pinhole.com/

Get your Wii On

2008-06-06T07:07:00.006+12:00

If you haven't tried the Wii Fit yet.....you must. I played competitive sports all through school and on into my adult years.....then came the "break." Broken ankle, torn ligament and sprained tendon.....all in one swoop at the volleyball net (opposing player came across). So I continued my series of gym memberships. Then exercise equipment that soon became clothes lines for hanging clothes while they dried (I think every basement across Canada probably has at least one unused piece of exercise equipment in it).

As I got more and more into technology......the movement of one's self became less and less.

We have a couple of game boxes in the house but when I read about the Wii Fit, I thought I would have to investigate. I pre-ordered my Wii Fit and received it as soon as they arrived in NZ through EB Games ....came home - pulled it out of the box - hooked it up and did my first 1 1/2 hours of aerobic, strength training and flexibility games/workouts. It did give me a workout!

Part of the setup is to create a Wii Avatar (virtual representation of yourself), which is called a Mii. This little Mii becomes your cheerleader. As you figure out your BMI and weight.....the Mii even "puffs" up in size once everything is calculated.

My first Wii Age for balance, BMI and weight = Wii age 69.....anyone have an old folks home I can crawl into? The cheeky Mii then runs out on the screen puffing and trying to encourage you to do better. The next day I was determined to have my Mii applauding my success. After another hour of working out....my Wii age was now 42. Hmmmm - still not good enough. Post this on the Wii calendar to keep track. Next day my Mii avatar greeted me for another challenge. Wii age = 36.....getting better. After a couple of weeks, my Wii age ranges in the mid 20 - high 20's. Determined to get under 20 :)

There are several folks in the office that have the Wii Fit and I started chatting with one of our developers (Richard) and asked if we could use the Wii controllers with any of our 3D development programs. Richard (also an avid Wii user) jumped on that and started playing around with the use of the controllers at its infancy.

Check out his YouTube overview.

Other links:
The Global Wii Experience Website

This site is one to check out....all the injuries reported from the misuse of the Wii Fit.
http://www.wiiinjury.com/

Stay Tuned.....

Opensource AudioBook Community

2008-06-05T21:03:00.001+12:00

"LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and releases the audio files back onto the net. The goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books."

Once the copyright time period has lapsed on text, it enters the public domain. That means anybody can have free access to it and use it how they wish.

LibriVox is encouraging a world community to come together and help achieve the goal. Anyone can participate - in any language.

What a great project for an English class to participate in! You can use free recording software such as Audacity

Different samples of volunteer project types listed on Librivox:

collaborative: many volunteers contribute chapters of a long text
solo: one volunteer reads an entire book
short works (prose and poetry): short works and poetry!
dramatic works: “actors” record parts, all edited together.
other languages: projects in languages other than English.

How it all works:

a book coordinator posts a book in the Readers Wanted Section.
volunteers “claim” chapters to read.
the readers record their chapters in digital format.
the book coordinator collects all the files of all the chapters.
the book coordinator sends the collected files to a meta coordinator.
we check the files for technical problems in the Listeners Wanted section.
the book coordinator sends the collected, corrected files to a meta coordinator..
another public domain audiobook is made available for free.

Read the Forum for more Q & A.

Tighten up your Mac Security

2008-06-04T20:13:00.004+12:00

Apple has released OS X Security Configuration Guides for Max OS X v10.5 (Leopard), Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger) and Mac OS X v10.3 (Panther).

The guides "provide an overview of features in Mac OS X that can be used to enhance security, known as hardening your computer."

Apple posts a warning with these guides:

"To use these guides, you should be an experienced Mac OS X user, be familiar with the Mac OS X user interface, and have at least some experience using the Terminal application’s command-line interface. You should also be familiar with basic networking concepts.

Certain instructions in the guides are complex, and deviation could result in serious adverse effects on the computer and its security. The guides should only be used by experienced Mac OS X users, and any changes made to your settings should be thoroughly tested."

"Green" Transportation

2008-06-03T05:43:00.011+12:00

In a time when green carbon footprints is a topic that could easily be overheard in many "coffee and casual conversations" around the world.....what is being done in our transportation markets to help sustain a green environment?

Remember when you used to be long to the book of the month club? This same concept is now moved to the streets. Streetcar is one such company in the UK that "offers self-service cars and vans for rent by the hour, day, week or month. The vehicles are parked in a dense network of dedicated spaces in several UK cities and can be booked for as little as 30 minutes or as long as 6 months."

There are presently over 3,000 members in the UK and other similar companies are popping up around the world in large cities to help reduce the amount of vehicles that are on the road.

How about a car that runs on air? The proposal is to run a vehicle using compressed air. You know, the same compressed air that we fill our car tires up with at the service station.

Compressed air engines have been around since the 1800's. The Mekarski system was invented in 1870 to move public transportation - tram systems.

Just do a search on YouTube for air cars and you will get about 14,100 results. A concept that seems to be back!

What's new at Adobe Labs

2008-05-27T23:55:00.004+12:00

So what's been happening over at Adobe Labs?

New beta releases for:

Dreamweaver
Fireworks
Soundbooth

Apple Applies for new Patent

2008-05-26T19:57:00.000+12:00

It is all over the blogosphere that Apple has applied for a new patent. Solar panels for the iPhone. Imagine never having to worry about your battery dying on your mobile phone. Sitting at your favourite cafe - having a latte while your phone is sitting on the table charging - without having to plug it in.

I fly quite a lot with my job and I am forever checking and double checking to ensure that I haven't forgotten a connecting or power cable for either my laptop or one of my many mobile devices.

Before I moved to New Zealand (about 3 years ago), I purchased a small solar panel that would be able to charge my mobile phone or iPod.....but it is just another thing to carry. Not to mention all of the connecting ends you need to carry (or loose) as well.

So - bravo to Apple for bringing back an old technology (remember our old solar charged hand calculators) into a new.

Now.....if we could only have solar powered laptops that are lighter and more powerful.....one can dream.

Extremetech brings you 25 Great Geek Websites

2008-04-03T22:47:00.004+13:00

The folks from Extremetech bring you 25 Great Geek Websites all in one hit....thank you Extremetech team :)

The sites are listed below - but be sure to go to the website at Extremetech to get the summary and direct links of each of the websites.

Blues News http://bluesnews.com/
The Inquirer http://www.theinquirer.net/
BetaNews http://www.betanews.com/
Ars Technica http://www.arstechnica.com/
OSNews http://www.osnews.com/
Beyond 3D http://www.beyond3d.com/
[H]ard|OCP http://www.hardocp.com/
The Tech Report http://www.techreport.com/
Anand Tech http://www.anandtech.com/
MVKtech.net http://www.mvktech.net/
Silent PCReview http://www.silentpcreview.com/
The Guru of 3D http://www.guru3d.com/
Hack n Mod http://www.hacknmod.com/
Tech Forums http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/
DriverHeaven.Net Forums http://www.driverheaven.net/forum.php
[H]ard Forum http://hardforum.com/
AV Science Forum http://www.avsforum.com/
Rock, Paper, Shotgun http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/
Joel on Software http://www.joelonsoftware.com/
GamePolitics.com http://www.gamepolitics.com/
Engadget http://www.engadget.com/
Coding Horror http://www.codinghorror.com/
ThinkGeek http://www.thinkgeek.com/ (my fav online geek "stuff" store)
Xkcd http://www.xkcd.com/
Mikes Hardware http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk/

How do we teach young consumers to grow up in a "free" economy?

2008-03-18T00:23:00.002+13:00

We all like to win something or get something for free. I dare say, that people have even spent money on something they really didn't need so they could get the "free" offer. That is called marketing.

But how do we deal in a technology economy where most things (free or otherwise) are available within the comforts of ones home through their computer? Freeconomics is now driving the web.

A great article that I came across in Wired called "Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business" put more questions in my head than answers.

"Until recently, practically everything "free" was really just the result of what economists would call a cross-subsidy: You'd get one thing free if you bought another, or you'd get a product free only if you paid for a service."

Classroom Chat.....

What is the cost to society for "free?" How do schools prepare students for freeconomics? Can entrepreneurs be successful in a free society?

How to easily build your own music server

2008-03-17T00:15:00.003+13:00

Hi all....I'm back. Life got a wee bit chaotic but back to the blogging.

Is your music collection getting out of control? Do you find that you are constantly having to update and change your mp3 player to reflect your updated music collection? We know how well those plastic jewel cases holding our CDs last.

If you have an old PC or Mac sitting around that is collecting dust, why not turn it into a personal music server?

Wired "How-to-Wiki" takes you through an easy step by step guide on how to setup a digital music server. "First and foremost, building a media server gives you access to all of your tunes from anywhere in your house. You'll be able to search for songs and play them back whether you're in your kitchen, living room or your home office, regardless of where in your home your media server sits. If you're extra savvy, you can also set up your server to be accessible over the internet."

Beijing 2008: The Hi Tech Olympics

2008-02-25T00:22:00.000+13:00

165 Days to go to the Beijing Olympic Summer Games 2008. In 2001, China found out that for the first time, China would be hosting the Olympic Summer Games.

How does one engage with over a billion possible TV viewers.....just in the host country alone? Through mobile technology of course.

"CMMB (or S-TIMI) is the technology developed in China and selected by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) as the main platform for delivering TV services to mobile devices.

The CMMB network will use both satellite and terrestrial signals to obtain effective coverage both in densely populated cities, including indoor reception, as well as in sparsely populated rural areas. The commercial launch of mobile TV in China is anticipated to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games." (read further....)

Viewers will be able to catch all of the olympic show through their mobile devices. Once this mobile technology is launched.....what will this communication tool now mean for the mobile market worldwide?

Architecture
The "water cube", (world's largest swimming complex) and the "bird's nest" (the national stadium) are architectural wonders. From the new hi-tech fabrications and methods to the integration of old world Chinese architecture that follows principals of harmony and balance.

Can she loose her reputation for pollution?

One of the most polluted cities in the world....there is some talk that some events may have to be postponed due to the pollution if it can't be controlled by the time the games comes around. 1998 - invested over 16 Billion dollars to fight the pollution....but is still the most polluted cities. News reports state that Capital Steel is one of the biggest problems and contributors to this pollution problem within Beijing. Capital Steel is being closed down and moved out of the city. Employees only 80,000 workers and at the new site there will be jobs for only 7,000. An emotional time. Bringing an environmental consciousness to a culture over night is a difficult task.

Olympic teams worldwide are working through decisions on whether their athletes will be wearing face masks. This is a common sight in the day-to-day of a someone who lives in Beijing (read more on this story....)

Will Beijing city be able to escape the traffic gridlock?
Beijing has over 17million people and there are also millions and millions of cars on the road. How will judges and athletes get around the city and not be late for any of the events? They are working to change and upgrade their underground rail system to one of the longest in the world. There are new lines being added and a special Olympic line that is predicted to carry over 126,000passengers daily.

Controversy....
2008 Beijing has also had share of controversy. Just recently Steven Spielberg rejected the role as artistic adviser to the Olympics. "The film director withdrew on Tuesday on the grounds that China wasn't doing enough to pressure Sudan over the conflict in its western region of Darfur.

China is believed to have influence over the Islamic regime because it buys two-thirds of the country's oil exports while selling it weapons and defending it in the United Nations." (read more on this story....)

Education Resources:

MIT OpenCourseWare materials that are most useful for high school students and teachers.

2008-02-22T21:24:00.004+13:00

MIT OpenCourseWare (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has over 1800 online courses to be viewed and freely participate in.

There is now a resource area called MIT OpenCourseWare: Highlights for High Schools that helps to support science, technology, engineering and math instruction at the high
school level.

One example is a guitar building project where students learn about the "physics principles by examining the physics responsible for producing music with electronic stringed instruments, while building, testing, and playing their own electric guitar. Students will design their own Guitar bodies, construct their own pick-ups, assemble their own guitars, tune them using a chromatic tuner, and use them to play a simple song."

Adventures in Art: Online Activites and Projects for Kids

2008-02-21T20:46:00.004+13:00

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (USA) has a great website that is full of resources for the classroom.

Two main education areas are:

NGA Kids - this resources is full of interactive flash games, programs and projects for students of all ages to engage with.
NGA Classroom: for Teachers and Students - lessons and resources can be accessed by a curriculum, topic, or artist.

Online Tours are available for exploration by artist, artworks or themes. There is also a large collection of videos and podcasts that can be downloaded about various topics related to art, artists and artworks.

National Geographic: Educator Resources

2008-02-20T23:42:00.004+13:00

The National Geographic Education website supports educators and students with many web resources.

Explore lessons, maps, photos, news, video, audio and much more.

For students....there are exciting opportunities to participate in student expeditions. Travel with the National Geographic team in July and August to 12 possible locations:

Peru
Equador & the Galapagos
Costa Rica
Belize
Caribbean
Mali
Tanzania
China
India
Ireland
Spain
Iceland

British Film Institute: BFI - Because Films Inspire - Art

2008-02-19T18:27:00.004+13:00

BFI - the British Film Institute website is full of archives, cinemas, festivals, films, publications and learning resources.

BFI Education publishes a growing range of teaching packs, teaching guides (many of which are free)and resources to support the use of moving image media in schools. 4 different categories: primary schools, secondary schools, film and media studies and curriculum online resources are available for educators to explore.

16+ student guides (some available for free). These are student guides that help senior media students with their "research that cover topics from censorship to Shakespeare."

Left brain supporting the right brain and a whole lot of Adobe

2008-02-18T05:25:00.007+13:00

I came across the creativetechs blog last week.....what a great site! They offer great tech tips and training workshops (if you live in the Seattle area.)

You will find great tips on:

everything Adobe
links to other great website tutorials
administrative information (ie: setting up a leopard server)
how to create your own favicon using Genfavicon free website
"Whats New in CS3" .pdf booklets....great tips and shortcuts

Definitely a site work checking out....you can even save it to you favourite news aggregate :)

A magazine that offers possible visions of the future of learning with digital technologies and other innovative resources

2008-02-13T22:08:00.005+13:00

If you haven't discovered the great resources at Futurelab from the UK (see previous posting) time to browse through a great website! Just a quick review....what does Futurelab do? Well, "Futurelab is passionate about transforming the way people learn. Tapping into the huge potential offered by digital and other technologies, they develop innovative resources and practices that support new approaches to learning for the 21st century."

Of the many great resources that is produced from Futurelab, one of these is their bi-monthly magazine called VISION.

This issue has some articles that could encourage some great discussions with your education community:

Can every child matter? (and if so, how?)
The student becomes the master
Learning to learn: what - or who - is assessment for?
Environmental lessons: integrating sustainability into education
Divided we fall: addressing the digital divide

Great resource to be shared.

Update on removal of social network accounts

2008-02-13T06:00:00.000+13:00

Back in January I blogged about online social networks and how difficult it has been for people to remove their accounts. I just came across an article posted on Slashdot that seems to confirm this and more....."Facebook a Blackhole for Personal Info".

The article reports that "While the Web site offers users the option to deactivate their accounts, Facebook servers keep copies of the information in those accounts indefinitely. Many users who have contacted Facebook to request that their accounts be deleted have not succeeded in erasing their records from the network."

'It's like the Hotel California,' said Nipon Das, a user who tried unsuccessfully to delete his account. 'You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.'

"Facebook's quiet archiving of information from deactivated accounts has increased concerns about the network's potential abuse of private data, especially in the wake of its fumbled Beacon advertising feature."

School Chat....
I think the discussion on personal digital footprints, the Internet and the privacy is such an important and vital issue for today's Internet users. This is something that should and needs to be discussed openly in all schools!

Tag your music by how you feel

2008-02-12T21:52:00.000+13:00

Need to get motivated with some great music for a workout? Rainy day and feeling a little lazy? Or, need some motivating music to get some housework done?

You can download this little application (Mac or PC) called Moody by CrayonRoom. Once downloaded it becomes paired with your iTunes and while you play through your songs, just click on a coloured square that reflects the "mood of the song."

There is a 16 colour grid that corresponds with emotions from intense, calm, sad and happy....with everything in between.

So now you can create a playlist according to your mood :)

School Chat....
This would be an interesting way to have students in Drama, Dance or English look at bringing emotion to various types of plays or performances. Music teachers would be able to work with their students to explore how emotion is tied in with music. We tend to be visual learners....an interesting way to explore the connections between music, colour and emotion.

All things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and Apple

2008-02-11T05:09:00.000+13:00

So you own an iPod, iPhone or other Apple products....time to discover iLounge.

iLounge’s annual Best of Show awards are designed to recognize standout products and major innovations in iPod, iPhone, iTunes and/or Apple TV products and services. Explore the 13 winning products and 10 finalists.

Example of some of these new products are:

Atlantic iceBar2 - waterproof case for your iPod with speakers

Belkin Podcast Studio for podcasters

Casio Exilim EX-Z80 and EX-S10 Cameras - record videos directly into iTunes/iPod/iPhone-ready 640x480

Then just for fun (but some of the tips are serious).....50 Things you can do with your iPod

Check out Apples iTunes U and Mobile Learning

miShare is a cool little product that lets you share your files and playlists between iPods without having to use a computer to do this.

iPods in Education from Tony Vincent. Great website that explores various ways "that iPods can be used for teaching and learning."

72 Tips for Safe Computing

2008-02-09T18:59:00.000+13:00

Most homes now adays will have a computer of some sort in it. Whether it is the parents work computer, student laptop or general house machine.....it is usually put through the paces.

Many people drive a car but don't have a clue what goes on under the hood. Same as a computer. It may be used for email, Internet searches, games but if some extra pop up boxes appear or if you have to find a file in the Temporary Internet folder or manually update a .dat file for your anti-virus software....HELP!

PCMag.com have put together 11 categories that cover 72 tips to help the "everyday user" have a safe experience on their computer. If you have a computer or work with a computer - take the time to read through these tips and understand them. Don't know why phishing is....then do a quick search on the Internet to find out what it means.

When I talk about security in workshops and conferences, it still amazes me how many people raise their hands when asked, who have passwords that are either their name or better yet....still "password". Have you purchased a wireless router for you house? Have you gone through to change the administrative passwords? Believe it or not....many leave the factory passwords activated.

If you use a computer .... learn what it can do and how to keep your digital information/footprint safe!

Categories:

The Very Minimum
Malware/Antivirus
Windows Specifics
Impossible Passwords
Phishing
Safe Surfing
Anonymity/Privacy
Spam and Spim
Kid Computing
Home Networks
Physical/Security

School Chat....
Help your parent community. I remember parent teacher night. Most of my parents talked briefly about their kids and how they were doing. Then the discussion quickly turned to "I have a few questions about my computer or network." Create some handouts from these tips for your parent/teacher evenings.

Have a friendly competition with your staff during one of your PD days. Create an internet hunt and have these tips formed in questions. Teams of teachers will have a time limit to find the questions online.

Have this information available on your school Internet for all in your school community.

Teachers in the future could live anywhere in the world

2008-02-08T19:18:00.000+13:00

I just read an article from the Startribune online (free registration) - "Tutoring assistance is just a click - and a world - away" A story about a company in India that is making headway into the US in the "after school tutoring market" Mode of delivery: virtual. Their prices: cheaper than their North American counterparts and with the time change - the evening in North America is the morning in India with the beginning of a new workday. Parents interviewed in the article did not seem to care where the tutors were physically located - they wanted results and have seen this with their childrens marks go up.

A lot of money and time is spent around the world on education standards, teacher training, teacher certification and curriculum development....what impact will this trend of global online tutoring have on mainstream education?

In Canada alone, a teacher moving from one province to another has to have their certification processed and approved by the individual provinces, as each are distinctly different.

But should this be an issue?

Many companies now use call centres from around the world. You could be ordering a pizza and be calling a call centre half way around the world.

In the digital context, do global boundaries matter as much anymore? In the 21st century economy, our students will need to know how to look beyond physical borders to build and engage in business.

Should this be modelled in the school communities? There are already many schools around the world that deliver part or whole programs online. The reduced costs of video conferencing and other online collaborative tools such as Adobe Connect, NetMeeting, etc... have made it possible for schools to purchase and use these tools in their school community. The majority of 21st century students are familiar with online communities and engagement.....fewer educators are. There seems to be confusion on how this new communication stream should/could be incorporated into the curriculum.

Should education communities be proactive instead of reactive and start to look at developing new global education models?

What will be the benefits for the teaching and learning communities if the teaching community also includes virtual staff from around the world?

Innovation = Design + Inspiration

2008-02-07T20:33:00.000+13:00

Want a peek into future technologies that will be coming to house, office or school near you?

MERL (Mitsubishi Electric Research Labratories) is an arm of the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. MERL focuses on research in 5 areas:

computer vision

digital communications

digital video

off the desktop interaction & display

sensor & data system

Past and Present projects are an impressive exploration of technology and the creativity of the human mind.

********************************************************************

Building interactive widgets for the web with Adobe Flex

2008-02-06T22:51:00.000+13:00

The word widget is something that has become a popular term to "describe an interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box." (wikipedia)

A new Adobe Flex web application called Sprout Builder lets users author their own media widgets [ "living content" ] that can be shared on many blogs and social network services along with websites.

Sprouts can be developed to be personal, promotional or informational material. Sprout Builder has an authoring environment that supports users to easily build a variety of different Sprouts.

You can pull administration data about your posted Sprouts...how many times someone has seen or used your Sprout, for example.

Read more on this from source posting ReadWrite.com, where you can access a link for a test run of Sprout.

Widget Distribution Partners
clearspring
gigya
Spring widgets

School Chat....
An interesting option for school promotions, student projects/portfolios and delivery of curriculum concepts.

Which Technologies will Shape Education in 2008?

2008-02-05T22:20:00.000+13:00

The New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) just released the 2008 Horizon Report. "Each year, the Horizon Report describes six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years."

The 6 technology trends identified in the report that could shape education in 2008 are:

Grassroots Video
- evolved from user created content in 07 report....the popularity of YouTube has spun of many similar web services. Shooting, editing and publishing video can be done easily, even with your mobile phone.
Collaboration Webs
- evolution from social networking and virtual worlds in 07 report....teachers networks have grown beyond their backyard.
Mobile Broadband
- evolution from mobile phone in 07 report....people are using their mobile phones more and more. Unfortunately the prohibitive cost of telco prices - ie: NZ - in some parts of the world limit the potential for educational use.
Data Mashups
- a great concept for educators to understand and be able to develop. Mashups is pulling data in from various sources around the web into one area. For example, if a teacher wanted to pull resources in from around the web for a project on climated change....they could create their own mashup for this and then host it on their school or classroom website for the students to then access. Links in the report on authoring tools to create mashups.
Collective Intelligence
- bringing together the knowledge and thoughts in "real time" in what the report calls "explicit knowledge stores." An example of this is wikipedia.
Social Operating System
- is an evolution of all the "social aspects" from the 07 report. The report also talks about the "third space" (see side bar under "things for thought," where I blogged about the 3rd space back in 06, with a link to a great article by Tracey Bretag.) How do people connect? How do communities of interest develop?

The 6 trends that were identified to impact education in 2007 were:

User-created content;
Social networking;
Mobile phones;
Virtual worlds;
New scholarship and emerging forms of publication; and
Massively multiplayer educational gaming

Download 2008 Horizon Report
Compare with 2007 Horizon Report

How to find beta applications and keep up with news & innovation.

2008-02-04T04:45:00.000+13:00

How does one keep up with all the new web applications/services, news and innovations that are showing up on the web everyday?

Two sure fire ways to find out what's new on the web:

If you haven't already, set yourself up with a free online service for searching, subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content....this is called a feed aggregator. An aggregator brings together all the news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs that you have signed up for in a single location for easy viewing. I use Bloglines but there are many other online free aggregators you can sign up for.
Book mark or add this website to your aggregator......The Museum of Modern Beta [MoMB].

MoMB brings together for you everyday a new beta web application/service that has come online. MoMB has the websites organized in several different ways:

recently added
by language
the cloud
serendipity
special: alpha
special: by invitation
special: out of beta
the hot 100
the top 100
etc.....

Interactive Science Models for Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

2008-02-01T22:00:00.000+13:00

"The Molecular Workbench is an NSF (The National Science Foundation)-funded research project, that seeks to explore the educational value of having student solve problems using dynamic representations of linked micro and micro worlds."

Download the free Java modeler to run the simulations (download link), which will run on Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems.

Once the modeler is downloaded and installed, click on the Showcase link to download and interact with a variety of models.

Choose from:

Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology

The screen shot on the left is an example of the simulation for the motion of Greenhouse Gases (found under Chemistry.)

Career Guide for the Gaming Industry

2008-01-31T22:19:00.000+13:00

So you want to get into the game industry?

The Game Career Guide website was founded by the CMP Game Group in August 2006 as a website resource specifically for students and educators in the game industry.

Some of the areas you will find within this website are: feature articles, 512 schools listed worldwide for game/game related programs, and featured careers to name a few. One of the featured articles for January is an insight into the programming tests that a game programmer might take as part of a job interview.

School Chat....
A great resource for students interested in this field, career councilors, and teachers. You soon realize that there are not only a lot of varied jobs in the game industry but a lot of high-end skilled career possibilities.

Own a Nokia N95....free appzs and updates

2008-01-30T23:06:00.000+13:00

Just before Christmas I got a Nokia N95 mobile phone for work. Still miss the keyboard of my old Treo 750.....but there are a lot of cool features on this 3G mobile phone.

The only negative are the mobile covers that are available for the N95. Here in New Zealand you have a choice of the uncool, clunky black ITish leather cover that hooks to your belt....or a clear plastic cover for top and bottom so it can easily slide. I thought the clear plastic would be great as it doesn't add any bulk to the phone. Picked the clear plastic cover up at Vodafone and in no time the bottom left corner on the top and bottom piece had cracked. Bought another one....same crack in the corners. One of my colleagues got one and hers has cracked as well.

I popped into the Vodafone shop where I purchased it....they just smiled and said basically "oh well" when I told them all these cases are cracking. A person has to wonder what has happened to customer service? Especially for corporate clients? Do NOT buy the clear plastic cases.

If you have a Nokia mobile phone, you must check out the Nokia Beta Labs. Quite a few applications to test out....but be warned....these are in Beta which means they are still being "tweaked."

And of course, don't forget to check out the Nokia N95 blog for all the information, updates, appzs, etc on your N95.

PC World Best innovative of 2007

2008-01-29T23:37:00.000+13:00

2007 was an interesting year in technology and innovation. PC World sums this up in an article "The 25 Most Innovative Products of the Year." Everything from a mobile phone to cloud computing....the PC, the web and mobile devices have evolved.

Some of the most innovative products that the staff at PC World selected are:

Google Gears
Apple iPhone
One Laptop per Child OX
Time Machine, in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Amazon Kindle
NetGear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC
AT&T Tilt
Facebook API
DeviceVM Splashtop
Toshiba Portege R500
Data Robotics Drob
Hybrid Hard Drives
Eye-Fi Card
Panasonic TH-42PZ700U
Yamaha Tenori-On
Zoho Notebook
'In Rainbows' by Radiohead
IOGear Wireless USB Hub and Adapter
Mint.com
Microsoft Popfly
Sprint Airave
Ask.com
eXpresso
Kodak EasyShare All-In-One Printers

[ complete list with links ]

Classroom Chat....
A great discussion to have in your classes with your students. How have these technologies made an impact in how we learn, work, or play?

Do you think it is easy removing your digital foot print?

2008-01-28T10:52:00.000+13:00

On-line Social Networking was embraced with a fury by all generations (sorry Gen Y....not exclusive to just you as you may think.) You know, the place where you could talk about whatever with your friends with no parents or adults around to monitor what you say or do. Previous generations called this a telephone, today it is called MySpace, Badoo, Facebook, Friendster, etc... One of the differences between the generations was that many "experienced" Internet users may have been a bit more cautious with putting pictures of their weekend adventures up on their social webpage. Many Gen Y used their social web accounts as an open diary for pictures and information on themselves and others. This has come back to haunt many of them as they have lost control of their digital information.

Many articles have been written over the last year on how social network sites have become a problem in users lives. I need to emphasize that in most cases the social network websites themselves are not the problem but the misuse or rather lack of understanding on how to use a social network site for something other than "dishing" the person that you saw at a previous party is the problem. In other words, the user is the problem.

Perfect example - an article on BBC News...."Social Websites Prove Hard to Leave". A final year university student decided it was "time to grow up and remove any job-threatening information from the internet." He started to panic when he realized his account wasn't deleting from a popular social network website. He finally went to the extreme to contact BBC and they in tern contacted the social network company directly. His account was deleted.

My thought is. If you had to go to those extremes to delete the content....was it maybe a bit too personal or extreme to be put up on a public worldwide venue to begin with?

School Chat.....
With students returning to school (in the Southern Hemisphere) the beginning of February....teachers this is a good time to discuss exactly what a personal digital foot print is? What are the pros and cons of having your image/name/information out in the worldwide domain?

Many university campuses are now posting information for students on how to protect themselves from on-line social networking, such as Arizona State University.

Creating on-line social networks is a skill that needs to be fostered and encouraged in a positive, engaging and safe environment for the 21st century learner. Whether for personal or business use, it is something that is already used daily and is an essential skill in a digital global economy.

Free Music Downloads....coming from the most unusual innovator

2008-01-25T05:53:00.001+13:00

The old saying..."if you can't beat em, join them" seems to fit with this new web service/concept.

Since Napster came on the web scene, people have been downloading and sharing media files...especially music files. Now a musician is taking the "downloads" into his own hands.

We7 (in beta) started in April of 2007 "by Rock legend Peter Gabriel, technology entrepreneur Steve Purdham and financial investor John Taysom to bring advertisers a new ad delivery mechanism."

The target audience for We7is ages 14-65, re-enforcing ad messaging through "multiple delivery methods including B2C (Business-to-Consumer), B2B (Business-to-Business) and community delivery."

January 15, 2008 was a milestone for We7 with the 1 millionth track downloaded on that day from the website. Who benefits from this service? We7believes everyone wins and apparently investors believe it is a winning combination with a 6 million dollar investment deal just closed on January 21, 2008.

School Chat....
Now before drama, dance, and other teachers that pay huge royalty fees for school performances start jumping up and down with excitement....read the terms and conditions first (yes I know....who actually reads those....). The free downloads are for personal use only.

Hopefully the folks at We7 will look at an education community business model that schools will be able to access as well?

Open source projects built on Adobe Technology

2008-01-24T22:17:00.000+13:00

RIAForge is an "online community site, built using our own products and targeted to support developers building open source projects for our products and platform."

Creating an account is free. Once registered you have access to the following services to use with your project:

Blog
Bug Tracker
Subversion
Forums
Download and View Stats
Ability to point to external resources (for those who already have an existing infrastructure).

Some of the categories have yet to be populated with any projects. Flash, for example, has quite a few projects to explore. The project categories are based on:

Air
ColdFusion
Director
Dreamweaver
Fireworks
Flash
Flex
Illustrator
InDesign
LiveCycle
Miscellaneous
Photoshop

Creative and engaging "Small World" developed with Adobe Flex application

2008-01-23T23:46:00.000+13:00

One of our senior engineers has a colleague who is part of the Outsmart team, a company here in Auckland, New Zealand that develops unique Rich Internet Applications (RIA). He showed me a new web based 3D virtual world called SmallWorlds that Outsmart has developed.

Once I got my beta invite (and some time in the early morning to have a play) I was able to quickly build my avatar, shop to buy some furniture for my new home, play games, watch YouTube videos on my flat screen or sit and chill and admire my personally designed art work.

If you are interested in giving SmallWorlds a whirl...email me at brenda.frisk@nextspace.co.nz (it is a closed beta) and I will email you a beta invite (put in your subject header: "smallworlds beta invite".)

I was able to catch up with Darren Green, Technical Director for Outsmart, and ask him a few questions:

How did your concept evolve for Smallworlds?

SmallWorlds has evolved from several product ideas we have been considering over the past 18 months. We (Outsmart - the company behind SmallWorlds) have been designing and building products for numerous Web 2.0 start-ups, and through this process have been in an ideal position to get a feel for when the convergence points were forming for web applications and services.

SmallWorlds evolved from several products we were considering to build:
- collaboration
- sharing and realtime communications applications (groupware)
- game building and sharing platforms
- and several ideas around social networking applications.
While SmallWorlds is in essence a casual virtual world, it is in a broader sense a new way of sharing and consuming web content, media and other forms of digital entertainment. Our vision for SmallWorlds is for it to become a place for like-minded people to socialize, share, play and even create on the web.
Who is the target market for Smallworlds?

Being a convergence product, SmallWorlds has several target markets that we hope to cover. Our primary demographic would have to be users 15-30 years of age who like socializing on the net, but we intend to cover a broader range than this by including casual games and group collaboration capabilities.
What will a user find when they come into Smallworlds?

An easy to use, yet powerful avatar builder. A room builder where you can create your own perfect socializing and entertainment space. We have virtual shops full of items and widgets (such as Graffiti Canvases and YouTube TVs), and there are plenty of spaces to explore. We are in the early stages of a private beta presently so the options currently available are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is yet to come.
Adobe®Flex™Builder™ 2 is now free for education institutions. Do you foresee that skills in this area is something students in senior/high school could/should focus on?

We see Flex as being one of the most advanced and powerful application development platforms available today. Combine that with the ubiquity of the Adobe Flash player (the virtual machine that Flex applications run in), and the explosive nature of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, and you will see (as we do) that Flex Development will become one of the most highly demand skillsets for graduates in the coming years.
What other skills could you suggest to students if they were looking to get into this field?

Modern applications are bringing together both technical and graphic/visual design skills. Having some exposure to tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash is definitely an advantage.

Picture Gallery

Here is my avatar just hanging out listening to music in the public chat lounge.

Shopping for furniture (you start with 1500 tokens) for my new "digs."

Starting to setup my virtual home with the some of the furniture that was purchased from the Modern Living furniture shop.

School Chat....
Navigation and the user interface is very easy to use and get around in. I see a lot of education applications where SmallWorlds could apply....I look forward to further discussions with the developers to see how this can be implemented.

Have Fun!

Using Social Networking to teach Gaming Concepts globally

2008-01-22T05:07:00.000+13:00

Playing games over the years has moved out of the arcade around the corner and into the home or on a mobile device. Games are used for learning, recreating simulations, and just for fun.

Using the social network hook, MyGLife.org is moving beyond the player and into users (youth 13 yrs and older) becoming game developers.

MyGLife.org is developed by World Wide Workshop, a "organization dedicated to conceptualizing and developing applications of Internet media technology to enhance learning, creativity and understanding among children and youth in developing communities around the world."

MyGLife.org has "100s of "educational activities, simulations and tutorials to play, learn, explore and contribute new ideas online."

Designed to help youth:

Learn internet media technology and game-development skills;
Hone professional and life skills;
Experience positive virtual communication with other communities; and
Foster social change
(read more....)

School Chat....
The concept of learning through gaming, play, interactive medium is here to stay and evolving and changing as I type this post. It has woven its self into the corporate world and slowly into classrooms around the world. Working with students over the years in interactive media classrooms, I have seen first hand the power of learning when students are in the role of instructional designers and developers. When students are allowed to unpack and repackage information in a process and outcome that has come from them....time and time again it has been proven that through this process ALL types of learners are engaged and immersed in learning the content.

So next time you have a "project" for your students to do....let them create a learning artifact or module in an engaging and meaningful way. Either in the form of a game or some other interactive medium.

(First read from: BBC News)

Wii used for trainee surgeons

2008-01-21T06:21:00.000+13:00

An article on ScientistTech website writes about a group at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona that are testing Wii to be used with their surgical residents. They have found that "surgical residents performed better during simulated surgery after playing on the Wii console." The belief is....this is due to the console's "novel 'Wiimote' control system, which allows players to direct on-screen action using a wireless wand that detects acceleration in three dimensions."

Researchers found that "Wii-playing residents scored 48 per cent higher on tool control and performance than those without the Wii warm-up." They also found that some games were especially good "because players must use small, precise movements of the wand."

There is development now for game software that can be played on Wii that is specific for surgical procedures. The researchers believe that Wii has the "most potential of any console for trainee surgeons."

Read more....

Exporting Virtual Worlds into the Real World

2008-01-14T19:43:00.000+13:00

Just came across a site that I found quite intriguing. We are always taking the world around us and digitizing it through photos, video and audio files....here was a process that brought what we have created digitally into the "real world."

Export to World was designed Linda Kostowski and Sascha Pohflepp and they their aim with this project was to "copy objects from Second Life's walled economy of simulated things. We export those into the real world by transforming them into life-size papercraft models."

What will you need to create the virtual objects into the real world?

A 2nd Life Account
Michael Frumin's OGLE free software installed (it extracts the geometry and texture data from your graphics hardware). Cool piece of software that extracts the geometry from other web 3D sites as well such as Google Earth and World of Warcraft (view the "real life" paper models from these sites.)
Pepakura Designer (free software) installed (Japanese shareware unfolding-software)
Read step-by-step directions for creating your "life-size papercraft model."

School Chat....

I hope I am not the only one excited about this :) Working in 3D, I am going to try this on some of my own 3D models.....keep you posted on that one.

I think it opens up a whole new door for students to access and present research projects. Put this process in their hands and see what they come up with.....it will amaze you! Let me know if anyone uses this in their classroom....I would be interested to see how the students engage with this process.

Special Report from Scientific American on Global Change

2008-01-11T22:45:00.000+13:00

A report on Climate Change was released at the end of 2007 and posted on Scientific American. It was written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is their 4th assessment of the "science of climate change, its impacts and possible solutions."

Other links to explore from this website:

State of the Science: Beyond the Worst Climate Change Scenario
Earth in Heat: 10 Views of a Warming World (PPT)
Climate Change Impacts (interactive map)
Clash: What Will Climate Change Cost Us? (Q&A)
10 Solutions for Climate Change
Scientific American's Climate Change Coverage

Great resources for the classroom!

Free Physics Text Book - Motion Mountain

2008-01-10T23:35:00.000+13:00

"How do objects and images move? How can animals move? What is motion?

How does a rainbow form? Is levitation possible? Do time machines exist? What does 'quantum' mean? What is the maximum force value found in nature? Is 'empty space' really empty? Is the universe a set? Which problems in physics are still unsolved?"

Motion Mountain tells the story of how it became possible, after 2500 years of exploration, to answer such questions. You can download this free pdf story that is written in 6 chapters. The chapters are:

Fall, Flow and Head
Relativity
Lights, Charges and Brains
Quantum Theory: The Smallest Change
Pleasure, Technology and the Stars
Motion without Motion - What are Space, Time and Particles?

On the 2st edition (as of December, 2007), the book is from a social science perspective that starts with "observations of everyday life."

Check out the wiki to see what news and updates is happening with the book.

How to park a smartcart in the city?

2008-01-09T22:15:00.000+13:00

How do you park a smart car in the city? Well stack it of course. Researchers at MIT have come up with a prototype called the "City Car."

The City Car is a stack able smart car that seats 2 passengers. The City Car is NOT a replacement for personal transport but is a model that is similar to the grocery cart stack or luggage carts at the airport. The hope is that this vehicle will become more of a socially accepted model of transportation within a densely populated urban environment.

For example, people that live outside of an urban area but drive into work sometimes have an option to park outside the city limits and then take in mass transport to the city centre. the City Car would be able to replace the large city buses or trains that move mass transit into the city centre.

Would this have a positive impact and reduce the carbon footprint of a city? Interesting concept.

Belkin extends the recording capabilities of your iPod

2008-01-08T06:23:00.000+13:00

Mobility and usability is what Belkin is bringing with a marriage of the iPod and a new product called TuneStudio. You can now easily create "high-quality digital recordings directly to your iPod."

"This mixer allows the input of up to four different instruments or audio sources, and records the audio onto your iPod for instant playback."

Musical instruments can be attached along with microphones. Whether it is jam sessions or recording assessments for the classroom....all the audio gets recorded directly to the attached iPod.

Creating a Podcast? TuneStudio can be used to record the Podcasts in a studio or on location (it is a very portable unit.)
Compatible with the following iPods:

A great tool to incorporate into the school community for use in the classroom.

Wearable Computers - the future is here

2008-01-07T21:22:00.000+13:00

The Eurotech Group started out as an "idea factory" in Amaro, Italy. With offices now all around the world, Eurotech Group has become a leader in the "field of high technology for computer miniaturization."

A very unique product that Eurotech has developed which is ready for market is the Zypad, the "wearable computer." The Zypad WL 1000, and Zypad WL 1100

The idea of "wearable technology" or "wearable computers" has been around for awhile. Back in February, 2002 there was a posting that talked about Tokyo street fashion. It was titled "In Toyko, Street Fashion Goes High Tech".

We have seen wearable computers in film as part of a fictional possibility for years and now it is a reality.

School Chat....
So how could wearable computers work in a school setting? Imagine students working in collaborative groups. Future student workflow might look like this....

students no longer need to carry laptops around or be restricted to desktop computers around the school.

if students used a device similar to Zypad they would be able to work in a mobile collaborative environment.

input devices such as keyboards and a mouse....not to worry. The wearable computer could work with a virtual keyboard that projected onto any surface (such as the I-Tech's Virtual Laser Keyboard shown to the right.)

wearable computers have bluetooth and wireless capabilities and students can easily upload work to and from their personal learning digital storage area on the network.

leaving for a field trip.....lets say to the zoo? Students upload GPS data to their wearable computers that their biology teacher has set. They are required to view certain types of marine and land mammals that they are studying in class. The GPS directions will easily move them through the zoo to the points of interest that the teacher wants them to touch upon.

while at the zoo - each place the students stop to visit has a 3D interactive station that engages the students and tells the history of the animal they are looking at. Information can then be transferred through wireless connection from the interactive station to the students wearable computer.

students are able to record what they see through the microphone built into their wearable computer..... this is saved as an .mp3 file.

pictures can also be taken with the web camera that is built into the wearable computer.

on return to the classroom from the field trip....students work in collaborative teams easily sharing their data from the trip to create a presentation from what they had discovered from their field trip.

once presentations are complete they are uploaded to the class digital storage area and then presented to the rest of the class.

Just a small example of what could be done with the integration of wearable computers in the classroom.....but there are soooooooo many more exciting possibilities.

Web or Print Publishing is so easy for any budding Photographer or Graphic Designer

2008-01-04T11:42:00.000+13:00

A colleague of mine at work (Richard Wong) will tell you his photography is only a hobby....but his passion, eye for detail and design sense tells quite another story. Very talented person! Check our his new web album it is constantly updating.

Richard created this web album using JAlbum (see below) and the BananAlbum skin.

BananAlbum can be used on its own and was developed by another photo enthusiast (Rudin Swagerman) for personal use....once other people saw the great potential of BananAlbum they wanted to use it as well. BananAlbum is free to use (although you can purchase a license for $30.00 USD....this will give you a "clean" BananAlbum. No intro, no icon on the bottom right hand corner, plus information on how to incorporate audioPlayer functionality. If you want a great way to add an easy album to your website - the $30.00 is a great deal! Note: when registering, you must give the domain (the URL) that BananAlbum will be hosted on.

BananAlbum can be used for any type of image - photography or original artwork (digital or other mediums).

Back in 2006 I had blogged about JAlbum, it has come a long way since then! BananAlbum is now bundled in JAlbum. "With JAlbum you have full control of the look of the generated album, not just color theme and basic layout, still making an album is just a matter of drag and drop + a button click if you prefer to use one of the many existing looks. JAlbum will process your images, make index pages and slide show pages and even upload the final album to the Internet for your friends to see. JAlbum runs on all platforms and speaks 30 languages."

But wait, there is more.....

You can take your images from JAlbum and publish a book in Blurb. Took some great photographs over the holidays, publish them in a book from Blurb. Prices are quite reasonable starting "at only $12.95 for a 40-page softcover, $22.95 for a 40-page hardcover with dust jacket. The bookmaking software is free." Click this link for further pricing guidelines.

The process is easy. Install Blurb BookSmart, choose the type of book you want to make, play around with the photos, stories, etc...and your book is done.What a great birthday, Christmas (next year), or special occasion gift! Work the cost into a school program. Students take their own photographs all year then publish them into a book at the end of the year....great keepsake. Companies want to tell their own story - to be original.

I am going to use Blurb to tell our story since we moved to New Zealand almost 3 years ago. Some of my family members will probably not ever travel from Canada to New Zealand so if I pull a book together for them with pictures of the people and places they have heard us talk about over the last couple of years.....it will bring our new home closer to them.

Pushing Communicaton and Collaboration to a New Level: Create, Manage and Share Presentations on the Web

2008-01-03T14:46:00.000+13:00

One of the many great perks of being a part of the Adobe Education Leadership (AEL) program is learning about new technologies, applications or services that are up and coming. Tech Wednesday (they are "Tech Thursday" for us in the Southern Hemisphere) are live Acrobat Connect presentations that Adobe hosts almost weekly. AELs and other Adobe user groups are invited to view/participate in the presentations. They are great and range from new product releases to 3rd party customers. I wasn't able to attend the presentation live this morning, but since the live presentation was recorded through Acrobat Connect, I was able to easily view it later by accessing a web link.

This morning Mitch Grasso - the co-founder of SlideRocket was the presenter. SlideRocket is an exciting new (you can sign up for a beta account on the website) web based application that has been designed using Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR.

SlideRocket is pushing presentation desktop products like PowerPoint and KeyNote by allowing users to "design, manage and share libraries of slides and assets, and to deliver presentations in person or remotely over the web." It has many of the features you have come to use in the desktop products plus more!!!

The cool thing about SlideRocket is that you (as the publisher of the presentation) can add users with different permissions and roles. Some of the other unique aspects of SlideRocket:

use existing or create your own themes.
you can pull data in from Google spreadsheets to create charts and tables.
images can be uploaded to SlideRocket, pulled from your computer or in from Flickr.
you can add Flash Videos (.flv) and Flash Movies (.swf) to your presentations.
availability of a "plug-in architecture" that can be adapted and extended then shared with the SlideRocket Community.
the folks from SlideRocket are presently working with SalesForce.com to create some very unique work flows for the SlideRocket community.

I would encourage you to sign up for a beta account and give SlideRocket a try. I think it will be a very exciting tool that will help to introduce a unique work flow not only for corporate but for the education community as well.

Forecasts for 2008 and Beyond: Exploring personal and global futures....

2008-01-02T20:57:00.000+13:00

The World Future Society (WFS) has been around since 1966. As a nonprofit educational and scientific organization based in Washington DC, WFS is "interested in how social and technological developments are shaping the future."

As a new year roles in...everyone always rattles off their new years resolutions....usually most of them don't last longer than the end of the first month....how many of us joined the gym in a new year?

WFS discusses the "Top 10 Forecasts for 2008 and Beyond", here is an overview of the WFS editors forecasts:

The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025.
Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry.
The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States.
Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society.
The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event.
Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century.
World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people.
The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080.
Rising prices for natural resources could lead to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic.
More decisions will be made by nonhuman entities.
(further reading on each of the 10 forecasts....)

Classroom Chat....
Why study, discuss or look at the future?

A great quote from the WFS website explains why.....

"The world changes so quickly it's hard to keep up. New inventions and innovations alter the way we live. People's values, attitudes, and beliefs are changing. And the pace of change keeps accelerating, making it difficult to prepare for tomorrow. By studying the future, people can better anticipate what lies ahead. More importantly, they can actively decide how they will live in the future, by making choices today and realizing the consequences of their decisions.

The future doesn't just happen: People create it through their action -- or inaction -- today."

Happy New Year from New Zealand

2008-01-01T01:45:00.000+13:00

"Wishing Friends and Family a Safe, Happy and Prosperous 2008"
Brennie

(Image Location)

Creating better mp3 files....it is music to your ears

2007-12-28T08:10:00.000+13:00

A small article in Wired magazine (November 2007) caught my eye. It was about ripping better mp3 files. Ever since the creation of Napster and portable music devices....the mp3 file format has become the choice for many around the world. The good thing is that mp3 compression allows for smaller music files - but the problem with this is that we have become used to listening to (as the music purists would put it) - "crap." We have sacrificed sound quality for small file sizes.

The Wired article states "the audio geeks behind LAME (the decoder) continually fine-tune their compression algorithms so cymbals don't crunch like garbage-can lids, and screaming guitars don't sound like squeaking Fisher-Prince toys."
(Image Reference)

The article suggests 2 mp3 applications to try (they are free of course):

Mac users: iLas
PC users: Exact Audio Copy

If you are using Audacity (a free audio recording and editing application that most schools now use....for Mac, PC & Linux.) Be sure to download and install the lame.dll file. This will enable you to export your audio files as .mp3 files with a great compression. This is important if you are using Audacity to record Language or English assessments.

One of many possible links (if Googled) you can download the lame.dll file (download)

A website that helps you create everything from badges to a motivational poster

2007-12-27T09:44:00.000+13:00

There are thousands of free websites available on the Internet that will do free easy tasks for you - no matter where you might be located. Any computer.....any where. All you need is an Internet connection and access (in the case of this website) to some of your personal images.

BigHuge Labs lives up to the name by having a huge amount of free web based applications to have a play with. You can use images from your computer, Flickr, Photobucket or URL (from a website).

I will attempt to list some of them:

Create your own motivational poster (great for the classroom)
Create a custom name badge
Develop your own personalized letter to Santa (good for next year)
Create a magazine cover
Make a mosaic from your fav set of photos
Create monthly calendars with your own photos
Design your own trading cards
Add comic book style captions to your photos
Warholizer: "Andy Warhol" an image
Choose from a variety of frames to put around an image
Turn any photo into a desktop or cell phone wallpaper
Cube: create a cube you can print out with 6 of your fav photos
etc.....

You get the picture (pardon the pun), there is unlimited things you can be creative with.

What a great site to have some fun with all those great photos you have taken over the holidays!

Technology has given biologists the opportunity to discover new life.

2007-12-26T06:55:00.000+13:00

E.O. Wilson (a professor and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard University) presented at TED in March 2007 which is quite an inspiring and fascinating talk for any age group. A video that should definitely be shown in every biology class. He encourages everyone to get to know more about the insects and small creatures, to learn more about our biosphere.

There are over 500 bacteria (now known) that are friendly living in your throat and mouth alone. Biodiversity is a yardstick with which to measure the health of planet Earth. Much of early biology consisted of identifying and classifying creatures. As the world famous Ecologist E.O Wilson says, “Everything is connected”. It is these interactions and the totality of life, which give rise to the term biodiversity. Biological diversity can be defined as the variety of living creatures, including their ecological roles and their genetic diversity. Biodiversity is in short the “creation” in its mind-boggling entirety.

HIPPO is an acronym that Wilson uses to describe the threats to biosphere:

H - habitat destruction
I - introduced species (introduced invaders by humans often kill out native species)
P - pollution
P - population (Wherever humans step - they gobble up resources)
O - overconsumption (North Americans - 5 % of the world population but consumes 25% of world resources)

E.O. Wilson wishes that all can work together to help create the key tools needed to inspire preservation of earth's biodiversity - it is called the Encyclopedia of Life. A website that has a page for each species on earth that makes this information available for everyone on the earth. Could scientists and the everyday person can come together (almost in a wiki format) to develop the Encyclopedia?

School Chat....
How can your school or class be involved in your corner of the world? Contact the folks at Encyclopedia of Life to see how your program can contribute.....the smallest of discoveries can be found by the youngest scientists!

Happy Christmas to All

2007-12-25T07:40:00.000+13:00

Holiday wishes from a Kiwi Christmas. I hope everyone has a healthy and happy holiday.

Kia Ora

Will Nano Technology extend the lives of our beloved technology?

2007-12-21T23:57:00.000+13:00

Over dinner tonight the discussion turned to batteries. Yes, I know what you are thinking....not the most exciting dinner conversation, but it actually got into quite a conversation.

We were actually talking about Pleo (see yesterday's posting) and I was telling everyone that it has about a 1 hour battery life and starts to get sleepy when the battery starts to run down.

Two of us at the dinner table love gadgets....I mean we absolutely love new techi gadgets and that , unfortunately, involves charging and batteries. Whenever I pack I have cables and battery chargers and extra external chargers to charge all my gear in case batteries die. Now I have found some clever little travel tools that will reduce the amount of cables you need to carry as you can just "switch the plug ends." I was given as a gift an Electronics USB Cell phone/PDA/iPOD/Charger Kit by Tumi and it is great! It really reduces the amount of cables you have to carry and when traveling overseas you only need the one adapter as it switches to all international power plugs.

I also never leave home without my Tunejuice by Griffin Technology. It is a great little battery extender for any of the iPods (except the little shuffle). Just pop in 4 AAA batteries and if your iPod starts to die you just plug it into the bottom of the iPod. Griffin Technology reports that "TuneJuice will provide up to 14 hours of additional audio play, or 2 more hours of video viewing." I can't verify the length of time as my Tunejuice has not run down yet while in use. I think the longest I have used it is 5 continuous hours and it was still going strong.

So my point is, as much as we love our technology and gadgets we do have a charging/battery issue. I just read an article from ScienceDaily that reports this problem may be solved very shortly. A report that researchers from Stanford University have "found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices." (read further)

Research into this technology has been going on for sometime, but it seems the team at Stanford has cut through and solved any of the previous problems. These new batteries "produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours."

Exciting stuff! No reports yet when consumers might see this available on the market, but you can bet it might be around the corner.

Animatronic Dinosaur named Pleo, learns to engage and interact with its owners.

2007-12-20T05:03:00.000+13:00

What is the latest fad this Christmas? A Pleo!

Pleo is the latest creation of UGOBE, a privately-held company from California that specializes in the development of robotics that "transforms inanimate objects into lifelike creatures."

What is Pleo?
Pleo, a one-week-old robotic dinosaur that interacts with its owner by moving organically, expressing emotion and autonomously exploring and responding to the world around him. Software shipped with Pleo allows for subtle shaping of personality and temperament. Future free software updates will allow Pleo to develop a unique personality based largely upon how he's raised. Plus, owners can go to Pleoworld.com to connect with other owners, find training tips and download new enhancements to Pleo. Pleo has a sophisticated sensory system has devices that enable it to hear, to see, to sense touch, and to detect objects.

The battery charge apparently lasts for about 1 hour and then Pleo starts to get sleepy. It even makes little cooing noises.

Check out one of the many videos (below) about Pleo on YouTube.

What are the "guts" of this new interactive robotic marvel?

Significant Processing Power:

32-bit microprocessors: central and image processing
8-bit sub-processors: motor control

Highly Articulated Movement:

14 motors
Over 100 custom-designed gears

Complex Sensory Network:

Camera-based vision system: light detection and navigation
Microphones: binaural hearing
Skin sensors: head, chin, shoulders, back, feet
Foot switches: surface detection
Force-feedback sensors: one per joint
Orientation tilt sensor: body position
Infrared mouth sensor: object detection

Multiple Data Ports:

Mini USB port for online downloads
SD card slot for Pleo add-ons
Infrared transceiver for Pleo-to-Pleo communication

High-Quality Sound:

2 speakers located in Pleo's mouth and back

L6 Power Source:

Rechargeable and replaceable NiMH battery pack
Recharges in 4 hours; provides approximately 1 hour of operation

Selling in the USA for about 348.00 US...for ages 8 to really old!

There are plans to release a PDK (Pleo Development Kit) - "to make hacking Pleo easier."

An amazing interactive toy that engages with its users. I remember the days we got excited over a pet rock.....times have changed :)

Navigating the waters to find out information on various USA universities can be tricky

2007-12-19T23:03:00.000+13:00

College Navigator is a great website that brings together all of the USA universities and colleges to help people choose a school that they may want to go to.

Picking up on the "personalized" aspect we usually see in social networking sites, this website allows the users to personalize their search. With things such as building a list of favorites for side-by-side comparisons; interactive maps that will pinpoint school locations; exporting your results onto a spreadsheet; saving your sessions to go back to for further investigation.

The site is sponsored by National Center for Education Statistics offers over information on approximately 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the USA. There is a wide range of resources available on this website to help a student narrow down a choice for a postsecondary institution from finances to housing.

The Latest Public Beta Links from Adobe Labs

2007-12-18T19:13:00.000+13:00

Wondering what to do over the Christmas or Summer (yeah Southern Hemisphere) Holidays?

Why not try some of the latest public betas hosted on the Adobe Labs website.

Brio - next generation of Acrobat Connect
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/brio/

Flex 3 public beta 3 available on Labs
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/

Adobe AIR beta 3
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air/

BlazeDS beta
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/blazeds/

Adobe AIR update for Flash CS3 Professional beta 3
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIR:Flash_CS3_Professional_Update

Adobe AIR Extension for Adobe Dreamweaver beta 3
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIR:Dreamweaver_CS3_Extension

Social Networking continues to be the "hook" for many new online web services

2007-12-17T07:03:00.000+13:00

Social networking....social networking....that seems to be the "hook" for many of the new web services that are popping up on the Internet.

eSnips is a social content-sharing site where a user can publish and share any media type. Users have up to 5 GB of free space.

eSnips allows the user to create a folder structure where each folder can have permissions assigned to it....who has access to the folder and who doesn't. "eSnips is for anyone who has anything they want to share with others - like home movies they want to share with family members or a hobby they want to share with others with the same interests. eSnips creates a community around your passions by making it easy to find others and for others to find you."

Mobile networks are quick, fast and efficient in Japan

2007-12-14T12:34:00.000+13:00

You are now able to book your airplane ticket through your mobile phone in Japan. It takes about 2 minutes and once you have booked your flight through your mobile phone, you are sent a "barcode" to your mobile phone. When you get to the airport you place your phone over a reader that will talk to you to 2D mobile barcode. It immediately prints you a ticket and off you go to your plane.

Quick, fast and efficient!

"The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body that represents 240 airlines and 94% of scheduled international travel, has reached an agreement on a global standard for mobile barcodes, which it says "paves the way" for air travelers to use mobile phones for check-in at airports." (review .pdf)

In July, Air Canada started testing the 2D mobile barcode with select passengers out of Montreal.

"Passengers involved in the pilot test first check in without baggage on mobile.aircanada.com. This generates a 2D barcode – in fact an e-boarding pass – which is sent directly to their mobile device. They then use this e-boarding pass to cross screening check points and to board the aircraft. 2D barcodes can be found on all Web itinerary receipts and on the paper boarding passes issued by an agent, at a kiosk or through Web check-in. "

School Chat.....

The mobile phone is evolving at a very quick rate. I was watching an interview on the news with a famous Japanese clothing designer that has now turned to "mobile design." He said that in Japan the mobile phone has seasons just like the fashion industry. The Asian market demands that a mobile phone changes every 3 months. In most countries the mobile phone is only used for talking.....but in Japan, the end-user demands that the mobile does so much more from booking airline tickets to booking restaurant reservations. The services that are demanded from the end-user are growing rapidly and quickly.

How many schools in most countries still ban the mobile phone instead of embracing the technology?

You can run but you can't hide from technology.....

2007-12-07T23:57:00.000+13:00

I was watching the morning news and perked up with a story that was reported earlier this week. A man in the UK showed up at a police station saying....I understand that I have been missing as I have amnesia and don't remember where I have been. This man was missing from a kayaking trip for over 5 years. He had left behind a wife and children. Finding a paddle, canoe and other items, he was declared dead after one year. His wife received insurance money and what looked like, to everyone including her children, started to move on with her life. This is where the story takes a wee turn....

Stories around the Internet report that shortly after the insurance money was received, the wife bought property and furniture in Panama. When the story first hit the airways....reporters questioned why hasn't anyone come to "the surface" that may have known this man over the last 5 years? Where has he been?

So as one does, people hit the Internet to search for the name of the wife and husband, Panama, etc.... Beware of your digital footprint - didn't a picture surface that had been taken of the man and his wife in Panama....wait, wasn't he supposed to be dead and she the grieving widow?

When the true story was revealed this week, close friends and their children were furious. How could their mother have them believe all these years that their father was dead?

Wife guilty? Husband guilty? I am sure more will surface over the next couple of days. Then next year by this time we will see a prime time movie will be made about it......but in the meantime......

Classroom Chat....

I used to have discussions with my students about digital footprints....when you put things in "digital" format, it can come back to haunt you. You never know where someone may be taking a picture and posting it to the web. Almost every mobile phone has a camera built in it. You never know who can get access into your social network and retrieve information or post information on you. I we are just coming to terms in understanding impact of our own digital footprints.

Further Reading:
Dereks Blog: Online Safety
School Video that Mocked Student with Disabilities Posted on YouTube
Teenage girl posting dangerous photos online (NZ Herald)

Synthetic Worlds - New Scientific Guinea Pig

2007-12-06T05:35:00.000+13:00

Virtual Parallels collide at the Synthetic Worlds Institute at the University of Indiana.

Arden was developed by Professor Edward Castronova and colleagues to explore the economic changes that can occur in a synthetic world and real world and how one impacts the other. Arden "gives social scientists an entire populated world on which to perform experiments - something always lacking in the real world." (BBC.com)

The Shakespeare era has been created to engage with online players to create a social laboratory without the users realizing it. Social scientists will start tweaking within Arden and see how the synthetic community within Arden will respond.

Takes the white lab rat to a whole new level.

Classroom chats.....
Will synthetic worlds take over social research? Is it a reflection of directions that societies will take...evolve to? Will social scientists be able to predict and be able to stop potentially harmful events from happening? Time will tell.....

User Interface for Personal Discovery

2007-12-04T19:59:00.000+13:00

Sometimes a person needs to chat about things for no other purpose than they are cool or fun.

Musicovery is both that....a little web application that has been designed to connect your tastes in a visual manner.

User Interface (UI) is something that has always been important to digital designers, but I believe it is something that is going to be VERY IMPORTANT for the 21st century. A visual UI that focuses on inclusion across gender, cultural and age boundaries is one that will be successful.

Thoughts......
Is the UI for musicovery the UI of the future? What will the UI for future-proofing look like?

2007-12-03T06:03:00.001+13:00

Splashup is a free (beta) "web-based" graphic editing program. You don't need to sign-up to start using the program right away. You can either load an image from your computer or from a URL, Picasa, flikr, facebook, splashup or an image captured from a webcam and edited directly in Splashup.

Splashup has a photo sharing service built into it. With a variety of tools, like many of well known photo editing software applications, such as filters, editing multiple images, layers and blend modes, layer effects, brushes, etc...

I did have some difficulty with some of my image manipulation upon trial. When I tried to erase part of an image it kept moving and replicating itself. I also tried to manipulate layer names and it kept defaulting back to the standard name.

Over all, for a free beta quick and easy image editing program accessible on any computer - anywhere - it has potential.

Web 1.0 - Web 2.0 - are you ready for Web 3.0?

2007-12-01T22:34:00.000+13:00

Some people laugh when you say Web 3.0 or semantic web....they don't believe there will be a "Web 3.0" but rather something completely different.

The folks at Project10X will argue that Web 3.0 is the next wave and it is starting now!

Project10X is a "research consultancy specializing in next wave semantic technologies and solutions. The firm’s clients include technology manufacturers, global 2000 corporations, and government agencies."

A quote from a report just released by Project10X looks at the 4 stages of Internet growth....

"The semantic wave embraces four stages of Internet growth.

The first stage, Web 1.0, was about connecting information and getting on the net.
Web 2.0 is about connecting people — putting the “I” in user interface, and the “we” into Webs of social participation.
The next stage, Web 3.0, is starting now. It is about representing meanings, connecting knowledge, and putting these to work in ways that make our experience of Internet more relevant, useful, and enjoyable.
Web 4.0 will come later.

It is about connecting intelligences in a ubiquitous Web where both people and things reason and communicate together."

The executive summary of this 400+ page report is free to download
[ .pdf ]

This report looks at emerging technologies and explores the market readiness. Project10X also "projects that public and private sector R&D relating to semantic technologies in the 2008-2010 period will exceed $8 billion and that global ICT markets for semantic technology infused products and services will grow from $2.1 B in 2006 to $52.4 B in 2010."

If this evolves as predicted, it means a lot of new/spin-off companies will be formed around this growth and development. One just has to scour the web now to see all of the new websites/companies that have been born during the Web 2.0 era.

School Chat....
This means that schools need to "wrap their head around" what impact all this will have on their students and their programs. What information and skills will need to get to the students in order for them to be "future-proofed".....ready to take on the semantic entrepreneurial spirit.

Motorola supports innovation in young people with grant program

2007-11-28T05:24:00.000+13:00

Motorola and the Motorola Foundation "support the education, economic, environmental and social needs of communities around the world."

"The 2007 Innovation Generation Grants support 106 breakthrough programs that use innovative approaches to develop interest in technology-related fields while strengthening leadership and problem-solving skills. The grants target programs that encourage girls and ethnic groups currently underrepresented in technology fields."

Motorola also links recipients of the Innovation Generation Grants with each other through a new company-hosted portal site that expands and enhances the global network of advocates for education in science, technology, engineering and math.

Innovation in Education....futurelab

2007-11-27T05:42:00.000+13:00

If you haven't discovered the futurelab website.....now is the time.

A colleague from the UK had sent me the link to futurelab last year and I have read through many of the intriguing articles and projects from this not-for-profit organization in the UK.

What does futurelab do? "Futurelab is passionate about transforming the way people learn. Tapping into the huge potential offered by digital and other technologies, they develop innovative resources and practices that support new approaches to learning for the 21st century."

The list of projects (that I encourage you to explore) futurelabs have helped come to fruition are exhaustive. One of the latest projects is MobiMission - "a location-based, social, mobile phone experience for young people aged 16-18 that enables players to engage with their environment and community in new ways."

Explore the list of resources .... some may even challenge your thinking and beliefs in the development of digital technologies and education.

If you are a teacher, instructor, professor, administrator - a member of an education community.....you need to read and explore this website with an open mind!

Open Student Television Network

2007-11-26T19:45:00.000+13:00

OSTN (Open Student Television Network) was launched in 2005 by the CampusEAI Consortium and Internet2, a 24/7 worldwide channel exclusively devoted to student-produced programming.

"OSTN now is delivered to 41 million users at 4,500 university member campuses and 36 countries around the globe. OSTN can be viewed on televisions and personal computers."

OSTN is accessible at colleges and universities around the world through the following methods:

Television on Campus
Televisions in a Community
Laptop and Desktop Computers on Campus

There is a submission process....no uploads randomly like other video websites.

View information on how to become a member and get involved.....read more.
Information on the OSTN Media Festival....read more.

The future workforce may rarely be physically in a traditional office

2007-11-22T08:35:00.000+13:00

"Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy limited flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or myriad other locations." (Wikipedia)

Are we moving towards empty offices around the world? Will coffee shops become the new board room? Will gossip around the water cooler now happen in a virtual world instead of the lunch room?

Last year I blogged about preparing our students for working from that "third place." Students today are more comfortable working in an informal environment such as a coffee shop. My question is are we preparing students to manage time and foster engaging work relations from a third place?

Telecommuting seemed to become popular again after 9/11. I was reading an article this morning which was got me on this path called Telecommuting found to boost morale, cut stress wrote that "last year an estimated 45 million Americans telecommuted, an increase of 4 million from 2003, according to the magazine WorldatWork." The article goes on to further discuss how telecommuting can have a positive impact on ones carbon footprint.

Food for Thought.....
So where does this leave the 21st century learner? What skills will be required to successfully manage and work within a telecommute environment?

Managing and accessing data and knowledge is going to be a huge issue if telecommuting continues on this popular pathway. To be able to access your data from anywhere and be sure that this is being done securely will be very important.

Those businesses that foster telecommuting, how will the foster their working community? How will they build their corporate story when many of their employees will not be physically around to contribute?

What is 21st century literacy? Is traditional reading at risk?

2007-11-21T23:43:00.000+13:00

I came across an article in the StarTribune.com (you may be required to register to view articles...its free) called "Reading's new chapter?" that discusses the debate over reading literacy levels of students in the USA.

NEA (National Emdowment for the Arts) has released a report called "To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence" [download pdf version] that hilights Americans are reading less and doing it with lower reading abilities.

Some of the highlights from the report:

Nearly half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure.
People ages 15 to 24 spend only seven to 10 minutes per day on voluntary reading (about 60 percent less than the average American).
Reading scores for 17-year-olds are down, while those for 9-year-olds are at an all-time high (ground that is lost in adolescence).
Even while reading, 58 percent of middle- and high-school students are watching TV, listening to music or using other media.
Literary readers among college graduates dropped from 82 percent in 1982 to 67 percent in 2002.
(source: StarTribune.com)

Is the problem really about reading levels or is it the ability to change the assessment tools and standards to reflect digital literacy?

I blogged a while back about hand writing and questioned if this skill is one that could be lost? Through my own discovery and understanding from discussions with colleagues and further research, I have come to the belief that it is a skill that is evolving and changing. Could the same then be said for reading?

Should students be forced to read books? Are books the answer for the 21st century learner or are there other types of communication that will be equally or more important for the future success of these learners? Are education systems around the world evolving fast enough and in the right direction for the needs of these learners?

As governments struggle to find the magic formula that will put their people...their country ahead in the 21st century. We can not afford to hang onto old schools of thought and we need to be prepared to change...as scary as that can be.

The 21st century learner is different than previous generations...everything around them has helped this evolution. Technology has given us instant communication, the ability to author our own media presentations and publications, and technology has given us an easy and accessible route to submit our opinions and comments...such as this blog. The 21st century learner thinks about the world very differently and has always had access to it at the touch of a keyboard.

Remember...technology and innovation gave civilization the courage to realize the world wasn't flat.

Researchers develop a virtual elearning teacher that responds to learner emotions

2007-11-20T11:54:00.000+13:00

A research team at Massey University in Auckland have created a virtual teacher called Eve that is part of a new teaching system.

The Massey scientists, led by Dr Hossein Sarrafzadeh at the Auckland-based Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences have developed the system initially for "one-to-one maths teaching with eight-year-olds."

"The animated Eve (with a human-sounding voice) can ask questions, give feedback, discuss questions and solutions and show emotion. To develop the software for this system the Massey team observed children and their interactions with teachers and captured them on thousands of images."

"From these images of facial expression, gestures and body movements they developed programs that would capture and recognise facial expression, body movement, and (via a mouse) heart rate and skin resistance."

Read press release....

School Chat....

A very interesting concept to discuss with your students....computers that can detect and react to human emotion.

This new technology could take computer/human interaction to a new level.

Will emotion now be a part of digital virtual worlds such as social network websites?

How will this "human factor" be able to help businesses build global networks?

Could this have an impact on reducing a global carbon footprint?

Where does this take the learning classroom of the future? As a life-long-learner, will we all be assigned a virtual tutor that could adapt to our career pathway and keep learning from a global knowledge gateway?

Will the virtual teacher become the news aggregate of the future?

So many questions.........

Mova Contour - Technology pushes digital actors to realism in a new film - Beowulf

2007-11-19T06:02:00.000+13:00

Since Mickey Mouse and other animated characters appeared on the screen we have watched an amazing evolution of the animated character. A new movie just released in North American theatres this past weekend is Beowulf, an "animated film based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, was the top film at U.S. and Canadian theaters this past weekend..." (source: Bloomberg)

Steve Perlman developed a process: fluorescent child’s make-up + 44 cameras = captures of 100 thousand reflective points on a human face. Cheaper and less time consuming this process captures a much more realistic digital clone of the human actor. The process is called Mova Contour an advanced motion capture method that "captures subtle movements of body, skin and cloth."

More Reading:

NYTimes - Beowulf
NYTimes - Camera System Creates Sophisticated 3-D Effects
Rearden Companies
Contour System/Steps
Rearden Technologies

School Chat....
Think of what an experience it would be for young "future technologists" to be exposed to this process from a "road show." In other words - mobile unit with all the motion capture hardware and tools moving from secondary school to secondary school to engage students in a world they could only imagine or read about......think of the possibilities for this industry when these students get into the work force. Do I sense a challenge here for the industry :)

Email is so old school.....the young embrace other forms of communication

2007-11-16T23:47:00.000+13:00

Okay raise your hands.....how many of you are just getting the hang of email.

Too late!

Let's move on now.....

An interesting article by Digital Chosunilbo .... "New Forms of Online Communication Spell End of Email Era in Korea" writes that due to "replacement forms of communication," the era of email is coming to an end!

Korea is one of the IT power houses in the world. Two quotes from this article said it all, "I use email when I send messages to elders" and "I use email only for receiving cellphone and credit card invoices." Spoken from two young Koreans in their early twenties.

"Internet messengers, mini-homepages (dubbed "one-man media"), and SMS" in Korea have become the communication tools of choice.

Guess what....this article was written in 2004....feeling really behind the times now?

Today...."South Korea is one of the world's most wired nations, with broadband connections in about 70% of homes. Blogging is a common form of communication." (source: globaltechforum)

One third of South Korean teenagers average 100 text messages per day.....how many of your text messages actually get spelled and sent correctly to the recipient? How many words per minute can you text without looking at the keypad?

School Chat....
So what does this mean for education institutions? Well it means if the only means for your students to communicate with "you" as teacher or with each other while at school is email.....old school.....old technology.

You know the drill, as soon as those kids leave the doors of the school they are back into their multi-sensory, multi-communicative world.

Hmmmm - kind of makes you want to be a kid again, doesn't it?

Font project for scientific and engineering community now released

2007-11-15T05:25:00.000+13:00

I am sure there are many science teachers around the world jumping up and down about this project!

The mission of the Scientific and Technical Information Exchange (STIX) "font creation project is the preparation of a comprehensive set of fonts that serve the scientific and engineering community in the process from manuscript creation through final publication, both in electronic and print formats."

Designed to work with all web browsers, word processors, and other scholarly communications software, as well as all general purpose software - this development is a huge step in scientific, mathematical and engineering communities.
(link from: Slashdot.org)

Hi Tech Funky Christmas Gift

2007-11-14T06:51:00.000+13:00

With Christmas around the corner and being an avid watch collector myself, I had to indulge myself to include this post today. If you haven't discovered Tokyoflash Japan .....you must check it out.

If you are looking for a unique gift for the "techo" in your life or just something different....browse through the various watches that can be shipped worldwide.

Don't be setback by the prices listed as they are all in yen. Go to XE.com Currency Conversion to get an idea of what a watch might cost. For example, 14,000 yen is about 127.00 US or 123.00 CAD.

Take a look through the watch museum to see some of the conceptual and 1-of designs.

Popims Animator - Free Morphing Software

2007-11-13T23:41:00.000+13:00

Popims Animator is a free Windows application that can be quickly downloaded.

The folks at TechRepublic have given Popims Animator a review/overview.

An application that can be used to morph one image into another along, extract images from digital videos and animated gifs, export as .avi, etc...

Not as powerful as some of the commercial products.....but hey, it is free.

Product RED - Consumer choice helping fight AIDS in Africa

2007-11-12T04:52:00.000+13:00

I remember teaching about AIDS to high school students in the 90s. It was every where in the media. Then slowly....it went away. It became a very small part in the school curriculum and only talked about in the back pages of the newspapers. AIDS has not gone away and there are still thousands of people dying from it everyday.

"(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa."

Read more on how (RED) works....

There are presently 7 products available. Those companies participating are:

If you are shopping for yourself or for Christmas presents, and you might purchase a new mobile phone, iPod, watch, fragrance, cards, T-Shirt, shoes or get a credit card....think (RED) before you buy!

Other links:

(RED) manifesto
(RED) Facebook
The Global Fund
(RED) Blog
(RED) on Flickr
The Lazarus Effect - Vanity Fair Article
The Lazarus Effect website

Antonin Kratochvil shot photos of HIV-positive individuals in Zambia, and then returned 40 days later to photograph their miraculous return to health thanks to antiretroviral medicine (ARVs). Here are the before and after photos.

School Chat....
What can be done in schools? Start talking about it again. Developed nations can not take the NIMBY approach...."Not In My Back Yard." Challenge your students with questions....from questions and discussions comes action!

How if any technology has slowed down the spread of AIDS. Has technology made a difference in getting the message out around the world about AIDS? Does/can Technology have a conscious? What can students do to help this fight?

Will Web TV be Successful? Hard to tell with all the gatekeepers in place.

2007-11-11T16:19:00.000+13:00

One would like to think that the web is still an open and venturesome place where knowledge and new ideas push the boundaries of what already is.

I think THE WORD that I will be referring to time and time again over the next 12 months is going to be.....transition - and possibly patience :). Technology and innovation is pushing traditional thinking into transitional phases. Some industries are moving forward while others (like education) seem to be stuck in a void at the moment...although this may be more due to "gatekeepers" and Victorian thinking more than anything else.

Web TV is an interesting evolution and one to watch over the next 12 months. Web TV is on the scope of many companies at present. Some have already entered the market while others are still product testing.

Hop over to Adobe Labs to test out the Adobe Media Player (read previous blog entry....). The reason for my query on the fate of Web TV is a beta for Hulu that I had signed up for. I had my beta password sent to me this weekend and sat down this afternoon to give it a go and view some of my favourite shows.

As I logged in and viewed the list I quickly picked out a couple that I wanted to view....click....player opens....message appears: "Unfortunately this movie is not available in your country or region. We apologize for the inconvenience." Okay, this will probably only happen for a couple of shows, I told myself.

Click, click, click, click --> no love on any of the shows.

First thought....let's email the folks at Hulu and let them know that when they are running a beta - make sure you invite those people that can actually participate :(

Second thought....how will other companies work around this? How will companies hit that global market with all of the gatekeeping that will occur? I don't want to watch reruns! Do we need to throw our LCDs out the window and yell "we aren't going to take it anymore!" (Okay, pretty hard to do with a 42inch plasma....but you get my drift). Television in the Southern Hemisphere is not the most exciting at the best of times....one can only watch so many reruns of Will and Grace.

As geographic boundaries are closed by digital bridges - new business models need to be developed.

With the advent of laptop programs for developing countries now coming to fruition. In the next 12 months there will be a connectivity greater around the world than ever before. Web TV has a huge potential for sharing of knowledge and learning......I guess that even though the web is an "open" source and new innovations and knowledge highways are being created throughout the web......the gatekeepers are still thriving!

21st Century Connections - technology solutions that will help students to learn 21st century skills.

2007-11-09T06:44:00.000+13:00

The 21st Century Connections website explores "delivering technology solutions that will help students to learn 21st century skills."

I found a great statement in an article I was reading the other day. "The Victorian Era prepared our students for general literacy.....now we need to move the 21st Century Era into media literacy."

We need to change our thoughts on how our students learn and how we deliver this knowledge....we are no longer in the Victorian Era.

21st Century Connections "site links students, teachers and administrators to the latest resources, creative tools and educational leaders behind digital learning."

Hosted by Technology for Learning.

VectorMagic - a free online vector conversion tool for images

2007-11-08T23:42:00.000+13:00

A colleague of mine sent me this link the other day - thanks Robin :) A research project by James Diebel and Jacob Norda out of Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

VectorMagic is an "online auto-tracer converting bitmaps to vectors." Easy, easy....just upload the bitmap image and in a few seconds (or minutes depending on the size of the image) you are returned with a lovely converted vector.

Difference between vectors and bitmaps (aka raster images)? Bitmaps are made of of pixels, so when you try to increase the size of a bitmap it will get fuzzy and pixelated. Vectors are made up of mathematical equations (geometric shapes such as lines, circles and curves) so it resized, it looks just as clean at almost any size.

Input:	JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF
Output:	EPS, SVG, PNG

A great little web-based tool.....give it a try.

A new ergonmic design......is it a mouse or a pen?

2007-11-07T05:25:00.000+13:00

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (what is....) is a "painful progressive condition caused by compression of a key nerve in the wrist."

Although research will state there are several causes and factors of CTS....there seems to be more CTS cases since people started having computers in their homes and offices.

CTS has caused a lot of "down time" in many offices/businesses around the world and a lot of research and product development has been done in this area over the years.

A new product that has hit the market is the WOW-Pen. A unique concept that has evolved through the research of CTS. One of the culprits of CTS is the computer mouse. A simple input device that many of us don't think twice about but is something that we "hang onto" for long periods of time throughout a day. How many people think to "fit" their mouse to their hand before they buy one? We all have different sizes and shapes of hands....why would we think that one size or type fits all?

The WOW-Pen attempts to address the CTS issue along with functionality of a new mouse. Based around the concept of a pen, the WOW-Pen is quite different than what we are used to. There are several models to choose from that include a variety of functions to suit every ones needs.

Would be interested to know if anyone has given WOW-Pen a try and what they thought of it.

I may have to throw my old scroll mouse away!

Maximizing the Impact: The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System

2007-11-06T06:28:00.000+13:00

A report was released today (Nov 5th Northern Hemisphere Time) called "Maximizing the Impact: The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System." It was written by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association), and Partnership for 21st Century Skills .

The report urges action in 3 areas:

1. Use technology comprehensively to develop proficiency in 21st century skills.
2. Use technology comprehensively to support innovative teaching and learning.
3. Use technology comprehensively to create robust education support systems. [ read more.... ] [ pdf version ]

This report supports the framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills [ pdf version ]

Are school communities ready to take the immediate action that is required to make these and other actions come to fruition? The luxury of reviews, discussions, planning committees, etc... may have come to an end.

It is time for action...what country will reach out for the golden ring first?

GoSee4Me - the dream of letting people see "anything"

2007-11-05T23:33:00.000+13:00

GoSee4Me is a unique concept that connects photographers from around the world with an opportunity to earn some money. Using a bidding buyer/seller concept....it works like this.

Say I was developing a presentation and I needed a great photograph of a certain angle of the Eiffel Tower....only problem is....I live in New Zealand. I put my request in for this photograph on the GoSee4Me community. Any of the registered photographers that may have this photo or are in the area to take the photo, then bid online to be the chosen photographer. The bid is what it will cost you to pay the photographer for the photo. You choose which photographer you want, payment and photo transaction occurs, and everyone is happy.

Great idea to give new and budding photographers some pocket money and exposure!

Supporting education in emerging markets

2007-11-01T09:38:00.000+13:00

Early in the week I looked at the One Laptop Per Child program which targets students off the power grid.

BBC News writes about the laptop program that Intel has backed with their new laptop called Classmate PC.

This laptop also targets students in "emerging markets" ("...those countries in transition between developing and developed status." - Wikipedia). Part of Intel's World Ahead Program, "connecting the next billion people to uncompromised technology around the world."

Programs such as Intel's World Ahead and OLPC can give a voice to children and young people that we (the rest of the developing world) have never heard from before.

What thoughts, directions and impact will these voices have?

What new visions and ideas will come out of these new voices?

I for one am excited and thrilled to see programs like these progress. Having worked with educators in Zimbabwe in 1996, I know the exhaustive commitment these teachers have to their schools and community......what an exciting time.

Meet the digital media interpreters.....

2007-10-31T18:14:00.000+13:00

Remember the discussion about "education needs to prepare students for jobs that don't even exist yet" (if not...see sidebar of this blog). Here is an enterprising group of folks that you can bet did not know that this niche would exist when they were in school.

Commoncraft is a unique pair of entrepreneurs who have created a company around the concept of digital media "interpreters." They present a product or service for their clients in plain English by using "unique and understandable videos in a format they call Paperworks."

Could YouTube have inspired these entrepreneurs? Web 2.0?

Possibly.

We know that in today's business world, many business doors are closed before they even have a chance to stay open. We need to teach our students that for every closed door they need to look for new open doors (possibilities) and/or create their own open door.

Well done Commoncraft!

Okay, still having a problem understanding what a Wiki is? Need to have a simple explanation for your school administrator or a class of students?

See Commoncraft in action (you can also search on YouTube for Commoncraft to find more of their great work.)

Wikis in Plain English

Social Networking

Use in the classroom....
Great process to replicate....the "Commoncraft communication model"! Try this in a variety of classes: English, Interactive Media, Media Studies, Communication, Business, etc... Choose a concept that you need to get across to a customer in an easy and creative manner. Students must create a storyboard for their idea, decide what tools they will use to capture their story (e.g. paper, chalk, etc...). Write their script, film, add audio and then publish (easily done with Premire Pro or Premiere Elements and Audition).

_________________________________________

P.S. - Happy Halloween!

21st Century Standards Technology Literacy - vision for teaching & learning

2007-10-30T22:32:00.000+13:00

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) have developed a set of standards that "offer vision for teaching and learning to both guide and beckon our profession as education leaders. "

9 foundational common beliefs are defined:

Reading is a window to the world.
Inquiry provides a framework for learning.
Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.
Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs.
Equitable access is a key component for education.
The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.
The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.
Learning has a social context.
School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.

The document explores how learners use skills, resources, and tools to

inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge;
draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge;
share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society;
pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Direct download of pdf [ link ]

Explore some of the other resources available on AASL:

Resource Guides for School Library Media Program Development [ link ]
Tips and Guidance for Managing and Communicating about the Internet [ link ]

Other 21st century overviews/reports - technology literacy:

A Global Imperative - The Report of the 21st Century Literacy Summit (The New Media Consortium: grant from Adobe - published in 2005 - a great read with a lot of content for "thought." [ direct pdf link ]
Learn more about NMCs New Media & Learning Initiative.
NCREL (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) - 21st century skills
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Gateway to 21st Century Skills
21st Century Skills - Overview & News from New Mexico, Public Education Department

Screen Interaction....touch, sight and sound

2007-10-29T23:36:00.000+13:00

Over a year ago Jeff Han spoke at TED Talks and showed a demo of the work developed at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Creating a "simple, multi-touch, multi-user screen interface" that has now gone commercial and available to purchase from Neiman Marcus for Christmas. The Online Only Media Wall "eight-by-three foot screen, the entire wall becomes your canvas, allowing you to navigate, locate, and manipulate information by touching anywhere on the screen."
We see touch displays becoming more and more evident all around us and integrated into our lives daily. Interactive white boards, mobile phones, Microsoft surface, and simple touch kiosk screens - which have been around and a part of our lives for many years.

TactaPad "camera continually captures an image of your hands. Your hands are translucently overlaid on your display as live video."

How will these multi touch screens change or impact schools and classrooms?

As the R&D phase of this technology is now moving toward the commercial phase, it is only a matter of time before we start to see multi-touch & multi-user products become available for the classroom.

Exciting times.....

One Laptop Per Child powered by One Cow

2007-10-27T05:37:00.000+13:00

OLPC stands for "One Laptop Per Child" this is a non-profit association that is working to develop & supply a $100 laptop for children around the world.

Presently they are working with the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Libya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Thailand, Uruguay & USA (read more about selection of countries and those waiting to enter the program.)

The laptop is called the XO, it was "created expressly for the world's poorest children, living in its most remote environments. The laptop was designed collaboratively by experts from both academia and industry" (see laptop specs).

Highlights of the XO are:

can be hand powered
light and durable
estimated product life: 5 yrs
full-time wireless router
2 display modes available (low power consumption)
7.5 inch TFT 1200×900 pixel screen
the machine overall has been designed to be power efficient...from the CPU to the display
built from free and open-source software

Now, what initially grabbed my attention was an article written about the OLPC experimenting on new ways to power the XO program......they are looking at "cow power."

An article written in InfoWorld discusses finalizing the design of a cow-powered generator that the XO could easily be powered from....."The goal is to develop a low-cost energy source that can be used in Indian villages."

What a great innovation!

Cows hold an honored place in Hindu society, and it is part of Hindu tradition to avoid the consumption of beef. There are an abundance of cows in India and what a great partnership this would be to help the children of India!

Some delays in production has the XO hopefully rolling off the production line for mid-November 2007 (Reuters).

Looking at developing a meaningful online experience for children.

2007-10-26T19:35:00.000+13:00

The Virtual Worlds Conference is wrapping up this week in London (Oct 23 - 26). An article posted on the BBC News [ Virtual worlds threaten 'values' ] caught my eye, a summary of the opening key note from Lord Puttnam.

BBC News stated that Puttnam "feared" most of the virtual worlds for kids offered nothing more than a way to sell products/services.

Further quoting Puttnam as saying "The challenge ahead is this - to ensure that virtual worlds are increasingly places that offer real meaning to their lives and in the real world to learn from the sense of community and collaboration that's been experienced in virtual worlds."

There was a panel of "virtual world creators" that focused on children's content that were there to respond. According to the BBC News article, most seemed to have a weak response to Puttnams' challenge.

Having said that, I remember when I was a kid and many articles/discussions occurred over the "dangers" of television for youth. Advertisers were targeting my young mind in between Yogi Bear and Disney....my parents were used to being targeted through radio and print.

Is this scenario much different?

New generation of media - new generation of consumers.

Here are a couple of virtual world models to take a look at:

http://www.metaplace.com/ Metaplace looks like a great idea....although there doesn't seem to be a place to sign-up and give it a try. Metaplace reported over 10,000 applications of keen alpha testers in the first week. In the world of tech testing...beta will be next....so if you sign-up for metamail....you may get a chance.

What is Metaplace? "Metaplace is a next-generation virtual worlds platform designed to work the way the Web does. Instead of giant custom clients and huge downloads, Metaplace lets you play the same game on any platform that reads our open client standard. We supply a suite of tools so you can make worlds, and we host servers for you so that anyone can connect and play. And the client could be anywhere on the Web."

http://www.kaneva.com Kaneva is looking to bring social networking to a virtual world level. The website reports "think of Kaneva as Second Life meets MySpace, with a dash of Match.com thrown in - aimed not at tech-savvy teens but at a mainstream."

Users are able to new view and share YouTube videos through Kaneva.

Adobe announces Web 2.0 tool "Flex Builder 2" free for Students & Faculty

2007-10-25T05:19:00.000+13:00

Announced today (Oct 24th Northern Hemisphere time), Adobe will be offering Adobe® Flex™ Builder™ 2 software at no cost to students and faculty at educational institutions worldwide (see further story at Yahoo Finance).

Flex™ is used to develop cross-operating system RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) for the Web. "Using Flex Builder 2, developers can quickly build and deploy applications that are expressive, intuitive, and rich in interactivity. Flex Builder 2 is a productive development environment that makes it easy for developers to customize their applications to match the desired look and feel."

Flex™ should be available to download from Adobe in early November.

See Christian Cantrell's blog (Apollo Application Developer) for a run down on the development of Flex™

This opens up a lot of possibilities for interactive media and computer science programs within secondary and post secondary institutions. Applause!!!!

Great Resource for Teaching 2D or 3D Animation

2007-10-24T08:15:00.000+13:00

Animationmeat has been one of my favourite web resources for several years. The website is by two animators that work(ed) in the industry.

I have used it to develop ideas and resources for teaching traditional animation prior to introducing it in Flash. It is also great for teaching basic character development concepts for 2D or 3D.

This website has gone through some changes over the last couple of years, it is missing some of the documents it used to have, but still has a lot of great content in it. Students love the content from this website and many of my students that have gone onto animation careers have told me they go back to this website over and over again.

Some of the resources you will find here are sample Character Model Sheets (see image top left hand corner). This is an important step for students to visualize how their character will look.

Several items in the Templates area for a teacher to use and modify. Such as a Storyboard TV Panel (shown here).

The Notes area has "animation notes from various artists and various studios in "print ready" format (PDF). " Some of my favourite documents in here are in the Television Animation section: Storyboarding the Simpson's Way and
Brad Bird notes on Composition.

A great book that should be on every teachers shelf that teaches animation (in whatever form) is The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators by Richard Williams.

You will find reference to this book and lots of other great resources on Animationmeat.com

Great website to bookmark!

Free Sheet Music, Riffs, Lessons and Tools for musicians who play.

2007-10-23T04:53:00.000+13:00

8notes is a website that offers free sheet music for download in formats: .gif, sib (for Sibelius), .pdf ($20/month for .pdf access), midi and .mp3

Some of the music genres available are: classical, pop, jazz, film & TV, world, wedding, Christmas, traditional, funeral, childrens and new music.

Music available for: piano, guitar, violin, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, viola, trombone, cello, percussion, recorder, voice, oboe, bass guitar, french horn, bassoon, tuba......string groups, wind groups, guitar groups, brass groups, mixed groups, etc...

Lots of great helpers in the "extras" area.....guitar tuner, metronome, blank sheet music, tests and games, digital sound converters, chord charts......to name a few.

Free 3D Animation Modelling and Character Animation Software

2007-10-22T19:38:00.000+13:00

Anim8or is a free 3D modelling and character animation program for Windows platform. A great little program that has some interesting tutorials that can be easily integrated into a secondary multimedia program.

A great tutorial is available that shows how to create a character and a simple walk cycle. Broken into 3 separate tutorials:

Another free open source 3D content creation suite (that used to be a commercial product) is Blender. Blender has picked up quite a following in the open source community and especially in schools (due to the support and continued development online and its "freeness").

Blender is supports the following platforms:

Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista
Mac OS X (PPC and Intel)
Linux (i386)
Linux (PPC)
FreeBSD 5.4 (i386)
SGI Irix 6.5
Sun Solaris 2.8 (sparc)

A lot of interesting features have been built into Blender over the last couple of years, one of these features is the multiresolution sculpting capabilities. Working in this mode is like handling and sculpting a piece of clay (view sample video). Another recent feature is the integration of Bullet - a 3D Collision Detection and Rigid Body Dynamics Library for games and animation.

Concerns over preparing students for the 21st century, but who is preparing the teachers?

2007-10-19T06:29:00.000+13:00

I believe that education worldwide is still in a transition period moving from text book to computers.....but how long will this transition take?

I always find it ironic that many of our classrooms today still require our students to sit in rows, focus to the front, and sit still. As soon as students leave the classroom they are immersed back into a multi-sensory world.

While many students sit down in the evening to do their homework…..it may consist of a combination of text messaging, doing research online while typing their paper either on their computer or in an online collaboration document, playing a multi-user online game and listening to music through a portable device or from their computer.

How is training/updating IT skills going to be addressed for new and existing teachers?

Teachers are overwhelmed with the demands of curriculum, pastoral care, supervision during lunch, evening events, etc.... Now we expect teachers to be technologists as well. Where are they going to get the understanding, skills and stories required to lead a net generation to a competent level of IT literacy?

Google talks about 'cloud computing' which is the "ability to access and work on files any time, anywhere, in the diffuse atmosphere of cyberspace." (Times Online) If you asked a teacher today what cloud computing was...how many would know? Educators need to be supported with these stories and knowledge so they can help students understand the "whys" of technology.

Statistics shows that there will not be enough IT workers available for the market - then I say it is time many IT companies (large and small) look around, find your nearest public school, walk through those doors and offer to help those teachers to connect and build the bridges and stories needed to educate the Net Generation. Many companies have made a huge commitment to education such as Adobe, Apple and Microsoft. But we need the local IT companies to help build a network of support for their neighbourhood schools.

Many teachers are struggling and trying to learn the technology along side the students as they do not have the time or support to do anything else. There needs to be a general level of IT literacy for all teachers and then IT specialists that are able to take students to a higher pathway.

School administration needs to understand the importance of ICT and not to use it as a "time table filler" for any teacher. ICT is not a "hobby program" and is a curriculum that needs to be taken seriously. In fact, there are many countries that are doing just that. They are spending millions of dollars to train and support their teachers and teacher specialists.

A life cycle for some new IT companies/ideas - birth to death - is presently around 18 months. What are we doing to ensure our students have the skills to evolve and reshape concepts....look for doors that are open when many close?

At the end of the day, those countries that are willing to take the time NOW to invest in their teachers in the K-13 sectors, are those countries that are going to be ready to be an IT powerhouse in several years.

New release of Audacity - free sound editing program

2007-10-18T22:35:00.000+13:00

Audacity, the free sound editing program that most schools have on their computers, has just released a new beta version. Great thing is you don't have to uninstall the "stable" version (1.2) to give 1.3 (beta) a try.

As this is beta (that means it is not a final version and still in development), there can be some crashes.

A lot of cool new effects, import/export options and other goodies.....check the website to see all that this new version has to offer.

Greenpeace reports hazardous materials in iPhone

2007-10-17T23:35:00.000+13:00

When I was in the USA in June I blogged jokingly about iPhone envy as some of my colleagues were proudly displaying their new iPhones. The way the marketing was handled, the price reduction for late adopters, and now this....am I glad that the iPhone has just made it to the Southern Hemisphere? Maybe.

There is a buzz of discussion on the web right now over the hazardous materials that Greenpeace reports it has found in the iPhone. The posting on the Greenpeace blog discusses that "tests uncovered 2 types of hazardous substances, which have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers."

The report stated the iPhone contained toxic brominated compounds and hazardous PVC. Detailed report available for download PDF.

The report continues stating that "two of the phtalate plasticisers found in high levels in the headphone cable are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction, category 2' because of their long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals." These substances have been banned from use in "toys or childcare articles in Europe."

Another part of the "green report" reports that the battery is glued and soldered in to the handset, making it difficult for consumers to replace the battery or proper recycling after use.

The report states that competitors Nokia is totally PVC free and Motorola and Sony Ericsson have products on the market that have BFR free components.

Nokia and Sony Ericsson have a "global take-back policy and accept responsibility for reuse and recycling of phones they manufacture."

Thoughts....
How often do consumers investigate a technology purchase? Can ones health be affected by what they carry around on their body or bring into their home or office?

Should education institutions investigate the "green" aspect of technology products prior to purchase?

New report finds new teachers in middle and high school feel most vulnerable to challenging teaching conditions.

2007-10-16T22:24:00.000+13:00

There has been a lot in the news and research lately that questions how the education system is going to prepare students for the 21st century.

My question is how are we going to prepare existing and new teachers for the 21st century?

In universities across the world the number of students entering Education to become a teacher is going down. The number of teachers that are graduating as IT specialists is even less...sometimes in the single digits.

With the digital demands that exist now for our students and what is to come in the future....it greatly worries me that many graduating teachers have very, very basic digital literacy skills and understanding...sometimes at a primary student level.

A report just released by Public Agenda and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (reported from Docuticker) called: Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges and Long-Range Plans, discusses 6 findings that came out of this research by Jonathan Rochkind, Amber Ott, John Immerwahr, John Doble and Jean Johnson. Download report [pdf]

The 6 findings were:

Secondary School Teachers vs. Grade School Teachers - Why They Teach and How Long They'll Stay
Secondary School Teachers vs. Elementary School Teachers: How Prepared Do They Feel?
Secondary School Teachers vs. Elementary School Teachers - The Drawbacks of Teaching
The Special Challenges of Teaching in High-Needs Schools
How New Teachers Would Improve the Profession
How Important is Salary?

This research shows that: "new teachers in middle and high school feel most vulnerable to challenging teaching conditions. Compared to new teachers in elementary schools, high school and middle school teachers are much more concerned about administrative support, more frustrated by student motivation and behavior, less likely to see teaching as a lifelong career choice and less likely to believe that all students can achieve in school than new teachers in elementary schools."

If many countries can not keep the number of qualified secondary teachers in their systems, will education systems around the world become "farmed out" to other countries with delivery online or with a "support advisor" in the classroom? Education administrators and ministries need to take a hard look at their education systems. Are we keeping up the support and training for teachers to prepare them for the 21st century?

15,000 + TV shows & 250 Channels.....Free online TV with Joost

2007-10-15T07:18:00.000+13:00

How important is it for countries to get their broadband and telecommunications up to snuff...just ask those innovators who are counting on television broadcasts coming through your computer.

The folks at Joost have opened up a new free online television website. "You're the channel director, the boss of TV land. Slice and dice to create your own channels. Watch what you want, when you want."

"You can sit back and watch on your own if you'd like, or you can jump and get involved. Chat, IM, and share..."

What kind of content is available? There is a lot of music video type stations and other popular culture...BUT there are a lot of educational stations that are currently available as well (just look under documentary....there are 14 to date.) For example - if you choose the TERRA (the nature of our world) station: you will find a documentary on The price of ivory or Jewels of the Jungle part 1.

Joost and Education
One of the strengths of Joost is the ability to "Chat with friends and other channel viewers while watching Joost using the IM or Channel Chat widgets."

This extends distance/global collaboration among students and teachers to a whole new level. Students around the world can have real-time discussions while watching a show together.

It will be interesting to see if Joost takes a YouTube approach....will people be able to create their own TV Channels?

A great way for students to present projects and work.....especially with a tool such as Adobe's Visual Communicator 3.

I see a whole lot of potential for education and corporate training.....it also opens some unique opportunities for 3D and interactive television.....this will be a site to watch. Give it a try.