Month: August 2011
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The Roadmap to Blended Learning and the #playingwithmedia Classroom Challenge
I’m presenting a repeated workshop for teachers in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, Monday. I’ve titled the presentation, “The Roadmap to Blended Learning.” The session description is: What is blended learning and why should educators embrace it? How can we move towards a vision of blended learning in our schools? This session presents an OVERVIEW, WAYPOINTS, and…
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ACLU Sues Missouri School District for Overblocking Internet Websites
Cross-posted from Balanced Filtering in Schools. eSchoolNews’ August 17, 2011 article, “ACLU sues Missouri school district over internet filtering,” provides details about a new lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Camdenton R-III School District in central Missouri. The lawsuit is part of the ACLU’s “Don’t Filter Me” campaign. Camdenton Schools are…
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Images and Thoughts From Back to School Night – August 2011
This week we’ve had “back to school nights” at the grades 6-12 public magnet school where both my older children attend, as well as the local public elementary school where my youngest child studies. This evening was elementary back to school night, and I snapped a few photos (aspiring iPhonographer that I am) which beg…
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Starting the School Year Off Right with a Faculty & Staff Lip Dub
Faculty and staff in O’Neill, Nebraska, have kicked off a new school year with a fun new media twist: In two hours they planned and recorded a wonderful lip dub set to Journey’s song, “Don’t Stop Believing.” There are TONS of great scenes in this lib dub, but my favorite is definitely the guitar solo…
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Ways to Subscribe to a Blog in Google Reader on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
Mobile learning can be wonderful. Unlike laptop or desktop computers, mobile computing devices are generally more accessible. They can fit in our pocket. They’re almost always available. As I use Twitter during the day (often with the Hootsuite app) I often find blogs I’d like to read later. My favorite thing to do when I…
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Watch Flash Videos & Play Flash Games on iOS Devices
The Puffin Web Browser is a 99 cent application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch which (unlike the default Safari web browser) supports Flash content. This means users can not only play fullscreen Flash videos natively on their iOS devices, it also means many Flash-based online games can be played. I first tested the Puffin…
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Multiple Choice Testing on an iPod Touch with NearPod
“Technology integration” can mean many different things to many different people. Some folks advocating for “blended learning” these days intend to virtually chain students to screens and online computer aided instruction (CAI) systems for hours each day. (Hopefully those folks aren’t leading your school or state department of education.) While some CAI programs can be…
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Present to 14 iPads Simultaneously with Idea Flight
If you have an opportunity to share a presentation with a group of people equipped with their own iPads, consider using the application “Idea Flight” instead of a projector and screen. Idea Flight is a free app for your audience members (up to 14 “passengers”) to view slides YOU share and control as the “pilot.”…
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Lessons Learned About Enhanced or Multimedia EPUB eBook Validation
We are living in the midst of a “sea change” for books, literacy, reading and writing. The way in which official standards for EPUB eBooks are transitioning to support embedded video and audio files provide vivid a case in point. I spent most of this afternoon and evening debugging and fixing the enhanced (or “multimedia”)…