May 2006
May 31, 2006
Blog On
One of the best ways to annoy me is to come up to me in mid-conversation wth someone about the benefits of blogging and drop this line,” Blogging. You’ve obviously got a lot of spare time.”
Quote of the Day
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.
George Burns
US actor & comedian (1896 - 1996)
May 30, 2006
Visual Representation of TADO blog
What do the colors mean?
blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags
The source code for this applet
Creating & maintaining a web style guide
And for those of you with too much time on your hands make a website about your website...
A web style guide is a key deliverable at the end of a website design/redesign process. It is a document (usually a subsite in itself) that describes what needs to be done to maintain and grow the website according to a common set of principles derived during the design or redesign process.
Creating & maintaining a web style guide
Quote of the Day
Nobody believes the official spokesman... but everybody trusts an unidentified source.
Ron Nesen
May 29, 2006
Your complete guide to web design.
Web Design from Scratch is for everyone involved or interested in creating web sites - whether novice or expert. It will help you understand what makes web sites succeed or fail, and what can be done to increase the chance of success.
You don't have to be a web designer to benefit from this site. You may have a current web site design project, you may be updating an existing site, or just interested in learning new skills.
Your complete guide to web design.
10 Habits of Highly Effective ProBloggers
This is my submission for the Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers Group Writing Project. I was going to post it as a series but think it flows better as one piece - as a result it is a little longish and it does start with a tangent :-)
10 Habits of Highly Effective ProBloggers
When Parents Contribute to Student Blogs…
Anne pointed to this pretty amazing exchange that occurred on one of her student blogs recently, and it’s an interesting and effective example of how involved parents can contribute to their childrens’ learning in these more transparent spaces.
When Parents Contribute to Student Blogs…
No cell phone ban in schools
The Ministry of Education has no plan to ban the use of cell phones in schools, according to Education Minister, Hazel Manning.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference yesterday, Manning said cell phones were part of the new technology and Government wanted to use technology in education. “So we do not talk about a ban. What we talk about is limiting the use of cell phones. Because in the new education era, cell phones are going to be very important.”
No cell phone ban in schools
Anti-plagiarism programs look over students' work
Digital plagiarizing calls for digital policing.
Such is the philosophy behind a wave of anti-plagiarism digital software that colleges are using to deal with the widespread use of essay-writing Web sites and online databases of pre-written papers, and to uncover writing copied from other students' work.
Anti-plagiarism programs look over students' work
Quote of the Day
If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.
Peter Ustinov
English actor & author (1921 - 2004)
Google Maps rock
Here is the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School...
May 28, 2006
Google's Essay quotes (I need it fast)
I think it would be a very cool website, if someone created a repository of essay quotes on different topics. So, for example if I am writing an essay on Qualitative evaluation, I could type that into the search on the essay quote site and it would come up with all quotes that pertain to this topic. I don't want to read complete documents to find a few suitable words. I want a quote that talks about the searched item, and the bolean expressions could be "against" or "for".
And each of the quotes comes with an APA properly cited reference that you could just add to your reference page without having to panic about a "," or a "." here or there.
Google must be able to do this...robot search all the essays on the net, break them into quotes and make it searchable, I know a pile of university students who would be very interested in such a service. Who knows the email address for Mr. Google. I need this by next thursday, so I can get that darn essay done.
Anyways, just rambling with my cyber glasses on.
APA style
I never could figure out what the American Psychological Association has to do with the citing of references. Does this seem wierd to anyone else but me?
I think I will start the TADO citing style, my credentials should come close to a psychologist, I took a psych class at university...that must count for something.
Quote of the Day
Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge's chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view.
Lillian Hellman
US dramatist (1905 - 1984)
May 27, 2006
Quote of the Day
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
Upton Sinclair
US novelist & socialist politician (1878 - 1968)
Social Software
Weblogs: Ein Weblog kann als eine Website angesehen werden, die zusätzlichen Elemente enthält. Zum Beispiel können neue Eintragungen abonniert werden (damit erhält man die Funktion eines Newsletters gleich mitgeliefert!) Wunderbar geeignet ist dieses Tool auch für Experten/innenrunden oder Nachbereitungen von Kongressen, die ortsunabhängig (weiter)geführt werden sollen. Beispiele von Weblogs sind: mein Weblog für Trainer/innen bzw. das eines Kollegen. Oder ein sehr umfangreiches Weblog aus dem E-Learning-Umfeld aus Kanada.
And Altavista translates:
Weblogs: A Web log can be regarded as a Website, which contains additional elements. For example new entries can be subscribed (with it one keeps the function of a Newsletters equivalent provided!) This Tool is marvelously suitable also for expert/interior rounds or reinforcements of congresses, which localindependently (to be weiter)gefuehrt are. Examples from Weblogs are: my Web log for coach/inside and/or a colleague. Or a very extensive Web log from the e-Learning-surrounding field from Canada.
They are talking about the Teaching and Developing Online...big thank you out to:
Wissenwert:Was verstehen wir unter Social Software?
May 26, 2006
Succeeding with Technology
Being an engineer, I realized how far technology had taken us since the 1980’s and that computers would provide a totally different learning experience from what I had been accustomed to. I found technology helped me achieve a level of success as a graduate student that I had never experienced as an undergraduate.
Succeeding with Technology
Quote of the Day
Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to.
H. Mumford Jones
US critic & educator (1892 - 1980)
Welcome to the TADO Podcast
It is coming into existence, what I have for you today is our intro music.
Click on our podcastbutton
Congrats to Norm Lepage (Our Podcast KIng.)
May 25, 2006
It is great to teach in a Catholic School
The Sneeze
They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium.
With rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown-up as they felt.
Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.
This class would not pray during the commencements----not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling
prohibiting it.
The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.
The speeches were nice, but they were routine.....until the final speech received a standing ovation.
A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone.
He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!
The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, " GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!" And he walked off stage...
The audience exploded into applause. The graduating class found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval.
Isn't this a wonderful story? Pass it on to all your friends.........and
GOD BLESS YOU!!!!
TADO podcasting is coming!
Here is a preview of the podcast logo for Teaching and Developing Online. Hope you enjoy.
Tech Learning: K-12 Google Maps use.
This is a great use of google maps in the classroom, check it out.
Use Google Maps Mashups in K-12 Education
Is Tech Injuring Children?
Her 13-year-old twins, James and Timothy, are avid gamers who own three computers, two Sony PlayStations, a Nintendo GameCube and a Microsoft Xbox. Physically, they're fit, with one oddity: The boys can bend their thumbs all the way back to their forearms, and they constantly stretch and crack their knuckles with ease. For tasks like ringing a doorbell, dialing a phone number and changing the remote, they use their thumbs.
Mitali Perkins worries about her sons' hands.
School Superintendent Discovers the Joy of Trolls
Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of schools in St. Petersburg Florida announced that he was ending the blog sponsored and run by the St. Petersburg Times after deciding that
the lies, distortions and mean spiritedness of some - was not worth my time or worthy of this district.
As far as I know, Mr. Wilcox was the only superintendent of schools in a large school district to dive into the blogging world
School Superintendent Discovers the Joy of Trolls
Superintendent Ends Personal Blog
Dean pointed to the fact that Clayton Wilcox, the blogging superintendent at Pinellas County in Florida, has shut down his blog because of the acrimonious debate that took place among the commentors. It’s unfortunate, I think, not just because this will be seen as another indictment against the transparency and openness of blogs, but because I think he had an opportunity to find higher ground with it.
Superintendent Ends Personal Blog
A Billion Net Users
It's hard to believe that just over 10 years ago, about two percent of the world population was browsing the Web. Now, according to Agence France Presse, 1 billion people have Internet access.
Quote of the Day
You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.
Dave Barry
US columnist & humorist (1947 - )
May 24, 2006
A comment about the new logo.
I thought this was a great comment about the new logo.
I like it:
Not only will it identify your terrific blog but every time I look at it I will remember that I have lots "ta" "do" getting a school full of kids going in their online courses.
Cheers,
Walt
Time Management: The Key to Success
Time management is an essential factor for success in online high school. If you get yourself organized and stay on top of assignments and deadlines, you will be more likely to succeed in an online high school class. Make a list of things to do, map out the semester, or get a calendar. This will give you the advantage you need to complete your online high school education in a timely and successful manner. You can do it!
Time Management: The Key to Success
Quote of the Day
Education is too important to be left solely to educators.
Francis Keppel
Being Successful
I guess my biggest concern with putting the focus upon the student and working from the assumption that they are missing something that we need to provide them with, we run the risk of using the students' ability or lack thereof as a screening mechanism to keep this opportunity from them. And let's face it, this is the kind of system that we have now. I mean how many virtual schools have a survey up front that is titled something along the lines of Is Distance Learning Right For You?
May 23, 2006
Feedblitz
Yesterday, I changed from bloglet to Feedblitz
FeedBlitz is a service that monitors blogs, RSS feeds and Web URLs to provide greater reach for feed publishers. FeedBlitz takes all the headache out of converting feed and blog updates into email digests, delivered daily to subscribers' inboxes. FeedBlitz manages subscriptions, circulation tracking, testing, and is compatible with all major blogging platforms and services such as Blogger, Typepad and FeedBurner. Unlike other blogmail services, FeedBlitz is reliable, scalable and fully supported. No betas, wish lists or road map items here. You're in production, and so is FeedBlitz.
Quote of the Day
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
Alice Kahn
The University of Virginia Virtual Lab
The UVA Virtual Lab© is based at the University of Virginia. It employs emerging software visualization tools to explain technologies affecting our daily lives.
The University of Virginia Virtual Lab
May 22, 2006
The New Teaching and Developing Online Logo
I hope you like!
Teaching and Developing Online Blog Roll
I have never ran a blog roll before on Teaching and Developing Online. I am now getting lots and lots of hits a day and I would like to start to put together the first ever Teaching and Developing Online Blog Roll. There is no criteria other than it has to be educational, and about online education. If you know of such a blog, post its url and I will check it out, if I like I will add it to the blog roll.
Be part of the Teaching and Developing Online Blog roll.
Darren Cannell
May 21, 2006
Eduforge.org
Now this is a wiki with a list of Learning Resources
Eduforge.org: Learning Resources List
May 18, 2006
Uses of Blogs for Staff and Students
Scott Leslie created the very helpful “Matrix of Some Blog Uses in Education” a few years ago and yesterday he reported that it had been remixed into an interactive drag an drop tool that we can all add to. So if you want to start a conversation about what teachers can get from reading blogs or what students can learn from writing blogs, this is a nice tool to frame and capture the discussion.
Uses of Blogs for Staff and Students
Tablet Schmablet...Not!
Dave says he would rather save the extra money and “use an overhead and a dime transparency.” Um, ok…and then what? Throw the transparency away? Make paper copies for the kids? Why not take the digital ink notes that you take on a tablet and publish them to a class resource page where the students can review them if they want? Or add to them? Or where you can pull them down and refer to them later? And he also says that he’d stick with paper and pencil instead of tablets to work through problems because “I get enough e-mail.” Well, if all the teacher is doing is asking kids to e-mail in the homework, that’s not a very imaginative teacher.
RSS Specifications
RSS Specifications: everything you need to know about rss.
Best Blog Directory
Where To Submit My RSS Feeds And Weblog URLs To Get More Exposure, Visibility And Reach
Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
Quote of the Day
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Albert Einstein
Colleges Chase as Cheats Shift to Higher Tech
At the University of California at Los Angeles, a student loaded his class notes into a handheld e-mail device and tried to read them during an exam; a classmate turned him in. At the journalism school at San Jose State University, students were caught using spell check on their laptops when part of the exam was designed to test their ability to spell.
Colleges Chase as Cheats Shift to Higher Tech
May 17, 2006
The Psychology of Cyberspace
This hypertext book explores the psychological aspects of environments created by computers and online networks. It presents an evolving conceptual framework for understanding how people react to and behave within cyberspace: what I call "the psychology of cyberspace" - or simply "cyberpsychology." Continually being revised and expanded, this hypertext book originally was created in January of 1996.
Quote of thje Day
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others
Groucho Marx
Exams and Me Survey
You are about to see 10 questions which ask for your opinion about exam and revision issues. There is no right or wrong answer, so respond as honestly as you can.
Exams and Me Survey: test students' attitudes to exams and promote class discussion.
Exam preparation
You are about to see 10 questions which test your knowledge of how best to revise and prepare for your exams.
Exam Preparation: raise awareness of good revision technique.
Sitting Exams
Raising awareness of good exam technique. You are about to see 10 questions which test your knowledge of how best to perform well in the exam room.
Twenty-One steps to Success
ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.
Encourage girls in math, science
At a summit co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation, participants discussed the reasons girls are underrepresented in math and science careers--and what educators can do to change that. The issue has important implications for the nation's global competitiveness, at least one participant said.
Encourage girls in math, science
May 16, 2006
Tablet PC for my teacher/developers.
I have been using a Motion Computing Tablet to answer my emails, record notes at meetings, and surf for the last couple of months. I think it would be an interesting project, to get all my twenty seven teacher/developer to use them to teach their online classes. The ability to write on documents would make the marking of assignments interesting and better for the students.
If anyone in the world wide web knows of any company out there that is looking for a test group to try out the microsoft tablet software and tablets in a K-12 online learning environment please pass on my name to them.
Our school is: Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School
Teachers clueless on internet safety
A report into the state of IT awareness among teachers has found that over half would not know where to go for help if a child got into trouble on the internet.
Oi, teacher, leave that mouse alone
There's No Such Thing as a Learning Object
Here is my posting from earlier
The Problem with Learning Objects.
It is nice to see someone else agrees with me...here is my posting from October 4 2004
Learning Objects a time saver or not?
Here is the situation...
I have been given the job of creating on online course. I have heard the experts tell me don't re- invent the wheel. One to always listen to the experts, I go searching the web and run across many learning objects.
Is this going to save me time?
Is this going to cause me more work then me doing it from scratch?
Now what?
If you can find someone who has created objects that match your content, your approach and have broken it up into sections that you would have used. Then you are off to the races...but nine out of ten times this doesn't happen. Most times you find this great learning object and then you alter your objectives and flow to try to make it fit into your course...bad news.
Learning objects should support not create instructional materials. A structure for the instructional material, an approach for presenting the material should be designed first. Once this has been done, using learning objects to support the instructional material result in the best material. The reason being is that it is very difficult to find an object which will fit the material, objectives, and approach perfectly. So quite often they are used to support rather than create.
Trying to create instructional material directly from learning objects tends to force the developer down an instructional path that was not originally part of the plan. In other words they will find an object that contains material that pertains to the lesson that is being worked on but has a few extras that do not and hence creates a disconnected mish-mash approach to course material.
Creating a common approach to instructional material which has been supported by a variety of learning objects is the strongest approach to the use of learning objects.
Just my vision through the cyber glasses.
It seems someone else agrees. I like the way this type of article comes around every six months or so.
Here is an article in eLearning Magazine.
We learn by doing. We consider. We compare. We measure, discuss, debate, critique, test, and explore. We try, fail, and try again. Learning is an activity. It's a process. Given this undeniable fact, the term "learning object" can only be an oxymoron. An object is a thing. We don't learn from things. We learn from doing things.
There's No Such Thing as a Learning Object
Quote of the Day
TRUE LOVE
If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours.
If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with.
If it just sits in your living room,
Messes up your stuff,
Eats your food,
Uses your telephone,
Takes your money,
And never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place,
You either married it or gave birth to it.
May 15, 2006
Keep Teaching
Mega online teaching resources
It's all about me:
"It became very embarrassing later," says Morris, when it turned out there had been a miscommunication, "but we realized that we couldn't blame each other for yelling about it because that's what we were studying."
It's all about me: Why e-mails are so easily misunderstood
Quote of the Day
I'm thirty years old, but I read at the thirty-four-year-old level.
Dana Carvey
US actor & comedian (1955 - )
May 14, 2006
I am #8
Birth Test
Let me know your number. Once you have discovered your Birth Number, forward this site to the rest of your friends, Add it to the comment put your "number" in the "Subject" and Post it!
Have fun!
Your birth date describes who we are, what we are good at and what our inborn abilities are. It also points to what we have to learn and the challenges we are facing.
To figure out your Birth Number, add all the numbers in the birth Date together, like in the example, until there is only one digit.
A Birth Number does not prevent you from being anything you want to be, it will just color your choice differently and give you a little insight.
> Example:
> March 20, 1950
> 3 + 20 + 1950 = 1973
> 1 + 9 + 7 + 3 = 20
> 2 + 0 = 2
Keep going until you end up with a single digit. Number 2 is the Birth Number to read for the birth date in the example.
#1 THE ORIGINATOR
#2 THE PEACEMAKER
#3 THE LIFE OF THE PARTY
#4 THE CONSERVATIVE
#5 THE NONCONFORMIST
#6 THE ROMANTIC
#7 THE INTELLECTUAL
#8 THE BIG SHOT
#9 THE PERFORMER
# 1 - THE ORIGINATOR
1's are originals. Coming up with new ideas and executing them is natural. Having things their own way is another trait that gets them as being stubborn and arrogant. 1's are extremely honest and do well to learn some diplomacy skills. They like to take the initiative and are often leaders or bosses, as they like to be the best. Being self-employed is definitely helpful for them. Lesson to learn: Others' ideas might be just as good or better, and to stay open minded.
Famous 1's: Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Hulk Hogan, Carol Burnett, Wynona Judd, Nancy Reagan, Raquel Welch.
#2 - THE PEACEMAKER
2's are the born diplomats. They are aware of others' needs and moods and often think of others before themselves. Naturally analytical and very intuitive they don't like to be alone. Friendship and companionship is very important and can lead them to be successful in life, but on the other hand, they'd rather be alone than in an uncomfortable relationship. Being naturally shy they should learn to boost their self-esteem and express themselves freely and seize the moment and not put things off.
Famous 2's: President Bill Clinton, Madonna, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Edison, Wolfgang Amadeus, Mozart.
# 3 - THE LIFE OF THE PARTY
3's are idealists. They are very creative, social, charming, romantic,and easygoing. They start many things, but don't always see them through.They like others to be happy and go to great lengths to achieve it.They are very popular and idealistic. They should learn to see the world from a more realistic point of view.
Famous 3's: Alan Alder, Ann Landers, Bill Cosby, Melanie Griffith, Salvador Dali, Jodi Foster.
# 4 - THE CONSERVATIVE
4's are sensible and traditional. They like order and routine. They only act when they fully understand what they are expected to do. They like getting their hands dirty and working hard. They are attracted to the outdoors and feel an affinity with nature. They are prepared to wait and can be stubborn and persistent. They should learn to be more flexible and to be nice to themselves.
Famous 4's: Neil Diamond, Margaret Thatcher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tina Turner, Paul Hogan, Oprah Winfrey.
# 5 - THE NON-CONFORMIST
5's are the explorers. Their natural curiosity, risk-taking, and enthusiasm often land them in hot water. They need diversity, and don't like to be stuck in a rut. The whole world is their school and they see a learning possibility in every situation. The questions never stop. They are well advised to look before they take action and make sure they have all the facts before jumping to conclusions.
Famous 5's: Abraham Lincoln, Charlotte Bronte, Jessica Walter, Vincent Van Gogh, Bette Midler, Helen Keller and Mark Hail.
# 6 - THE ROMANTIC
6's are idealistic and need to feel useful to be happy. A strong family connection is important to them. Their actions influence their decisions. They have a strong urge to take care of others and to help. They are very loyal and make great teachers. They like art or music. They make loyal friends who take the friendship seriously. 6's should learn to
differentiate between what they can change and what they cannot.
Famous 6's: Albert Einstein, Jane Seymour, John Denver, Merlyn Steep, Christopher Columbus, Goldie Hawn.
#7 - THE INTELLECTUAL
7's are the searchers. Always probing for hidden information, they find it difficult to accept things at face value. Emotions don't sway their decisions. Questioning everything in life, they don't like to be questioned themselves. They're never off to a fast start, and their motto is slow and steady wins the race. They come across as philosophers and being very knowledgeable, and sometimes as loners. They are technically inclined and make great researchers uncovering information. They like secrets. They live in their own world and should learn what is acceptable and what not in the world at large.
Famous 7's: William Shakespeare, Lucille Ball, Michael Jackson, Joan Baez, Princess Diana.
# 8 - THE BIG SHOT
8's are the problem solvers. They are professional, blunt and to the point, have good judgment and are decisive. They have grand plans and like to live the good life. They take charge of people. They view people objectively. They let you know in no uncertain terms that they are the boss. They should learn to exude their decisions on their own needs rather than on what others want.
Famous 8's: Edgar Cayce, Barbra Streisand, George Harrison, Jane Fonda, Pablo Picasso, Aretha Franklin, Nostrodamus, and Ron Connolly.
#9 - THE PERFORMER
9's are natural entertainers. They are very caring and generous, giving away their last dollar to help. With their charm, they have no problem making friends and nobody is a stranger to them. They have so many different personalities that people around them have a hard time understanding them. They are like chameleons, ever changing and blending in. They have tremendous luck, but also can suffer from extremes in fortune and mood. To be successful, they need to build a loving foundation.
Famous 9's: Albert Schweitzer, Shirley MacLaine, Harrison Ford, Jimmy Carter, Elvis Presley.
May 12, 2006
Second Quote of the Day
Benjamin Franklin, who largely educated himself, cautions:
"He that teaches himself hath a fool for his master."
Quote of the Day
Teachers are people who start things they never see finished, and for which they never get thanks until it is too late.
Max Forman
Vitamin
The web has undoubtedly entered a new and exciting phase. Designers, developers and entrepreneurs are energized, refueled and producing some mind-blowing projects. The buzz is most definitely back! Vitamin is a brand new online magazine dedicated to that new web industry.
Vitamin will inspire you, teach you, advise you and sometimes test you with its in-depth features, audio interviews, training sessions and reviews.
It's updated every week, and it's free! So whether you just want to get dirty with the code or plan to topple Google with your next cunning web app idea, Vitamin is your new best friend.
Vitamin: Nourishment to help the web grow.
Statistics Canada Learning Resources
Data, reference material, lesson plans and teaching tools created and selected for school teachers and teacher librarians.
Statistics Canada Learning Resources
Protecting the children
My mind is reeling at just how ignorant this is. If legislators were really concerned about protecting children from predators, they would ban minors from going into shopping malls and school yards, since I’d bet many more children face threats from predators in those venues than online. We’d best ban the kiddies from skating rinks too - who knows who might be taking their picture without permission?
Protecting the children … from their right to communicate!
Schools to Ban Access
Those words always scare me.
Well, looks like the Feds are about to start hitting school networks where it hurts: in the wallet. There's a bill afoot that's designed to protect kids from "social networking" sites
Schools to Ban Access to MySpace, Facebook, Kairosnews, and other Online Dens of Terror.
Smart Principal
Welcome to Smart Principal. Our goal is to be the most comprehensive resource site for school principals. Smart Principal will be a central sharing place for information and documents that principals need to manage a school. We're building our site right now and welcome registrations.
SmartPrincipal.com documents will only be available to practising school principals, vice-principals, assistant principals, senior school district personnel or other related school district administrators. Your role will need to be verified by SmartPrincipal.com. Ensure information is accurate. Use your school related email to ensure your role is verified quicker.
May 11, 2006
The Tornado Field Trip
If you like the forces of nature, this site if for you.
Life in Space
This interactive spacewalk makes for a great virtual field trips.
Quote of the Day
Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats.
Howard Aiken
US computer scientist (1900 - 1973)
May 8, 2006
Value of my blog is still going up.
My blog is worth $12,419.88.
How much is your blog worth?
Banning Laptops in College Classes
The universities are driving me nuts...are professors losing their audience? Multitasking a new word for the universities of the future.
Banning Laptops in College Classes
Going to class -- online
Cindy Preast is a busy woman. She juggles her time as a single mother of three in Fayetteville between baseball games, teacher conferences, work meetings in Bluefield and studying for her bachelor's degree.
But, at 45, Preast hasn't set foot in a classroom for almost three years. Most of her studying -- and test-taking -- is done online.
Going to class -- online: Growing number of students taking courses over Internet
Professors want their classes 'unwired'
I have a few questions, if the internet is more interesting then the lecture maybe the professor needs to re-examine their teaching approach? Has the professor ever heard of multi-tasking? What happened to treating students with respect, do we really need a professor to decide what is good for them? As my high school students would say...These professors need to get over themselves.
Check it out and see if this article bugs you as much as it bothered me.
Professors want their classes 'unwired'
Quote of the Day
Good teachers never teach anything. What they do is create the conditions under which learning takes place.
Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa
May 6, 2006
Open Clip Art Library
This project aims to create an archive of user contributed clip art that can be freely used.
All graphics submitted to the project should be placed into the Public Domain according to the statement by the Creative Commons.
Pics4Learning
Pics4Learning is a copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students. The Pics4Learning collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers. Unlike many Internet sites, permission has been granted for teachers and students to use all of the images donated to the Pics4Learning collection.
Formerly known as PhotoShare, a recipient of the ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award, Pics4Learning is a partnership between Orange County Public Schools Technology Development Unit of Orlando, Florida, and Tech4Learning, Inc.
The image collection will never be complete, but with your active participation it will continue to grow on a daily basis.
May 3, 2006
BBQ Season
After four long months of cold and winter, we are finally coming up to spring and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking ritual as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.
When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
Routine:
1. The woman buys the food.*
2. The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3. The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.
Here comes the important part:
4. THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.
More routine:
5. The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6. The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.
Important again:
7. THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.
More routine:
8. The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.*
9. After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
And most important of all:
10. Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
11. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!
May 2, 2006
No webmail for you!
It is so incredibly frustrating and disappointing to read about this. I’ve spent the past two days at the TLT 2006 conference, talking with some brilliant people about how using web resources and moving towards a more blended model of teaching and learning can improve educational opportunities and outcomes for learners. Then as I’m checking up on my blog reading only to be confronted once again by the real world.
District blocks e-mail sites
The crackdown was sparked by concern that some students were wasting their academic potential by spending class time writing e-mails to friends, officials said Friday. All the district's 8,000 to 9,000computers, including those used by administrators, have been affected, said Ralph Barca, district technology director.
SCCS Clothing Line
We are finally a school we have our own clothing line.
Quote of the Day
If all the rich people in the world divided up their money among themselves there wouldn't be enough to go around.
Christina Stead, House of All Nations (1938) "Credo"
Australian novelist & short story author (1903 - 1983)
May 1, 2006
SCCS Soccer Academy
Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools is in the process of developing a soccer academy for students in grade 9 -12. The Academy is set to launch in August 2006.
This program is designed to promote active living, academic excellence, and Catholic faith. Other goals include development of time management skills, independence and organizational skills. Students who attend the academy will receive intense soccer training on a daily basis. The program runs for two hours a day with a high performance coach in a world class facility. The training will take place during one full semester of school and focus on enhancing the student's soccer skills at their desired level.
Students should be prepared to develop an educational plan with their home school to cover the time spent at the soccer academy.
The Saskatoon Catholic Cyber is a viable option for obtaining courses academy students may need.
We will be hosting an informative and expression of interest meeting within the next three weeks. Please watch your notices for the date.
If you would like more information please visit the GSCS Soccer Academy Website at:
http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/soccer/home.htm
Poll of the Month
State of the Blogosphere
Dave Sifry of Technorati has posted part two of his April "State of the Blogosphere" report. [ [Disclosure: I am on Technorati's board of advisors and Dave is a friend.]
Quote of the Day
I have seen the future and it doesn't work.
Robert Fulford
