The cost of activating an iPhone with AT&T is absolutely ridiculous. Since I have several kids, and eventually want all of them to be able to use smartphones, this is a real concern for me. Our family wireless bill now exceeds a monthly car payment, and I am not “OK” with this situation being considered “normal.” Because of these concerns, I recently figured out how to jailbreak and “unlock” an older iPhone 3G for one of my kids to use and put it on the T-Mobile network on a “pay-as-you-go” plan for $15 per month. This plan provides unlimited texting, phone calls for 10 cents per minute, and no cellular data. Since my kids primarily text and rarely make voice calls, this plan is perfect. It’s half the price AT&T would charge me to add an iPhone line to our existing family plan ($10 per month) plus activate the cheapest, AT&T-mandatory data plan ($20). Here are some of the things I learned getting that iPhone switched over to T-Mobile.

AT&T currently makes anyone using an iPhone on their network activate a data plan, and the cheapest one is $20 per month. There is a setting on more recent iOS versions to turn off cellular data entirely, and it might be possible to turn that off so AT&T never finds out you’re using an iPhone with a SIM card you activated previously with another phone. When I gave one of my kids my older iPhone a year or so ago, we activated it by switching the SIM card from their older RAZR phone and putting it in the iPhone. A few weeks after using it, AT&T sent my child a text message announcing they had recognized their phone was an iPhone and therefore activated a mandatory $20 per month data plan. We didn’t ask for that data plan, we didn’t want that data plan, but AT&T didn’t and doesn’t care. One of their objectives as a corporation is to soak everyone who is a customer for as much per month as they possibly can. This makes me angry and frustrated as a customer, and is a big reason I chose to figure out how to switch at least some of our family phones over to T-Mobile.

Different cell phone carriers use different technologies. AT&T phones use SIM cards because they operate on the GSM network. That is the same network used by T-Mobile, which is the reason an “unlocked” phone (including an unlocked iPhone) can be used with either AT&T or T-Mobile in the USA. That’s not the case for Verizon phones, because they operate on the CDMA network. The English WikiPedia article, “Comparison of mobile phone standards,” provides some good background on the relative advantages and disadvantages of these phone types. If you travel internationally outside the USA, you definitely want to use a GSM phone since about 80-85% of the world’s cell phones use GSM. If you have an unlocked phone, you can purchase a local SIM card in many countries and use it in your phone. This can be a good way to avoid “international roaming fees” which some carriers (including AT&T, depending on your plan) can sock you with if you use your ‘normal’ SIM card out of the country.

It’s remarkable and ridiculous at some level to see how “locking phones” has become normal in the United States, along with absurdly expensive rates for cellular data access. Countries including Lebanon, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore require (currently) all phones sold in their countries be sold UNLOCKED. This means customers are free to use those phones with any available wireless carrier, without going through the tedious hoops I’m about to describe to unlock an iPhone 3G.

If you’re interested in unlocking an iPhone and switching to T-Mobile, I recommend you find someone who has prior experience both jailbreaking and unlocking iPhones to help you. This is something you can figure out how to do successfully using trustworthy websites as well as YouTube video tutorials, but there ARE risks as well as drawbacks to carefully weigh. Understand the following:

1. Apple does not support jailbreaking or unlocking your iPhone and doing so can void your warranty. (If you “just” jailbreak and don’t “unlock” you should be able to re-install the iOS firmware and restore your iPhone’s software to it’s original / non-jailbroken condition, but depending on circumstances this may not always be possible. Unlocking almost always voids your warranty.)
2. Unlocking can require overwriting / changing the “baseband” for your iPhone which can be an irreversible action.
3. It may be necessary to update your iPhone baseband to a version which disables certain functionality, like GPS. Weigh this carefully.
4. If something goes wrong during your jailbreaking and unlocking process, it IS possible that you might “brick” your iPhone. This means it could be unusable and essentially become an expensive paperweight. That’s why I recommend you work with someone with prior successful experiences jailbreaking and unlocking an iPhone if you try this.
5. There are a lot of iPhone jailbreaking and unlocking websites which are mainly seeking ad revenue. Some may have malware (bad stuff) they could install on your computer and/or your iPhone. Malware DOES exist for the iPhone, I have a friend who got some over a year ago via a jailbroken app he downloaded and tried. Be sure to use reliable, trustworthy websites to obtain jailbreak and unlock software.
6. According to a T-Mobile employee I interviewed, T-Mobile does NOT provide 3G or 4G connectivity speeds to any iPhone users on their network. T-Mobile limits all iPhone users to 2G or “edge” connectivity speeds as of this writing. This is a major disadvantage and bummer… It could change down the road, but at this point it might be a reason to stick with AT&T or another official iPhone carrier.
7. T-Mobile is NOT going to merge with AT&T at this point and go away as an alternative network to AT&T in the USA, thanks (apparently) to a confluence of circumstances. Read more about this from December 2011 articles in TechCrunch and Engadget. I think this is really good news for consumers. AT&T acts like a bully monopoly already, and that behavior would have surely gotten only worse if they’d been allowed to get bigger via this merger.
8. Pay-as-you-go plans with T-Mobile can’t roam outside T-Mobile’s network. That means if my child is in a rural area or out of town away from T-Mobile’s coverage area, it might not be possible to text or call.

To get an iPhone on T-Mobile from AT&T, you will need to several things for sure and possibly some others. For sure, you’ll need to:

• Jailbreak your iPhone so you can install programs not authorized by Apple on it, using Cydia
• Unlock your iPhone by installing a program which lets other carrier SIM cards work

In some cases, you also may need to install new “baseband” software on your iPhone. As previously mentioned, in some cases this could disable iPhone functions like GPS.

There are several excellent sources of information about jailbreaking and unlocking which I recommend. Beware of Google searches for “jailbreak” and “unlock iPhone.” You’ll find tons of ad-supported websites with those searches, and in all likelihood some malware sites too. Here are the jailbreak and unlock information websites I use and recommend:

• Official blog of the iPhone Jailbreak Dev-Team: blog.iphone-dev.org
• The iPhone Wiki: theiphonewiki.com
• JailbreakQA: jailbreakqa.com

In my specific case, I inherited (from a relative who had upgraded) an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.2.1. The iPhoneWiki has a direct link to the IPSW (iPhone iOS installer package) which I needed to use to jailbreak, along with instructions that I had to update my baseband to 06.15.00. Those instructions are clear that the process will disable GPS on this iPhone permanently. In my situation that’s not a big deal, because my child who will be using this iPhone won’t really need to use Google Maps or GPS features of other apps. It would be a big deal for my wife or for me, however, and it’s definitely important to know about in advance.

JailbreakQA has a good list of jailbreaking tools which are available for different iPhone models running different versions of iOS. I ended up using two versions of redsn0w to jailbreak and update the baseband on the iPhone 3G. I initially tried using the latest version to jailbreak (posted by the Dev Team at the end of December 2011) but it kept crashing. I used the older redsn0w 0.9.6rc19 to jailbreak but disabled the option to also install something to show battery usage. redsn0w is one of several tools available to jailbreak your iPhone. Again the one you can use depends on the hardware model as well as the iOS version installed on your iPhone. In the past I’ve jailbroken my iPhone with the PwnageTool, the jailbreak.me website, and greenpois0n.

When you jailbreak, it’s vital you do NOT update to the latest iOS version when it comes out. Recently I waited to update my iPhone4 to iOS 5, because the “untethered” jailbreak for it didn’t come out until last month. A tethered jailbreak means you have to restart your iPhone by physically plugging it into your computer and using jailbreak software to start it again. Untethered jailbreaks don’t require this, you can restart your phone when it is disconnected from your computer.

While I had jailbroken iPhones before, until this recent iPhone 3G jailbreak I hadn’t updated iPhone baseband software or unlocked an iPhone. Both processes proved to be very straightforward once I learned what to do. Upgrading the baseband is an option in redsn0w, which I learned how to do watching this YouTube tutorial. (The accent of the speaker makes his English a little hard to understand, but it’s thorough and helpful.) You can opt to jailbreak and update baseband at the same time, but I did them separately. I jailbroke first with the older version of redsn0w linked above, and then used the most recent redsn0w to update the baseband. It’s a little confusing because in this case, the check box is to install ‘iPad baseband’ and I wasn’t using an iPad. The video linked above confirmed this is the right step, however, and the process worked for me.

After updating the baseband, it was time to actually unlock the phone. I did this by installing the application “ultrasn0w” in Cydia. I had to run Cydia twice, however, and run the available updates before ultrasn0w became available in the search interface.

I should mention also that all this software is available FREE and without charge. There is no charge for redsn0w or ultrasn0w. I have never paid for any jailbreaking software in the past few years, and I have jailbroken (at different times) an original iPhone, an iPhone 3GS, an iPhone4, and an iPad1.

Once these three steps were complete on the iPhone 3G for my child (jailbreaking and installing Cydia, updating the baseband, and unlocking by installing ultrasn0w) I was ready to head to the T-Mobile store. I had visited a few weeks ago with some employees to get information about the process and available pricing, so there were no surprises for us at this stage.

It is possible to keep an existing phone number you have with AT&T and “port” it over to T-Mobile even with a “pay-as-you-go” plan. When we activated the iPhone 3G on T-Mobile, we paid $10.45 for a SIM card and the activation. I had to provide my AT&T wireless account number to the T-Mobile rep, who had to visit with customer service on the phone to make it happen. It can take up to 24 hours for a phone number with another carrier to “port” over, and during that time a temporary number with T-Mobile is available for use. Once the number “port” is complete we’ll need to purchase some voice minutes for the phone, and we’ll be able to recharge those minutes in the future either online, by using a SMS code, or purchasing a T-Mobile minutes card. We’ll be paying just $15 per month for this line (instead of $30 to AT&T) and mainly using it to text. The iPhone 3G works great on wifi for Internet access, but it won’t have any cellular data access.

Assuming this T-Mobile iPhone experiment continues to work well, I plan to switch another of my kids who already has an iPhone with $30/month in AT&T add-on account charges over to T-Mobile. I’m not sure if at some point I’ll switch my own account with AT&T over, but I’ve thought about doing that. I might use the same $15 per month pay-as-you-go plan, but also activate a MiFi card which I could use for true 3G and 4G network connectivity not only for my iPhone but also iPad and laptop. I’d just need to make sure I had enough monthly bandwidth to meet my needs. Currently MiWi is my favorite and most important iPhone app because it lets my phone become a mobile hotspot for laptops, iPads, and other devices. This is an important function I want to maintain, but a MiFi card could do that as well.

I hope the information I have provided in this post is helpful to you. Again, please work with someone who has had prior successful experiences jailbreaking and unlocking iPhones if you want to try this yourself. Also be aware of the risks and don’t take them lightly. I understand carriers like AT&T want to keep us all “locked in” to excruciatingly expensive contracts, but am thrilled consumers have options like those described here to go with an alternative carrier like T-Mobile. I’m definitely holding off on a new iPhone 4S for now, and when I do purchase a new iPhone I’ll seriously consider just buying an unlocked version.

Have you had experiences, good or bad, with jailbreaking and/or unlocking an iPhone? If so, what are some of your lessons learned?

Avoiding AT&T’s Ridiculous iPhone Data Fees by Switching to T-Mobile originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on January 17, 2012.

So I don’t normally write things up but but dad asked me to share this. I love building and playing with legos. It is always fun to build fancy ships but the lego minifigure is also one of the best tools to make stopmotion films with. I have tried to make a couple of films of my own but it is really fun to also see what other films people are making.

One very good film that I found that I wanted to share made by pixelspersecond on youtube mimics the CSI Television show. This youtuber has not made brickfilms before but he has done an awesome job with this first one. He also does a wonderful job of making the different backdrops and lighting but what I love the most about this film that not many others do is that they make them talk. In other films they will have audio with voices but in this brickfilm they have gone in during editing and have moved there mouths using a computer program and synced it with the audio so it actually looks like they are talking. Just a warning before you watch this great film it is a crime show and there is a murder at the beginning of it were he added some unneeded gor so if you start watching it keep going because it gets a lot beter after the initial opening.

On a side note, I first saw this video on groovebricks which is a cool lego blog that I read so check them out as well!!

Awesome Brickfilm originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on October 24, 2011.

1. Tool kit
2. Audience
3. Style Formation
4. Skills-Based Instruction
5. Vulnerability

Andrew B. Watt here…

Over the last few months, I’ve made a shift in my online footprint, from being a blogger to a video-maker. It started as a foray into video work but it’s become a part of my classroom process, homework review process, and online activity. Wes asked me to write a bit about how this came about, what I learned from doing it, and how the toolkit works for doing it.

Tool kit

In terms of both software and hardware, my tool kit is pretty basic:

• JingPro, available from TechSmith, is the key to the operation. Without that, at $14.95 a year, I wouldn’t have the ability to make videos at all.  It does hold me quite severely to the 5-minute time limit, which is good: short enough for a kid to review during a homework session, long enough to get into some detail if I work quickly.
• Jing works by photographing or video-ing what’s on your screen.  I’ve used Pages, Microsoft Word, Safari, and other programs as my stage, but the main one is Mimio Notebook — the software my school gave me for running the Mimio smartboard in my room.
• An Apple MacBook;
• D-maps.com — The guy at D-maps is a Frenchman who gave me permission to use his maps, as he does to anyone who wants  them.  For © reasons, I borrow images from Wikipedia labeled as public domain, but I’m leery; I want clean data to work with wherever I can.

Process

What  to say about process?  I find an error or a writing problem in a student paper… then I type it up, and I make a movie.  If there’s a content area which I feel the textbook hasn’t explained well, I make a movie.  If there’s a disconnect between what students write and what’s in the book, I make a movie.

I post first draft of the video; I don’t know any editing techniques yet. (If I say three bone-headed statements in a single video, I cancel those and start again.)  I don’t write scripts, but I try to have a plan in mind, unlike my podcasts at gravitysgrace.net.  I planned to make a video for each William Strunk and E.B. White rule in the Elements of Style, but moved toward a freeform approach.  When I started, it was helpful to my process to draw the diagrams as I spoke and recorded the video; now I try to do as much set-up ahead of time as I can, using the undo and redo functions to create some animations.  I thought about doing this with slideshow software like Keynote or PowerPoint, but resulting videos were clunky.  I tried to use Animation-ish, which I like, but integrating tiny clips like this one into larger pieces is beyond my current abilities.

Audience

My blog gets [after literally years online (first at LiveJournal, then at WordPress, and at Diaryland before either of those)], about 30 hits a day unless I say something radical.  YouTube started out slow, and then I had a video reach 1,000 hits.  Since then, I’ve gotten about 10,000 hits on my videos.  Most of them have gotten 9-10 views, but a surprising number of the 90 videos have over a hundred views — a much larger percentage of the whole than the number of blog posts with a hundred views.

The real surprise is the importance of search on YouTube. More than half of my viewers aren’t from my school. They’re people who are finding my video through searches.  That suggests a radically different model than blogging — I pick up blogs to read the same way you do, by deciding that I like someone’s writing or situation.  Yet people look for videos on writing help or world history by specific keywords.  They’re looking for information or advice.  The related awareness is subscription numbers — It’s taken my blog three years to reach 15 regular subscribers (i.e., recorded RSS feed followers), but 25 subscribers started watching my YouTube channel in the last six months.  Some of them are almost certainly scam/spam artists, but it seems to be easier to attract a video following than a writing following.

Style Formation

I think my videos suggest that I watched too many CommonCraft videos. Those are silly but fun, and they’re professional and playful at the same time.  I’m teaching sixth and seventh graders, so I’m trying to keep them relatively light in form and figure.  Yet I’ve had college professors tell me to my face that my videos are important, because their students don’t know how to write or how to communicate in this way.

I think I’m also opening up a larger playing field.  I know that the Khan Academy video series is out there, and that there’s a lot of controversy about whether this video-based education model is the way to go.   I know that when I start to teach in my classroom, I may get interrupted three or four times in the course of my lesson…  If I start up the video player and the projector,  on the other hand — I get silence while the lesson plays — I can help the kid who’s missing a pencil — I can answer a question quietly — and I can move right to the practice part of the lesson.  Does this make me replaceable?  Perhaps.  Does it worry me?  Not yet.  I think I’m better in the classroom than on the screen alone, and the videos are closely connected with the brand of Andrew B. Watt, not the school I work for.  It’s an unusual change, I think, for a teacher in middle school to step out of the shadow of their institution.  It makes me more vulnerable, but freer in a sense as well.

Skills-Based Instruction

Blogging was reflective, but it didn’t really help my teaching style improve directly.  The YouTube video series is much more about direct instruction.  One of the first examples of this was a video about sentence structure. Another video, about the Indian Monsoons and their effect on trade routes, is also a big hit, not just with me but with people in India.

Because there’s a worldwide audience, I find I’m much more careful about speaking what I believe is true.  I don’t want to get slammed by people around the world for saying wrong things about their country… but I also welcome the opportunity to show students the comments the videos are drawing, and showing them that I’m capable of being wrong.  My students thought the guy who thought my video was boring was funny.  They assured me that they thought the video was useful, even if this guy thought it was dull.

Vulnerability

I think the last points I want to make are about vulnerability and openness.  A lot of students are watching these videos, apparently, because there are a lot of re-watches.   People are getting useful ideas from the videos, and understanding things about writing and about history from them.  Even though I’m responsible for my students’ learning, now it’s possible that I’m responsible for some of your students’ learning, too.  Even though I’m continuing to speak to my students, I’m trying to be conscious that I’m speaking to a larger audience than just the kids in my own classroom.   Does it make me a better teacher? Time will tell.

Shifting from Writing to Videography originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 25, 2011.

iOS is the term Apple uses for the mobile operating system used on iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. In this post, I will describe two different methods to share any and all applications from an iPhone / iPod Touch or iPad you’d like to display on a laptop or desktop computer as well as an external projector. If you need to share iOS applications with others in a presentation situation, these methods can be invaluable. Note at the outset it is necessary to jailbreak your iOS device to install these applications. Steve Dembo‘s August 2010 post, “Top 10 reasons to Jailbreak… legally!” addresses some of the reasons to consider jailbreaking an iOS device. It’s important to note federal regulators (in the U.S.) ruled in July 2010 that the process of jailbreaking IS legal. Steve specifically referenced the app TVOut2 as well as AppleAppReview instructions for configuration. Although the process of jailbreaking an iOS device has become CONSIDERABLY easier in the past year, this process can still be tricky. If you want to jailbreak a device for the first time, my recommendation is to find someone in your area who has ALREADY successfully jailbroken iOS devices and can ‘hold your hand’ through this process. In this post I will NOT address the specifics of how to jailbreak iOS devices and the options which are available, but instead will focus specifically on the Display Out app for iPad and iDemo with ScreenSplitter or Display Recorder to display iOS apps on a computer as well as external display.

This information and these suggestions are offered entirely WITHOUT any guarantees or warranties of any kind. Warranties and contractual agreements with both Apple and cellular service providers vary by location, you should be aware of the details of those which pertain to you.

DISPLAYING iPAD APPLICATIONS ON AN EXTERNAL DISPLAY

The “Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter” ($30 US) can be used to display iPad applications on an external display, like an LCD projector. At present (in October 2010) only a limited number of iOS applications support the display-out function. One example is the Netflix app for iPad. PaperDesk LITE for iPad is another example. While a few more applications have offered this VGA-out support in past months, it can be frustrating to be limited BY APPLICATION in what you can show on an external display with an iPad. This limitation, on a jailbroken iPad, can be overcome using the Display Out app for iPad. Display Out, at the time I purchased it, was a $3 app available via Cydia. Cydia is an alternate iOS apps store which is available on your iOS device after jailbreaking. Note that at some point, Apple may decide to integrate the function of “Display Out” into its core iOS and render it obsolete. That is what happened with Clippy, which was also developed by Ryan Petrich and allowed iOS users to have copy / paste and clipboard functionality on their devices BEFORE Apple formally integrated it into iOS.

In Cydia, search for “Display Out” and make sure you’re viewing the version created by Ryan Petrich. The app should identify if your iOS version is compatible. I think I had to purchase it using Google Checkout, more purchasing options may now be available. I think it cost me $3 US several months ago.

After “Display Out” for iPad is installed on your iPad, a new option will be available in your iPad Settings. It will be shown under “Extensions” listed between the Apple-default iPad settings choices and the “Apps” setting options.

“Display Out” must be enabled (turned on) to function. I leave the “orientation” option set to “follow interface.” This means the displayed image will automatically switch from portrait mode to landscape as you rotate your iPad. I use the 1024×768 “max screen resolution” setting, and leave the scale set to 1.0. With these settings, ALL my iPad applications are displayed on a projector when I connect it to the iPad VGA adapter.

The main disadvantage of this method is that you are “tethered” to the projector by the VGA cord when presenting. One tip I’ve found helpful is to DISABLE the “auto-lock” feature under General Settings, because if the screen goes dark due to inactivity I’ve sometimes had difficulty getting the iPad to again display video out to the projector. In those cases I’ve had to disconnect the adapter, and sometimes turn off and re-enable the “Display Out” setting on the iPad. To date this is the only way I’ve displayed my iPad screen directly on an external display. I know other options are available, however, and if you’ve used some I’d love to hear about your experiences– particularly with FREE applications which have similar functionality.

DISPLAYING iPHONE / iPOD TOUCH APPLICATIONS ON AN EXTERNAL DISPLAY

iPhone / iPod Touch applications often look stunning, with fantastic graphics, and it seems a shame to use a digital document camera to show apps to others in presentations. Several months ago, I discovered the (at the time) FREE applications ScreenSplitr and DemoGod. ScreenSplitr is a free application installed via Cydia on an iPhone or iPod Touch which permits ANY screen or application on the device to be displayed on another computer connected to the same wifi network. That computer must run a special application, which looks like an iPhone emulator. The initial application which could do this was called DemoGod, but it ran ONLY on Mac OS computers. It was free. A few months ago, DemoGod was discontinued and replaced by iDemo, which is sold commercially but runs on BOTH Windows and Mac OS based computers. According to iDemo documentation, iDemo can work with either ScreenSplitr or Display Recorder. To date I have only used it with ScreenSplitr.

Search for “ScreenSplitr” in the Cydia application and install it. When you run ScreenSplitr, it will show a startup screen but then disappear. That is because it is running in the background. Be aware it is using battery power to run in the background, so you’ll want to disable / turn off ScreenSplitr by running / pressing the application button again when you are finished using it to preserve your device’s battery power.

After purchasing and downloading iDemo, run the application on your Mac or Windows-based computer. It will search for any iPhones connected to the SAME wifi network as your computer currently running ScreenSplitr or Display Recorder. I have found some wifi hotspots in some locations are configured with some port traffic blocked and prohibit iDemo from connecting to ScreenSplitr. I do not know what ports those are, but I have been able to use the commercial application MyWi as a workaround. When you share a 3G cellular connection with MyWi and create an ad-hoc mobile hotspot, you can connect your laptop to that wifi network and use it with ScreenSplitr and iDemo as well.

In the iDemo application, click on the name of your iPhone or iPod Touch to connect to it over the wifi connection. On your mobile device, ScreenSplitr will open a popup window prompting you to accept the incoming connection request from iDemo. Click ACCEPT and your iPhone / iPod Touch screen will be displayed on iDemo.

When you have your computer connected to an external display, like a projector, your iPhone / iPod Touch screen will also be shown. The frame rate of the video with ScreenSplitr and iDemo has been improved considerably from earlier versions, so while there is still some latency / delay, it is minimal. Video will not display with an equal frame rate and clarity to what you can achieve playing video directly from your computer, but it IS much better than with previous versions of DemoGod.

A trial version of iDemo is available, which permits connections of just 60 seconds. The full version of iDemo costs $10 US.

Are you aware of other options for mirroring iOS devices on external displays, besides those I’ve outlined here? I’d love to learn from your experiences as well. Hopefully Apple will integrate this functionality into the iOS at some point. Until then, for those willing to jailbreak, “Display Out” for iPad and ScreenSplitr / iDemo are great options which permit the stunning beauty and smooth functionality of iOS applications to be demonstrated clearly with external data projectors.

Technorati Tags:
apple, ios, iphone, ipod, ipodtouch, jailbreak, screen, touch, itouch, mirror, mirroring, display, out, jailbreaking, idemo, screensplitr, demogod, displayout

How to use your iPad and iPhone / iPad Touch with an External Display / Projector originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on October 3, 2010.

One of my favorite summer activities is teaching for the Professional Development Center at the University of Southern Maine. There are 4 technology classes that my fellow integrators and I share ranging from Mac Computer in the Classroom, Podcasting and Vodcasting, The Read/Write Web and 21st Century Teaching and Learning with Technology.

Summertime and the Learning is Easy? originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 16, 2010.

Image Source: http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2009/03/tether-3g.jpg

Note: The following is a guest blog post from Miguel Guhlin, who blogs regularly at Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org.

Tethering…a term unknown to me. I know what it means to “tether” something but what did it mean in terms of my mobile device? Apparently, it can be defined in this way:

Using an application that allows your PC to take advantage of your Smartphone’s data plan, allowing you to access the Internet on your laptop/netbook anywhere there is cellular coverage.
Source: Adapted from the Tether Blackberry site

Wow, what a neat idea! So, obviously, you can use the Tether Blackberry program to accomplish that on a Blackberry, but I have an Android and many others have iPhones. How do you tether on other machines?

Image Source: http://androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/tether_g1.png

On Android, I found one app called “EasyTether.” It’s also available for Mac. A better alternative is PDAnet.

EasyTether turns your BlackBerry smartphone into an Internet access point for an Apple computer. With this app you can tether your BlackBerry to a Mac. EasyTether implements Bluetooth PAN profile.

• Standard Bluetooth PAN support
• Requires only a basic data plan
• Simple setup without any custom desktop software
• Free lifetime upgrades
• 3G grade speeds with Bluetooth 2.0+EDRdevices
• USB support and Bluetooth DUN are under development

EasyTether is also available for Android phones and Windows (Vista,7,XP) users. Another alternative for Android phones is PDAnet., which I’ve purchased and highly recommend. It’s saved me at various presentations when the Internet provided by an organization just failed without warning. While my participants were stranded, I was able to continue presenting.

In a pinch, Android phone users can connect their computer to their phone using a USB cable and by running a program called PDAnet. In a pinch, PDAnet can have you back up and running, even when the Internet stinks where you are at…like tonight, when I’m at home, working on a project and the Internet from Time-Warner Cable has intermittently failed. Sigh.

That said, I hooked up PDAnet and voila, I’m back online. Here are the speed test results from Internet Frog:

Can’t beat that!

Wanna Hitch? Tether Your Android or Blackberry Phone originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 16, 2010.

My name is Dawn Danker and I’m the Information and Academic Officer for Yukon Public Schools.  I’m blessed to be in a district where we are focused on a vision for Excellence in Education through the means of providing dynamic opportunities to our students.  We are building environments where our students can begin to explore their place in a global society and ultimately a global workforce.  We view technology as an important element to accomplishing that goal.  We are always exploring great tools, techniques and pedagogy that will support our vision for our district.  It’s been through those times of exploration that we have been provided some great opportunities to gain knowledge to better our understanding of relevant elements for our schools.

Recently I received an email informing me that my name had been submitted as one of the nominees for a new program provided by Apple, called the Apple Academy.  I was asked to fill out a form and send some biographical information as well as my thoughts on education and technology.  Fast forward a few weeks later and I received the email telling me I had been selected as one of the 95 leaders from across the nation to participate in the Academy.  I’m telling you, it was a complete and total honor to be selected into such a great cadre of technology educators and leaders.  The Apple Academy’s goal is to provide us with thought provoking conversation along side skills, tools, and resources of value as we plan to support our schools.  It’s been amazing!

My PLN has become so much richer this week because of the people I have met through the Apple Academy. I know that might hard to believe considering the amount of great information that has been delivered over the last four days of our training, but I promise it’s true.  It speaks to the level of talent and knowledge in the training.   I have met some really fascinating folks from all over the nation.  We have leaders from Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and California just to name a few.  I now have a great network of folks with some amazing ideas and resources.  I’m looking forward to connecting with them in the future to help build a better community for my schools with the help of their expertise.

Over the last several days our group has been exposed to all the iLife and iWork applications on both the Macbook and the iPod Touch.  We’ve been discussing best practices on classroom management of those tools, differentiating instruction for students, and creativity in the classroom.  I have been given many resources for providing quality professional development for all educators.  My favorite part of the session has been our utilization of the iPad.  We were exposed to many great apps and how they integrate to the Macbook, but I think the most transformative part came when I realized how integrated the components are on the iPad for classroom utilization.  There’s no booting up on an iPad.  You touch the button and you’re off and learning.  This device paired with cloud computing makes it a tool worth further exploration.  Imagine…the iPad has only been out three months.  What will it look like in a year? *insert me dreaming big*

On Tuesday of this week we had the opportunity to visit the Apple campus, fondly referred to as “The Mothership.”  I know many folks have visited this amazing and phenomenal environment but this was a first for me.  The first wow moment was seeing the oversized screens showing, in real time, all the apps being downloaded in iTunes, second wow moment was viewing the three Emmy awards to Apple for their progressive accomplishments in the digital world, but I thought the employees were the most amazing aspect.  The employees were dressed in what most places would be considered less than business casual.  All the employees looked professional, but it wasn’t your “typical” professional dress.  Why would you need to dress “typical” if you don’t work in a typical work environment?   In my head I could hear fellow educators commenting on the unprofessional nature of the employees based on their attire, somehow equating that would transfer into an unprofessional workplace.  What I could see was an uninhibited work environment.  I was thinking over the elements they had removed to help their employees focus on being creative and being productive by taking away the need to “be” something  based on their outward appearance.  As I watched all the employees I couldn’t help but wish for such a great work environment for my kids.  Is it too much to wish for a job that lets them be who they are and allows them to focus on their work and the creative elements? I hope not. My kids are young and I have a few years to keep wishing for that kind of environment but for now, they are in a pubic school system that is totally contradictory to the environment that would foster a creative culture.  (Disclaimer: My kids don’t attend the school district in which I am employed.) I know not all work environments resemble that of Apple but many large corporations are taking a note from Apple and trying to create a similar environment for their employees.  I think in the future we will see more of these work places.

As a guest blogger, Wes requested we try to spotlight a recent ah-ha moment.  Mine came this week.  In the middle of attending this fabulous training, networking with some great folks, and visiting some great work environments, I received a call from my 15 year old daughter telling me our new iPhones had been delivered by Fedex.  She wanted permission to go ahead and set her phone up.  I began doing what every parent would do by asking her a myriad of questions.

It sounded like this:
Al: Mom, can I set up my new iPhone?
Me: Wow, I guess…I think you should plug it in and charge it.
Al: I already charged it.
Me: Wow, okay.  I think you will have to hook it up to iTunes.
Al:  Mom, I already read the instructions. My old phone is backed up and I just need to remove my SIM card.  I know I need to confirm my information with AT&T and sync is back to iTunes.
Me:  Okay, *insert long sigh* I guess my answer is Yes, please set up your iPhone.

As I hung up the phone I began to think over the conversation we had the previous evening with one of our trainers, who happens to be 24.  He and my daughter live in a world where technology is the norm.  They both have grown up in an environment where technology just IS what they do and how they do it.  I can’t help but think if teachers could see the world inside the Apple campus and have one of those experiences where you realize “they” already live in that world and so do we.  It’s in this moment that I realize I’m in the middle of something different.  We don’t NEED to teach kids HOW to use it…we need to focus on the process and allow them to freely create.  For us…we need to focus on our learning.  This all challenges me to be in this world with them.  It’s not like it used to be, it’s different.  I like being in the middle of “different”… I want to BE DIFFERENT.

In the Middle of Different originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 15, 2010.

My name is Beth Still and my blog is Nebraska Change Agent. I was honored when Wes invited me to guest blog during his absence. I hope this post sparks a conversation that we need to have.

I recently came across this video that was created by Steve Johnson which serves as a good reminder that all of us have a digital footprint and we are in control of the content that we generate that follows us around in cyberspace.

The image above is from my office and there is a story behind it. My husband, who really wants to make sure I stay gainfully employed, gave me this sign as a reminder that everything I say online can be seen by anyone at anytime. About two years ago I blasted my tech department on Twitter and the comments came back to haunt me. I learned my lesson about what I can and cannot say in such a public venue and I have been extraordinarily careful with what I post online. I do not completely censor myself, but I am very aware of what I am saying and how my words might be perceived by my colleagues, supervisors, students, and others who might be watching what I say online.

Steven Anderson wrote a post on the impact social media has had on relationships. This is just one of the many conversations that has been happening lately regarding the types of friendships we form with the people we spend time with online. As we spend time engaging in conversations with the same people again and again, we start to feel very comfortable and it becomes evident that there is a level of trust just as there is in face-to-face relationships. In fact, I am not even sure anymore if there is a need to make a distinction between “online” and “f2f” friends. The biggest difference, which is the entire point of this post, is the way in which we communicate with the two groups. With the friends we see everyday we have conversations that do not take place for the world to see. We talk at the mall or over lunch, but for the most part the conversations are private.

This is not necessarily the case with our online friends. Many of us have had private one-on-one conversations with various people in our PLN using Skype, Google Chat or some other service, but many of these conversations take place on Twitter out in the open for the world to see. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment when we are bantering back and forth and say something that you will regret. I am not saying that it is wrong to engage in personal conversations that are not related to education. I strongly believe the most engaging people on Twitter are the ones who strike a healthy balance between education related and personal tweets. Over the last couple of months I have noticed that people are getting way too comfortable with what they broadcast on Twitter. Why do I care? I could quietly unfollow these people, but that would not bring any attention to this issue. I also enjoy these people and I don’t want to unfollow them. I am just concerned that I might be demonstrating Twitter to someone and some inappropriate Tweets will show up.

Maybe this isn’t an issue. Maybe I am being overly sensitive. I am not trying to play the role of Twitter Police, but we are colleagues and friends and we owe it to each other to point out when we think something has been said that is inappropriate. All of us need to remember to think before we tweet.

Think Before You Tweet originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 14, 2010.

1. WHY JUMP IN?
3. THE TOOLS YOU NEED
5. REFLECTING ON THE TOOLS
7. About the Author

by Miguel Guhlin (Find me on Plurk/Twitter at “mguhlin”) As a educator, probably one of the tougher challenges you face isn’t just keeping up with the technology, but rather understanding how to leverage it in your teaching and learning situation. While in the past, we were limited by the occasions that served as “learning experiences,” in the 21st century, learning isn’t restricted to a special event bound by time and place. We don’t learn just when sitting in a meeting, or at a conference or from 8:00 to 3:30 PM when school is in session. Today, we have the potential to tap into a flow of conversation, a web-based learning ecology, that we can learn from 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Want an Instant Professional Learning Network? Follow in the footsteps of Cory Plough and his colleagues by clicking the following: Note: You will need to have a Twitter account FIRST before trying this. As someone who awoke to that fact just a few years ago, I am continually astonished at the rapidity of change. In fact, I had my first — and so far, only — panic attack in July 2005, when driving down the highway to work, I realized that the world is changing faster than I can keep up. The only way for me to respond to that panic attack was to seize control, to realize that I do have some measure of control over how I react to rapid, tectonic paradigm-shifts that inflict terror because they transform the world around me. Not feeling it, huh? Well, that means you haven’t looked over the edge and seen it looking back at you. The only way for all of us to deal with the current challenge to our particular approach to learning — aside from ignoring it completely, which is about as effective as ignoring an oncoming truck — is to seize the wheel and create our own learning network. As technology directors, people look to us to model learning new technologies. Are you taking advantage of all the resources you can to streamline the often messy learning process? Where Learning Conversations Take Place Classroom 2.0: A place for members ofwww.Classroom20.com to share links, Classroom 2.0 is a social networking site devoted to those interested in the practical application of computer technology (especially Web 2.0) in the classroom and in their own professional development. *Educators: This is a group for educators to use to share bookmarks. It is completely open and anyone can join. It will have a set of standard tags to help us share things that you might use in addition to your tags. *EDuStreams: Easily track education-related uStream.tv broadcasts (EDuStreams). Find out more about those via the Education World Broadcast Learning article. WHY JUMP IN? Christopher Parsons shares that we need to do four things with the overwhelming amount of unorganized content — information, ideas, tips and how-to’s, and personal information — we receive; the kind of content that might be useful in the future but today might be thrown away or filed away in a way — paper notes, e-mail, bookmarks — that would not be useful and would probably be forgotten. Those four things are: Read: Read/watch/listen to the entirety of the content that you are presented with. Evaluate: Consider what the content means to you, and whether or not it is a source of information that intuitively seems appropriate/acceptable for a task at hand. Critique: Moving beyond evaluate, seriously reflect on the material and then form your own opinion of it. Write Share your critique with others, so they can engage with you and the original content to develop a cohesive knowledge-product. In the past, reading, evaluating, and critiquing were done to different degrees by each of us individually. It was rare that any of us actually published our critiques for others to read. Now, it is possible for me to share how what I read, evaluate, and critique connects with my own personal learning and schema. That’s powerful, because individuals like you and me now have the power to publish at will to an audience of millions. The key thing to remember is that as we externalize our thinking, it becomes less of “I am an expert expounding on what I know” and more of “I am a learner, just like you, sharing what I’m learning so that we can learn together through our common errors and maximize our breakthroughs.” Consider that our understanding of learning is changing. We need to think of learning as an experience that happens when we connect with others. If you fail to connect to the network of learners, you miss out on a global conversation about what you are passionate about. And missing out is a darn shame because it can save you time, energy, and increase your reach, no matter how brilliant (or not) you are. That’s a powerful idea. Smart people get smarter because they have access to the network of learners. People who are just starting out are able to learn as fast as they can to accomplish what they need to do. When I meet folks who are just becoming aware of the global conversation — usually because I push them over the edge in a workshop — I like to share several tools with them. They are essential learning tools that every 21st century learner should have. Using them involves action, but it is the acts of use that cast out our fear of change. The act of building your own personal learning network (PLN) is your fundamental act of freedom. Start now. THE TOOLS YOU NEED Although hundreds of tools are available, you only need a few to get started. Please be aware that the purpose of these suggested tools is to externalize the knowledge-building you do every day. It is also to take advantage of the potential power of networked learning. Thousands of educators are online, and you can tap into their collective knowledge to ask questions and have conversations about what you need to learn. The only expectation is that you share with them what you know. Each no-cost tool listed below does it in a slightly different, but complementary, way. Here are some to get started: Social Bookmarking – Diigo.com Build a PLN – Twitter and/or Plurk Get a Blog – Blogger.com Let’s take a more in-depth look at each of these! Please feel free to skip around. Get a Diigo.com account. Diigo.comis a social bookmarking tool, similar to the popular Del.icio.us service, but Diigo also centralizes various learning possibilities. The social aspect of learning is important, especially with our increasing focus on conversations that add value to what we are learning. Diigo lets you bookmark Web sites and have online conversations about them. Some of the exciting ways educators are using Diigo are listed in the sidebar to this article. Centralize your learning through web sites and the conversations you have about that learning by using Diigo. Because Diigo is free, you can encourage your superintendent and other administrative staff to become part of the conversation. That kind of networking empowers everyone who participates in the conversation. Below are some suggestions for using Diigo: Annotate curriculum documents and add stickies to show where tech integration is happening and could happen. That could be annotated for a group of curriculum writers. Annotate state education agency memos for your administrators. We get memos every day and they are posted online. Immediately, among a team, share the implications of the ideas in the memo, the most important points, and so on. See instructional uses of Diigo as screencasts developed by Clay Burell, an International School teacher. Example: http://www.diigo.com/user/mguhlin Another fun thing you can do it to highlight web sites, and then send those as “DiigoNotes” to your blog. This makes it possible to easily capture content from various sources–appropriately cite it–for later reflection in your blog. You can do this using GoogleChrome browser, Firefox or just via email. Here’s my popular DiigoNotes series on my blog. Use Twitter.com or Plurk.com to build a professional learning network. TWITTER “I have learned more about what people are discovering from Tweets,” shares Porter Palmer, an educator in a university Master’s course, “than any single blog could bring me. I especially like it when my edublogger friends’ Tweets begin with, ‘just blogged this…’ I don’t have to guess when they might have updated. I can just click over and read their blog!” Twitter is a powerful Web 2.0 tool to facilitate communication and collaboration–globally. It enables us to get in contact with educators from around the world. Many 21st century teachers are out there. Find them and create a Twitter network that can be a support group, provide inspiring projects, and keep you in touch with like-minded people. All of you participating in a workshop, for example, can be a group. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Source: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter You can use Twitter specific tools to connect with others. One of my favorites is the Twitter search tool, accessible at http://search.twitter.com. It allows you to search the many “tweets” that occur each day (view a search on Education) and subscribe to the results via RSS. (See the “Google Reader” section of this article for more on RSS). That way, real-time comments about what is critical to your work come to you. Whenever there is contact with other educators, I find my enthusiasm and energy for education renewed. That’s the power of communications. You select whose tweets you will receive so you can build your own professional learning network. Many 21st century teachers are out there. Find them and create a Twitter network that can be a support group, provide inspiring projects, and keep you in touch with like-minded people. All of you participating in a workshop, for example, can be a group. Locate one another in Twitter.com and become a network. You can use Twitter specific tools to connect with others. One of my favorites is TweetScan.com. It allows you to search the many “tweets” that occur each day (view a search on Education) and subscribe to the results via RSS. (See the “Google Reader” section of this article for more on RSS). That way, real-time comments about what is critical to your work come to you. Some Twitter specific tools: TweepML – Use this service to easily share groups of Twitterers with each other. Imagine that your entire organization’s staff signed up for Twitter. Instead of each person going through the laborious process of becoming a follower, you could do it in one click with TweepML. Special thanks to Cory Plough and others for sharing this tool with me. Find out more online at http://bit.ly/c3CucL Just Tweet It – This fun tool enables people using Twitter to find others with similar interests. I can imagine sharing this with educators who are just starting out who need help finding other edubloggers. Visit Online at http://justtweetit.com/ Hashtag – This enables you to track a specific event–such as a conference like TCEA2009–using the Twitter network. You can encourage people attending a conference or learning event to share what they’re learning about and then track them all using hashtags. Visit Online at http://hashtags.org TwitterMail – You can send updates to Twitter via email. When you sign up for TwitterMail, you are provided a TwitterMail email address. Send an email to that provided address and it is posted to twitter. This might be great for educators who live behind the “Berlin Wall;” you know, access is blocked by content filters in an effort to “protect” anyone from using the web inappropriately but with the more disastrous effect of preventing anyone from using it all. You can email your twitter updates out and receive them. Visit Online at http://twittermail.com StrawPoll – Ever wish you could use your Twitter account to conduct a quick poll, maybe, how many of you think Texas funds the state technology allotment at a sufficient level? Well, you can use StrawPoll to accomplish this using Twitter. Do your own surveys using Twitter…what a powerful way to get answers from your network of co-learners. Visit Online at http://strawpollnow.com TweetBeep – You can get email results of searches when people tweet a particular keyword (like a tag). What a great way to tap into the conversation about education and reform without actually having to sit there and watch it happen as it happens. Visit Online at http://tweetbeep.com Whenever there is contact with other educators, there is hope. That’s the power of communications. I can’t begin to share the excitement I felt on September 19, 2000, while participating in a TeachMeet 7 taking place in Scotland. How did I find out about it? Obviously, I was not in Scotland. I was sitting at my desk working on work projects, when a “tweet” came in from Paul Harrington, an educator in Wales. As a result of his sharing via twitter, I was able to participate in the conference via my web browser and listen to speakers like Ewan McIntosh and others share what they are doing in schools in Scotland. Do you think that might have impacted my perspective about the power of global learning opportunities? How might participating in a dialogue with educators from around the world have impacted your perspective? By combining the power of Diigo and Twitter/Plurk, I am able to track more easily ad-hoc professional learning opportunities as they occur, as well as have conversations about them before and after they occur. That kind of just-in-time learning, as it happens, can be very powerful for educators. One way I approached tracking broadcast learning opportunities included creating a Diigo group. I invited other educators to join and now we have a collaboratively updated list of EDuStreams —educational professional learning happening online via uStream, Elluminate, Wimba.com sessions that are appearing online. EDuStreams are actually video/audio presentations and conversations done by educators about topics they are interested in. Twitter/Plurk allow us to share those at will, while Diigo allows us to keep track of those opportunities and share them with others, even if they are not on Twitter. After you get your Twitter/Plurk and Diigo accounts, join the EDuStreams group on Diigo to keep up to date on new learning opportunities. Example: Norms for Online Behavior Find it here: http://twitter.com with a list of educators to follow at http://twitter.com/mguhlin. Others are building Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) using Plurk.com. While Twitter is white-water rafting in social media with a rapid flow of content, Plurk is a bit more reflective and allows for pauses in that flow. PLURK Having a Professional Learning Network in advance makes the Difference at a Conference or Learning Event. Source: Paula Nagle, Classroom 2.0 LIVE Session Note: The capitalization is there because I’m including Paula’s paraphrase in a presentation I’m doing next week. For me, Paula’s expression of this idea is an evolution of a blog entry she wrote reflecting on her ISTE experiences: Having connections to a PLN is very important for helping me stay current and continue my learning. Members of my PLN are the people I will turn to first when I want to work on collaborative projects in my classroom. For Paula, it appears that having a PLN in advance makes the difference, enabling her to put a handshake or hug, a physical presence, with the person they have been learning from all along: I have created quite an online presence. I was looking forward to meeting members of my PLN and I thought I would have to find them. I didn’t think that they would be looking for me. When Peggy George come up to me and said she was so glad to finally meet me face to face I was floored. Kim Caise did the same thing, and so did so many people I know online. It was great to hear someone say, “Oh I follow you on Twitter”, as I was introduced myself to them. The power of meeting your PLN is akin to “reuniting” with friends who are learning with us as we face challenges and work to overcome obstacles in our lives. Consider these remarks about Plurk and Twitter from actual educators: Plurk is always like this, whenever I feel bogged down in my district someone here gives me the spark I need to light a fire under my students! conversations are great on here! I love all the conversations…it’s addicting. I still new to plurk and these conversations are letting me see the true benefits. On Twitter I felt like I never got a response to questions or if I did I really had to watch for the answers. I also felt like many conversations were happening but I was only getting parts of it so it was confusing. Here you don’t have to be friends with everyone that is part of a conversation but can still follow the discussion. This one started yesterday but we can still continue it now. I have even started a plurk account for my class to interact with other classes. Twitter is for the mutual patting on the back crowd. Plurk is perfect for me. I also like Plurk more than Twitter. It is much easier to follow conversations and get responses. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by social media tools…the output of these can make us feel inadequate to the task of managing it all. Perhaps that’s why we see some expressing the opinion that it’s easier to “follow conversations and get responses” in Plurk, as opposed to Twitter. Social media can also establish pools of quiet reflection, where we may, with others so inclined, recline and ponder what has been shared. Such pools of diversity are rich in ideas because they allow individuals to share what they are thinking rather than being focused on just sharing content. As a writer, I seek an audience. But now more than ever, I seek an audience that discusses what I’ve written, and more importantly, allows me to think about what others are sharing. It makes sharing more of a reciprocal dialogue than a casting of bread on the waters. What about for you? Consider the following “deep” conversations… on Plurk - What are the essential ingredients for helping people experience a personal renaissance? (KevinH asks) on Twitter – Project-based Learning conversation Get started! Plurk or Twitter. Here are some suggestions when getting started with Plurk. Start blogging. Blogging is a process of reflecting on what you learn every day. How can anyone spend time blogging on top of what they do all day? The fact is that some of my best blogging research — when I decide on Future Blog Posts — occurs while I’m looking for something else. In fact, my focus during the day is learning something, either for work or to satisfy my own curiosity (which begins with a question or a wondering). At the end of the day, early evening in fact, I quickly look back at what I tagged for a Future Blog Post, which is actually a “tag” I keep in Diigo. I might bookmark many items, but I only blog about those that are immediately relevant or connected. In the past, I would copy-n-paste the link or the relevant quote or point that triggered my thinking into my blog program (Thingamablog) but now I just use Diigo. In that way, blogging for me isn’t a “special” activity, but part of everything I do. When I’m asked about what I know about a particular topic relevant to my work as a technology director, I am able to check my bookmarks. If I have spent time reflecting on the implementation of a technolgy-related project in my blog, I usually bookmark that as well and quickly can pull up the needed information. That work prepares me in advance for questions my job naturally throws at me. So here I am again, coaching, and asking my students to trust that they will need what I’m requiring them to do: blogging, wiki-ing, social bookmarking, digital story creating, and online discussion. If they can get through my class, they will be able to apply those new skills to their teaching — and their students will benefit. Source: Cycling through EdTech In a real way, this is a much different way of behaving and acting. Modeling it for our students is critical, as Cheri points out above, but understanding it ourselves is just as important. Before blogs (BB), I never would have done that (tag ideas, blog about my response/reflection, wikify my resources for others, podcast valuable conversations with other people for later listening). In fact, keeping a journal was a joke for me, even though I knew that every “good” writer kept one. It wasn’t until I started blogging — with a real audience reading it — that I understood the power of blogging everything. Amy Gehran atContentious Blog articulates this really well when she writes the following (via Teach-n-Babble): A blog post is not (or at least, it shouldn’t be) a writing assignment you must prep for and deliver as a finished package…Blog your initial brainstorming…Blog your research and discovery…Blog your interactions. Did you just have an interesting conversation relevant to a topic you’ve been blogging? Ask the person with whom you conversed if you can blog the relevant portion, and whether you can identify them…The clincher to all this is to use your blog as your “backup brain” or at least as a public notebook. Why not get more mileage out of work you would have done anyway by changing your habits toward managing information and communicating publicly? Instead of keeping your thoughts, notes, and conversations to yourself, post them. In my recent Blog Your World! workshop at the PBS/KLRN ICTT 2007 Conference, I shared it in this way, as perceived by one of the newbie bloggers,Juliet Ray at Deep Thoughts (drop by and give her a comment): What an exciting day today is! I have created my first blog. Hello digital world, here I am! I look forward to using this site as a way of not only communicating with others, but to “externalize (Miguel’s new big word/concept I learned today) my knowledge.” Additionally, it will serve as a personal journal to assist in reflection on my journey through life. This kind of externalization is useful to others. For example, back in 2005 I wrote a how-to for doing something in GNU/Linux operating system that used KDE as the GUI (as opposed to Gnome or the others out there). In September 20, 2007, someone found it and blogged about it…if I hadn’t externalized my knowledge, made a “backup brain,” then the information would not have been here for Jim Plumb to discover: If you want to change the default view in the Linux file manager konqueror check out this article:http://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin/archives/2005/04/entry_174.htm. I wanted to have the view in tree mode rather than the default icon view. Another neat result of Jim’s discovery is that I rediscover my own blog entry when Jim writes about it or interacts with it. It makes me want to re-read the entry. In reviewing my social bookmarking network, I noticed Mark Ahlness had picked up on one of my favorite blog entries, The List Article. I hadn’t seen that blog entry in ages, even though every article I write is based on the structure outlined in it. Blog what you learn, what you do. Soon, you’ll realize you know — and as importantly, discover more — about what is in your head than you think. Example: LeaderTalk Blog for school district administrators at http://leadertalk.org. Get started at Google’s Blogger.com with an education-related blog about what you are learning and how it is relevant to your work. Ask yourself a few questions to get started, such as What are you most passionate about in your work? andWhat is the hardest thing you do in your work, and why is it challenging? Finally, share your successes — and failures – by answering such questions as What obstacle or problem have you encountered and how did you overcome it? Some common questions technology directors might want answered include: What backup software do you use in your district? Have you considered switching from MS Exchange to Google Apps? How did you make the transition? What special-education tracking software or web-based service are you using at the District level? What kinds of audio/visual solutions are you using to broadcast school board meetings? And many more. Responding to those types of questions in your blog and sharing resources with other educators via Diigo will enable you instantly to share ideas about important matters relevant to your work. Use Google Reader to Manage RSS Subscriptions: Most new web pages now have what is known as an RSS feed button. A web site with an RSS (real simple syndication) feed enables you to read the content without visiting the site beyond the first time. You can subscribe to a site’s content — and subscription is free — and any updates/changes to the site will be delivered directly to you. (Watch this Video.) The benefit of that method is that creating a personal learning network will not result in more email, but less. Instead of receiving email notifications, you go to Google Reader to review the latest updates and changes, and participate when you have a need. My Example: Miguel’s Shared Items in Google Reader Get Started at http://reader.google.com REFLECTING ON THE TOOLS The tools discussed here can save a lot of time and energy as you try to join the flow of conversation. One of my favorite quotes — which came to me via Mark Wagner — is, “He who learns from one who is learning, drinks from a flowing river.” I hope you’ll continue to learn every moment and share that learning with others. The rewards are infinite. About the Author As director of instructional technology for a large urban district in Texas, past president of the state-wide Technology Education Coordinators group in one of the largest U.S. technology educator organizations (TCEA), Miguel Guhlin continues to model the use of emerging technologies in schools. You can read his published writing or engage him in conversation via his blog at Around the Corner. He is also a Moodle course management system advocate and founder ofMoodle Mayhem, a non-profit education group focused on facilitating learning conversations around Moodle’s use in teaching and learning situations.

Build Your PLN originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 13, 2010.

Source: http://www.utahands.com/artists/miles/images/paintings_files/cheshire_cat.jpg

“iPhone has tons of great apps,” argued a colleague at a conference. I stared at her hand, which held her iPhone up, waving it around to find nearby restaurants. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of an app for my Android phone that would do the same thing. But then, I brightened up.

“You can’t tether your iPhone to a computer,” I asked quietly, masking the smirk that threatened to explode through my defenses, a cheshire cat grin dying to make itself known, “can you?  With an inexpensive program (PDAnet), I’m able to tether my Android phone.” With that salvo (who needs restaurant guides), I stepped back from the edge of the abyss, wondering why we must compare our devices in such ways. Since I held an iPod Touch in my hand, seen others cooing over their iPhones, I have hated the device. I’m not sure why, though I recognize it as a powerful, mini-computer that can do so much more than ever imagined in a cell phone just a few short years ago.

Part of that intense dislike may come from the original carrier for the iPhone, AT&T and their outright rejection of my offer to purchases two iPhones one month after I had renewed my contract. “You’ll have to get a new contract, terminating the other one with fees.” Huh?

Or perhaps, it stems from Apple’s tyrannical declarations of what apps are allowed on iPhones/iPods, which are not, and their drive for uniformity. I’d argue that it resembles the single-minded totalitarian approach of a communist China, but even China has been seen to crack a bit on some of its tenets…not much though. Seriously, Apple has made money and in the final analysis of a money-making business, that’s the metric of success.

But it’s not MY measure of success.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Ah well, sour grapes indeed. From that moment, I stepped away from AT&T, Apple iPhone (I love Macs since they can run any operating system, including GNU/Linux) and pursued a different solution that didn’t involve closed content development, exorbitant rate plans, hidden fees, and found myself knocking on T-Mobile’s door, hoping to snag an Android phone.

As an avid Android phone user, I’ve found myself meditating on the right combination of apps. While I don’t hope to obtain an app that will help me find a restaurant by waving my phone around in the air, it wouldn’t hurt to have an app that can show me the nearest restaurants.

Here are some of my favorite Android Apps…please don’t hesitate to share your’s!

Top 10 Picks
Due to the number of Android Apps on this page, here are my top 10 apps from all categories…they are the ones I couldn’t live without and use every day:

1. GoogleVoice
2. Movies
3. HandCent
4. Pluroid for Plurk access and/or Twidroid for Twitter access with AnyPost for Ping.fm
5. PDAnet
6. MixZing Music/Video Player
7. Dolphin Browser
8. Battery Widget
9. EStrongs File Manager with Task Manager
10. Mount USB

INFORMATION MGMT, NEWS, and WEATHER

1. Laputa - This poorly named app (it breaks down to two words in Spanish which mean “the bitch”) allows you to download audio versions of books and features some relatively up to date titles. I was shocked at the list of fresh ebook titles, including the works of Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series that was made into a movie recently), Robert Jordan (Crown of Swords author), Larry Niven’s Ringworld series, and many more titles that I just considered to “new” to find their way into online books for free. (Added June 20, 2010)
2. Movies - Allows me to easily locate movie times…a must have for my family members and I. It has an iPhone counterpart which made it easy for me to use, since I’ve been playing around with an iPod for work purposes for a year.
3. NubiNews - This is the awesomest news reader. You can access just about everything and replaces all your other news sources, except for podcasts. (added 01/30/2010)
4. TV.com – Although I’m not much of a TV watcher, it’s fun to watch something while waiting in line at the local Bill Miller’s BBQ during lunch time. This actually shows full episodes.
5. Wapedia – Nice to search and access. Others prefer WikiMobile.
6. WeatherBug – Great weather app, letting you see temperature, images of the weather outside, etc. (added 01/30/2010)

EMAIL/SMS/VOIP CLIENTS

1. DataViz RoadSync – Although you’d think Android would have a native MS Exchange friendly app ready to go, it’s not really a surprise…the iPod Touch didn’t one either, as I recall. That said, I’ve been tremendously impressed with the 14 day trial version of RoadSync, which allows you to sync email and calendar. It works fantastically well. One alternative to this is TouchDown.
2. Fring – Connect to quite a few chat services (e.g. Twitter, GoogleTalk), but most importantly, Skype! That means you can make phone calls using your Android phone via Skype or Skype calls…quite nice! Now allows for video calls on some Android phones.
3. HandCent – This is a great replacement to the built-in SMS client on Android OS, and worth getting immediately and making as your default. It features a nice design, bubbles, tracks number of messages, and more.
4. K-9 Mail. It can work as a replacement for RoadSync if you don’t want to spend the money…calendar integration isn’t there that I could see, but in RoadSync it is. Good if you just want email. As of 06/15/2010, I am now using this for replacement on the Gmail client that comes with the phone. It allows me to easily edit quoted messages, which as far as I’ve seen, can’t be done on the built-in gmail app.
5. SMS Backup – Allows you to make backups of SMS messages and ships them to your Gmail account.

Social Media

1. AnyPost (Ping.fm client) – Want to post to ALL your social networking apps at once? (read this) Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, etc? Then use Ping.fm to get the job done! Post once to Ping.fm and it goes everywhere you determine. Use Anypost app on your Android phone to get it done.
2. Twitter Possibles:
   1. Twidroid – A twitter app. I was hoping for TweetDeck quality and I’ve not been disappointed with this one. I actually paid for the full version on this one and it works great, a bit “faster” in feel than Seesmic, which is a free alternative not from Twidroid.
   2. Seesmic – A nice looking Twitter client. This is no longer on my phone since I bought Twidroid but I do recommend it if you don’t want to pay for Twidroid.
3. Pluroid - For Plurkers (Plurk.com), you have few choices…PlurQ is OK app but I recently abandoned it because it resembles web-based Plurk.com’s timeline a bit too much. Instead, I’m now using Pluroid which gives you the feel of mobile Plurk (plurks running vertically with links to more comments). It’s also pretty easy to share photos via Pluroid.
4. Bloo – After searching for a nice Facebook interface, I think I have found one in Bloo. You’ll need your Facebook code so you can generate it here. Of course, Bloo now (07/03/2010) makes it possible to get your code via the app, which is a nice upgrade!
5. UStream Broadcaster – Allows you to broadcast yourself via uStream.

Internet File Utilities

1. Dolphin Browser – I didn’t realize how anemic the browser was (gave me flashbacks to Palm’s built-in browser on their old handhelds) so I was grateful to find the Dolphin Browser. Works great, just like Firefox, in making adjustments. Definitely a must-have replacement to the browser…when you install it, you can set it to be the default browser on your Android phone. I tried Opera for awhile but switched back to Dolphin after a month.
2. DiskUsage – This app shows you where you are spending your SD card space…you can use this in conjunction with EStrong’s File Explorer (below) to make clean out your file system. (added 01/30/2010)
3. EStrongs File Manager and Task Manager – This amazing duo is surprisingly an awesome app, allowing you to manage the files on your SD Card, as well as terminate apps on your phone that are taking up memory. You have to download them separately. The file manager can also FTP files (which I tried successfully), which is downright unbelievable.
4. FTPServer – What a great program! It allows me to setup my Android phone as an FTP Server that I can connect via an FTP client from any computer and download files…or put them on the phone. While I could use MountUSB, this makes it possible for me to more easily share content without having to connect.
5. Mount USB – Allows you to mount your Android phone as a USB flash drive. If you have a large SD card, voila, portable storage using your phone instead of another flash drive.
6. PDAnet – Tether your laptop to your phone so you can use its internet connection. Works very well on Mac and is available for Windows.

Sound Utilities

1. MixZing Music/Video Player - This is an awesome app that makes listening to music incredibly easy. You can turn off its network use and it still works great.
2. MP3 Downloader – An easy to use MP3 Downloader
3. Pandora – Listen to streaming music that syncs with your online prefs. Incredible app.(added 01/30/2010)
4. Quark’s Ringtones – Awesome ringtone, allowing you to select popular music for your ringtone (e.g. Taylor Swift, etc). For example, my wife has Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September,” while others have Taylor Swift. Other ringtone alternatives–not included in QuarkRingtones–include StarTrek Sounds and StarWarsSounds, as well as Transformers.
5. Tone Picker – allows you to easily select ringtones from any audio program on your phone.(added 01/30/2010)

GoogleTools

1. GDocs – Allows you to view and edit your GoogleDocs from your Android. Works great!
2. GoogleMaps – Find yourself on a map and then get directions to where you want to go.
3. GoogleTalk – Let’s you use Talk via your phone.
4. GoogleVoice – Although this app DID work (thanks to these instructions), I’ve become enamored of GoogleVoice, and liked this review of what it can do, so I’m just going to quote it…I’ll check it periodically to see if they can fix it. The only nagging question I have is, does it cost me money when calling other people on my family plan to use GoogleVoice number? Read the answer to this question!“I can call ANY number with a secure, controllable line from Google.On an Android phone, unlike the closed off iPhone, you can have the Google Voice App take over all calls — even international ones! By taking over the device, any call that I make through the phone emulates my Google Voice number.”
   Source: Market Matador

   One question I have that I suppose I’ll find out around bill time…does using GoogleVoice result in a charge that will appear on my bill or is using them as the source of my phone call “free”? What about receiving calls? My carrier is T-Mobile.

5. Listen – Allows you to pull audio content from all over the web. It is self-described as a podcast manager for Android and works quite well on my Cliq.
6. Locale – Allows you to control your phone options based on your physical location (e.g. theater or work). That way you don’t have to fumble with settings.
7. iPadio – Lets you record audio via your phone microphone, name it, then email it to your Gmail account or post it online. Nice alternative to carrying a digital audio recorder.

Miscellaneous Apps

1. AnyCut – Allows you to create shortcuts to anything, including phone numbers, whatever. You press one button, and you’re dialing or emailing from a home screen.
2. Automatic Task Killer – Turns off apps when you go into sleep mode to conserve memory. Runs automatically in the background. I also use TaskKiller of some sort to knock out ALL apps from time to time.
3. APNDroid – This is a wonderful battery-saving widget. You can tap it to turn on/off your 3G/GPRS/EDGE connection. Turning off these services while in a WiFi zone enables you to continue using the internet, saving battery life. It works great, and I highly recommend it!
4. Battery Widget - Provides nice access to battery life percentage, as well as enabling turning off of certain items (display, wifi, etc).
5. Flashlight – Great, although other family members prefer a multi-colored flashlight.
6. Lynkee – This is a nice QR code reader for your phone. Barcode Reader is another alternative. Have an AndroidPhone or iPhone? Use Lynkee (free app) to read the QR Code into your phone. Here is how to make your own “barcode” - Make your own bar code!
7. ToggleWiFi – Allows you turn your WiFi on and off with a single tap.

EDUCATION FRIENDLY APPS

With Android based tablets coming out–notably, the Dell Streak (f.k.a. Mini)–soon, as well as a few that are already “out,” I’ve been curious about what apps might be educationally appropriate. Android-based tablets are headed for schools and offer a significant advantage over iPads–they’re not Apple-based.

Here’s a list based on feedback and web sites I’ve been reading. All apps listed are available at no cost, albeit some are “lite” versions like Solo Lite Guitar Player and Celeste Lite. I’ve not included apps that cost money but you can check the additional resources section to find those.

Grades K-1

1. Chicktionary
2. Kidroid
3. Kids Numbers and Math -
4. Kids Connect the Dots
5. The Word Puzzle
6. Zebra Paint

Grades 2-12

1. Calculus Review
2. Capital Quiz - Geographic quiz Application on countries of the world, their capitals, their flags and their currencies for smartphone.
3. Celeste Lite
4. CoursePro – track your homework assignments
5. Electricity Calculator – calculate electricity usage
6. Formulas Lite
7. GeoQuiz
8. Google SkyMap Astronomy
9. HandyCalc – watch video…replace your TI-83 calculators and get Android phone for that $100 investment!
10. MathDroid – algebraic calculator.
11. MathWizard - Read the review here
12. Memory Master -
13. My PocketProf – organize your notes
14. PhotoMix – make pictures into puzzles
15. StatDist – from their web site: “StatDist calculates densities, probabilities, and quantiles of common useful continuous and discrete distributions”
16. Solo Lite – play a guitar on your android. awesome. I may finally learn to play (watch video).
17. StudyDroid Flash Cards
18. Track Iridium Flares - read this review. Pretty awesome for science.
19. Trippo Mondo – text and audio language converter
20. Unit Converter
21. Wattpad – from their web site, “Wattpad gives you FREE instant access to 100,000+ novels, fan fiction, short stories, poetry and more.”

Special Education

1. SixtyFour – Learn Braille
2. WebTalk – Voice-enabled web browser

Other neat stuff that could be used in education setting:

• Barcode Scanner or Lynkee for QR Code Scanning
• Gmote - Gmote turns Android into a remote control for a computer, allowing users to run movies and music at a distance. It supports all of the standard remote control features such as play, pause, rewind, volume controls etc. It also has a built-in file browser that lets you select what to play.
• News Sources
• • NYTimes – more up to date
  • USA Today – more graphical
  • 1Cast News – video news stories

For references for this blog post, check these two pages: Android Apps and Education Apps

Note: This blog entry was written by guest blogger and mobile device in schools advocate, Miguel Guhlin. Miguel blogs regularly Around the Corner and laughingly refers to it as “Moving at the Speed of Mediocrity,” in appreciative admiration of Wes Fryer’s work. He is honored to have the opportunity to jar regular readers with a smile and warning about their iPhone blindspot, and encourage all to employ free, open source-based software on phones, desktops, laptops, netbooks, microwave ovens and media centers. More at http://mguhlin.org

Top Android Phone Apps originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 13, 2010.

I’ve been wrestling with a question for months now, and perhaps you can shed some light on the answer for me. Why did Apple remove the ACOT (Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow) research documents from its main website, if those “research results” were intended to help inform educational decision makers about the potential value of educational technologies through the dissemination of valid, reliable research results?

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) research was conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, and was at the time the longest longitudinal study of classroom technology integration conducted by anyone. The research was funded by Apple, and Apple certainly stood to gain financially from research findings which pointed to the positive impact which appropriately utilized technologies could have on teaching and learning inside as well as outside the classroom. ACOT2 (Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow – Today) is a “next generation” research effort by Apple, which ostensibly seeks to carry on the successful research model and results of the original ACOT program which spanned ten years, from 1985 through 1995.

Here is what mystifies me: If ACOT2 is legitimate research which should be respected on a par with academic research published in journals not affiliated with commercial vendors, why are there not ANY linked references back to the original ACOT research on the ACOT2 website? Why does it appear Apple has removed/deleted all the original ACOT research reports from its corporate website? This seems very strange, and even fishy.

The published report, “Changing the Conversation About Teaching, Technology, & Learning ~ A Report on 10 Years of ACOT Research” was published at some point on http://images.apple.com/education/k12/leadership/acot/pdf/10yr.pdf and www.apple.com/education/k12/leadership/acot/pdf/10yr.pdf. Those links are now broken. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine grabbed copies of the first PDF URL in 2006 and 2007, and the second in 2003 and 2005. Those dates do not necessarily reflect the only years during which this document was available online at those addresses, however. A Google search for the document title reveals it is still available as part of Marco Baeza’s old student portfolio for his Internet Masters of Educational Technology degree from Sacramento State. It appears Baeza’s archived copy was not authorized or sanctioned by Apple. I haven’t spent hours looking for it, but other than Baeza’s link and the Wayback Machine’s copies, I can’t locate this document online anywhere else. This seems REALLY strange.

A Google Scholar search for “Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow” yields over 20,000 results today. This reflects the authority and legitimacy with which ACOT research has been regarded by many. One of these websites includes archived copies of the periodic ACOT published research results. This is an example of ACOT Report #8. (PDF) Again I am mystified why Apple would remove these “research documents” from their own website.

The current Apple “Resource” page for Teachers & Professors does not include ANY references to original ACOT research, or links to any ACOT research materials. There IS a link to the “ACOT2 White Paper,” but again no link to original ACOT research publications or findings.

I think many of the ideas expressed in the ACOT2 documents are superb and needed. We absolutely need to rethink formal education, classrooms, and learning environments. It troubles me, however, that Apple has apparently jettisoned its “past research” (ACOT 1) in the publication of this new and updated, ACOT 2 framework. Why would legitimate academic or scientific researchers do this? They wouldn’t, which leads me to question the legitimacy and validity of both the original ACOT research as well as the ACOT2 research initiative.

The other thing which troubles me deeply about Apple’s ACOT2 initiative is its “Challenge Based Learning” framework. Project-based learning and problem-based learning are pedagogical approaches which have a relatively long history, particularly when compared with the short history of educational technology. EduTopia’s website portal for “Project Based Learning” includes a rich assortment of videos and other resources which clearly establish the academic history of PBL. In its ACOT2 initiative, rather than state something like, “Educational experts and researchers at Apple endorse and support project-based approaches to learning,” the Apple Challenge-Based Learning website states:

To address the need to create new ways of engaging students to achieve, Apple worked with educators across the country to develop the concept of Challenge Based Learning. Challenge Based Learning applies what is known about the emerging learning styles of high school students and leverages the powerful new technologies that provide new opportunities to learn to provide an authentic learning process that challenges students to make a difference. Challenge Based Learning is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems. Challenge Based Learning is collaborative and hands-on, asking students to work with other students, their teachers, and experts in their communities and around the world to develop deeper knowledge of the subjects students are studying, accept and solve challenges, take action, share their experience, and enter into a global discussion about important issues.

Just as many of the ideas included in ACOT2 are great and ones with which I agree personally and professionally, many of the ideas embodied in “Challenge Based Learning” are on target. I think its disingenuous and unfortunate, however, for Apple to “lay claim” to the core concepts and principles of project-based learning as it has been developed for decades by numerous educators as well as researchers.

Perhaps it’s silly of me to worry about questions like these, but integrity is very important and I find it lacking in both of these situations regarding Apple. Why did Apple take down all its original ACOT research from its website, and by a lack of hyperlinks dis-associate itself with the body of recognized educational technology research which was ACOT? Furthermore, why is Apple attempting to rename “project based learning” as “challenge based learning” and give itself corporate credit for coming up with this pedagogical approach, when it is patently obvious “they” are not the originators of the concept and method?

My only conclusion is that for Apple today in 2010, it’s all about selling stuff– Whether you’re working for Apple Education or working in an Apple Store. It’s not about a learning revolution. It’s not about fundamentally changing education, it’s about trying to simply shift educational decisionmaker attention to Apple products so that quarterly profits can go up yet again.

I can’t fault Apple for being a corporation. They ARE a corporation. I always thought Apple stood for values which were far bigger and more important than “just” profits, however. I’ve even heard Apple leaders say as much in the past.

I guess when you get really big, some basic things can change.

I miss the old Apple, and the friends I thought I had who used to work for that old company.

Technorati Tags:
apple, change, edtech, leadership, learning, research, school, technology, acot, acot2, valid, reliable, study, report, scholar

Questionable Apple Behavior Regarding Original ACOT Research and Challenge Based Learning originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 19, 2010.

Google Voice (GV) is a powerful and flexible telephony service which offers free features AT&T cannot presently match on the iPhone. If you’re not familiar with Google Voice and the features it offers, take 90 seconds and watch the following video giving the highlights.

In the summer of 2009, a great deal of hoopla surrounded Apple pulling the GV application from the official Apps store at the behest of AT&T. The Google Voice iPhone application remains available free via Cydia, but like the applications iPhoneModem and ScreenSplitr (discussed in previous guest blog posts by yours truly this week) it’s necessary to jailbreak your iPhone to use these applications. Whether or not you jailbreak your iPhone, however, Google Voice is available for iPhone users thanks to the browser-based GV app announced in January 2010.

Of these options, the Google Voice iPhone application is definitely the way to go if you’re willing and able to jailbreak. If you’re on an unlimited SMS text messaging plan this may be less of a “big deal,” but for those who are not UNLIMITED, free text messages via your Google Voice account is huge. Transcription of voicemail messages is also a fantastic feature, and all of these functions of Google Voice are most readily accessed via the iPhone application.

AT&T has exclusivity on the iPhone in the United States, and doesn’t want its customers enjoying the competitive options and advantages which come when other vendors are able to provide VOIP services on the iPhone. (Translation: AT&T wants to keep as much of your money as it can, and it has a team of very smart lawyers who help with this often.) A monopoly has its advantages, and AT&T is leveraging them with their exclusive iPhone contract.

For most iPhone users, jailbreaking is either not an option from a technical standpoint or something they are simply not willing to try. For those users, the Google Voice “web application” (m.google.com/voice/) can save the day.

The first time you visit the GV web app URL, if you have not already you’ll need to add your iPhone’s phone number to your account.

After your phone is added, you’ll be able to access the following BROWSER-BASED interface (using the Safari web browser, of course, since it’s the only one available on the iPhone presently) to make phone calls, send SMS messages, access your voicemail, call history, etc.

The new Google Voice web application was launched in January 2010, and it really is amazing to see what the creative folks at Google have been able to do within a browser-interface. This 70 second video gives a more detailed overview.

While I understand the need for Apple to secure a contract with a relatively reliable, nationwide cellular provider (AT&T) I lament the limits to creativity and consumer choice which this contract continues to impose. Should iPhone users be able to choose their carrier, without having to SIM unlock their iPhone or purchase a new iPhone in either Hong Kong or New Zealand, where the countries have negotiated with Apple to permit unlocked phone sales? Absolutely.

Should the Google Voice application, along with other fully-functional VOIP applications (like Skype) also be available via the Apple Apps store? Again, I would say “yes” with enthusiasm.

Stark limitations on function and application creativity continue to exist for iPhone users, however, but thankfully there ARE several options for those wanting to use Google Voice. Whether or not you opt to jailbreak your iPhone, thanks to Google software coders Google Voice is a telephony option you can begin using today! (As long as you can get a Google Voice invitation!)

Technorati Tags:
app, apple, google, iphone, voice, voip, att, unlock, lock, gv, web, telephony, competition

Jailbroken or not, Google Voice is available on your iPhone originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 18, 2010.

If you purchase a netbook computer, don’t simply use the pre-installed operating system (OS) which came on it at the time of purchase. A wide variety of alternative operating systems are available which run great on new netbooks, and many of them are free. Reasons to install an alternative OS include:

1. Testing the performance of your netbook’s hardware using different operating system environments.
2. Gaining an appreciation for the power and utility of free, Linux-based alternatives to commercial operating systems.
3. Learning how to install software using ONLY a USB thumb drive.

Lots of computer users today don’t even realize it is possible to run alternate web browsers on their computers, much less alternative operating systems. The experience of installing and using an alternative operating system on your netbook will almost certainly bring you a wide variety of learning opportunities which you might not otherwise experience. If you’ve got a netbook, resolve now (if you have not already) to jump with both feet into the world of alternative computer operating systems. With Google Chrome OS still looming on the horizon, anyone who tells you they know EXACTLY what the future of computer operating systems is going to look like is almost certainly smoking something they shouldn’t, and should NOT be trusted.

The first big challenge you’ll face in installing a different operating system on a netbook is most likely the lack of an optical drive, or CD/DVD drive. When it comes to failure rates on laptop computers, optical drives often figure high on the list as causes for those failures. While this prediction is certainly open to debate, it appears we are heading toward a computing future which will be dominated by flash-based / solid state hard drives (instead of the now-standard, spinning-disk hard drives which are oh-so intolerant of accidents like getting dropped) as well as computers WITHOUT optical drives. While computers with flash-based / solid state hard drives are still on the expensive side, that will be less the case in 1-2 years. If you opt to install a new operating system on your netbook TODAY without the aid of an external optical drive, you’ll be getting ready for the solid-state computing future now.

To use a USB flash drive / thumb drive to install an alternative operating system on your netbook, you’ll need a software program which can create a bootable version of your operating system CD/DVD or ISO image on a USB flash drive which has sufficient memory space. I have found an 8 GB flash drive, which until recently could readily be found for $25 US (however that price is falling) is more than adequate for this job. If you’re installing “skinnier” versions of Linux, an 8 GB flash drive will be overkill. It’s needed, however, for larger commercial operating systems like Windows7 or Mac OS 10.6. (Before attempting a Mac OS install on a netbook, be sure to read my guest blog post from yesterday, “What is a hackintosh?” and review the legal details of this carefully.)

You will most likely want to use a second computer to create your bootable USB drive that you’ll install from on your netbook. This second computer can be a computer running a variant of Windows, Macintosh, or Linux operating systems.

Recognizing the growing popularity of installing operating systems on netbook computers which lack optical drives, Microsoft has created a “Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.” Unfortunately this tool is NOT usable for creating bootable versions of other non-Windows 7 operating systems, but it does work fine for Windows 7.

Novicorp WinToFlash is one option for Windows users needing to create bootable USB drives from ISO images. Options for Linux-based installations include:

1. LinuxLive USB Creator
2. UNetbootin
3. PendriveLinux
4. MultiBoot LiveUSB
5. Ubuntu Live USB Creator
6. Fedora Live USB Creator
7. Free USB Installer

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a free, Linux-based operating system optimized for netbooks which I have tried and strongly encourage others to use. The Ubuntu community provides an excellent set of tutorials for netbook owners on how to install operating system software from a downloaded disk image, using a USB thumb drive. Instructions are provided for doing this from Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers.

Sugar on a Stick is another Linux-based operating system which I recommend you try out. Like the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, it can be run entirely from the flash drive without any changes being made to your actual netbook’s hard drive.

Open 1 to 1 (a Maine-based non-profit) also has a free, Ubuntu-based image worth trying out.

In creating a hackintosh installation on a netbook, I found the built-in application “Disk Utility” (located on a Macintosh in Applications – Utilities) to be a great solution. The program can create an exact duplicate of a disk image on a USB flash drive. In the case of the OS 10.6 installer DVD, you need to use Disk Utility to FIRST create a disk image of the DVD. Then using that disk image, you can create the bootable USB version with “Disk Utility.” Before booting up your netbook, however, you’ll need to tweak the USB drive with NetbookInstaller or another hackintosh software program. See the MyDellMini forum post, “MacOSX Snow Leopard / Win7 Dual Boot Success: Dell Mini10v” for a complete list of steps. One of the trickiest things to get a hackintosh installation working is the bootloader software. All the Ubuntu-installations I’ve tried don’t recognize a Mac OS partition. I’ve used EasyBCD successfully to allow a multi-boot into Windows7 or Mac OS 10.6, but others recommend “the Chameleon bootloader.” I am geeky enough to be able to get some of these programs to work for me, but not geeky enough to come close to understanding how they work. I DO know the bootloader is key, and without a bootloader which recognizes / supports Mac OS partitions and installations you can’t dual boot to Mac and Windows on the same netbook. I have yet to figure out how to triple boot with Mac, Windows, and Linux on the same netbook, but I haven’t tried Chameleon yet. On my next netbook, I most likely will try it.

For any USB software boot and installation, you’ll need to change the “boot sequence” for your netbook, saved as part of your computer’s BIOS settings. This may be the trickiest part of this process for many folks. The “hot key” to enter the BIOS settings and change the boot sequence varies by computer manufacturer. For Dell netbooks, this can be accomplished by holding down the F2 key at startup. Whatever the hot key, you’ll want to tell the netbook to boot FIRST from a USB drive if one is attached that includes a bootable partition.

If you plan to install multiple operating systems on your netbook and keep them permanently, you’ll want to PARTITION your hard drive first with separate partitions for each OS. I am certainly not an expert on this, but I was able to use the Mac OS X Disk Utility to partion my netbook hard drive successfully. I created a “journaled” Mac OS partition, and created the Windows partition as FAT32. Later when I installed Win7 on the netbook, the Windows installer changed that partition type to NTFS. I don’t think the Mac OS X Disk Utility provided a NTFS partition option.

If you’ve made it this far in the post, I hope I haven’t provided too much confusing information. As I noted yesterday on the topic of hackintoshes, this is a deep rabbit hole! The benefits can be great, however. At a minimum, I hope you’ll give an alternative operating system on your netbook a try if you have not already. The easiest ways to do this is to use Ubuntu Netbook Remix or Sugar on a Stick, running directly from the USB thumb drive.

For you Linux and multiple-OS gurus out there, what USB installer-maker options have I left out of this post which should be included, or should be moved to the top of the list from a usability standpoint? What other Linux distributions should go on a “must try” list for newbies to this multiple-OS world?

Good luck!

Technorati Tags:
apple, drive, hack, hackintosh, install, mac, netbook, sugar, usb, thumb, installation, windows7, ubuntu

Install alternate operating systems and software on a netbook via a USB flash drive originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 16, 2010.

The word hackintosh (or Hackint0sh) is:

…a portmanteau of the word “hack” and the name of Apple’s main brand of computers, Macintosh.

A search on the English WikiPedia for “hackintosh” redirects to the article, “OSx86,” defined as:

… a collaborative “hacking” project to run the Mac OS X computer operating system on non-Apple personal computers with x86 architecture and x86-64 compatible processors. The effort started soon after the June 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference announcement that Apple would be transitioning their personal computers from PowerPC to Intel microprocessors.

Interest in creating hackintosh computers has ostensibly risen thanks to the proliferation of inexpensive netbook computers. If a person purchases a netbook computer with hardware supporting required hackintosh installation software, it is possible to now have a functioning laptop computer running the Macintosh OS X operating system on hardware costing just $200 – $300 U.S. As I’ll discuss in greater detail in this post, it’s important to note while this is TECHNICALLY possible, it is currently not LEGAL.

photo credit: charliekwalker

As an obliquely related aside, I found it interesting reading the Wiktionary definition of “portmanteau” one etymology of the word is traced back to 1872, when it was invented by Lewis Carrol in “Through The Looking Glass” to describe the words he coined in Jabberwocky:

Well, “slithy” means “lithe and slimy.” “Lithe” is the same as “active”. You see it’s like a portmanteau–there are two meanings packed up into one word.

This reference to the Jabberwock has more significance to me after recently seeing Tim Burton’s cinematic rendition of “Alice in Wonderland” and reading Kevin Hodgson’s post, “Losing the Jabberwock.”

Investigating the world of “hackintoshes” may naturally invite comparisons to Alice and rabbit holes. The OSx86 Project homepage (www.osx86project.org) provides two different destination options, referencing Morpheus’ choices for Neo in “The Matrix:”

1. Take the blue pill and return to the classic OSx86 Project wiki. Wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.
2. Take the red pill and discover our new news and forum portal, InsanelyMac. Stay in Wonderland and see how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

If you’d like to peer a bit down the rabbit hole of “hackintoshes,” you’ve come to the right place– at least for the next couple of days as I continue to guest-blog here.

photo credit: jpockele

The fact that it’s been possible and remains possible to create a “hackintosh” computer is controversial because Apple has made the process illegal. According to the “Legal issues and Apple objections” section of the OSx86 article in the English WikiPedia:

Apple does not authorize the use of the Mac OS on any x86 PC other than the ones it has developed itself. The company used a Trusted Platform Module, or TPM, to tie Mac OS to the systems it distributed to developers after announcing its switch to Intel’s chips.

The Mac OS X EULA forbids installations of Mac OS X on “non Apple-labeled computers”. On July 3, 2008, Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar Corporation for violating this restriction, among other claims. Apple claimed Psystar “violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by dodging copy-protection technologies Apple uses to protect Mac OS X. “Apple employs technological protection measures that effectively control access to Apple’s copyrighted works [...] Defendant has illegally circumvented Apple’s technological copyright-protection measures.” Specifically, Apple charged Psystar with acquiring or creating code that “avoids, bypasses, removes, descrambles, decrypts, deactivates or impairs a technological protection measure without Apple’s authority for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to Apple’s copyrighted works.” This brief revealed that Apple considers the methods that it uses to prevent Mac OS X from being installed on non-Apple hardware to be protected by the DMCA.

In yesterday’s post, “Ripping Personally Owned DVDs for iPhone or iPod Viewing: Legal and Technical Perspectives,” I reflected on the irony that “legality” when it comes to creating backups or compressed versions of legally purchased DVD movies continues to be defined by geography, rather than the inherent ethics of the act. As far as I know, it is not “legal” to create a hackintosh in any country or territory on our planet. Through their operating system EULA, Apple has decreed it taboo worldwide.

One sign of the sensitivity which surrounds the topic of “hackintoshes” was visible over a year ago in January 2009, when Brian Chen (a writer for Wired’s Gadget Lab blog) had his video taken down on the advice of Wired’s legal team after they were confronted about it by Apple representatives. In his article for CNET, “Wired takes down Hackintosh video,” Tom Krazit noted:

Apple has appeared to gently tolerate the “Hackintosh” community that sprung up after the company decided to adopt Intel’s x86 processors for the Mac, so long as the project didn’t advance much beyond science fair mode. But it has shown a clear interest in protecting its licensing agreements for Mac OS X this year, through its legal battle against Psystar, a clone maker selling generic desktop PCs with Mac OS X preinstalled.
In its article, Wired admitted that the practice is illegal, requiring the installation of hacked software, linking to well-known torrent site The Pirate Bay to provide a source for the software. It also offered the following disclaimer: “Disclaimer: The following process potentially violates Apple’s End User License Agreement for Mac OS X. Please ensure you own a copy of Mac OS X Leopard, if you wish to follow the procedure.”

Apple does continue to sell 5-user “family packs” of its latest Mac OS X operating system, but officially a hackintosh installation cannot be made legal through the purchase of a software license. Apple’s EULA makes no exceptions for non-Apple hardware running OS X.

If, despite the legal realities, you’re still interested in creating your own hackintosh, a number of websites are available with helpful information. Hackintosh.com offers:

…links to everything you need to build your own Hackintosh and get Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” or Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” running on an unsupported computer — instructions, step-by-step “how to” guides, and tutorials — as well as installation videos, lists of compatible computers and parts, and communities for support.

Your laptop hardware manufacturer may even provide user forums with helpful tips. The Dell Mini 9 and 10 netbooks support Hackintosh software, and the Dell-sponsored mydellmini.com site includes forum groups specific to hackintoshing, like its Mac OS X forum. Total posts in that forum to date (49,051) far outnumber the total number of posts in all the other forums on the entire site combined. It is fascinating to see how some college students are supplementing their income with periodic hackintosh code development.

The hackintosh rabbit hole is deep indeed.

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What is a hackintosh? originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 15, 2010.

The advent of digital encoding technologies has brought a revolution to the entertainment and media industries, and afforded a wealth of new media consumptive options for consumers. In his song and music video, “Welcome to the Future,” country singer Brad Paisley reflects on how, in his childhood, he dreamed of watching TV in the car on an eight hour road trip. This dream is a reality today thanks to the proliferation of iPods and other portable media players, as well as the availability of commercial audio and video titles in electronic formats.

The landscape of consumer media options continues to be fraught with legal battles, however, in large part because of media conglomerates’ desires to maintain control over the “intellectual property” they produce, license, and sell. Entertainment artists and industry workers also share a stake in maintaining control and therefore profitability for media file licensing.

When it comes to the legality of making copies of DVD movies a consumer in the United States has legally purchased, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as well as the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) are two fronts from which companies and organizations have challenged the legality of copying, archiving, and compressing DVDs. In her October 2008 article, “DVD Ripping: The Latest on the Legal Front,” Julie Jacobson opens with the following statement:

Here’s where we stand today on the legality of DVD ripping: We’re not quite sure if it’s legal.

The English WikiPedia defines “ripping” as:

…the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data in it is damaged after extraction.

The article further explains in the “legality” section:

On the whole, it is legal for an individual in the United States to make a copy of media he/she owns for his/her own personal use. For instance, making a copy of a personally-owned audio CD for transfer to an MP3 player for that person’s personal use would be legal.
In the case where media contents are protected using some effective copy protection scheme, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to circumvent that copy protection scheme. This law makes it illegal to rip most commercial DVDs as they are typically protected by CSS encryption.

The legality of DVD ripping depends on your location, however. Again according to the WikiPedia article:

In countries such as Spain, anyone is allowed to make a private copy of a copyrighted material for oneself, and the source copy does not even have to be legal. Making copies for other people, however, is forbidden if done for profit. This is also true for Sweden. In Australia, copies of any legally purchased music may be made by its owner, as long as it is not distributed to others and its use remains personal. In the United Kingdom, making a private copy of copyrighted media without the copyright owner’s consent is illegal: this includes ripping music from a CD to a computer or digital music player. The UK government has made proposals to allow people to make copies of music for personal use.

This is a confusing state of affairs.

The English WikiPedia article for “DVD Ripper” offers the following definition:

A DVD ripper is a software program that facilitates copying the content of a DVD to a hard disk drive. They are mainly used to transfer video on DVDs to different formats, to edit or back up DVD content, and for converting DVD video for playback on media players and mobile devices. Some DVD rippers include additional features, such as the ability to decrypt DVDs, remove copy preventions and make disks unrestricted and region-free.

The article also includes a detailed table listing and comparing different versions of DVD ripping software.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) provides a concise overview of the legal and technical issues at stake in DVD ripping on its page, “Hollywood v. DVD.” The page (as of 14 March 2010) states:

With billions sold, the DVD remains the principle way that millions of consumers experience digital video. Yet Hollywood has, from the birth of this format, imposed unprecedented restrictions on what customers can do with the DVDs they own.

Hollywood has argued in lawsuits and before policy-makers around the world that it is always illegal to make a digital copy (“rip”) of a DVD. Even if you own it, even if you’re trying to make a personal copy so that your children don’t scratch the original, even if you want to make a copy to watch on your iPod, even if you want to skip those annoying “unskippable” commercials at the beginning.

Hollywood has also sued companies that try to provide DVD owners with the same kinds of innovations that we take for granted with CDs—such as a “DVD jukebox” that lets you watch your own DVDs around your own house from a central home media server.

The difference between DVDs and previous media formats—like the CD—is the CSS encryption system used to “scramble” the digital bits on the DVD. Thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a federal law passed a the behest of Hollywood, consumers enjoy fewer rights with respect to copyrighted works that are protected by “technical protection measures” (aka DRM) than they did with prior formats. Congress was told that the DMCA was necessary to prevent “digital piracy” online, but the use of anti-consumer DRM has been a total failure at preventing “piracy.” Instead, the legacy of the DMCA has been to penalize legitimate consumers and impair competition and innovation. So Hollywood today clings to DRM not because it has any impact on “piracy,” but because it allows the movie studios to dictate the features and innovations that legitimate companies can deliver to legitimate consumers.

The bottom line for consumers today in the United States is that intellectual property / copyright law forces the legal REPURCHASE of media which was originally bought in CD and/or DVD formats, and the consumer wants in a computer / mobile media player format. This was affirmed by Greg Sandoval’s March 3, 2010, article for CNET, “RealNetworks surrenders in RealDVD case.” Greg wrote:

The MPAA filed suit to stop the sale of RealDVD, a software that hands users the ability to copy and store films to a hard drive.
From the outset of Real’s struggle, the company appeared to be on shaky ground. Real argued that consumers possessed the right to backup their DVDs, just as they have a right to make a copy of their songs for personal use. Real told the court the company was just trying to offer consumers the means to do that and that they had a fair use right to do that.
But after hearing initial arguments from Real and the studios, Patel [the judge in the case] quickly slapped a preliminary injunction that prevented sales of RealDVD. Things went down hill from there.
Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates for tech companies and Internet users, defended Real’s pursuit of the case. He said Real could have provided real benefit to consumers, if not with RealDVD, then eventually with a DVD player that would have incorporated some of the software’s copying abilities. Real was working on a player, codenamed Facet, which would have created copies of DVDs and stored more than 70 films on its hard drive.

“(Real’s testimony) made it clear that Real was out to deliver to consumers a product that people wanted to see,” von Lohmann said. “I think the message this sends is if you get into the business of enabling consumers to do with DVDs what they’ve long done with CDs, you’ll get sued out of the business. I think that’s bad news for consumers. What that means is that if you want to create a digital back-up of your movies, you have to pay for that a second time on iTunes.”

The EFF quoted part of this article in their March 3rd “In The News” post, “RealNetworks surrenders in RealDVD case.”

Now that we’ve explored some of the legal perspectives on DVD ripping, I’d like to highlight two functional solutions for DVD ripping. Bear in mind, as explained above, that the legality of using these software programs depends on your geography.

Handbrake is:

…an open source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded vio trancoder, available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

Somewhat ironically, I first learned about Handbrake when visiting an Apple Store and asking about software options for encoding DVDs. Of course the Apple Store wasn’t and isn’t selling Handbrake: as a GPL-licensed program, it is free and legally must remain free: No one can sell it. I’ve used Handbrake software on my Mac to rip and compress numerous DVD movies. The program allows users to select the target platform for the encoded / compressed MP4 video version. Most of my Handbrake-encoded movies are around 600 MB in size, but some (like the two part disc series in the 2+ hour movie LOTR – ROTK) are over 1 GB.

Handbrake is great, but some DVD movie creators have become more sophisticated in their use of “Content Scramble System” methods in encoding DVDs so Handbrake cannot (at present) properly rip them. One example is the DVD of WALL-E. My initial attempt to rip WAL-E with Handbrake appeared to succeed, but the order of the encoded scenes was mixed up. To remedy this, I used the commercially available RipIt application (sold by the little app factory) to create a full-resolution backup of my purchased DVD. Then, I used Handbrake to create a compressed MP4 version playable on iPhones and iPods.

Hopefully copyright laws in the United States, the UK, and other countries will change to legally permit DVD and CD purchasers to make THEIR OWN archive copies of media files. Until then (and even afterwards) we’ll likely see continued legal fights by organizations and media conglomerates to prevent commercial, copy-protected DVD and CD ripping by consumers wanting to avoid the re-purchase of their movies and songs to realize Brad Paisley’s vision in, “Welcome to the Future.”

For more about these issues, check out The Digital Freedom Campaign’s website on www.digitalfreedom.org.

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copy, dvd, rip, ripping, ripit, handbrake, eff, dmca, intellectual, property

Ripping Personally Owned DVDs for iPhone or iPod Viewing: Legal and Technical Perspectives originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 14, 2010.

Digital creativity is a curious thing. People who are creative geeks naturally explore the boundaries of the technologies they use, but some companies today use restrictive user agreements in an attempt to prohibit tinkering, hacking, and repurposed use of their hardware products as well as cellular data networks. Until the release of the iPhone 3.0 firmware, that was the case with “tethering” with the iPhone. Tethering means connecting your mobile phone to your computer, either through a wired connection (like the iPhone’s USB cable) or through a wireless connection (WiFi or Bluetooth.) Depending on your wireless carrier and the country in which you live, tethering still may be prohibited today on your iPhone, but there are several ways it can still be done. As with other articles and blog posts about procedures which could involve “jailbreaking” your iPhone, an opening disclaimer is needed. In addition to violating ISP and hardware manufacturer EULAs, jailbreaking can void your hardware warranty. While it is generally possible to simply re-install the provided Apple iPhone firmware using iTunes, using iPhone firmware which has been manipulated/changed by 3rd party software programs is always a risk for which you should assume personal responsibility. There are also financial, BILLING risks if you utilize large amounts of Internet data using an unauthorized, tethered connection. (Generally it’s a bad idea to stream lots of video from a home Slingbox or other device over a tethered 3G connection, since you can readily exceed a 5GB monthly bandwidth quota and get the attention of service provider network watchdogs.) If you use any of the ideas or software links mentioned in this blog post, consider yourself duly warned.

On the official Apple.com website, an overview of tethering with the iPhone is available, along with step-by-step directions. Apple’s provided directions on how to tether an iPhone to connect your computer through its Internet connection include the following caveat:

NOTE: Additional fees may apply. Contact your carrier for more information.

As of this writing in March 2010 in the United States, AT&T remains the only “official” carrier for iPhone users and has NOT officially approved rate plans for iPhone owners wanting to tether. In other countries with other providers, iPhone tethering IS legal and does not require jailbreaking. Rob Galbraith’s June 2009 blog post, “iPhone OS 3.0 introduces Internet Tethering, Find My iPhone,” provides a thorough overview of tethering with detailed screenshots and step-by-step instructions. For U.S. iPhone users tied to AT&T, at least for the present, these instructions won’t work.

U.S. iPhone users with AT&T can still take advantage of this tethering functionality in several ways, but BEWARE.

OPTION 1: FREE BUT MORE RISKY METHOD (jailbreak not required, but NOT recommended)

Some websites were created after the release of iPhone 3.0 firmware (in both beta and final versions) which run scripts, enabling tethering functionality on an iPhone. These scripts may inadvertently disrupt and mess up your iPhone’s voicemail functionality, however. Thomas Ricker wrote about this on Engadget in June 2009. John Herrman’s post for Gizmodo in June echos this warning about visual voicemail problems. I have tried one of these websites myself, and indeed the warning about visual voicemail disruption was accurate. My iPhone DID tether wirelessly (via bluetooth) with my Apple laptop, but my visual voicemail never worked again on my iPhone 3GS until I restored my iPhone firmware to the default / factory settings. It was exciting to see tethering work on my iPhone and laptop, but it was NOT worth the hassle and angst caused by the eventual full firmware restore which was needed to “fix” my visual voicemail again.

This option of using website scripts to enable tethering is appealing because it does NOT require jailbreaking your iPhone. I do NOT recommend it, however, because visual voicemail is a core functionality of the iPhone and it’s not a feature I think most users are willing to give up– EVEN if that means readily being able to tether their iPhone to their computer.

OPTION 2: JAILBREAK AND USE $10 IPHONEMODEM SOFTWARE

The option I’m using successfully WITHOUT any apparent bad side effects (like a loss of visual voicemail) and DO recommend to other iPhone users with service providers not currently supporting tethering is jailbreaking your iPhone with blackra1n and running $10 iPhoneModem software. Here are the steps and links you’ll need to do this, if you want to give it a go. Bear in mind the risks / warnings I outlined initially!

Step 1: Jailbreak

When people talk about “jailbreaking” their iPhone, there are two different kinds of hacks they may be referencing. The English WikiPedia article for “Jailbreak (iPhone OS)” explains the difference:

Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to run any code on their devices, as opposed to only that code authorized by Apple. Once jailbroken, iPhone users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia; Icy; and Installous… Jailbreaking is distinct from SIM unlocking, which, once completed, means that the mobile phone will accept any SIM without restriction on, for example, the country or network operator of origin. Jailbreaking, according to Apple, voids Apple’s warranty on the device, although this is quickly remedied by restoring the device in iTunes.

“SIM unlocking” is also referred to as just “unlocking” at times. I’ve never attempted a SIM unlock, and it is NOT required for the iPhone tethering option I’m detailing here. “Jailbreaking” is required, however.

There are several ways to jailbreak an iPhone, and the good news is this process has gotten MUCH easier over time. The iPhone Dev Team is one group which develops and distributes software to both jailbreak and SIM unlock iPhones. The team has their own WikiPedia article where you can learn more about them.

I’ve used the iPhone Dev Team’s jailbreak software several times, and while I’ve been able to successfully jailbreak my own iPhone as well as iPhones owned by friends, the process has always been LONG and a bit nerve wracking. One reason for this is the process: To use the Dev Team’s software, you must download a compatible version of Apple’s iPhone firmware to your local hard drive FIRST. SECOND, users run the dev team’s “PwnageTool” to modify the downloaded iPhone firmware so it’s jailbroken. THIRD, iTunes will run with the PwnageTool software and install the jailbroken firmware on your iPhone, which will now include the Cydia application. Cydia is one of several “app store” applications for jailbroken / non-Apple authorised software programs. A variety of tutorials are available on YouTube and other video sites demonstrating the steps to follow when jailbreaking an iPhone with the Dev Team’s free software. Some commercial applications ARE sold through Cydia and other jailbroken iPhone app stores, but the Dev Team jailbreak software tools themselves are free.

As with many other computer / software technologies, it is important to be aware of malware risks as well as scams. Jailbreaking software is no exception. The Dev Team posted about the proliferation of iPhone jailbreak scams several weeks ago. The risks and challenges inherent in jailbreaking also relate to the methods by which PwnageTool software and other jailbreaking software programs are distributed. BitTorrent is used for legal file sharing, but it’s also used for lots of illegal sharing. The iPhone Dev Team maintains a link to “official torrent sites” for their software on their main blog/website, but the use of BitTorrent client software is inherently risky.

Given this landscape of jailbreak risks and challenges, the availability of Blackra1n jailbreak software (for both Windows and Macintosh users) comes as an amazing breath of fresh air. You can read more about Blackra1n on WikiPedia, as well as the official Blackra1n blog. Engadget has posted about Blackra1n updates as they become available. Jailbreaking with Blackra1n (as long as your iPhone firmware version is supported) is as easy as downloading the installer for your operating system, running it with your iPhone plugged into your computer, and waiting about 60 seconds. When you’ve gone through the LONG process of jailbreaking with the Dev Team’s QuickPwn software, the speed and ease of the Blackra1n jailbreak seems like a miracle!

If you opt to jailbreak with any method, you want to be careful NOT to immediately install new iPhone firmware updates when they become available. Jailbreak software developers are generally pretty quick to come up with new hacks for new iPhone firmware versions, but the process can take several weeks. Of course there is no guarantee Apple won’t develop an uncrackable / unhackable iPhone firmware version SOME day, but so far (as of this writing) that hasn’t been the case.

Step 2: Install, Configure, and Buy iPhoneModem

After you jailbreak, you need to run the Cydia installer application. The first time you run it (as well as subsequently, depending on updates) it will connect to the Cydia server and download new “packages” as well as updates. Often you’ll have a choice whether to install all updates or just core/required updates. On a WiFi connection these don’t take long. After updates are installed and you restart Cydia, choose the SEARCH option and enter “modem.” With the latest packages updated in Cydia installer, you should see “iPhoneModem” as an available program. Choose to install it, and it should appear as another application icon on your iPhone.

iPhoneModem requires three things: The iPhone application, a client application which runs on your Apple or Windows-based laptop, and a license key. The client application can be downloaded from the iPhoneModem website. The computer client software does not require a key, but the iPhone application does. Thoughtfully, the program will run in a trial mode so you can verify connectivity / functionality before purchasing. Currently a license key is $9.99, and the iPhoneModem website accepts PayPal. After purchasing a license key, you will receive it via email or you can get it on the iPhoneModem website. You’ll use your IMEI “International Mobile Equipment Identity” number when you purchase your license, which is a unique 15 digit code viewable on an iPhone by choosing System Settings – General – About.

After you’ve installed these software applications on your iPhone and laptop, you’re ready to go with tethered Internet browsing! iPhoneModem client software creates an ad-hoc wireless network, which you’ll need to join on your iPhone. It then permits your laptop running the client software (as well as other computers within WiFi range, which is a GREAT bonus on car trips!) to also access the connection. The steps are:

1. Run the iPhoneModem software on your laptop.
2. On your iPhone, connect to the default “iPhoneModem” ad-hoc WiFi network created by the client software. (You can customize this with a different SSID and a password if desired.)
3. Run the iPhoneModem software on your iPhone (it is called, “Modem.”)

That’s it! I’m sure to many, the prospect of jailbreaking sounds very scary and formidable, and it is not something that should be undertaken lightly. Still, the availability of Blackra1n is nothing short of a revolution, in my view. Be aware that in its 3.0 software iteration, iPhone Modem software does NOT appear to run in the background. To use it, therefore, you have to have the application open and CANNOT run other applications on your iPhone at the same time unless they run in the background like the Apple-provided iPod player software.

Hopefully AT&T in the United States will officially authorize iPhone tethering sometime soon. I’d like to hope they’ll do that WITHOUT adding additional charges for the service, but that’s probably analogous to hoping home loan interest and overall inflation rates aren’t going to rise in the next year. All are probably inevitable.

Two final notes: Don’t be confused by the term “tethered jailbreak” which you may see on some websites. This does NOT refer to Internet tethering, as I’ve discussed in this post. The Blackra1n blog post from March 8, 2010, explains:

A tethered jailbreak means that once your iPhone is successfully jailbroken with blackra1n, you’ll need to connect your iPhone to your computer and rerun blackra1n* if you ever need to reboot your iPhone or your iPhone loses battery charge.

Last of all, if you’re contemplating an iPad purchase soon with 3G connectivity, don’t count on Apple officially supporting iPad tethering.

If you’ve had experiences, good or bad, with tethering your iPhone for Internet access using iPhoneModem or another software program / method, I’d love to hear about it.

Good luck, and happy tethered surfing!

Tethered iPhone Internet Access with iPhoneModem (Jailbreak required) originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 13, 2010.

Joseph’s homepage at his school and contact information

I purchased 250 of these video-capable iPods at $150 US each for students at my school to use

Every minute every day, 10 hours of video are uploaded
In the last minute, 6000 photos were uploaded to Flickr

On Facebook: 200 million active profiles, 100 million logged in today

President Obama, duirng his inaururagion party for young people
- you can see all the cameras owned by oung people
- they are producing: taking photos, videos, and uploading

Twitter
- image of Tweets when Obama was sworn in as 44th President

Cover of the New Yorker, June 1, 2009
- painted on an iPhone (PROBABLY WITH THE APPLICATION BRUSHES)

Digital natives are younger users and digital experts
- as younger experts, they gain earlier responsibility for their own learning and for tasks to help their parents
- that is my son, Lorenzo, who is 4
- he has his own iPod Touch that he uses to learn writing, math, and practices his reading (and gets a little music)

environment: the network is everywhere
- we traveled thousands of miles to connect with you
- but you can also connect today with small devices like cell phones, and your computers
- you can have connections now at all time

Social networking
- Q-Q (LIKE FACEBOOK FOR CHINA)
- tweets, iPods, flickr, wikis, mashups, blogging, podcasting

Producing, not just consuming

How do we build 21st century learning environments?

we must think about going mobile: moving away from the laptop and the desktop
- the Internet “in the cloud”
- sending and receiving, consuming and producing

My son’s classroom, where students use the iPod Touch to read, to write, to listen, and to watch video
- they build content to share with the rest of their peers

School is not from 8 am to 3 pm
- school is all day thanks to mobile devices
- developing content to take with you as teachers: that is our goal and task

what defines a good “new” television from an old one is our ability to customize it
- how many different things can you do with the same television?
- this is customized
- customizing our content for students, making sure we can deliver it on multiple devices

Alvin Toffler: “The future arrives too soon and in the wrong order.”

Technorati Tags:
china, education, integration, iste, technology, #xihu09, nets

Student as Prosumer: Content and Mobile Devices in 21st-Century Learning Environments by Joseph Morelock originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on November 1, 2009.

Today I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Annual State Superintendent’s Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. This conference is designed to address Oklahoma superintendents, principals, school leaders, lawmakers and state officials.

State leaders started the conference by calling for schools to think about transformation and responding to the needs of 21st century learners. It was no surprise that some of the technology related breakout sessions were almost filled to capacity after such a challenge. I attended the 1:1 Teaching & Learning session presented by the Office of Innovation, Support and Alternative Education alongside an excellent panel of forward thinking Superintendents and instructional leaders. Their goal was to discuss innovative strategies for preparing students for the 21^st century through a 1:1 initiative.

The panel members were:

Bart Bantield, Superintendent, Stidham Public Schools
Scott Trower, Superintendent, Lowry Public Schools
Steve Shiever, Superintendent, Crescent Public Schools
Scott Parks, Superintendent, Howe Public Schools

The discussion was facilitated by Eric Hileman, Director of Instructional Technology and Telecommunications. I appreciate the mood Eric set for the session by recalling the great Seymour Papert and how he encourage educators years ago to put an electronic device in the hands of every child. These panel members have been striving to do what Papert challenged us to do years earlier. Each Superintendent took an opportunity to give us some background on their schools and individual career paths. Here are the elements from the session I think are vital to share as we continue to have the conversation of putting a computer in the hands of every child.

There are Five Pillars to a Successful 1:1

1. Leadership
2. Professional Development
3. Hardware
4. Software
5. Infrastructure

Steve Shiever Quote: Curriculum should drive the technology.

The implementation of technology in a school should encourage creativity, allow access beyond the structure of a school day, and empower students to be responsible for their own learning.

Leadership – Yes, it’s bigger than items 3, 4 and 5 because it’s one of the TWO MOST important elements of a successful 1:1.

• Everyone is a LEADER!
• It starts at the top.
• A Superintendent must have a vision for the school that includes technology.
• The administration needs to be engaged at every level.
• Technology needs to become a part of the schools culture.
• There needs to be a commitment level from the administration to participate in all processes related to the implementation of a 1:1.
• Planning, deployment, training, and support is everyone’s responsibility
• Teachers need to accept the role of leader in the classroom.
• IT Directors need to be patient and understanding to the different levels of users in a district.

Professional Development – Yes, it’s bigger than items 3, 4 and 5 because it’s one of the TWO MOST important elements of a successful 1:1.

• Professional Development is what makes it work
• Stepping outside of the comfort zone should be expected not dreaded.
• Look for local help in providing PD to staff, students and parents
• Look for ways to collaborate with other schools. Been there…done that is a good thing in this case.
• Train process and pedagogy
• Think ongoing and sustained PD.
• Model lesson integration to help easy anxiety
• Allow creation of projects and content –this helps everyone learn
• Keep it relevant

Hardware-Software-Infrastructure

Not as much time was spent discussing these elements before the session was over, but each administrator did stress that their hardware, software and infrastructures were as different as their schools. This shows that the formula for success isn’t equal across every educational agency. The types of purchases (or leases) necessary will be dependent on the size, budget, and goals of each school. All the panelists agreed that web based applications gave them the most flexibility with minimal in-house support.

Back to what Steve Shiever said early in the session…Let the curriculum drive the technology.

Followed up by words from Scott Parks, “Think about creativity, think about authentic assessment, think outside the box and be prepared to make a positive change in your schools.”

I’m honored to have each of these men in my professional learning network and I’m thrilled they took the time to share their stories to help us transform and prepare for our 21^st Century learners. I look forward to many more conversations on 1:1!

1:1 Teaching & Learning Session, OK SDE Leadership Conference originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 17, 2009.

There’s an activity that I often do with students that I borrowed from Deborah Stone’s book Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. To demonstrate the concept of distributive justice, I bring a chocolate cake to class. I tell the students that I’ve decided to cut the cake equally into the number of slices equivalent to the exact number of students in the class (plus me, of course) so that everyone can have an equal-sized piece of the cake. From there, I ask the students if they have any challenges to my distribution plan.

[Truth be told, I plant responses throughout the students in the class ahead of time. I usually do that for the sake of time, but the forced drama of it all usually leads to real, active engagement (or, they are just engaged because they know cake will be served soon).]

We discuss alternative distribution plans including distributing pieces of different sizes based on taste preferences. We also discuss the possibility that my plan doesn’t consider important issues such as allergies (i.e. maybe someone is allergic to chocolate and so they shouldn’t be included). The point of the exercise/activity is to explore decision-making where the resource(s) being distributed is limited. Distributive justice or distributive conflict is at the heart of many educational policy decisions and we are able to use the cake metaphor to frame subsequent discussions about policy decisions ranging from personnel to finance.

I was reminded of my teaching and thinking around distributive justice when I read the following Twitter update from John Maklary (a technology coordinator at a K-8 parochial school in Texas):

In my ongoing exploration of how schools support teachers (and leaders) around their use of technology, I have come to a point of thinking of instructional technology support as a limited resource. Especially where instructional technology support personnel are scarce, their time and attention are limited. From there, then, we must question how we distribute that resource (see how the chocolate cake metaphor works here?).

In the aggregate, most of the variance in the level of technology integration in education is within schools, not between schools. In other words, the degree to which technology integration occurs varies more between individual teachers than it does between schools. [NOTE: my data to support that knowledge claim are here.] Furthermore, though I have less evidence to support this assertion, the distribution in levels of technology integration across teachers is positively skewed (see the right side of the graphic below). If you imagine “level of technology integration” as the variable on the x-axis (the horizontal axis), the “enlightened” few (using John’s language), the high-flying tech. educators, exist on the distribution to the right under the tail. The vast majority, though remain under the curve closer to zero.

Related to John’s Twitter update, I’ve been wondering how the shape of the distribution is changing, if at all. On one hand, as technological innovation proceeds at breakneck pace, the “enlightened” (again using John’s language) are doing their best to keep up and to imagine the implications for learning. They are pushing or spreading the tail further out to the right of the distribution. At the same time, the modal (or typical) teacher is doing her or his best to catch up, pushing the mode closer to the mean. The closer the mode is to the mean, the more normally distributed the distribution is.

I don’t know if it is good or bad to have a situation where the distribution of teacher levels of technology integration is “normal.” Technology in education advocates/enthusiasts would argue that we need to head towards a negatively skewed distribution; i.e. where the mode is higher than the mean. Whether the distribution becomes more normal or even negatively skewed, there are still those teachers who exist under the tail; those teachers who, for better or worse, barely move past “zero” on some measure of level of technology integration.

Coming back to John’s Twitter update and my exercise/activity about distributive justice, if instructional technology support is a limited resource (like a chocolate cake), how should we distribute that resource? If we could categorize teachers along the “level of technology integration” spectrum as high, medium and low, where are our limited instructional technology support resources best distributed? What value is there in using that limited resource on the “unenlightened” (i.e. those in the “low” group)?

• Have you considered that some teachers might be “allergic” to technology integration (i.e. it is actually harmful for them as learning facilitators)?
• Have you considered that there are some teachers who will not get the most value from the limited time and attention of instructional technology support?
• Unlike the dictate from federal law for students, are there instances when we need to leave some teachers behind (i.e. No cake for them!)?

Just askin’…

IMAGE ATTRIBUTION

• Cake: photo credit: imcountingufoz
• Histograms: Wikipedia
  

Technology Professional Development and Chocolate Cake originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 16, 2009.

I have had a post brewing in my head for a very long time and I think this is the perfect forum in which to bring this issue to light. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a problem that so many of us have, but are unwilling to acknowledge. The issue I am referring to is finding a balance between the various aspects of our lives. More specifically, I am an going to discuss the amount of time we spend online versus time we spend with our families.

I have two great loves in my life: my family and my career. I am passionate about both of them, but lately it seems like work has overshadowed my family. If I am being honest I would have to say that for the better part of the last year my family has taken a backseat to my career. I teach and develop online classes. Most of this is done at home on my own time due to the constant interruptions at school which occur even during my prep time.

I also have developed an amazing PLN that I love interacting with, but each minute I spend with them is a minute that I could (and should) be spending with my family. My family does not quite fully comprehend that I learn so much on Twitter. The other thing that they do not understand is that some of the friendships I have made on Twitter are very meaningful.

My husband made the awful mistake of giving in to my request and bought me a BlackBerry for Valentine’s Day this last year. I am now connected to all of my email accounts, Google chat, and Twitter around the clock. While I think this is great my family is not as thrilled. You see, I have not yet mastered the art of unplugging and taking a tech break. I enjoy the ability to connect to my network at any time from any place. My family is not impressed that I make myself so easily accessible to the world.

Last week I walked away for a few hours. I actually powered down my laptop and cell phone and I snuggled up with my husband in our favorite over-sized to watch a movie. When I had trouble remember the last time we did that I realized that I have been plugged in for way too long! It finally occurred to me that I need to find some balance. While I love working and I am not in danger of burning out; I am missing out on some very important things in my life. I am just not sure how an online teacher spend less time online, but I will figure it out.

Twitter, blogs and emails can wait, but my family can’t. I still have a lot of work to do online this summer, but I am going to turn off Twitter and I am going to purposefully neglect my reader. While I am online I need to focus on the task at hand. I need to learn to become more efficient when I work. I get tend to get sidetracked very easily! I am not quite sure how I will do this, but I need to find a balance.

I know other people have faced the same issues. How have you managed to strike a balance between work and family time? What are some of the suggestions you have for finding an adequate amount of time for each?

Finding Balance originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 14, 2009.

During the past school the projects that my high school US History students enjoyed most was creating video mash-ups to demonstrate their content knowledge. My students used Animoto and Remix America to complete these assignments. There are other web-based video mash-up tools available on the Internet, but these were the two that suited our needs the best. So that you can choose the tools that best suit your needs, I’ve included short summaries of Animoto, Remix America, Stupeflix, and Photo Peach in this post. In the projects that are described below, students had to find public domain and Creative Commons licensed images. For US History projects there are some excellent image sources including Flickr’s The Commons, the National Archives, and the Library of  Congress. To conduct a more broad search for Creative Commons licensed images you should also use Compfight, Yahoo’s Creative Commons filter, and Google’s new Creative Commons filter.

To give you a little background on my work, I teach a class of special education students as well as college prep courses. In both settings my students have enjoyed creating video mash-ups to the point where they were suggesting video projects to their other teachers.

Project 1: “Using Animoto to Celebrate the Presidents.”

This is a project that my special education students did during the last month of school as a way to review the year.  Each student (there were 13) was randomly assigned a president to research. The students had to gather some basic biographical information. The students also had to gather information about significant events and or acts from their assigned president’s time in office. The information the students gathered would be used for captioning images in their videos. After gathering the information students had to find, using the sources mentioned above,  images for their videos. When all information and images were gathered, students then created their videos. Each image had to be accompanied by a short (one sentence) explanation.

The culminating experience for this project was an “Video Release Party.” During the “Video Release Party” students introduced their video to the class, showed the video through the LCD projector, and answered questions after the showing the video.

If you decide to try a project like this you should apply for an Animoto for Education account. It’s free and it gives you and your students access to editing features for which you would otherwise have to pay a fee.

Project 2: “Art as US History”

In this project students studied how artists created records of US History. Students again used Animoto for this assignment. Since my own knowledge of American artists was fairly limited and I needed a list long enough for a class of twenty-two, I worked with an art teacher to generate a list of notable artists. Students then selected from an artist from the list to research. Using the same procedure as outlined in project 1 above, students created Animoto videos about their artists’ work. An integral part of the assignment was for students to note what was happening in the US at the time their selected artist was working.

Project 3: “Make Your Own Civil War Documentary”

Remix America, launched last fall, makes it fairly easy for students to create their own US History documentary videos. Remix America provides video clips, audio clips, and images that students can arrange to create a Ken Burns-style documentary. If the stock media doesn’t contain what your students desire for their videos, they can upload their own media. My students used Remix America to create mini-documentaries about the US Civil War, but you could use Remix America to create mini-documentaries about any period in US History.

Other free video mash-up tools to consider.

Stupeflix allows users to drag and drop their images into the sequence that they would like the images to appear. Adding text to the images is easier in Stupeflix than it is on Animoto. Stupeflix offers only one default soundtrack so you have to upload your own audio clips.

Photo Peach is similar to Animoto although there is one difference worth noting. Adding captions to each image is a little more intuitive on Photo Peach than it is on Animoto. To add captions to your Photo Peach slideshow simply type your desired text into the caption box that appears as each image is automatically displayed by Photo Peach.

Connecting History and Art Through Video Creation originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 13, 2009.

The first time I heard of Leadership Day was last year. I had only just started blogging and felt like there was not much I could contribute. When I saw Scott McLeod’s post on it this year I felt like I might have something to add to the conversation. I spent hours thinking of something brilliant to say, but there were no flashes of inspiration. Then it hit me! Administrators need to know more about the benefits of social networking and how it can be used to help their teachers stay on top of the latest developments and trends in education.

I started developing my personal learning network (PLN) in April 2008. I joined the NECC Ning and immediately started making connections with people who were attending the National Educational Educating Computing Conference in San Antonio. I also joined Twitter and that is when I really saw my PLN grow. It was not long before I was making true connections with people around the world. There are a few people in my PLN that I work so closely with that I feel like we are coworkers.

In April I decided to test the power of my favorite social networking site, Twitter. I wanted to see if it was possible for the few hundred people in my network to work together to do something good for someone. I decided to ask for donations to help send a teacher to NECC. I asked Richard Byrne to be to the “newbie” and he gladly agreed. Within two weeks we met the $1500 goal. My plan had worked!

Stop and think for a minute about the implications that this has on learning. I am a teacher in rural western Nebraska who was able to make a difference because of my personal learning network. I was able to help send a teacher from Maine to a technology conference in Washington DC. People who knock social networking need to hear this story.

Can you imagine a student at your school harnessing the power of Twitter to change the world? I would like to ask you to start looking into the positive aspect of social networking. Teachers and students who are networked have so many more learning opportunities each day. No less than 99% of my professional learning takes place on Twitter. Before you totally write off what social networking can do in your schools for your teachers and students, please take some time to explore what it means to those of us who rely on it every day.

Benefits of Social Networking originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 12, 2009.

Please read this post with the lenses that our students bring to the table. Does this post resemble your school? your grade? your child?

Hello, this is my first day in Kindergarten and I want share what happened in my day. My teacher used a flip video and filmed us as we said our name and our favorite color or number. Then we all got to watch the video, I even learned some names of my classmates. I was shy at first, but I asked my teacher if we would watch the videos again and she said each day she would record something we did such as learning about the calendar or numbers or learning our letters. I wonder what will happen next year?

In first and second grades our teachers set up our classroom computers so we can report on the weather at our school. He introduced us to another school where students have very different weather. Then, he showed us on Google Earth where we live and where our new school buddies live. It was half-way around the earth.

Welcome to third grade where we are using VoiceThread as our book talk. I liked drawing my picture of Chapter 3, my teacher posted it and now my friends are leaving me a message about what they think. I can leave messages to my friends too. When I tell my Grandpa he will leave me a message as well.

The part I like most about 4th grade is getting to practice my Internet Safety skills before we get to start our research projects. My favorite research kid site is Facts4ME . Two retired teachers started this site and when I get done with my project I am going to email them to tell them how easy their site is to use.

Finally, in 5th grade I get to work on my own blog at ThinkQuest. It is a closed site only teachers and other schools can view the pages. My teachers share more about Digitial Citizenship and how to be safe and I get to practice as I make my own blog pages and share with my friends. My favorite thing to do is ask survey questions and look at the answers my friends give back to me.

In 6th grade our projects involve using more skills and media. I really like the podcasts we made about our FolkTales, it was a little hard to talk slowly and loudly enough. I like that I could share these with my friends and family.

In 7th grade, our language arts teachers shared how to use an online writing program. That means that we type our essays or writing prompts into the program, and when we publish, the program helps guide our spelling, our vocabulary use and even grades us on our story. Before my teacher even sees it I get to fix things on my own.

In 8th grade my teachers have us answering questions in our forum in our Moodle site and we also work in a Ning. When we work online it is like we aren’t even doing school work. I like it best when I can share with my friends outside of school, we keep working on school work when we don’t have to.

In 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade my friends and I are in constant communication, even though we can’t bring cell phones to school, we do. I like to stay in touch with my friends during the day and I send quick text messages so I can find out what happens in their class. We take pictures of our classrooms and put them on Facebook. We take video with our cell phones and post them to YouTube. Oh, that is one great thing, our school doesn’t block YouTube, the bad news, they still block Facebook. If we use a proxy, sometimes we can get on our Facebook pages during the school day. I hear my teachers say all the time that I am a digital native, I don’t know if that is good or bad and I wonder what that makes my teachers. When we ask to do our projects with film or recordings, my teachers say we don’t have time, they have to cover the content, whatever that means? Sometimes I wish I could go back to my early grades, we had more time, we had more projects, we tried many different kinds of learning.

How does your school/grade/child look through these lenses?

Resources you might just want to use to transform your school!
Kindergarten- thanks to Maria Knee
Grade 1/2 – thanks to Kathy Cassidy
Grade 3, thanks to Alice Mercer
Grade 4 thanks to Bob Sprankle
Grade 5 my wonderful 5th graders and thanks WJHS 5th grade teachers Thinkquest.org
Grade 6 – a great example Frog Prince
Grade 7 wiki thanks to Beth Goodwin
Grade 8 NING, thanks to my 8th grade LA teachers, Bruce Peloquin and Julie Esch, and all 115 students
Grades 9,10,11,12
English wiki with a blog and student comments Anne Tommaso
Fine Arts teacher wiki Melissa Noack and her student gallery
Nokomis HS giving all graduating seniors their own domain name Kern Kelley
Fine Arts from Wiscasset Sarah Sutter
Comments for this post are real comments taken from student and staff conversations. What do you hear at your school?

Through my Students’ Eyes originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on July 10, 2009.

As you listen to Anastasia, think about how teens use technology and social media in their “real life” versus the way they are using (or not) using technology in the classroom. Immersed in the digital world outside the classroom when Gen Y goes to school, they are more often than not, stuck in text dominated classrooms.

She also stresses the need for educators (and parents) to provide students with the skills they need to assess the onslaught of information and ability to evaluate the credibility of resources on the web.

Anastasia has a wealth of research to share about the wired lives of teens. This short video is a good opportunity for anyone who works in education to gain a better understanding of the totally wired world of today’s students.

Related Resources

• Anastasia Goodstein >Totally Wired
• CBS News: Gen Y & Technology
• Gen Y: Growing up and sharing (way) too much

Goodstein on “Totally Wired” Students originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 18, 2008.

Teachers.TV, a UK-based professional development site for educators, has a great video on teaching kids about information literacy, social networking and web safety. This is a refreshingly rational analysis and discussion of the issues surrounding kids, web safety and social media.

This video also outlines several classroom activities that teachers can use with their students (and parents) to help them gain a better understanding and awareness of the potential dangers of sharing too much information in social networks.

Related Resources

• Digizen: Digital Citizenship
• Connect Safely
• Yahoo! Safely
• Study Debunks Sexual Predator Myths
• BJ Fogg on Web Credibility
• eSchool News: Online Safety Myths

Teachers.tv: Kids, Social Safety & Digital Literacy originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 18, 2008.

One of their special initiatives is the Be Web Aware (en)(fr) program, which includes many helpful tips for teens using social software, instant messaging, blogs, and web search. The resources are available in both French and English.

Related Resources

• Media Awareness Network (en) (fr)
• Tout savoir sur… les blogues
• Are You Web Aware? – Blogs
• Be Web Aware (en)(fr)
• Yahoo! Safely
• Connect  Safely

MNet Social Safety Resources originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 17, 2008.

WikiMapia is a “wiki meets Google Maps” mash-up intended to be used as a digital geographic encyclopedia reference tool. In its current incarnation, WikiMapia is a little rough around the edges, but keep this site on your list of potential teaching tools.

Here’s how WikiMapia works: Key landmarks, such as Rainbow Arch in Utah, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, or the Pyramid of the Moon in Mexico, are identified on the map. Each landmark has a Flickr type notation (this is the wiki part) which anyone can edit or contribute information related to that landmark.

Placeopedia is an open source mash-up of Google Maps and Wikipedia. Using this site, students can connect existing Wikipedia articles with their corresponding location on the map, and then make use of the community generated database to “browse, use, or syndicate the whole lot.”

The Association of American Geographers (ARGUS) have compiled a myriad of geography teaching materials along with a text which contains 26 case studies that illustrate major geographic concepts, transparency masters, a teacher’s guide, and an interactive CD.

Digital Geography is an UK-based website for teachers focused on using ICT and social software resources in the geography curriculum. Noel Jenkins, the brains behind Digital Geography, uses Google Earth and Flickr, along with his own model curriculum (including animation), to make geography a fun and active learning experience for students.

These are just a few of the many digital resources available on the web that can provide teachers with the building blocks and ideas to integrate geographic literacy and skills into their curriculum.

Related Resources

• Google Maps
• Yahoo! Map Gallery
• Yahoo! Map Mixer
• National Geographic Society > My Wonderful World
• GeoYacking Powered by YackPack

Geography 2.0: A Juicy Way to Mash Up Learning originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 16, 2008.

The report includes several “mega trends” in educational technology, including user-generated video (or “grassroots” video), mobile, collaborative web environments, as well as content mash-ups.

Trend #1: User-Generated Video & Content Mash-Ups

Mash-ups provide a huge amount of flexibility to both the instructor and the user to build new learning situations. A mash-up is “a website or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service (Wikipedia, 2006).” They combine separate, stand-alone technologies into a new application.

Content sharing tools, or “mash-ups” are providing learners the opportunity to socialize around the context of the content (text, video, images, audio), in terms of subject matter, production and commentary. This opportunity to be engaged socially is generating new content in and of itself. These experiences have become integrated into today’s use of everyday devices in the everyday lives of the students for whom we design.

Students can shoot video with either their mobile phone or camcorder, and then use free editing tools like Jumpcut to easily remix their video. They can also “grab” video created and contributed by someone else in the Jumpcut community that can be repurposed into new content and then posted on a blog, YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv or a myriad of other video-hosting sites. The Horizon Report predicts that this type of remix and reuse of video content “will fuel rapid growth among learning-focused organizations who want their content to be where the viewers are.“

Trend #2: Collaboration & Social Networks

Critics of e-learning often characterize online classrooms as neutral spaces devoid of human connection, emotion, or interaction with instructors or peers.

However, effective use of social networking and media technologies provides educators and students with the ability to interject emotion in the online space, thereby providing opportunities for peers to make emotional connections with classmates, and create a community of practice just as they do in the ‘real time’ world of the brick and mortar classroom.

Social networks can also provide an outlet for students who are socially isolated or shy in the traditional classroom, a way connect, share ideas and collaborate with their peers.

Online collaboration, whether in a formal education-centric VLE or social networking environment provide vital avenues for students to build relationships with their peers, while simultaneously meeting the needs of their digital learning styles.

Trend #3: Mobile

The use of mobile technologies continues to grow and represents the next great frontier for learning. Increasingly we will continue to see academic and corporate research invest, design and launch new mobile applications, many of which can be used in a learning context.

The convergence of mobile and social technologies, on-demand content delivery, and early adoption of portable media devices by students provides academia with an opportunity to leverage these tools into learning environments that seem authentic to the digital natives filling the 21^st Century classroom. Clearly, the spread of mobile technologies into both the cognitive and social spheres requires educators to reexamine and redefine our teaching and learning methods.

In order to create a better learning environments designed for the digital learning styles of Generation Y, there is a need to use strategies and instructional methods that support and foster motivation, collaboration and interaction.

Mobile technology plays a vital role in facilitating these mega-trends. Students can use their phones to connect with peers, make, edit and publish both photos and videos. The use of mobile devices are directly connected with the personal experiences and authentic use of technology students bring to the classroom.

Conclusion

“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” –Peter Drucker

In light of these socio-cultural changes, educators need to find ways to infuse the curriculum with digital learning styles by designing curriculum which integrates opportunities for student’s to use social media to collaborate and interact with their peers, as well as customize, create, and self-publish their own content as a means to achieve both short and long term learning goals.

Now more than ever, instructors must “keep abreast of change” and learn how to integrate these (and future) technology trends into their curriculum. You can download a complete copy of the 2008 Horizon Report and learn more about these trends via the links listed below.

Related Resources

• Download: 2008 Horizon Report (PDF)
• New Media Consortium
• Educause Learning Initiative
• “Designing Courses and Teaching on the Web: A “How To” Guide to Proven, Innovative Strategies“ Dr. Mercedes Fisher

Education, Learning and Media Megatrends originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 16, 2008.

Since Turner Falls is right beside I-35 exit 51 Fried Pies, you can bet some of the food consumed on this trip will be QUITE tasty.

Welcome Derek!

Welcome Derek Baird, guest blogger! originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 15, 2008.

“Do you have a weblin? It’s like Second Life meets any website. From the weblin website: “Weblin makes you and others on the Web visible as small avatars. There are others on the same page you are on right now. Weblin opens a new and exciting world on every website.”

I just signed up for one 4 days ago. To sign up, I downloaded the software and confirmed my registration. I was then able to choose an avatar from a large gallery of avatars. Now no matter what website I’m on, my little weblin avatar is at the bottom of the page. I can walk along the bottom and communicate with other weblins on that page. If I right click my weblin I can change my profile, access my applications which includes an inventory, add friends, see edit and ignore other weblins, open a chat window or speech bubble to communicate with others, choose from pre-selected text that I have created and set my status.

I have seen lots of other weblins on Yahoo! Mail and a few on Flickr. If I go to the weblins website, I see loads of others. They may be here right now, but if you don’t have a weblin, you can’t see them. It adds yet another dimension to social networking and surfing the web. As I am writing this I have about three private chats with other weblins that keep popping up on my screen. The weblin site is German and there is an international flair. I have had most of my short interaction with avatars outside the United States.

Go get a weblin and let’s meet. I plan to be on my blog website, Gomeric Hill, on Wednesday, May 21, 2007 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. CST. It would be fun to see how many people show up. We can spend some time experimenting with our weblins together. “

As it turned out 6:00-7:00 p.m. CST is not a very good time for many to meet.  Several people contacted me through twitter and by e-mail to tell me that there were kids’ baseball games, homework and other activities which take them from their computers in the evening. 

Two people were available for the meet up: rfantster and aubree.  rfanster met my weblin, klmonty, on Gomeric Hill.  We chatted for awhile.  He found out about the meet-up from Ning.  I was simultaneously chatting on Skype and on the phone with aubree who was having trouble logging in.  rfanster mentioned he is a math teacher and doesn’t use many Web 2.0 tools or mobile devioces in his classes.  I suggested he take a look at Mobile4Math.  As I continued to work with aubree, I asked rfanster if he was still there.  He responded that he was downloading a math lesson to his mobile phone and thanked me for the suggestion.  rfanster had to meet a friend and left at 7:00 p.m.  I continued to work with aubree and she was eventually able to “see” me.  Her comment on my blog about weblins is as follows:

“Hi, Karen! I think this weblin thing might be a fun new idea. I like being “live” on a website with some other folks who are investigating it as well. I’d like to see if we can limit our conversations to folks who are on our “buddy list” – similar to buddy lists on AOL, MSN, etc. Will keep playing to see what else we can do with this!”

So, have you “played” with weblins?  Do you see a use for education?  Would you be interested in a future “meet-up?”

Weblin Meet-Up Results and Revisited originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 6, 2008.

On Monday when Wes welcomed me as a guest blogger, I knew it before I checked Google Reader because I was getting e-mails alerting me to new twitter followers and requests for membership for Web 2.0 4 Teachers Ning Network. Oh, the pressure. The last time my twitter followers spiked and Web 2.0 4 Teachers had a higher than usual number of membership requests was the weekend after Wes posted his RSS: Ready for Some Stories on April 25 and linked to Ning. That’s the power of a well-read blog. Guess I better contribute to the Ning network and add something worthy of following to twitter tonight, tooJ

And now for the Adventures of Google Earth Girl…

Yesterday, I met with Cindy Lane, a.k.a. Google Earth Girl (GEG), to plan our presentation proposal for the K12 Online Conference. Over coffee at Starbuck’s, we worked out the details of our presentation entitled “Who Needs S.L.E.E.P.?” Assuming our proposal is accepted, and you attend (watch) the conference, you will learn what the acronym means. Otherwise, it will remain the secret of Google Earth Girl and her sidekick (me). We are planning to submit S.L.E.E.P. to the FETC and the METC, too. It does have something to do with a lack of…And now, the adventure begins…GEG found out today that she has been selected to attend the GOOGLE TEACHER ACADEMY on June 25th in Mountain View, California. Cindy will become the first Missouri Google Certified Teacher and will join the elite ranks of only 150 certified teachers in the world. Congratulations to Cindy! You Go, Google Earth Girl!

The Power of a Well-Read Blog and the Adventures of Google Earth Girl originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 5, 2008.

Welcome Karen!

Technorati Tags:
guest, blog, guestblog, guestblogger

Welcome Karen Montgomery! originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 2, 2008.

2. I Love Learning. I Hate Schooliness.
3. So what is “schooliness”?
4. The Birth of Schooliness
5. Schooly Student Leadership
6. Schooly Ethics
7. Schooly Imagination and Curiosity
8. Schooly Critical Thinking: An Oxymoron
9. Schooly (Anti-)Science
10. Schooly Writing Lessons
11. Open Thread Invitation to Play: Your Definitions of Schooliness?

I Love Learning. I Hate Schooliness.

–this is my motto. It’s one of the reasons I wrote (in a post, “On Leaving Teaching to Become a Teacher,” with about 70 comments now),

I’m not sure how much longer I want to work for schools. I’d so much rather teach.

So what is “schooliness”?

I have no idea. But that’s not a problem:  I’m a teacher.  I’m quite comfortable speaking with confidence on subjects I know next to nothing about.

Fans of Stephen Colbert will note that “schooliness” riffs on Colbert’s “truthiness,” which won the Word of the Year awards from the American Dialect Society in 2005, and from Merriam-Webster in 2006.

Colbert, in a serious interview as himself, instead of as his Bill O’Reilly satire persona, had this to say about “truthiness”:

Truthiness is tearing apart our country, and I don’t mean the argument over who came up with the word…

It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that’s not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It’s certainty. People love the President because he’s certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don’t seem to exist. It’s the fact that he’s certain that is very appealing to a certain section of the country. I really feel a dichotomy in the American populace. What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?…

Truthiness is ‘What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.’ It’s not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There’s not only an emotional quality, but there’s a selfish quality.

I’ve never tried to define “schooliness,” but so many people are quoting it as “Clay’s idea,” I feel it’s time to try – and to ask for your help in the Open Thread invitation at the end of this post.

The Birth of Schooliness

I first used the word “schooliness” in March 2007 – my third month of blogging – in one of a series of posts on “how to save blogging from teachers.” (I still worry about that danger, and still think-aloud about that challenge a year later.) I was envisioning a future in which all the edtech evangelists got what they wanted: schools full of teachers in every classroom using blogging with their students. But rather than seeing a utopia to celebrate, I saw a bleak dystopia: Blogging as “just another way to turn in homework.” Blogging, like thinking, creativity, and other joys, turned into an aversive horror by the forces of schooliness:

. . . . what reader will ever return to a blog that’s full of homework posts? If Stephen Colbert were here, he’d say such a blog smelled of this: “Schooliness.”

Like Colbert’s “truthiness,” “schooliness” stuck with me. It was a word without a dictionary definition that still seemed to identify something we all know, all too well.

Schooly Student Leadership

The next time I used the term was this past September. With a few other teachers around the world, I’ve started a Green Schools movement called Project Global Cooling. The project’s purpose is for student members to research waste-reduction measures, and their cost benefits for the school, and then present them for adoption in a formal proposal to the school administration – and to have, ideally, an Earth Day concert in cities around the world, student-promoted, on the same day, which will be filmed and uploaded to the Project Global Cooling website (it’s ugly right now, but it’s starting, finally, to grow legs – see my blog for future focus on this as it nears its April 19 climax).

One of the PGC students, a student council member, was ordered by the student council teacher-leaders to drop our club. It conflicted with the student council meeting times. That sent me into my second rage against the schooly in my post, “Student Council: Creating Tomorrow’s Followers (or, “Smells Like School Spirit”)“:

Me: “So what are you guys going to be planning in the Student Council that’s so important she’s forcing you to drop all other activities?”

Student: “The Haunted House for Halloween. And the next Student Assembly.”

Me: “The Haunted House….so, like, getting the pumpkins and doing some Halloween thing in the gym?”

Student: “Yeah.”

Me: “And the Student Assembly: what are you planning for that?”

Student: “Introducing the Sports teams. And raising school spirit.”

Me: “And how many people do you have meeting twice a week to plan a Haunted House and a 40-minute assembly to introduce the basketball players and give a few speeches and such?”

Student: “Seventeen.”

Me: “Seventeen?”

Student: “Yeah.”

Me: “Seventeen people meeting twice a week for the next 20 weeks to plan a haunted house in the gym, and an assembly to introduce sports teams? How long can it take to come up with a plan to introduce sports teams?”

Student: “I know.”

Me: “I hate school. Look at how trivial it makes you, even when you want to make a difference in the real world.”

Student: “I don’t have any choice. The Student Council teachers won’t let me out.”

Me: “And look how powerless you suddenly are. You’re 17. You’re a young adult. You know physics, calculus, and history far more than most of your teachers, but have zero power in school despite that. ‘They won’t let me.’ I hate school.”

* * *

So, your advice: I want to suggest he quit Student Council, since it’s clearly one very school-blindered, trivial waste of time for all these poor students seeking election in order to show they can handle power effectively – like adults do.

Another idea is to instead advise him to wage a bit of a rebellion inside the Student Council, by asking the very sensible question – “Is this the best we can do? Jack-o-lanterns and basketballs? Can we give the StuCo some teeth? Extend it into the real world? Isn’t it pathetically fay right now? Trivial? Irrelevant? Infantile?”

The sad thing is, it’s institutionalized. The Rat-Race for college admissions puts a high premium on silly bullets like holding a class office. College counselors, administrators, parents, students, teachers – the whole school culture – treat the Student Council like it’s an honorable thing. In reality, it limits the horizons of the 17 most motivated leaders from each grade level to the paltry world of the schoolhouse. It’s outrageously trivial and infantile.

I don’t know if it’s “consensus trance,” blind traditionalism, or winking condescension (”Let the kids play like they have power”), but it smells really bad to me.

Schooly Ethics

Schooliness raised its ugly head again when I considered the moral “offenses” schools choose to punish at school. Drive a gas-guzzler? Promote the bloody diamond trade with your flashy jewelry? Enjoy murder in video games or on your favorite movies? No worries. No punishment.

But use certain taboo vowel-consonant combinations, or look at the human form with certain taboo portions visible? We’ll throw the book at you, in our duty to teach you the difference between right and wrong. Schooly morality seems to have been held back since the mid-Victorian era. That was a fun post: “To Curse or Not to Curse: On Teaching the F-Bomb and Other Colorful Words.” Read it before you judge it. It’s about Shakespeare’s mastery of cursing, as an art form. Here’s a snippet:

Lear curses with style and grace, as befits a king. But Kent, his chief knight – Lear’s “Army Chief of Staff,” as it were – curses, as befits a career soldier, with much more salt and directness. Check out his classic “cussing out” of the slimy Oswald, servant of Goneril –

OSWALD:
What dost thou know me for?

KENT:
A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a
base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited,
hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a
lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson,
glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue;
one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a
bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but
the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander,
and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I
will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest
the least syllable of they addition. (Act II, Sc. 2, ll. 14-24)

If your Elizabethan English is rusty, and you don’t hear the vulgarity and sexual insult sloshing in practically every line, download the free “Answers” Firefox addon, and click the unknown words while holding down “alt” on your Mac for an instant popup definition and more (PC users, you’re on your own – maybe “ctrl”?). Kent calls Oswald a pimp, son of a bitch, bastard, son of a whore, “wussy,” a suck-up, and more, and then says, in today’s language, “Deny one word, and I’ll kick your disgusting little donkey” (substitute the King James Bible word for donkey here).

It’s depressing, isn’t it, how the art of cursing has degenerated in our own modern age? Our four-letter words are so unimaginative and artless by comparison.

So if you were me, how would you guide students to translate these curses? Having Kent abuse Oswald by hissing,

You bad person, I’m going to kick your bottom.
You son of a bad woman, you sissy, you person born out of wedlock,
You big meanie, etc

just doesn’t strike me as a faithful literary adaptation. (It does strike me as schooliness, though. Some teachers, like Wilde’s classic Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest, would give such a bowdlerizing an “A,” I’ve no doubt.)

Schooly Imagination and Curiosity

I’m battling with schooliness now, most distressingly, in the very people I thought would battle it with me: my high school seniors. It seems they are so unfamiliar with having their own ideas, and writing about them, that they simply cannot do it with any engagement. Their free-choice blogs are, overall, schooly imitations of authenticity. Pretending to have ideas they pretend to care about. Thank Goodness, there are exceptions. But the rule is so distressing, it’s led me to believe that, by high school, it’s too late to unlock the creativity and engagement Wes so often champions. Twelve years of schooliness seems to have beaten the desire to learn – the pleasure of learning – completely out of most seniors. It seems to me now that, if we’re going to feed fires for learning, we have to do it before they’re snuffed out. And that means, to be clear, focus on school reform in primary and middle years. (How to reform secondary school, so in the grips of the SAT and AP and College Admissions – not to mention high school teachers living out college professor fantasies – is beyond me.)

Here’s a snippet from, “From the Classroom Blogging Doldrums: What Would Teacher 2.0 Do?“:

The problem? Little vision, little connective writing.

It’s partly senioritis, I think. College applications, SAT’s, too many commitments to too many extra-curricular activities (got to have those bullets for the college application, even if they come at the cost of destroying both my learning and my GPA), too many week-long sports trips, too many AP classes that were chosen not for interest but again for careerist reasons.

It’s partly Korean culture: parents sending students to night and weekend schools for SAT prep, AP prep, tutors. Students confusing memorization skills with academic excellence, trained to “be instructed” rather than to “construct” meaning themselves. Having no time to be, reflect, explore, wonder (or having no energy, rather).

And it’s partly my own fault: all the macho posturing of Advanced Placement courses as “college-level, rigorous,” etc – and Wes Fryer’s etymolological connection, in Shanghai back in September, of “rigor” with “rigid” and “rigor mortis” echoes here – led me to buy in to what now seems a sadistic and pedagogically pathetic imperative to overload AP students with A Mountain Of Homework.

Schooly Critical Thinking: An Oxymoron

This is from, “Teaching Grammar on the Titanic: On Fear and Irrelevance in Education“:

So: the problem with me, as a teacher, is that I design units that don’t address anything important. I’ve been trained to think that my job is to stuff the headpieces of the next generation with such irrelevant things as the definition of litotes and onomatopoeia, to write cute little stories about nothing, to know Stratford-upon-Avon. To be able, paradoxically, to think critically about safe subjects. And above all, not to think about anything that might, god forbid, rankle the status quo. And let’s not even start to think about taking any sort of action.

Again, so: As soon as I stop thinking like a teacher, designing units derived from an institutional culture that defines me as a teacher, and subconsciously makes me far more traditional in my teaching than my progressively-posing ego likes to acknowledge….as soon as I re-define myself as a community leader – as that once-upon-a-time American thing called a citizen – instead, maybe the young adults of my community might have an opportunity to learn how to function in the world they’ll inherit from and manage for us all-too-soon.

Schooly (Anti-)Science

When Bulgaria is, per capita, more scientifically literate than America about biology, geology, and genetics – and when even science teachers are afraid of the “e-word” – little more needs to be said. I say it anyway, in this post that got 1,000 hits in 8 hours (a record for me): Truly Critical: On Science, Religion, and Goodness.

Schooly Writing Lessons

Under the influence of Oscar Wilde’s aphorisms and Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary, and in order to battle evil with wit and thus smile a bit more in hell, I’ve decided to slowly compile twitter-like definitions of all things schooly. Here’s my first effort, from a post last week:

Schooly writing (noun): Assignments by teachers who don’t want to read them, to students who don’t want to write them; a perpetual and unnecessary misery upon which hinges the student’s future, and the teacher’s present, livelihood; an oxymoron.

Open Thread Invitation to Play: Your Definitions of Schooliness?

Readers of my blog will know about the Open Thread idea. It’s simple: A topic or question is proposed in an Open Thread post, and all readers are encouraged to write comments as long as they would like, to copy them to their own blogs if desired, and to converse with each other in the thread. It’s fun.

I’d like to do an Open Thread here: Questions:

1. List the topics that come to your mind when you think of “Schooliness.”

2. Write your own “Devil’s Definition” and give us all a wicked laugh. I’ll carry them over to Beyond School and add them to a page there.

We know what schooliness is. We teachers live it daily. Let’s have some fun with it.

(Other comments are fine too, of course.)

–

Photo Credits:

• Colbert Motivational Poster by Louisville Joe
• Oscar Wilde Action Figure by -sel

“What is Schooliness?” – Discursus and Open Thread (Clay Burell guest-post 2) originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on March 1, 2008.

1. Prologue: A Remembrance
3. Exegesis on the Above
4. An Edu-Autobiography: My Special Niche in 21st Century Education
5. EnterMission: A Virtual Vacation and Holiday Conversion
6. Semester Two: Shift Happens in My Classroom
7. Next Post: Shift Happens in My School: We Go 1:1 – A MacBook for Every Child

Prologue: A Remembrance

Before I was sentenced to twelve years of forced labor at this modern invention called “school,” I had a couple of years of toddler freedom to explore the vast wonders of my small world. A particularly magical place was my father’s closet. A costume gallery of shirts, pants, coats, ties, and suits of 1950s and ’60s vintage, it was an invitation to drama. This was around 1967, luckily – before the pastel leisure suits arrived. (You have to be a certain age to have that cringing laugh.)

I remember the adventure like it was yesterday. First, drag a chair into the bathroom and place it in front of the sink. Stand on it, reach for the can of Gillette, and lather the face. Breathe deep that minty smell. Then grab the razor, and enact the stately rite I’d so closely studied my father perform each morning: long downstrokes on the cheeks, careful upstrokes under the chin and jaw, short strokes on the “mustache,” careful dabs under the nostrils while pulling down the upper lip – crane close to the mirror for those corners. Careful, careful – there.

Rinse face, towel it, and give one last look to the mirror. Approve it with a nod. Put a couple of dabs of toilet paper on the imaginary nicks to absorb the imaginary blood. Grab the Vitalis, slick back the hair, nod gravely into the mirror one last time. Step down, drag chair back to dining room, and move on to dress.

The shirt is easy to button, and the tie, tied with my own special knot, a thing of pride (no adult is there to tell me I’m wrong). The pants I skip, since the shirt drags the floor. I’m impatient, anyway, for the peak moment of this drama: putting on my father’s shoes.

Wingtips. I didn’t know they were called that then, but I knew I loved them. Those cobbled perforations on toe and sides, the sturdy leather. The choice of black or brown made, the peak moment comes: stepping into those shoes.

They’re big, but so am I. Four and a half, going on five. I can pull it off.

I step into them, turn, and march into the kitchen to announce to my mother that I am ready for breakfast. The smile that breaks out on her face when she turns from the oven to respond? I take that for approval. I eat my breakfast in dignity, the man of the house. Mom clears the dishes – she’s a product of the American ’50s – and off I go to whatever adventure next awaits: hanging out on the roof, exploring the woods behind the house, or inspecting the pregnancy or latest litter – it was always one or the other, it seems – of our guiltlessly promiscuous bitch, Buffy.

Or maybe I hang out with Nanny, my mother’s mother, to play with making sounds and words out of these wonderful cubes with letters on them. It’s called reading.

My first grade teacher showed my reading off to another teacher, a couple years later, as if she deserved the credit. I liked her, but she didn’t. Nanny taught me that before I ever started that thing called school.

Exegesis on the Above

It started as a way to state this: I hope all of Wes’ readers are as generous, as I try to fill his shoes, as my mother was when I tried to fill my father’s.

But then I got carried away by this thing called flow. I like flow. It makes me want to keep writing. As a high school English/Language Arts teacher, this flow is what I wish I could produce in my students. Unfortunately, I teach Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, which forces me to instead force my students to focus on being academic writers. If you read my blog, Beyond School, you know how that rankles. I chose not to pursue a doctorate in literature precisely because I didn’t want to inflict constipated academic analyses on the poets I loved, nor on myself. Now here I am, being forced by a prescribed curriculum and a high-stakes exam to inflict that very thing on my students.

More on that in my next post here, about the “Mini-me” to NCLB’s “Dr. Evil” – the Educational Testing Service.

Anyway, don’t get too Freudian on me about the “filling Wes’ shoes” bit. I’m just saying that Wes is of an entirely different order than I am. I’d read and learned from Wes long before meeting him at the Shanghai Learning 2.0 Conference in October 2007, where I learned how easy and stimulating he is to engage face to face. So it’s an honor to be invited to post here.

An Edu-Autobiography: My Special Niche in 21st Century Education

I’ve explored other educational blogs long enough and widely enough to say that I do think that, as a classroom teacher, I occupy a fairly unique position in 21st century education: it’s a “right place at the right time” thing. Here’s the scoop, by way of a brief history of my teaching career:

I taught at an elite international school in Shanghai for five years. The last year or two I was there, Jeff Utecht of The Thinking Stick blog joined the school. I attended Jeff’s voluntary professional development workshops about Moodle, and began exploring blended learning using Moodle in my Asian history classroom. I loved it, and so did my students. We had fantastic discussions in forums about all sorts of controversial things – whether atheists are by definition without morals (my atheist students put that bit of silliness to rest in short order), whether history textbooks from the United States are any less biased than Japan’s (which relegate such things as the Rape of Nanking to footnotes, if they mention them at all), and more.

I left that school in Shanghai because, while it was a good 20th century school, it felt too big, ossified, and complacent with its own reputation for me to create 21st century change there. Teachers with more seniority or experience held the reigns of power in the English and history departments, and they were not, as a rule, open to the shifts I’d seen in my classroom under Jeff Utecht’s influence.

I took a position at a younger international school in Korea, because it seemed more open to innovation. When I interviewed, high school principal Rich Boerner’s enthusiastic discussion of the school’s ample laptop carts – and his equally enthusiastic responses to my portfolio examples of the Moodle history activities – sold me. (The administration’s openness to allowing me to design a cross-disciplinary English and history curriculum was icing on the cake.) I signed the contract and left Shanghai for Seoul.

My instinct about Korea International School was spot on. In my first year there, I put the laptop carts to constant use in my English and history classes. In both classes, we used Moodle. My English students started blogging in the first semester, as well. At Shanghai, I only had two computers in my classroom for student use. Having a laptop cart with a computer for every student in my Seoul classroom was new, and it took a while to learn a new dance.

EnterMission: A Virtual Vacation and Holiday Conversion

Something wild happened at the end of that first semester. While most of the other teachers at my school took off for Thailand and other sunny climes, I suffered the consequences of my inability to plan vacations, and spent three weeks alone in my apartment in cold, icy Seoul. I had begun a personal blog (nobody knows about that one, since it was anonymous) the summer before, when I was new in Seoul (and newly divorced and alone), but beyond that, I wasn’t tapped in to the world of reading blogs. I just wrote in my own little obscure corner.

But during that vacation, I somehow started reading Karl Fisch’s The Fischbowl,* and for those three weeks read it voraciously. I followed Karl’s links to Darren Kuropatwa, Clarence Fisher,** and Scott McLeod and others, and began learning how infinitely explosive learning could be with those simple laptop carts I was using for Moodle’s walled garden.

And I began blogging about what I learned reading Karl and and his linkages for the rest of that vacation. I was drunk with visions. I wrote about 30 hyper-caffeinated, often wild-eyed (and hilariously plagiaristic and copyright-violating) posts in two weeks on a LiveJournal blog I called, in a fit of prescient luck, “Beyond School.” On New Year’s Eve, I decided to migrate all of those posts to Blogger, and claimed Beyond School on Technorati there on January 1, 2007. ***

I mention this simply because it was, professionally, the watershed moment. It was literally transformative. My personal blog about personal stuff as I adjusted to a new life in a new country was enjoyable to write, but it was still, in the end, just a journal.**** Beyond School – blogging to learn, create, and reflect on other education blogs – was a different thing entirely. It felt more like an inventor’s notebook, an artist’s sketchpad, and a traveler’s log than a journal; and I felt like equal parts Edison, Bosch, and Herodotus. My new blog was a place to dream about educational possibilities in this brave new web, and dream them publicly. Dream I did, and self-publish all on that blog. It made all the difference for the second semester for me and, as you’ll see, for my school.

(And to spoon-feed the obvious: the Shanghai school sent its entire faculty, most expenses paid, to travel to a four-day EARCOS conference as its idea of world class professional development – 20th century thinking at its finest. A year’s worth of EARCOS couldn’t match the value of the 21st century professional development I got simply from reading and commenting on other blogs, and writing on my own – all free, thus kinder to the school budget and, more importantly, to the natural environment.)

Semester Two: Shift Happens in My Classroom

Still swimming under the influence in Karl’s Fischbowl, I started blogging “Teacher Think-alouds” as a way to plan my units with a heavy dose of shift. I can’t recommend this highly enough for teachers. Some quick examples from my first two months of blogging

• The French Revolution Ant-Farm Diaries**** Thinkaloud: a friend still in Shanghai, Jonathan Chambers, reads and comments on my French Revolution unit Think-Aloud, and helps me improve it that way. Then Jason Spivey, who taught World History 9 in the room next to mine, jumped into this wiki adventure, and voila: the first wall came down. Yes, it was just the wall between our two classrooms, but it was more: it was also the walls of time, since students from four separate classes were all writing hyperlinked, interactive historical fiction diaries based on research of the French Revolution.
• The Arabian Nights/1001 Flat World Tales Thinkalouds: Building on the improved student engagement Jason and I saw during the French Revolution collaborative writing, I wanted now to explode the next walls: the ones separating my school from other schools in the world. And this time, it was not for history, but for my Arabian Nights unit in my English class. Inspired by Julie Lindsay‘s and Vicki Davis‘ Flat Classroom Project, I “thoughtaloud” on my blog to find the idea to adapt that to my content-area classroom, then contacted Karl Fisch in Colorado and Jeff Whipple in Canada. Karl hooked me up with an English teacher in his school, and Chris Watson from Honolulu somehow found my little blog – or did I find his? – and came on board (this started a relationship that lasts to this day). Down came the walls, as 130 students from three schools around the globe wrote, revised, and gave peer feedback to each other on the 1001 Tales wiki, then published the best stories on the 1001 Flat World Tales blog.
• A Broken World wiki textbook and companion blog: This unit was a collaboration only between my two world history classes. As this thinkaloud explains, it took minimal planning and labor due to its simplicity: students adapted their paper textbook into a wiki textbook, giving it more engaged language and multimedia content from YouTube and other places, and embedded their own videotaped lectures on their assigned chapters in the wiki. They also blogged reflectively on a group “Broken World” blog about the meaning of World Wars I and II each week.

All of this happened within my first three months of blogging. (You can see more on all those examples and more on my Teaching Gallery page on Beyond School.) Here’s a video describing the Broken World and 1001 Tales projects. (I can’t figure out how to embed it on Wes’ WordPress, sorry.)

Next Post: Shift Happens in My School: We Go 1:1 – A MacBook for Every Child

I’d planned to write this section in this post, but, um – I’m getting married in seven days, and need to take care of buying a certain piece of jewelry today with my fiancee. I think Wes will understand.

But lest you think that next post will be celebratory of the joys of going 1:1, be warned: it will surprise you. While I think the journey is the right one, and will justify itself in the long term, I’ll instead describe some of the hardships I’m facing trying to take my students further beyond school.

Sorry for the length. Thanks for reading – and thanks again, Wes

—

*Karl, I’ve given you grief more than one time since this infatuation stage – normally because my passion makes me a jerk sometimes – but if I’ve never shared how instrumental you were to my awakening, I hope this pays that debt.

**Clarence and Darren must have loved my bumbling first comment on their blogs about how lucky they were to “work with Karl.” I was so wet behind the ears, I assumed that if Karl wrote about them, they must be his protegees.

***I moved again, thanks to Wes’ influence, to a self-hosted WordPress home last October at Beyond-School.org.

***The fact that blogging somehow sparked more of this “mere” journaling – that it sparked me to write more in a few months than I had written in 20 years before blogging – is still wildly significant, though, as a testimony to the power of blogging to motivate writing.

****Thanks to Dan McDowell for this fantastic wiki writing idea.

–

Photo Credits: In Daddy’s Shoes by dacotahsgirl

A Short, Strange Trip into the 21st Century, Part 1 (guest post by Clay Burell) originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on February 29, 2008.

Welcome Clay!

Welcome guest blogger, Clay Burell! originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on February 29, 2008.

Here’s wishing you all the same kind of happiness that’s in Manhattan tonight. Did you catch the news that Kansas State University smeared the University of Texas in Austin today? 41-21! Two years in a row, now — last year here, and this year there. Here I am posting about this, & I’m not even a very big football fan — but I do live with one. Maybe Wes will post a link. I’m sure he’ll be back Sunday or Monday.

Not a Guest Blogger You’d Expect originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on September 29, 2007.

Yesterday I picked my daughter up from the neighbor’s to “fetch” her home for dinner. She was playing with the two boys on their lawn, and they had all made these incredible tents and lean-tos. They designed them with natural resources (branches) as well as bandanas of various colors. It was really cool. (Click on the pic below for more shots)

On the way home, she told me how they learned to do the builds: “We used this really old book, from like… your time!” I chuckled and found it endearing and finished our walk joking with her about “how long ago” that must have been.

The book, I later found out, was a Boy Scout manual… published in 1959. A bit before my time as a boy scout. Like 10 years. But you know what? It did look exactly like the book that I had when I was in the Scouts. The artwork, chapters, info… all the same. I wonder if it’s been upgraded since I was a kid.

I love it when my daughter or my students ask me a question like, “Did you have this when you were a kid?” and the misconceptions that come to light. Most students in my classes are stunned when I tell them we didn’t have personal computers when we we’re kids. And yet, at the same time, most of the same students think I didn’t grow up with TV. Things are fuzzy on the “technological timeline” for many students. Which came first? The chicken or the chicklet?

It’s getting harder to follow the timeline these days, isn’t it? New inventions, new tools, new solutions. And always: upgrade, upgrade, upgrade.

In my lab at school, I have an antique: a Macintosh SE. It sits on the shelf, right in plain site, and I’ve yet to meet a student who recognizes it as a computer. When a student does ask me, “Mr. S, what is that thing?” (which is rare), they’re stunned to find out that it’s a computer. It gets even more interesting, when I pull out my Disk-on-Key and tell them that it is 50 times the size of the hard drive on that computer. This little key, that fits in my pocket.

Here’s some fun:

Show your students this YouTube video (note, if YouTube is blocked at your school, see my post here yesterday for a solution):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44

This is a video of Steve Jobs in 1984 showing the first Macintosh. Try to hide the date from your students, and show them the video out of context. Don’t even tell them who the man is (many probably won’t recognize Steve). Ask them to reflect (possibly on a VoiceThread ) about their reactions to the video. Why do people clap when Steve feeds it a floppy disk? What music is playing at the beginning of the “boot-up”? Does anybody recognize it? Why is that a significant piece of music? Why were people going crazy when the words “Macintosh” scrolled across the screen? Why did he show the simple graphics and fonts? Why did people give the man a standing ovation? What’s the big deal about the computer’s graphics? About its speech capabilities? What year do they think this was shot? How is the audience able to see that little computer?

What would happen if you told them this was a brand new product? Would they want one?

Ask them how much they think this machine costs. (Answer: $2,495)

Next, show them this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScJMBhgb790

This one is of Steve Jobs presenting the iPhone, recorded this year. Students will probably recognize the iPhone… They still might not recognize the man as being Jobs. Ask them to reflect (again, a VoiceThread would be great for this) about their reactions to this video. In the beginning of the video, Steve says that the first Macintosh “changed the whole computer industry.” Do they agree with this statement? How did it change the computer industry? Next, Steve shows the iPod. He says “it changed the entire music industry.” Ask your students again if they agree. How did it change the music industry? Steve calls these “revolutionary products”. What does this mean?

Do your students know how much this machine costs?

Now comes the real fun. Have your students do a “Compare and Contrast” on the videos. Ask them how many years are between these two products. Ask them to compare the presentations themselves. Does Steve deliver in the same style in 2007 as he did in 1984? What about the “slides/video” on the screen behind Steve? What about the audience’s reaction? Which presentation seems to “wow” them more? And finally, what happened to Steve’s hair?

From here, the lessons could go in any direction. You could have students further explore the evolution of the personal computer, build a timeline, and then align it to a timeline of other world events. What else happened during 1984? What other inventions took place over the past 20 years? When was the Internet invented? How long have we had cellphones? What year were your students born?

Hopefully, through all this, you and your students will have a better understanding of what it means to be a “digital native” and how relatively new all this really is. Perhaps this will help bridge the distance between “their time” and “our time” and further extend to a shared examination of how fast the world is changing and what implications that has for all of us. Hopefully the Big Questions will arise: What does this have to do with the way students are learning? What does this mean for us in terms of how teachers should be teaching? What does this mean in thinking about what jobs will be like when students graduate? What will things be like in 5 years? 10 years? 20? 50?

In both videos, Steve gives much time to the idea of Design. According to Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, this is a skill (or sense) that will be essential in this new “Conceptual Age”. Take this lesson to a “Design” level by having your students design the next revolutionary product. What kinds of things need to be considered? What problems exist that need solving? What makes for a good idea? Allow them to create a Steve-Jobs-like presentation to sell it. Post it to YouTube. Make a VoiceThread. Upload it to Flickr.

And PLEASE have them send me the links! I’ll be out back, under a lean-to with the kids, but I can get them on my iPhone.

“Upgrading” by Bob Sprankle originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 22, 2007.

YouTube woes got you down? You’ve a little nugget that would work perfectly in your lesson, or you want to show your staff Karl Fisch’s “Did You Know (2.0)” on the first day back to school? Well if you work in 99.9% of the schools in the U.S. you can’t, can you? (Ok… I totally made up that statistic, but you get the idea). YouTube is blocked in your district, isn’t it? Even the good stuff.

You may already be aware that there are several software solutions for saving the files to view offline, so you can download them to your hard dive when you’re at home and then show them from your own machine later when you’re in the safety/restriction/firewall of your school. The ones I’ve played with to date have been a bit cumbersome, and not always so friendly, often involving some “hoop jumping.”

Well, those days are over. I just found a great web-based converter that is quick, easy and works as simply as you think it should.

It’s called vConvert and can be found at http://vconvert.net/. This online app will convert your FLV files found online (such as YouTube files) to wmv, mov, mp4, mp3, 3gp etc. all at the click of a button.

So here we go:

I take the address from YouTube for Karl Fisch’s movie:

Paste it into the vConvert form:

select the “Mac (.mov)” format so I can play it on my Macbook (you select what flavor you want):

and hit the button “Convert and Download”:

“Did You Know?” is an 8 min 19 sec. movie. It took vConvert 2 min 17 sec. to convert and 44 seconds to download on my cable connection. Not bad, huh?

So, yes, it takes a bit of planning ahead, but now you have Karl Fisch’s movie on your hard drive and are free from the constraints of firewall protection.

You CAN take it with you! by Bob Sprankle originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 21, 2007.

There’s a great television show called “30 Days” created by Morgan Spurlock (the director/writer of “Super Size Me”). In each episode, real people are put into completely different environments than they are used to — for thirty days— to explore current and relevant topics and social issues. The show is smart, engaging, and fuel for great conversation starters to the big issues of today. The people who join the “30 Days” experiments do so willingly and come from an opposite “point of view” or “lifestyle” than the one they’re entering. An atheist goes to live with a Christian family. A man who lost his job to outsourcing goes to live with a family in India who work in the very type of jobs that have been outsourced. Spurlock himself goes to prison. In each show’s conclusion, you hear how the experiences have changed the participants, gave them new information and knowledge that they didn’t have before. Minds are changed. Bridges are built. It’s a great show. Check it out.

So why am I telling you about all this? Because I put myself through my own “30 Days” Experiment. Granted it was much less taxing than any that Spurlock’s participants have gone through and actually required very little effort on my part, but the premise was the same: I was prejudiced. I had certain beliefs that I thought were unshakable. I had my mind made up on something that I hadn’t even experienced. That’s right: I was a Twitter Bigot.

I thought Twitter had absolutely no value whatsoever. You can hear me profess this on several “Seedlings” shows over the past months. I couldn’t figure out why so many people who I so highly respect were raving about it. And so, on July 15, 2007, I voluntarily entered into a “30 Days” program to see if the technology itself could change me.

And I’m embarrassed to say that the Twitter conversion took hold of me within the first hour of using it. So much for thirty days. As one of the converted, I fully realize that Twitter is not for everyone, but even though I don’t consider myself a twitter-addict, I find myself returning to it throughout the day (on at least an hourly basis) and I look forward to it like I look forward to a good cup of morning coffee. I wouldn’t want to quit at this point. I could, mind you… I’m not an addict… but I don’t need to… really… I could live without it… but why would I want to…

Rather than recount some of my early realizations, here is a comment I posted on a Will Richardson’s blog post about Twitter about halfway through my “30 days”:

I didn’t get Twitter at all when I heard about it. I thought it was a “waste of what little time I have.” Why would I Twitter when I can barely keep up with my Blog? I “made” myself finally try it, and I have to admit, it took about an hour of use to finally see what people were talking about.

I signed up for an account in time for BLC07 and the night before the conference, I watched Darren Kuropatwa’s saga unfold in real time –his computer crashed big time with 3 presentations looming– and the amount of support he received by people who were just a “twit away” was astounding. In some ways, I see Twitter as the “Bat Signal”. Just ask and you shall receive.

I also like how it changes my consciousness. Seeing “blips” from people I know and care about pop up on my screen throughout the day has to be a good thing.

Example:

Twit: Oh, look what’s Cheryl’s doing. I’m now thinking of Cheryl. That’s nice.

Twit: Oh, look. Dean’s on his way home. I’m now thinking of Dean. I hope he has an easy and safe journey.

In some small and sometimes big ways, the connections we all have are popping up on my screen throughout the day. They remind me of these great people, they put me in the present here-and-now of their lives, pulling me out of my own. Twitter as meditation. Twitter as “prayer beads.”

While driving back from DC last week, whenever the family needed a pit stop, I twittered in on my phone. Sometimes I updated my own whereabouts, sometimes I just caught up on what others were doing. The twits sometimes gave me a chuckle, sometimes gave me something to think about. When we got back in the car, often I’d update my wife about what someone was currently doing/thinking/writing. This would start us off in a new discussion topic for the next 50 miles or so. Twitter as conversation starter, thought provoker. Much like a micro “book group.” Very nice when traveling.

One of my favorite things about Twitter is when people announce that they’ve just published a post on their own blogs. This pulls me away from what I’m currently working on more than anything else. Twitter as “hot off the press.” Freshly baked cookies.

I “made” myself try twitter for a “30 Days” experiment to see if the technology could change me. Looks like it has.

Tweet!

At the BLC conference the value of Twitter became even more apparent as it provided an easy way to track down folks at the hotel, give updates to friends who weren’t at the conference, report back to my family about how the week was going. Twitter also provided a “back channel” for conversations during conference presentations.

Twitter is a natural compliment to the professional community that I belong to. It’s as if now I can “run into” these colleagues by the “water cooler”, in the “staff room” —even though they live thousands of miles away. In fact, I can “run into” the folks in my learning network more than the people who work in my own Elementary School; such is the nature of the busy routines of teachers.

One of the greatest things about Twitter is people are constantly sharing new discoveries, new links, much like we would do if we were all working in the same room, shouting over our shoulder, “Say, you got to see this!”

I’ve gotten news-breaking stories on Twitter (how I found out about the Minn. bridge collapse). I was able to follow the ups and downs of the Skype outage last week as people in different parts of the world announced when it was up where they lived, and when it went down again.

I was alerted to some very funny JibJab videos of some very well-respected Edu-bloggers “cutting the rug”, which I would have probably missed without Twitter.

I find out when good friends have lunch, what they’re watching from Netflix, how their workshops went. I got this from my good friend Alice the other day: “A beautiful hawk sat in a tree and watched as I gardened all afternoon.” What a wonderful share! A poem, really.

And how delightful to hear last night from Ewan M. (from Scotland, mind you) that his daughter was born.

Twitter is both “big” and “small”. Captivating or able to be ignored. Important and insignificant. I really can’t imagine what other people, other than educators who want to talk about education and transformation all the time, would use Twitter for, but again, I show my prejudice, my ignorance.

In short, I feel richer for all the Tweets I get each day. Thanks to all the “Twits” out there.

Now… how do we use this in the classroom?

30 Days with Twitter by Bob Sprankle originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on August 20, 2007.

Dear student,

Thank you for kicking off this series of letters. I must say you have given me pause for thought. However, your questions are really unsettling and puzzling to me. Your questions don’t have just one answer! Your questions can not be answered by me reading a book or an article. Your questions can NOT be googled. Your questions have to do with me collaborating with others and having conversations.

Hey student, will you show me, will you share with me?

I remember playing monopoly and someone, usually the banker held the money and the rules, well now think of monopoly as a 3D version with you trying to make money by buying up property and others trying to get around the board without landing on property with too many hotels, with helicopters zooming in with vacationing guests, travel agents bidding their clients to “stay on Boardwalk, it is the best” and you trying to watch behind your back for the next new guest, real estate broker, banker etc. who is sneaking up behind you! Monopoly could not be played in a hurried fashion. However in todays online games the pace is frenzied, hurried, yet the time flies by!

Different realms appear in online games,there are so many rules, rules, rules, there is NO WAY most of the players read many of the rules. If you don’t read the rules, then how do you play the game? Trial and error, collaborating with friends and enemies! Multi tasking, chatting, collaborating! Even if you read some of the rules there would be many exceptions and “cheats” to get by the roadblocks. If you read the rules you would never get to play the game.

So, what are you learning student? That although there are rules, and explanations about the games you are engaged in, the reading you do is not fill in the blank! There isn’t much that is static, there isn’t much that is historical about what you are playing. By this I mean, the games haven’t been around for a long time so you are constantly learning how to do things, new learning. However, it looks like to me that the most important things to do in these games is that you learn how to collaborate, chat with others, find the right time zone to enter the game and be aware!

Hey student, will you show me, will you share with me?

Blizzard Oates ,
avatar name in SL,
aka Cheryl Oakes

Here are some of the few resources I found about online gaming. Take a risk and read further.

Beth Ritter Guth, is a college professor who has designed her college literacy classes in Second Life. Read some of her students work, you will be amazed at the depth of their writing! Students here are NOT just writing for their teacher, they are writing for the world.

Ex Paine , is a secondary teacher, check out this site for great conversations about gaming, Second Life and how it all impacts education.

Teen Grid in Second Life, here are some resources for examining Second Life for a teen grid and how Teen Second Life could be used for educational purposes.

Here are fascinating essays on MMORPG’s and economics and education. There is even an online conference in fall 2007.

The reason the army has taken the challenge to develop one of the most popular online games is this is where they are spreading the word and marketing. Look at their success. Look at the changes they have made in the past FEW years. Has education even made a stab at these kinds of changes? Have you?

Beginners guide in World of Warcraft 2. Teachers and administrators check out the reading level in this online manual. Check out the comprehension if you think these games are dumb. Better yet, read a few paragraphs and check your own comprehension. I don’t mean see if you can answer questions about your reading either. Go to the game and see how long you survive!

PS
Or you can be like me and check out an easier version of an online game Webkinz.
When I was researching for this story my niece popped up online and asked if I wanted to play a game in Webkinz. She is 500 miles away, and I only see her a few times a year. However, through Webkinz I get to play games with her and watch her strategies grow and sometimes I even talk to her on the phone and she explains the games to me. She is 8 and I am 55. I am learning so much from her and I know I will be able to apply this to other games as I mature in my gaming “profession”. BTW, she beat me in the game! I, for one, am glad I have some summertime to perfect my game image. Now if I can only learn how to land gracefully in SL, I would meet my standard!

Dear Student, (fill in your name) originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 13, 2007.

Dear administrator,

I am writing after an exhausting year of instructing my students. I want to thank you for hiring me and keeping me in this position. I have been teaching this same content for the past 5, 10, 15 years ( you choose). Each year it gets harder and harder to teach these kids. They come to school tired from all the activities they are involved in. They are tired from staying up late watching TV, I don’t even have time to watch TV! I don’t understand why they are not doing well on their tests. I know my content, I know my students from 5, 10, 15( again you choose) years ago did much better on these tests. I don’t think the tests are testing what I have been teaching, but rather testing students who are not interested in learning the way they have in the past.

You say maybe I should change the way I am presenting information to my students? What do you mean? I have a new whiteboard, I use colored markers, I have the latest maps to show the changes in the world. Well, last week I even borrowed a projector from the teacher next door and I showed a powerpoint presentation I found on the Internet. Oh, I haven’t had time to learn how to make a powerpoint presentation, the kids all know how to do it, and well, if I had time I would, but it is not important, it will take too much time out of the content I need to deliver before we have the next testing dates.

You say maybe I should engage my students more using technology? You can’t be serious, that would be giving in to them, they spend way too much time on Facebook, Ning and Myspace as it is. What, you say even the presidential candidates have a myspace page? Well, that is, that is not education that is politics.

Oh, another thing, parents, those parents just are not as involved as they were before. I finally gave out my email address to parents but I told them that it is easier for me to answer their questions with a phone call, but I can’t always get a phone line out of the building, so I just wait for them to call me. What ,you say, I could have conversations with parents by email or a blog. It is just not as personal, you can lose the meaning of some conversations through email and blogs, well, that is just way too public to have conversations in a blog. You can’t possibly think I will publish what we are doing in my class on the Internet for all to see anytime they want. Well, maybe next year I will try using email more with my parents. Only if I find the time.

Exhausted and looking forward to summer,

Your 20th century teacher trying hard to find the time to move to the 21st century.

PS
You know if I knew how to use a blog, or saw some examples of how a blog could work for me I might give it a try next year. What, you say, you will blog with me? You’ve been thinking of having a blog for the past few months?Well, I guess if you had time in your busy administrator schedule to have a blog, I too could find a little time to try out posting to a blog.

Here are a few examples that may just jumpstart your journey into the 21st Century. There are many people online who will support you! Just start reading a blog a day, you will be hooked. You will find the best staff development and encouragement online!

EdTechTalk.com – a great place to listen to some good conversations about 21st Century Literacy.

K12Online Conference

Melinda Miller- an elementary principal who just started blogging and podcasting

Mark Alhness- an elementary teacher who blogs and podcasts with his students

Tim Lauer- an elementary principal who blogs about his school

Bob Sprankle- an elementary technology integrator who just finished podcasting with whole grades of students!

Vicki Davis- a middle school teacher who began blogging a little over a year ago

Jen Wagner- the absolute best at collaborative online learning projects

Sharon Peters- a high school technology teacher who gets her students collaborating worldwide

Dr. Cheri Toledo- an education professor who believes that requiring her students to use Web 2.0 tools will have far reaching implications.

Be on vacation, be cool and learn new tools.

Dear administrator, originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 12, 2007.

Dear Teacher, (substitute your name here)

I have heard recently that teachers don’t get much thanks from their students until sometimes years later when you notice that we have become productive members of society. But, I want to thank you for this year and perhaps….. well, read on.
Thank you for knowing your content area. That is really important for you to know your content so the administration, parents and students have trust in you to transfer that knowledge to us. I want to especially thank my World After 1945 teacher for having assignments from our book and for making sure that I learned the dates of important world events and the impact of those same events (from the textbook author’s perspective) and for having assignments where I just had to fill in the blank.
I want to thank my literature teacher for having assignments from Beowulf ( Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem composed in the later Early Middle Ages (in the 8th, 9th or 10th century), and for making sure that we read the old English version and translate it into modern day meaning. I am sure I will use that knowledge when I am writing a technical manual about how to navigate the website of my future business.

I want to thank my math teacher for having assignments from the textbook and for making sure that we learned how to answer the questions at the end of the chapters on our own, as that is the sure way to determine if the students understand the process.
I want to thank you for keeping the school day short enough not to interfere with my most important and significant learning which happens as soon as I leave the building. After all, I am easily able to finish my fill in the blank answers, reading assignments and predictable answers to your questions. Which leaves me enormous amounts of time to pretend to my parents that “I am researching a topic for my World After 1945 class, Mom, I can’t come do my chores just yet.” (Translate I am adding some photos to my Facebook and tagging my friends to see what they are doing, I’ll do chores at the last minute.) I want to thank you for keeping my assignments short so as not to interfere with my (MMORPG) Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
where I meet up with friends from all time zones and like it is my job to take on a role in this game. “Oh Dad, I can’t come and move the trash yet, I am finishing up my math problems, it is a little difficult tonight I can’t solve for x in this really long equation.”

Last but not least, I want to thank you for keeping cell phones and mp3 players out of the school day, you can’t imagine how distracting it is for me to have to answer all those text messages during school and keep in touch with my circle of friends including calls and messages from my parents when there have been changes in our family plans.

But, I was wondering if maybe next year we could add just a few social networking tools to your content? I was thinking it would be interesting to chat with some students in India to find out what kind of information they are learning in their classes since I will be competing with them when I go for a job or enrolling for college. I wonder if they learn about mathematics the same way we do. I wonder how long their school day is, how long their school year is? Then I am wondering if the kids in the UK are still reading Beowulf, and how their teachers teach them about the purpose of Beowulf in today’s world and wouldn’t it be interesting to have a dialogue or chat with some kids in school in the UK. Finally, I was wondering if there was a way we could work on an environmental problem with some kids from around the world to see if there is something that we have in common and if some of us have ideas that might just help the environment now rather than waiting 5-9 more years when we finish high school.
You see, teacher, I am curious, I want to learn, I want to be challenged, I want to be engaged in my learning. To be honest, your curriculum doesn’t always provide for the connections I need to make my learning purposeful. But, I do want to thank you for trying to deliver the content and knowledge. Please add one technology tool, social networking, let us work collaboratively like we already are when we are outside of school. Hey, give us great assignments and we will work longer and harder. You will see.

Fondly,
Your 21st century student.( substitute one of your student’s names)
*******
Here are some great blogs and wikis designed for the 21st century learner.

Thanks to Clarence Fischer for the Clarence Fisher Project, SnowLake Manitoba, Canada

Darren Kuropatwa Winnepeg Manitoba, Canada

Susan Ettenheim, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, NYC, Youth Voices

Alice Barr, Yarmouth High School, ME

Here is a collaborative science program, worldwide connections.Globe

Over and Out,

Cheryl Oakes, guest blogger

Dear Teacher, ( substitute your name here) originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 10, 2007.

The following is not intended to be a political statement but rather an example of a mashup. It is indeed a powerful example. With tools available to students today, this type of work, although time consuming and somewhat tedious, empowers students to tell very powerful and important stories….for little or likely no cost. There likely may be some copyright issues and if that’s the case, here’s another mashup that deals with that issue.

Well that’s it for me. I want to thank Wes for giving me the “chair” for the weekend. If anyone wants to see me, I’ll be performing regularly over at Ideas and Thoughts. Good Night everybody and God Bless.

Our musical performer tonight is George Bush originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 3, 2007.

The Internet has quickly become the most valuable resource for students. Internet based resources allow for greater access to information, going far beyond what any school library could realistically provide. This information is usually more current and can provide relevant up-to-the-minute information, allowing for instant details on current topics or events. Learning is also becoming more equitable due to the Internet. With a reliable Internet connection, a student has access to the same resources (and classes), as any other student in the world.

I have also tried to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in my classroom. Web 2.0 publishing tools are some of the most valuable tools that can be used by students and teachers. By being able to digitally publish and present their work, students become more motivated about their learning. Using social software tools to share information can greatly enhance student learning, especially through jigsaw styled activities.

2. What makes this change more or less challenging?

I believe the greatest challenge for a teacher implementing new technologies in the classroom is their own fear of trying some of these new tools available. With the workload most teachers have they may not believe they have the time to develop their skills to a level that they may think is suitable for implementing the tools in the classroom. I would recommend teachers to take baby-steps, to not be scared of implementing some of these new technologies in the classroom and to be willing to learn with their students.

A teacher should also try to access those within their school, division and profession that are already utilizing new technological tools in their classrooms. We should not try to reinvent the wheel when we have numerous resources that we can learn from and build upon. There are many so called “experts” we can access that have tried these tools in the classroom and they are always more than willing to help.

3. How does using technology make learning more relevant?

The Internet provides many opportunities that students have never had before. The timeliness of the information can not be matched by any other traditional form of resources. The access that it allows provides equal opportunities for all students no matter where they are located.

New technological tools can also give much more meaning to learning. With students being able to simply publish their work with the click of a button, they can quickly share their materials and collaborate with students in their own class or anywhere in the world. By being able to control this part of their learning, students are more focused and motivated. With online publishing collaborative learning is much easier and I believe that student learning can be greatly enhanced.

The technological world that our students live in is much different from the one many of their teachers know. As teachers, we must adapt the way we teach students so it matches their evolving learning patterns. Teaching is no longer a one-way process, learning needs to be interactive and involve the students as full participants.

4. How is working with others more or less difficult than working by yourself?

Within my classroom I have not directly worked with any other teachers. However through my own Personal Learning community and various Division based in-services, we have been able to share ideas and work with each other to help incorporate new teaching tools.

I have been indirectly influenced by the work of many people within my profession. By using RSS feeds I have been able to observe the work of other teachers and have been able to adapt some of the things they are doing in their classrooms into my own.

5. Why is it important to collaborate with others?

It is an absolute must. As teachers we do not have enough time to test out every possible new tool and develop it from scratch into an effective learning device. We need to work with others to see what works and to discover the possibilities or limitations of new technologies.

6. How are you addressing higher order thinking skills?

I have found that by incorporating new technological tools in the classroom, student learning has been greatly enhanced. By being able to be active and involved learners, students are going far beyond basic comprehension levels and are able to apply and synthesize their information into presentations that are far beyond the work they may have done in a traditional classroom. The tools have made students powerful and have given them an outlet to express themselves in a way that has meaning.

6. How would you describe your Personal Learning Network?

In the past I have often described the role of a teacher in a small community without colleagues in similar subject areas, to being similar of living on an island. Even though I am often “isolated” within my school, with technology I now feel I am now part of an archipelago. Technology has definitely allowed me to create links and develop my own personal learning network. Tools such as email, VOIP and video conferencing have allowed me to connect with other teachers to share ideas and to learn new ways to enhance my students’ learning. Another effective tool has been RSS feeds. RSS feeds have allowed me to see what other teachers are doing and to consider new ideas, without spending an endless amount of time to search out these resources. With technological tools the world has become much smaller and more accessible.

Thanks Peter for visiting us and all the best as you continue to develop ideas and learning strategies for your students. Also a special congratulations on your recent assignment as principal of Bengough School. Your leadership will be an added value to your school.

Introducing Peter Bell originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 2, 2007.

My first guest is a comedian from Canada. He’s a former educator and recently appeared on Last Comic Standing. Please welcome Mr. Gerry Dee:

BTW Wes, I added a humor section. He’ll never have me back!

For my first guest…. originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on June 1, 2007.

For those who don’t know me or were expecting to read one of Wes’ provactive posts. This ain’t Wes.

My name is Dean Shareski and I blog at Ideas and Thoughts. I’m a digital learning consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan. I met Wes like most of you via the blogosphere. Wes and I did meet once in person in 2006 at FETC. We’ve had a number of contacts, often in impromptu Skype demos, and we also have an involvement in a blog about our spiritual journeys. Wes and I share a passion for digital storytelling and meaningful assessment.

This is my second run at guest blogging for Wes. The pressure is on to produce some quality posts in the tradition of Wes Fryer. I’ll see what I can do.  Think of me as that guest host Johnny used to bring in. Most of the guests gave the new host a break and the audience really wanted them to do well.
Well here I am. Consider this my monologue.

Herrrrrrrrrrrrre’s Dean! originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on May 31, 2007.

Welcome Dean Shareski originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on May 31, 2007.

Below, you will find a copy of the letter I will be giving my administration (which I have a very good relationship with) on Monday and if you have questions, comments, or additions – please feel free to let me know.

Dear (name withheld),

I would like to have a moment of your time to discuss the recent decision to ban iPod at (my school name.)

In the last few weeks and months, the iPod has come under a great deal of scrutiny in the news on the misuse of the iPod within the classroom. I also understand that several students at (school name) have not actually cheated yet, but have made comments that have made the teachers suspect that if opportunity presented itself, they would cheat.

In no way would I ever wish to be an administrator and have to deal with all the issues that you have to, but if I could – can I tell you some benefits of using the ipod and suggest a way that perhaps they can be used more productively in our school?

The iPod is a device that is not only beneficial for listening to music – it is so much more. I know that you yourself have an iPod and we have discussed many times about the podcasts we listen to. So, I think you will understand that if we ban iPod, we are banning the possibility of students (and teachers) benefiting from being able to listen to podcasts.

Also, with the microphone I showed you, we will be banning the opportunity for our students and our teachers to make recordings. Mr. (name withheld) has been using his ipod to record his classes and has made those mp3’s available for students who had missed his class. I also know that the Spanish teacher was also using the ipod to record student conversations. And now with this ban, they will not be able to continue these activities.

The iPod also can be a portable harddrive which allows our students to save their homework assignments to bring from home and you can also download and listen to books, articles (and yes, movies and tv shows!)

I would like to propose the following iPod directives for next year and would love to talk possibilities with you.

#1 – An iPod On or Off option directed COMPLETELY by the teacher. That’s it – simplistic. We won’t make it argumentative by saying “if the teacher isn’t talking – because then they will argue that the chapel speaker isn’t technically a “teacher” – and we can’t say only when the teacher is speaking – because sometimes there is learning to be done when the teacher is not saying a word. The rule would be simple – the teacher decides whether iPods can be be On or Off.

And if necessary – Rule #2 – if you have an iPod with you at school, it will be visible ON YOUR DESK during all tests and exams.

I feel that with these two rules, you will successfully handle the misuse of iPod, yet continue to provide an opportunity for the iPod to be used again at (school name!)

When you have time, I would love to chat with you more about this!

And if I haven’t told you lately, I love working here!

Jennifer Wagner

It is NOT the iPod’s Fault originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on May 6, 2007.

But, because I was challenged by a friend to “Open My Opportunities” a bit……I wandered in and spent a bit more time there…….and I am seeing potential – FOR AN EDUCATOR. (I will continue to strongly state that Second Life is NOT for kids – but I do invite you to read more about the Teen Island Option.)

What I have found, at Second Life, is a new “watering-hole” for educators to share information. My “safe place” at Second Life is the ISTE building. (Click here for the SLURL.) There is usually almost always a docent there to help you out and on Tuesday and Thursday nights; there are both formal and informal gatherings to participate in. (9pm EST/6pm PST) There is a white board where presentations can be shown and there have been some very lively and also educational conversations occur. Each week is like a mini conference session – and it is worth your time to come check it out.

I decided to jump in with both feet and even “rent” an apartment in Second Life. Many other educators are doing the same on EduIsland and EduIsland II and if you wander around long enough you will probably bump into Will Richardson, David Warlick, or Kathy Schrock – all who are now home owners as well – and Discovery Educators just moved in too! The verdict is still out on whether I will keep the apartment – it’s a week by week lease – but it is interesting to see the connections that can be made and the conversations that ARE occurring in Second Life.

Check out these sites for more Second Life Information:
Kevin Jarrett — http://www.storyofmysecondlife.com/
Matrix Learning — http://matrixlearningsl.wordpress.com/
Victoria Gloucester — http://www.victoriagloucester.net/
Dr. Kelly Woestman –
http://teachinghistory.typepad.com/technology/social_networking/index.html
Four-Eyed Technologist — http://www.ryanbretag.com/technologist/
Sloodle — http://www.sloodle.com/
Second Life Education — http://secondlife.com/education
Second Life Education Wiki –
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
And look for me there – I am MacsMom Alcott!!

Guest Blogger — Jennifer Wagner
Second Life Photo Album

Do you need a Second Life?? originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on May 5, 2007.

I love collaborating and always have – though in the past I had had different names for it. Pen pals, class buddies, round tables, and a variety of other ways I met and conversed with teachers (and classrooms) outside of my own 4 classroom walls. You might have some other examples – but hopefully you see my thought pattern.
The availability of collaboration tools (blogs, wikis, skype, podcasts, email, Google apps, web pages, photoshares, and more) has grown immensely in the last 12 months and if you haven’t embraced the chance of collaborating with another classroom(s) you are missing many MANY opportunities of bringing some fantastic and valuable teaching moments into your classroom.

There are a variety of websites that are offering collaboration ideas for you – so please take the time to visit:

Susan Silverman’s Projects
(http://kids-learn.org/)
Elementary Age Projects, LadyBugs registering NOW!

Clarence Fisher Project
(http://internationalteenlife.pbwiki.com/group9)
International Teen Life, Using Wikis, Podcasts, & More

Global Schoolhouse Project Registry
(http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/index.cfm)
59 projects available NOW to join, Ages PreK – 12th Grade

Oz Projects
(http://www.ozprojects.edna.edu.au/
sibling/homeFirefoxHTML%5CShell%5COpen%5CCommand )
A “DROP OF LIFE” project begins on May 29th

E-Pals
(http://www.epals.com/)
Connect with over 7 million students and teachers from 191 countries in a safe online environment.

Global Collaboration Workshop Links
(http://www.cesa4.k12.wi.us/programs-services/
itech/meetings-workshops/workshoplinks/globalcollaboration.htm)
List of 30 project sites compiled by Naomi Harm

Technospud Projects
(http://www.technospudprojects.com)
O.R.E.O. Project will celebrate its NINTH year this October, “Salute To Seuss” Project begins in August 2007, plus many more!

Please add your project link lists to the comment area and if you have participated in an online collaboration – please tell us about it, and provide a link to showcase your involvement!

Jennifer Wagner
Blog: http://onlineprojects4teachers.com/wordpress/

Celebration of Collaboration originally appeared on Moving at the Speed of Creativity on May 4, 2007.