I am sure you have seen or read all the hype about the Apple iPad. I must admit, I am a tech toys junky, but the iPad is impressive. It does not allow you to multi-task which is a definite drawback but it sure looks like fun! Watch the video below and post a comment to let us know what you think.
You can also click Notify Me to sign up to be notified when iPad is available to order.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Prezi For Presentations
Since I used a Prezi in the last post to show Google search tips, I thought you might enjoy seeing just what Prezi is. This presentation says it better than I ever could.
The instructor/student account at Prezi is free. To create an EDU Enjoy account just go to http://prezi.com/
The instructor/student account at Prezi is free. To create an EDU Enjoy account just go to http://prezi.com/
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Google Search Tips
Do you think you know all there is to know about how to search with Google? Well, watch this Prezi presentation. I bet you will learn at least one new search trick. I learned several!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Haiti - How to Help
We had Monday off so I decided to wash some of the grime from our car. I went to the Green Lantern car wash and found that they will match your donation, dollor for dollar, to the American Red Cross Hatian relief effort.I have added a list of other organizations who are accepting donations. This list is, by no means, complete but does give all of us a quick and simple way to help.
American Red Cross
Online: http://www.redcrossstl.org
Telephone: Call 314-516-2782 or 314-516-2800
Text message: Text the word “HAITI” to 90999, and a $10 donation will be given to the Red Cross payable on your next mobile bill.
Doctors Without Borders
Online: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
Telephone: 1-888-392-0392
UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake
Telephone: 800-4UNICEF
Food for the Poor Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.foodforthepoor.org
Telephone: 954-427-2222
Catholic Relief Services
Online: https://secure.crs.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3181&3181.donation=form1
Telephone: 888-277-7575
World Vision Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.worldvision.org
Telephone: 866-280-6587
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Front Pages at Newseum
Today's Front Pages on the Newseum website provides quick access to the front page of newspapers across the world. You can search via the List or Map. Once you select a front page, links are provided to view the page as a "Readable PDF", or to access the website where you can view the entire paper for the day.
It was interesting to find newspapers in Japan, Kuwait, etc. written in English and compare their headlines and articles to those here in the U.S. It was also fun to read the Manhattan, KS news account of the Wildcats' 71-62 victory over Texas!!
How might you use this site in your classes?
It was interesting to find newspapers in Japan, Kuwait, etc. written in English and compare their headlines and articles to those here in the U.S. It was also fun to read the Manhattan, KS news account of the Wildcats' 71-62 victory over Texas!!
How might you use this site in your classes?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Middlespot Video Tutorial
Middlespot is a new kind of search engine that would be super for student research and collaborative projects. You can share mashups created here, collaborate on them, add your own files and photos, etc, etc. It is rather hard to explain what a mashup at Middlespot would look like. View the video to get a clearer picture!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
100+ Free Internet Resources
This site is just full of, well, as the title indicates:
100+ Free Internet Resources
The categories include:
100+ Free Internet Resources
The categories include:
- Digital Storytelling
- Language Arts
- Math
- Science
- Shared at FETC
- Social Studies
- Teacher Tools
Monday, January 11, 2010
How do you help students complete online courses?
Meg sent this link to the online instructors but we thought it was so valuable that we wanted to include it here also.
http://www.sloanconsortium.org/node/2486
As Meg stated in her email:
". . . the BEST article I have read in YEARS regarding how to improve your course so that students succeed. I hope you will read it and consider adopting one or more of these suggestions. It’s a great gage to determine how friendly your course is.
http://www.sloanconsortium.org/node/2486
As Meg stated in her email:
". . . the BEST article I have read in YEARS regarding how to improve your course so that students succeed. I hope you will read it and consider adopting one or more of these suggestions. It’s a great gage to determine how friendly your course is.
Five Questions that Improve Student Writing
Five Questions that Improve Student Writing
By Christopher Baker, Ph.D.
Before embarking on a writing assignment, I challenge my students to imagine a skeptical reader who expects them to answer five important questions. Answering these questions demands critical writing and thinking, and helps the students develop thoughtful content, efficient structure, and clear sentences.
These questions can help students with a variety of writing assignments across a range of disciplines.
1. What’s your point? Tell me directly, and fairly quickly, what you want to convince me of. Don’t make me guess, assume, or wonder what your thesis is. If you do not show me exactly what it is that you want to argue, how will you convince me to accept your side of the issue? If you don’t have a clearly stated thesis, you can be sure I’ll start to think you don’t really know what you want to say—or perhaps that you may not even know what you’re talking about.
2. Who are you? Show me what gives you the right to talk about this subject. I expect you to establish your own credibility or authority to influence my thinking, because I’m not likely to agree with you if I don’t respect your knowledge about the subject. Do you have a personal link to this issue that makes it important to you? Did you come up with your ideas alone, or are you aware of others who have written about this? (If I care deeply about this issue, I’m probably going to have read them, and I’ll expect you to have done so too.) Show that you are part of the conversation on this topic by referring to what others have said and presenting your view of their ideas.
For effective teaching strategies that set the stage for learning in today’s college classroom, subscribe to The Teaching Professor. Each issue serves up inspiring yet practical articles that will reaffirm your commitment to teaching excellence. Learn More »
3. But what about this? I’d be more strongly persuaded if you had anticipated some of my objections. Don’t simply tell me what you think; tell me why the arguments that oppose yours are weak. Try to demolish possible critical replies to your thesis; make your stand defensively as well as offensively. This will show me how deeply you’ve thought through the issue and how well you can look at your own ideas from a perspective different from your own.
4. Why should I care? After I read your essay, I should not be left thinking, “So what?” Show me the relevance your thesis has to address larger issues—those that keep it from being trivial, specialized, or remote. What other problems does it solve or create? Have you revealed some deeper level of the topic most people would not have noticed? I won’t be persuaded by stereotypical thinking that reaches obvious conclusions easily arrived at by anyone.
5. Are you wasting my time? As the king said to Alice in Wonderland, “Begin at the beginning and go on until the end. Then stop.” Make your case efficiently and economically, but show me enough supporting evidence to be convincing. If you want to persuade me of your thesis, make sure you have my full attention at all times. Beware of digressions and writing that tries too hard to impress. Don’t drown me with too many thoughts from other people that I could just as easily look up for myself and that muffle your own voice. Remember that there is a persuasive elegance in simplicity and directness.
Christopher Baker is an English professor at Armstrong Atlantic State University, GA.
Excerpted from Five Questions from Missouri, The Teaching Professor, December 2008.
By Christopher Baker, Ph.D.
Before embarking on a writing assignment, I challenge my students to imagine a skeptical reader who expects them to answer five important questions. Answering these questions demands critical writing and thinking, and helps the students develop thoughtful content, efficient structure, and clear sentences.
These questions can help students with a variety of writing assignments across a range of disciplines.
1. What’s your point? Tell me directly, and fairly quickly, what you want to convince me of. Don’t make me guess, assume, or wonder what your thesis is. If you do not show me exactly what it is that you want to argue, how will you convince me to accept your side of the issue? If you don’t have a clearly stated thesis, you can be sure I’ll start to think you don’t really know what you want to say—or perhaps that you may not even know what you’re talking about.
2. Who are you? Show me what gives you the right to talk about this subject. I expect you to establish your own credibility or authority to influence my thinking, because I’m not likely to agree with you if I don’t respect your knowledge about the subject. Do you have a personal link to this issue that makes it important to you? Did you come up with your ideas alone, or are you aware of others who have written about this? (If I care deeply about this issue, I’m probably going to have read them, and I’ll expect you to have done so too.) Show that you are part of the conversation on this topic by referring to what others have said and presenting your view of their ideas.
For effective teaching strategies that set the stage for learning in today’s college classroom, subscribe to The Teaching Professor. Each issue serves up inspiring yet practical articles that will reaffirm your commitment to teaching excellence. Learn More »
3. But what about this? I’d be more strongly persuaded if you had anticipated some of my objections. Don’t simply tell me what you think; tell me why the arguments that oppose yours are weak. Try to demolish possible critical replies to your thesis; make your stand defensively as well as offensively. This will show me how deeply you’ve thought through the issue and how well you can look at your own ideas from a perspective different from your own.
4. Why should I care? After I read your essay, I should not be left thinking, “So what?” Show me the relevance your thesis has to address larger issues—those that keep it from being trivial, specialized, or remote. What other problems does it solve or create? Have you revealed some deeper level of the topic most people would not have noticed? I won’t be persuaded by stereotypical thinking that reaches obvious conclusions easily arrived at by anyone.
5. Are you wasting my time? As the king said to Alice in Wonderland, “Begin at the beginning and go on until the end. Then stop.” Make your case efficiently and economically, but show me enough supporting evidence to be convincing. If you want to persuade me of your thesis, make sure you have my full attention at all times. Beware of digressions and writing that tries too hard to impress. Don’t drown me with too many thoughts from other people that I could just as easily look up for myself and that muffle your own voice. Remember that there is a persuasive elegance in simplicity and directness.
Christopher Baker is an English professor at Armstrong Atlantic State University, GA.
Excerpted from Five Questions from Missouri, The Teaching Professor, December 2008.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Future Technology
This video presents some staggering and somewhat alarming statistics. Take a look and let us know what you think it all means.
They Need their Teachers to Learn
This video has a great message for all of us. We must be lifelong learners as well as our students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)