The following free software programs are good alternatives for concept/ semantic mapping technologies like Inspiration and OpenMind. These are helpful in the development of concept/ semantic maps, flow charts, diagrams, timelines, and more.
Category: Presentations
Review of Frontline’s “Growing up Online”
I watched the program last night. (PBS has made the full version of the program available online, along with extended clips, discussion boards, and a chat room.) Given all the chatter before the airing I found the program to be more balanced than I was expecting, but it was not without bias. Here are some of my random thoughts related to the program.
- It cautioned that kids may be smarter and safer about online socializing than we think. Are they learning this from themselves, school, parents, media, or …?
- The program dedicated more time to the use of technology for socializing rather than for educational purposes. I’d like to see a follow-up program deal with that topic.
- I’m not sure that everything in the program is generalizable to the larger population. While the episode never overtly made any such claim it’s important that viewers not make that assumption.
- There are excellent teachers that do not make any use of technology in the classrooms. The use of technology does not necessarily make one educational experience better than another.
- The issue of parents’/ schools’ safety concerns and children’s privacy is one that deserves a great deal more consideration.
FRONTLINE: growing up online | PBS via kwout
Here’s what others are saying:
- Comments to my (Clif’s) initial post
- Infinitude: Part I, Part II
- Jennifer Maddrell
- Weblogg-ed: Post 1, Post 2
- Geeky Mom
- Nick Pernisco
- The Official Growing up Online Discussion Board
Tools I’m Currently Using
Several have asked me to share the technologies that I’m frequently using these days. Here’s a short list of tools that I’m using on a regular basis. You can access my accounts for most of these tools using the Navigation menu.
Firefox – There are a variety of technical and security reasons to quit using Internet Explorer. Firefox is the browser of choice these days.
WordPress – It’s clearly the content management system/ blogging platform of choice these days.
Trillian – Use and access all your different IM accounts through one platform.
Del.icio.us – Social bookmarking made simple and efficient.
Twitter – Twitter is a service that “puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.” I use the Twitbin extension so that I can use the Twitter service even more easily.
YouTube, TeacherTube, and BlipTV – Using free accounts I setup channels allowing me to organize and share video with students and those with common interests.
SlideShare – A great way to share slide presentations. Be sure to checkout how easy it is to turn your presentation into a slidecast, too.
Feedburner – The “leading provider of media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds.”
Zoho and Google Apps – These are free online office/ productivity tools. I’ve recently become more a fan of Zoho than Google because Zoho offers many more tools. Zoho’s Creator makes it possible and super easy to create your own online forms and databases without having your own server.
The following resources are also useful in helping you get your message out there and get connected: Digg, Social Poster, and Twitter
Here are other tools that I’m still trying: Flock (Combine your social tools into this Firefox-based browser), Second Life (I’m out of my comfort zone with this one), flickr (Good for work uses, but doesn’t meet our family’s needs) and facebook (It works well enough, but I don’t see the need for it).
When I finally migrate from a wordpress.com blog to a wordpress.org blog I’m going to start using Share This and Jiglu.
Go 2 Web 2.0 – Claims to be the complete directory of all the Web 2.0 technologies out there.
You can also take a look at other related posts I’ve written by clicking on the Free Educational Software link in the Navigation menu.
“Growing up Online” on PBS’ Frontline
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XyipM9STyY
UPDATE: The program has aired and you can read my review.
An Introduction to Online Word Processing
This video provides a great overview of the concept of online productivity tools (word processor, presentations, spreadsheets) in under 3 minutes.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA
Click to take a look at Google Docs and Zoho Writer.
See this tutorial on collaborating with others with web applications like Google Docs.
Consider how these kinds of technologies could be integrated with teaching and learning and leave your ideas in the comments section below.
Free Software: Camtasia and Snag It
Camtasia (Screen recording software for making video of computer use) and Snag It (Screen capturing software for making images of your computer screen) are currently available for free. These tools can be really useful when developing instruction, tutorials, job aids, etc. More information is available at mguhlin’s blog.
Jethro reminded me that Techsmith also has a new product out called Jing which is less technical than Camtasia, but still a great product, and it’s also free.
Zentation: Where Video and PowerPoint Meet on the Web — The Mom Song
A student made me aware of Zentation.com, a place to combine video and slide shows in a pretty powerful way.
Here’s a short, fun example to give you a quick idea of how this works. Hats off to all the Moms out there!!!
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Does this resource hold any application for you, your students, your project team, etc.?
AECT’s Teacher Education Division’s Online Convention Activities and Resources
Introducing the Teacher Education Division’s most recent venture into the world of Web 2.0 technologies. TED Live! 2007 is a member generated e-newsletter of anything and everything related to TED during the 2007 AECT Convention. TED Live! 2007 has robust RSS capabilities and will mashup blog posts, images, podcasts, vidcasts, social bookmarks, file attachments (slide shows, handouts, papers, etc.), tags/keywords, and more into an easy to use e-newsletter. This information will be archived and will be available on The Playground. Consider the possible benefits of being able to provide your students access to particularly relavent information and materials, for those with research interests related to the social aspect of a professional organization, professional development communities, online learning and callaboration, social networking, and much more.
Virtual Attendance and Participation
We realize that everyone can not make it to Anaheim this year, but you can stay connecTED with us and enjoy the presentations and content via TED Live! 2007. If we don’t see you at the convention then we hope to see you online!
Contribute Content
TED Live! 2007 can only be as rich and useful as we make it and we need your help to make this a valuable resources for us all. Please read TED’s Legal Disclaimers.
We Didn’t Start the Fire: A Brief History of the U.S.A.
Scott Allsop has taken Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and created an educational video that depicts all the historical events that Joel sings about. Tracey Osborn uses Allsop’s video and takes it even further. Osborn created this webpage that provides the song’s lyrics and hyper-links all of the historical events metioned to related online resources. Wow!!! I could see some kids just going crazy with this kind of activity. You know they’ll even do this at home and come back the next day still talking about all the history that they’ve absorbed.
You can watch the video here…
…or you can also view/download this video (and many other great videos for use in the classroom) from the awesomely cool TeacherTube.com.
What impact do you think this kind of lesson would have?
Provocative Quote
“We would never consider teaching children to read without also teaching them to write. In the same manner we must teach our children not just to read electronic media but also to create digital media themselves.”
–from Ann Bell’s new book Creating Digital Video in Your School
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I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts on Mrs. Bell’s claim. Please share your response by clicking on the Comments link below.
Clif