Newspaper Research

If your students need to research current events for your class, a great source for them is http://newspapermap.com/. At this site you can look at newspapers from around the world and even have them translated in other languages.

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Google Apps Introduces Education Category

Google Apps has introduced a new education category to help educators easily find education-specific web apps. Check these out at the Google Apps Marketplace. Some are free but not all.

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Microsoft Math 4.0 - free!

Microsoft Math 4.0, a free download from Microsoft, is a set of math tools that helps students learn how to solve equations step by step along with learning the fundemental concepts in pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry, physics, chemistry and calculus.

Microsoft Math 4.0 includes a graphing calculator that works just like a handheld calculator. There are also tools for evaluating triangles, converting units, and solving equations.

View the following YouTube to see just what the possibilities are for using Microsoft Math 4.0 in your classes.

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Office 2007 Help - Search Commands

Are you still frustrated at times trying to find the button for a tool in Office 2007? You know the button is there because you used it in Office 2003, but where is it?!
If this ever happens to you, check out Search Commands. Search Commands works with Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Search Commands adds a tab in the ribbon of these Office 2007 programs. You click the tab and search with your own words, then select the command you need. It also includes Guided Help, which acts as a tour guide for the specific tasks you’re looking for.

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Interview with Dr. Jackie Vietti

Listen to a recent interview with Butler President Jackie Vietti on KNSS NewsRadio.

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Obsessed with Facebook?

Do you ever wonder if your students are really using Facebook?

If you do, look at these new statistics from Socialhype.com and onlineschools.org. Once you have perused these statistics, you may come to the conclusion that Facebook is here to stay and if used professionally, could be a great learning tool for your students.

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Peer 2 Peer University- Learn Something New

"Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources."
P2PU offers several courses and more are being developed. You can even create a course yourself. "The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses."
New courses begin 26 January 2011. Check out the list of available courses. To sign-up, visit the course's main page, click "sign-up" and fill out the application form.

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Montage-a-Google

Montage-a-Google is a quick and easy way to create a poster or montage graphic like the one below. Simply click Launch Project, enter search terms, and click Make. Montage-a-Google will google the images to create your montage. Click Advanced Options to adjust the pixels and/or picture quality.

You can choose to Make Another using the same terms to see a different collage. You can download and save the collage to use just as any image. It is really interesting to see what images search terms generate.

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Is your Private Information Listed on Spokeo?

Spokeo is what I consider a dangerous invasion of privacy. Anyone can type your name in Spokeo and access information such as street address, phone number, marital status, spouse's name, names of children over 18, etc.

For a mere $2.95 per month the user can get even more information such as email address, income, etc.

Go to Spokeo to view the information provided about you! Then remove your page from the listing. To do so:

1. Copy the URL of your information page


2. Click the tiny Privacy link on the bottom left of the page


3. Paste the URL in the appropriate field


4. Enter your email and the Capcha code


5. You will get an email with a link to verify that you want your page to be unlisted. Once you click the link your name and information will no longer come up in a search.

"Spokeo aggregates publicly available information from phone books, social networks, marketing surveys, real estate listings, business websites, and other public sources. Spokeo does not originate data or publish user-generated content. Rather, Spokeo indexes third-party data in ways similar to Google or Bing."

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Poetry Podcasts

Now it is easy to embed podcasts of beloved classical poems in your online classes.

Classic Poetry Aloud is a "a podcast series for some of the greatest poetry in English." Many works from famous authors are listed, includings works by Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron, and Edgar Allan Poe. The best part is that the podcasts can also be easily embedded in your class.

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Open Culture

Do you need to locate a movie clip or video for your class? Do you need some good ideas or you just want one site that has a comprehensive listing of different sources for media?

If this is your dilemma, then Open Culture is for you! The great thing about this site is that it lists different media for math, physics, politics, and many other subjects. For example, there are many YouTube videos organized topically which can be embedded or linked to in your class.

Here is a great example of the different media that can be found in the Open Culture site.

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