Clif's Notes

Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser

Our kids and I have a lot of fun with AudioBoo. AudioBoo is a service that makes podcasting and audio blogging a snap and can positively impact your classroom (See previous posts1, 2, 3 and 4). Although the service has previously pretty much been limited to iPhone users it is now available to everyone. Here’s a screencast demonstrating how to use their recently released BrowserBoo feature which makes it possible to record to AudioBoo through any web browser.

Here’s the sample Boo that I created during the screencast above.

You can browse through my AudioBoo profile page to look through many other examples of boos that the kids and I have published.

I strongly encourage all teachers to take a look at AudioBoo. Whether or not you choose to use it as a teacher I believe there are students in your classroom that would enjoy using it and benefit from engaging this learning modality.

Sign-up for your AudioBoo account, friend me and other educators, and begin enjoying the valuable contributions this can bring you and your students.

• AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

Research and Collaborate with SimplyBox

SimplyBox is a free service that allows you to visually capture any part of a web page. As you collect items that you captured, you organize them in boxes. You can then share these items or boxes with friends, colleagues, … the world. The result is: efficient and visual collaboration around content. They call it “content networking.” (Source)

Overview

Research

• Collect only the parts from a web page that you want.
• Write your notes/comments on the content you found.
• Have a direct link back to the sites each of your items were collected from.

Student Collaboration

• Collect into a box useful content from the web and add your comments to it.
• Share the box with your students, even if they are not SimplyBox users.
• The students can add their comments and content.

Connecting Beyond the Classroom

• Create boxes with content related to the different topics you teach.
• Exchange the boxes with other teachers (even if in different schools!.
• Have them help you find more content and engage their classes in the discussion.

• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World
• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World (Feedback Requested)
• It’s Good to Be Back, Again!
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology

AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone

Our kids and I have recently been playing around with AudioBoo. It’s an iPhone app that makes podcasting and audio blogging a snap. Several people encouraged me to start using it back in the Spring when I was at Podstock. I dismissed the idea because 1) I didn’t have an iPhone and 2) I didn’t really think it would be THIS easy!!! Don’t make the same mistake I did. Take a look at AudioBoo, now. Here’s an overview.

• Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010

Learn with Us (IDT7078)

As I mentioned in a recent blog post I’m teaching a seminar this summer focusing on Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. I concluded the earlier post by sharing the following:

In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078. Be on the lookout for ways (Ustream, Skype, Twitter, Plurk, etc.) to informally participate with us. I would certainly consider making it possible for those wishing to enroll in the course and participate from a distance, too.

Greg R. Fishbone replied to my earlier post and asked the following question regarding my concluding statements.

I’d love to participate informally, but how does one follow a keyword?

I think this is a GREAT a question and I suspect Greg is not the only one wondering about this. I’m sharing this information here in hopes of helping Greg and anyone else that may be interested in being part of our learning community this summer.

Google Keyword Search
You can add the following RSS feed to your aggregator (such as Google Reader or Bloglines). New blog posts, wiki entries, bookmarks, videos, podcasts, etc. tagged with idt7078 will then be “delivered” to you as they show up in Google.

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=idt7078&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss

An alternative to this strategy would be to setup a Google Alert for idt7078.

Twitter Search
You can also add a keyword search for idt7078 to TweetDeck or similar Twitter platform if you are using one. If not, then you can add the following RSS feed for the Twitter Search of the course tag to your aggregator.

http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=idt7078

Plurk Search
Add idt7078 to your list of Saved Searches in your profile’s dashboard.

• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Educators and PLNs (Feedback Requested)
• Favorite Web 2.0 Tool
• Teaching Keyboarding to Elementary Children

New SlideShare Account

I had to setup a new account at SlideShare. I’d had my old account for a couple of years, but I just kept having too many problems with it and their support didn’t didn’t seem interested in helping resolve it. Overall, I’ve been satisfied with SlideShare, so I’ve gone ahead and setup the new account (One advantage of this is that my ID is now clifmims which matches almost all of my other online IDs). I just hate that I’ll loose some of the connections that I previously had with many of you on SlideShare. I’d very much appreciate it if you’d add me as one of your SlideShare contacts (friends), so that I can reestablish my network more quickly. Together we all learn more!

For what it’s worth, I’ve been very satisfied with my account at SlideBoom. It has fewer social tools than SlideShare but SlideBoom has made uploading files easier. I also think the SlideBoom presentations look a bit better.

• Integrate SlideShare into PowerPoint
• Tech Review: MyBlogLog
• Tools I’m Currently Using
• An Introduction to Presentations 2.0

Diigo Buys Furl

Looks like things are continuing to go well for Diigo. I’ve marked the most interesting bit in bold.

Social bookmarking and annotation service provider Diigo has acquired web page clipping and archiving service Furl from publicly listed search advertising network company LookSmart in exchange for equity. The deal is being pitched as a partnership but looks more like…Diigo jumping on a relevant opportunity without having to spend any cash….Diigo doesn’t refer to its service as social bookmarking but rather as a research and knowledge-sharing tool…You might as well say Diigo bought a rival as it is readying the launch of the upcoming Diigo 4.0 platform, which is said to be taking social bookmarking and annotation ‘to new heights’. (Source)

That’s right. Upgrade 4.0 is in the works and aims to raise the bar. I’m curious to see how many of the features that we’ve all requested/suggested and our feedback about the interface, etc. will be addressed in the new version.

• Diigo 101 Podcast
• Why Would Teachers Use Diigo?
• Tools I’m Currently Using
• This Morning at EBC

New Diigo Group

I’m a big, big fan of Diigo. I appreciate that I can save and share bookmarks, highlight and leave comments on webpages, annotate resources, host and participate in groups and forums on particular topics, message and interact with friends and colleagues, and much more. It’s a very big component of my personal learning network (PLN). I’m also impressed and pleased that the Diigo founders and employees listened to its community of teacher-users and developed Diigo for Educators (More fondly referred to as EduDiigo). Here are some thoughts about about why teachers and learners might use Diigo.

I started a new group dedicated to the topic of design and development. I invite everyone with an interest/expertise in the topic to become an active member.

FYI, consider joining these other groups that started, too.

• Education and Technology
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Virtual Math Manipulatives
• Instructional Design
• Graphic Design
• Design and Development
• Resources for Future Teachers
• Resources for Graduate Students

I encourage everyone to take a look at Diigo’s services and consider taking advantage of it. Please feel free to friend me because, as I frequently say, “Together we learn more.”

• New Diigo Group: Mobile Technology and Education
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Diigo Notes for 05/08/2008

The Human Clock

If you’ve been reading this blog or getting my bookmark notifications the last few months then you’ve realized that I’ve been looking for good resources for teachers. I was recently looking for a widget to embed to help us countdown to an upcoming event when I realized that I’ve never shared one of my favorite websites with y’all.

Humanclock.com shows a photograph of the current time, with the photo changing every minute of the day (all 1,440 occuring minutes on Earth!) Thus you end up with a rotating picture clock sorta deal.

Many people viewing this website end up sending in their own clock pictures, be they in an airplane, installing brakes, or on a playground in Missouri. There are clock pictures from all over the world ranging from Outback Australia to Canada to Pakistan to Antarctica to Italy to Brazil. (Source)

Educational Uses

• Encourage creativity by encouraging students to submit their own photos.
• A light-hearted way to practice time-related concepts and skills: telling time, AM and PM, 24-hour clock (aka Army time), etc.

• Thank You Eye-Fi
• Today Is World Math Day
• Today Is World Math Day
• Twitter in Education

Siftables: Cutting Edge Technology

“…my passion is for making new human computer interfaces that are a better match to the ways our brains and bodies work.” — David Merrill

• Meme – Passion Quilt
• The Future of Educational Technology
• Suggested Reading for 11/15/2008
• 1 Thing New Teachers Should Know

Netbooks for the Classroom

I received the following email inquiry from an elementary teacher.

I keep hearing about these affordable computers that are pretty small. I know that they typically are not loaded with software. I am looking for a way to allow the students access to the internet. Will these allow me to do that?

Netbooks run roughly anywhere from $300 – $700 and they work well for what you probably need. Here’s a recent review of the best netbooks according to CNET.

Here are some of the most popular classroom options.

• ASUS Eee
• XO from OLPC – A couple of times a year you can buy these for personal use.
• HP Mini

What advice would you offer for educators that considering purchasing and using netbooks in the classroom?

• Knocking Down the Walls of the Classroom
• Greetings from North Carolina
• UPDATE: $100 Laptop Goes into Mass Production
• Photo Journal: Trip to Airport