April 2008
April 30, 2008
New Office WOW ideas
I have been searching websites and I hope you the blogosphere can help me or point me in the right direction. My name is Darren Cannell I am the administrator of the biggest cyber school in Saskatchewan. We are in the fortunate situation where we will be moving our office at the end of this school year. This unique moving situation will allow us to develop a office which will meet the needs of the administration and teachers of the cyber school both physically and virtually. The goal of the physical office is more administrative than teacher related and needs to be a WOW office. It needs to make people stop and go WOW this is the cyber school. The virtual side of the office needs to be designed to coordinate the admin and the teachers to effectively run what we think is the best cyber school in the country.
We are contacting such companies as Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Nortel, SaskTel and Blackboard to see if they have any suggestions about the design and look of said virtual and physical office and was wondering if anyone out there might have some WOW ideas and designs.
We need to WOW the local, international and universe visitors that we will be hosting this up and coming year.
The Art of Mathematics
This is the project outline of one of Canada's 2008 Innovative Teacher's
The Art of Drawing requires creative and intrinsic thinking processes. Once a drawing is dissected into its various constituent parts; i.e. segments comprising straight lines, parabolas, circles, areas, etc., parts of a whole can be observed. Henceforth, springs a visualizing, an approach into the world of Mathematics. In other words, a clear relationship between the world of mathematics and the world of art can be established. Drawings are represented according to their function and regions of inequalities within a restricted range or domain. Therefore, it is possible to create an image, a creative drawing, using various mathematical functions. This pragmatic activity presupposes a high intellectual challenge. This cognitive reflection allows the opportunity to experience the relationship between two fields that have been considered poles apart: Mathematics and Art. This multi-disciplinary project provides an opportunity for students to express themselves visually using mathematical skills. Being able to make use of various mathematical functions, applying them, translating them vertically and horizontally, positioning these lines and curves at a desired, precise location, enables students, once the individual graphs are connected together, to create a work of art. The use of computers enables us to observe the fusion of these two distinct worlds.
Author: Robert Levesque
Johnny Chung Lee and Wii
Check out some of this stuff that Johnny is doing with a Wii controller.
Johnny Chung Lee - Human Computer Interaction Research
Paulsen Quotes
Misapprehensions about online courses:
One of the most obvious misapprehensions about online courses is that they should take place in front of a PC. Most online students spend much more time studying textbooks and preparing assignments than surfing the Internet. Even though both text and video can be presented online, paper is often a better medium for text and television is better for presenting video. Still, there is a tendency among online educators to substitute excellent textbooks with mediocre Web material and superb videocassettes with a tiny, degenerated PC-version of the video.
M.F. Paulsen
April 29, 2008
Searchpickr
Why Use Searchpickr? - Easily Find almost any kind of information or media existing on the web. - Discover web content not indexed on main search engines. - Query 200+ search providers from one single site, without having to retype...
Yobler
There are plenty of video websites out there to suit your every video viewing needs. They range from the entertaining, nonsensical depths of YouTube, to full-length movies, to skin flicks and tutorials sites that excel at teaching you how to...
Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills
Online gaming can help students develop many of the skills they'll be required to use upon leaving school, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity, agreed educators who spoke during an April 16 webinar on gaming in education.
Top News - Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills
And the Day Just Got Worst... Part 5
Have you ever had this kind of day, everything is going well and..
Paulsen Quotes
Export of education:…in Australia, the official strategy is to develop education to become the second largest export industry. In the Nordic countries, however, the export of education does not seem to be an issue for public discussion.
M.F. Paulsen
April 28, 2008
Blue Lighting Up The Human Brain At Work
We are thinking about using blue lights in our new pod...this might be a cool side effect.
Blue Lighting Up The Human Brain At Work
THE SPOILED Under-30 crowd!!!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were
when they were growing up; what with walking
twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways
yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
there was no way I was going to lay
a bunch of hooey like that on kids about how hard I had it
and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of
thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.
You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my
childhood, you live in Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you
don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The
Internet . If we wanted to know something,
we had to go to the library and
look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write
somebody a letter with a pen!
Then you had to walk all the way across the street and
put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to
steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and spend time to look and it yourself!
Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the
beginning and fouled it all up!
We didn't have fancy Call Waiting! If you
were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!
It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer,
a collections agent, you just didn't know!!!
You had to pick it up and take your chances!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!
We had the Atari 2600!
With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square!
You actually had to use your imagination!!
And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!
And you could never win.
The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating!
All the seats were the same height!
If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see,
tough nails!
Sure, we had cable television, but back then that
was only like 15 channels
and there was no on screen menu and no remote control!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
You were totalled when it came to channel surfing!
You had to get off your back end and walk over to the TV to change the
channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons
on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?!
We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat
something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire .. imagine that!
If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing
and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.
That's exactly what I'm talking about!
You kids today have got it too easy.
You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
Regards,
The over 30 Crowd
Online Teaching Activity Index
ION is always trying to further the knowledge of online education. In the course of our research and practice, we come across many best practices in online teaching. This index represents a compilation of those activities to help instructors plan their online and hybrid courses. A complete description of each activity is given, along with examples when possible. Common educational uses of each activity are discussed as well as common educational objectives. Furthermore, teaching strategies for the given activity are provided. This index is primarily directed towards the use of these activities in senior high school and higher education. It also represents evidence that many quality educational activities are possible and feasible in the online classroom.
Illinois Online Network: Educational Resources : Online Teaching Activity Index
Supporting Student Learning with Techology
Bringing the Evergreen Curriculum to Life with Technology
Technology Integration Support
Combating "Birds of a Feather" Syndrome
Check out the follow-up I (Michelle Martin) wrote here--It might clarify what I meant to say in the original post.
I always like it when authors comment on their works...Thanks Michele
Paulsen Quotes
Online Education is a melting pot for educators: …online education may facilitate collaboration and stimulate discussion between people, cultures, institutions, and subject areas. It is like a melting pot for educators. Young professionals who now enter the field of online education should use these opportunities to learn from, and build on, all the experience and controversies that come from this melting pot.
Paulsen, M. F. 2003
And the day just got worst... Part 4
Have you ever had this kind of day, everything is going well and..
April 25, 2008
Turns Out It's The Kids Who Don't Play Video Games Who Are Most At Risk
Time and time again we see headlines blaring out about how dangerous violent video games are, with politicians insisting they need to do something to "protect the children." However, every time you look closely at the research, you discover there's no real evidence that violent video games lead to violent behavior. At best, the research appears to show that violent video games makes kids emotional and excited (which... er... is what they're supposed to do) and that might lead to very slightly more aggressive behavior for a very short time.
Techdirt: Turns Out It's The Kids Who Don't Play Video Games Who Are Most At Risk
Turns Out It's The Kids Who Don't Play Video Games Who Are Most At Risk
Txt Spk In Schools Not A Big Deal
While some of the headlines on the latest Pew Study about how "txt speak" is slipping into school writing assignments suggest the horror of a generation of kids who write LOL and use smileys in written communications, the actual results aren't that bad at all. What the study found was that, yes, occasionally some students let slip non-formal English, though that's hardly surprising.
Techdirt: Txt Spk In Schools Not A Big Deal
Why the Internet is Making Me Stupid
Don't really agree with this article but the title caught my interest.
The Bamboo Project Blog: Why the Internet is Making Me Stupid
The ultimate administration cyber office
This would be my ultimate administration office, it would have a rubber floor which would allow us to move the electrical and network jacks where it is needed and a theatre training center to bring together teachers/developers and visitors.
Quote of the Day
Good schools, like good societies and good families, celebrate and cherish diversity.
-- Deborah Meier
Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or the same way.
-- George Evans
And the day just got worst... Part 3
Have you ever had this kind of day, everything is going well and...
April 24, 2008
Another reason why cyber schools are becoming so popular.
School clique banned 'ugly' girls - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes
Measuring information distance between citiies
What this means I have no idea, the math is way beyond me, but it creates one very cool graphic. You go google.
And the day just got worst... Part 2
Have you ever had this kind of day, everything is going well and...
A good indication that we have had enough winter
April 23, 2008
BullyingCanada.ca
Welcome to Bullying Canada. Young people speaking out about bullying and victimization. Youth who know that one out of 4 kids are bullied, one out of 5 kids are the bully and that 282,000 high school kids are attacked each month nationally.
Youths who know that bullying isn't only physical, but emotional. Youths who know that bullying is deadly. Youths who want to help stop bullying. So Help. Listen and Speak Up!
And the day just got worst...
Have you ever had this kind of day, everything is going well and...
April 22, 2008
Earth Day Information Center
Esperato Language
Bill Chapman sends me a comment about this neat language. Check it out.
Esperanto: Multilingual Information Center: English (angla)
I want a pair of these.
For use at home of course.
This—what's the word I'm looking for?—aberration of a pair of pants designed by Erik de Nijs (nope, me neither) is, I guess, designed for the Geek at Heart. They incorporate keyboard, mouse and a pair of knee-height speakers.
Bionic eye 'blindness cure hope'
This is an exciting time we live in...check this out....bionic eye.
BBC NEWS | Health | Bionic eye 'blindness cure hope'
April 21, 2008
The Two Million Minutes Blog
A continuation of the TWO MILLION MINUTES documentary film, this blog offers deeper insights into education in China, India and the United States, and the challenge America faces. Now you can join a dialog about what governments, communities and families should and are doing to best prepare US students for satisfying careers in the 21st century.
Panelists: Online learning can help minority students
Educators discuss how online courses can help meet underserved students' needs and fulfill course requirements
Top News - Panelists: Online learning can help minority students
Do you talk Nerdic? Geek speak is the fastest-growing language in Europe
If you call it "geek speak" you're so 2007 - the kids are calling it "Nerdic" and it is the fastest growing language in Europe.
The majority of the population might find the new technical terminology rather baffling but soon the growing language will become hard to ignore.
Anyone who does not know what a "mash-up" is or is not familiar with verb to "rick-roll" will be left drifting in cyber space.
Do you talk Nerdic? Geek speak is the fastest-growing language in Europe | the Daily Mail
Turning Off Internet In The Classroom Won't Make Lectures Any More Interesting
Just about two years ago, we wrote about some law professors who were threatening to ban computers in their classrooms because students just weren't paying attention. While some apparently did so, perhaps it wasn't enough, because as Slashdot points out, the University of Chicago's law school has now decided to pull the plug on classroom internet connections entirely, as a dean was upset at how many students were surfing the web during class. However, as we noted two years ago, this seems to say a lot more about the lecture quality than the internet access in the classroom.
Techdirt: Turning Off Internet In The Classroom Won't Make Lectures Any More Interesting
April 17, 2008
Microsoft Innovative Teacher Conference in Hanoi
this is a conference overview on the Hanoi that my stomach is still trying to get over. My touchy stomach did not like the lack of McDonalds and other fast food. All kidding aside, Microsoft treated us like royalty and it was a very informative conference, with fantastic food, sessions and company.
Jaduka Labs
Jaduka's engineers created Jaduka Labs - an interactive showcase of useful applications and widgets - to demonstrate the power and clarity of Jaduka's voice communication technology.
Delaycast
Use our on-time prediction engine to help you book your flights. We’ve built mathematical models of the U.S. air transportation system to predict delays and cancellations. If you need to make that meeting on time or are afraid of missing a connection, don’t book until you check out the predictions here!
Delaycast � Flight Delay Predictions
April 15, 2008
Images from Innovative Teacher Conference Hanoi
The following are images from the Microsoft Regional Innovative Teachers' Conference in Hanoi Vietnam. We also stop in Hong Kong which is the first image.
Ngong Ping Plateau Hong Kong
Three hundred plus year old tree at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi
Seems like teaching has not changed... image in the first university in Hanoi.
Using the SMARTBoard to Support Math
Smarter Ways to Use the Smart Board with Math Core Content
April 14, 2008
Fewer And Fewer Parents Freaking Out About Kids Chatting Online
If you look at the history of pop culture, there's a pretty clear pattern that emerges: parents fear whatever "new" thing their kids are into, whether it's "rock n roll" or video games or social networking. The fear boils up, even to the point of politicians pushing for laws to stop this horrible thing. But then, after a little while, parents realize the "new thing" they feared really isn't so bad.
Techdirt: Fewer And Fewer Parents Freaking Out About Kids Chatting Online
And for a monday...I feel old.
The Grandfather replied, 'Well , let me think a minute, I was born before:
television
penicillin
polio shots
frozen foods
Xerox
contact lenses
Frisbees and
the pill
There were no:
'credit cards
'laser beams or
ball-point pens
Man had not invented:
pantyhose
air conditioners
dishwashers
clothes dryers
and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
man hadn't yet walked on the moon
Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . .and then lived together.
Every family had a father and a mother.
Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, 'Sir'.
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, 'Sir.'
We were before computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios.
And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.
If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk
The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.
Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.
And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . but who could afford one?
Too bad , because gas was 11 cents a gallon.
In my day:
'grass' was mowed,
'coke' was a cold drink,
'pot' was something your mother cooked in and
'rock music' was your grandmother's lullaby.
'Aids' were helpers in the Principal's office,
' chip' meant a piece of wood,
'hardware' was found in a hardware store and
'software' wasn't even a word.
No wonder people call us 'old and confused' and say there is a generation gap... and how old do you think I am?
I bet you have this old man in mind...you are in for a shock!
Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.
Are you ready ?????
This man would be only 59 years old
April 9, 2008
Is the government helping?
Is the Canadian government helping or hindering the globalization of education?
By giving complete control of education to the province has the government helped with the global world. Are we falling behind countries that had a unified approach to how the country deal's with others? Do we need to decide what and how we share our educational expertise and materials? Are we spinning our wheels by all of us trying to do the same thing, and some doing a good job and some not.
April 8, 2008
Interesting article
Local boards must take on more work
Veronica Rhodes, Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 05, 2008
The offloading of correspondence courses from the provincial education ministry to local school boards has left at least one school division scrambling.
The provincial government recently announced it will discontinue technology supported learning (TSL) on March 31, 2009.
Services will be reduced at the end of this school year and new registrations won't be accepted by TSL after Oct. 15.
TSL provides correspondence education to high school students and adults in the province and residents temporarily residing outside Saskatchewan. Students are able to enroll in Grade 10, 11 and 12 courses that may not be offered locally. Courses are prepared and assignments are graded by qualified teachers.
Helen Horsman, assistant deputy minister for the provincial ministry of education, said over the last two years, there has been significant restructuring of school divisions, creating a smaller number of large divisions that can now deliver programming not previously offered, such as distance learning.
"Half the school divisions in the province do offer some kind of distance learning. So we wanted to enable school divisions to use that capacity to in fact offer those to their own students and possibly to other students in the province who need to access the courses," said Horsman.
Bob Vavra, e-learning co-ordinator for the Chinook School Division, said the sudden decision by the department puts a lot of pressure on the division. While it has moved in the direction of online and distance learning, Vavra said it still heavily relied on TSL.
"We also utilized about 500 seats of TSL or correspondence courses over the course of a year so for that to go to zero in a relatively short period of time, it really frustrates us," said Vavra.
With TSL services being significantly reduced within a semester's time, divisions will have to begin offering more classes.
But Vavra explained Chinook needs a minimum of 12 students to run a class, which means those with only three or four students won't be available.
"We can't offer 40 classes. We might be able to target the top 20, 25 classes but there is no doubt, students will not be able to take courses they've taken in the past. It is really going to hurt the rural, small-town schools," he said, adding divisions may have to partner with each other to offer a larger range of courses.
But Horsman said the ministry will create an administration hub for correspondence courses to keep track of where the 40 different high school courses are being offered.
"We will ensure all students who need to access courses that they will have a way to do that. So we're looking at the courses we're offering now, (and) which of the school divisions will host those courses so they're still available to students," said Horsman.
In November, there were 2,060 students accessing TSL courses. Horsman explained enrolment in TSL courses has declined over the past decade since students are accessing courses through other sources. The department also considered the completion rates for students and noted those rates weren't as high as they could be if students were connected to their own school divisions rather than to a provincial program.
The ministry is expected to work with school divisions and stakeholders to smooth out the transition and ensure they have the capacity for it.
But Vavra said the change will likely mean divisions must pour more money into staffing.
"It is really frustrating the timing of it because we were starting to get our plans and staffing and everything in place," said Vavra.
We had our budgets created and submitted to the division and that was all in place and now we are going to be scrambling."
April 1, 2008
Quote of the Day
It is all over that there internet which by the way is open late.
Author: Unknown
April Resources
Looking for fresh ideas for the month of April? This site has theme-based crafts, online adventures, lesson plans and much more. Check back often as more resources will be added updated.
Questionaut
Players must help the Questionaut journey through strange worlds, answering questions on English, Maths and Science on a magical journey to recover his friend’s hat. Check out the great new game here:
BBC - KS2 Bitesize - Games - Questionaut
April Continuous Improvement Framework
As stated at the opening staff meeting we are working on a continuous improvement framework (CIF) It will work in a few different steps: Each CIF will take one month to complete. Each month I will introduce a new unit in our CIP journey. There are ten tasks and at the end we will see if our stats via Cyber Tracker improve.
April CIF is here.
The goal: Is to create a 30 second to 2 minute video that can be displayed on the cyber school web site and a second video with be displayed in the overview section of your course.
http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/CIF/april.htm
