Category: web 2.0

  • Inbox Alchemy via Vibe Coding

    Inbox Alchemy via Vibe Coding

    Back in September I wrote about my “DIY Federated Reader” experiment: a Gmail-to-Mastodon bot that turns my newsletter inbox into a public, federated news stream I’m able to read as a “feed” in Flipboard. This project is now featured on the “Trusted Voices” page of ResistAndHeal.com, a website and project I started in December 2024.…

  • Google Sites Comment Magic

    Google Sites Comment Magic

    For a long time, I’ve wanted a simple way for my students – in this case, my adult Sunday School class participants—to share comments directly on a webpage I’ve made with Google Sites. Google Sites doesn’t include a built-in commenting system in its “new” version which debuted in 2021. Commercial commenting widgets like Elfsight can…

  • Podcasting with Substack

    Podcasting with Substack

    I bring tidings of GREAT joy: After many hours of work this weekend, all 361 episodes of “The EdTech Situation Room” podcast are now available on Substack… AND are updating to other podcatcher / podcast listening platforms. (Spotify, YouTube, PocketCasts, Apple Podcasts, etc.) This change was a long time coming, and in this post I’ll…

  • DIY Federated Reader

    DIY Federated Reader

    We live in a fractured and polluted information environment. The sheer volume of content, combined with algorithms designed for engagement over enlightenment, can be overwhelming. Yet, within this chaos, there are countless people and organizations sharing fantastic, potentially transformative ideas. The challenge is finding them. This is where we can step in for each other,…

  • Hijacked Minds and Broken Trust

    Hijacked Minds and Broken Trust

    In this wide-ranging podcast conversation, Scott Galloway discusses numerous issues of interest with Sam Harris, including how important it is that we rebuild trust in institutions across our society and culture, and the toxic power of Twitter / X in hijacking our minds for the worse. Listen to the original podcast episode on Pocket Casts.…

  • Media Kit Lesson

    Media Kit Lesson

    Today in my middle school web design class, we wrapped up a multi-week unit and project I call our “Image and Video Media Kit.” In this post I’ll summarize the unit and share the techniques I used for student presentations this semester, which went smoothly. You can access this full lesson (including sample media kits…

  • Multi-dimensional Digital Identity

    Multi-dimensional Digital Identity

    This is a comment and reflection I shared on this blog post by Allysia Doratti, one of Dean Shareski‘s EC&I 832 graduate students in fall 2024: Mirror, Mirror, On My Feed: Exploring Identity in a Digital World. Hi Allysia- Thanks so much for this thoughtful post and especially for the reflections on digital identity and…

  • Facebook Friend Safety Tips

    Facebook Friend Safety Tips

    I’m on Facebook frequently, and I’ve noticed it’s become a REAL MESS because of poor account security and rampant cybercrime. I have multiple relatives and friends now who have lost control over their Facebook accounts. Sometimes these individuals have created another Facebook account, creating confusion about “what is the real account?” Some of these people…

  • ALT Text for Web Accessibility

    ALT Text for Web Accessibility

    In the semester web design course I teach for middle school students, I share a series of videos and activities in a lesson series on web accessibility. I first became aware of the importance of web accessibility when I served as the first “Director of Distance Learning” for the College of Education at Texas Tech…

  • Favorite Digital Utilities

    Favorite Digital Utilities

    What are the websites, web services, and software applications you use regularly and can’t imagine doing without? I call these my “favorite digital utilities,” and today I created a specific webpage for them on my curriculum / lesson sharing website which is built with Google Sites. As an example, I used the website Flickr to…