Web Quests (Zunal)

A WebQuest is defined by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University as "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that students interact with comes from resources on the Internet."

One of the best ways to use technology/internet w/ students is to send them on a "web quest". While there are a ton of quests out there for students to go on, ideally it would be better to have them go on one which "you" created. Doing this, hasn't always been easy w/ the amount of planning time and then having to incorporate all the different resources that goes into a web quest.

However, a new resource is available for free which lets teacher's create their very own web quest online, and then either post it online, or download it as a PDF/print to use in their class. Plus, w/ it being online you can track statistics almost like Google Analytics.

I highly recommend checking out their home page and clicking on view demo...

For more info click here

Remix America

A few weeks back I came across this great site from Larry Ferlazzo's blog. Now that I had the chance to explore it and watch some tutorials I've decided to post about it. Remix America is simply one of the best online resources for history teachers/students.

RA, is a tool which lets you take any video from America History (from their own, online resources, or your own) and then mash them together anyway you see fit. You can combine the videos, upload audio, and add transitions all from their web interface. Once it is done, you can either upload your video to their site, download it to your computer, or get the html code to embed. However, while RA is a very good at what it does, it is limited to only American History. Also, keep in mind since it is a Web 2.0 resource that you have to be careful when sticking to CIPA compliance. I've contacted RA to get more information on that in detail.

Below is a "tutorial on how-to make a remix".

Alice Storytelling

Alice Storytelling is a spin-off of Alice.org. Alice is a user friendly application for Mac/Linux/Windows used to create 3D-animations/games. Think of it as a more advanced version of Scratch. They both need to be downloaded to use and both teach programming skills. However, w/ Scratch you can actually upload your game to their site to share w/ others.

Alice Storytelling is a bit different. It is designed specifically for Middle School and does not have any of the game components. It is for creating a digital-3D story and either printing out a story-board by creating screen-shots, or by creating an actual movie.

Below is a short example of a story...



For more info on Alice Storytelling click here.

Parallel/Collaborative Word Processing

Parallel Word Processing is a term used for collaborating on the same document in "real time". Now, there are applications that do something very similar the most popular being Google Doc's, but in reality that is not done in "real time". The two I'm very excited about our Text Flow and Ether Pad.

Text Flow - This is true Parallel Word Processing. Upload as many documents as you like and then collaborate to get your desired result. It really is a time saver and helps eliminate mistakes. View the demo here.

Ether Pad - is great due to it's simplicity in use. All you have to do is click on Create New Pad, share the URL, and then start collaborating. While it may not have as many "bells & whistles" as some other apps it certainly gets the job done. For a demo click here.

Gaggle

At heart, Gaggle is a semi-free filtered email solution for students. Free being in the sense that the unpaid version includes banners/adds and really slows down a network. However, after using the purchased version of Gaggle in our district for the last few months, I can say Gaggle is so much more then just an eMail system.

Gaggle has a variety of components that makes it appealing for education such as: blogging, discussion boards, chatting, digital lockers, and email. Since all of this is "housed" in Gaggle it is all filtered.

Another nice feature is the admin user interface which lets you tweak settings to your hearts desire. You can set it to email yourself for blog comments, blocked messages, etc etc etc. Like any filtering system you can set it to as high/little as you like and include any keywords that might not be in the system.

Finally, one other great selling point is that it works w/ Google Apps. You can have Gaggle "house" a GMail account which is great if you like to par take in the Google universe or Googleverse. For more info on Gaggle/Google interaction click here.

If you are strictly looking for a blogging solution for education which is free, take a look at Edmodo. Edmodo is a microblogging solution for education which is very user friendly; think Twitter for education.

Lovely Charts

There are plenty of online diagramming applications, but Lovely Charts is one of the better ones to come along in a long time.

The first thing you'll notice after signing up (free, but paid to unlock everything) is the polished look/feel to it. This is one of the nicer looking online applications. Also, it is very user friendly and simple to use. Anybody who has had experience w/ Inspiration will be able to pick this up in no time.

One of my favorite features of Lovely Charts are all the different styles of diagrams you have to choose from: Flowcharts, Sitemaps, Network Diagrams, Wireframes, etc. Plus, it's very easy to save/download. I highly recommend checking this out and see no reason why it can't be used in education. The paid version unlocks all the web 2.0/collaboration features.

For more info click here.

Below is an example of a Home Network Diagram...

Top Ten OSX/Leopard features

I thought I would compile a list of my favorite OSX features. Keep in mind this is not strictly regulated to Leopard, some of these features have been
around since the induction of Cheetah (10.0)

1. Target Disk Mode - Far and away the best feature of any OSX Mac. By simply restarting a computer and holding down the t key, the computer will boot into Target Disk Mode. This mode is ideal for transferring large amounts of data via a Firewire cable to another computer, or troubleshooting computers, especially those that won't boot. Easily, the main feature for techs that seperates Mac's over PC's.

2. Single User Mode - Another excellent feature to help troubleshoot computers that are not behaving correctly or won't even boot up. Restart the computer and hold down command/apple + s, and it will boot into single user mode. From the command line you can type in any number of commands to try and fix the computer, the most popular is File System Check fsck -fy.

3. Force Quit - When an applications freezes or you get the spinning beech ball of death, usually a force quit will rectify the situation. By simply holding down option+apple/command+esc at the same time you will bring up the force quit option (for PC control+alt+delete).

4. Screen Shot - Something I do on nearly a daily basis is take screen shots to either make tutorials, for error messages, or to grab images that I need. On a Mac this is a built in feature. Simply hold down shift+apple/command+4, the cursor will turn into a plus sign, and then create a "box" around what you want to take a picture of. You will hear a camera go off and it will put a .png file on your desktop.

5. Preview - When I first started using Leopard one of the first thing I noticed are all the changes that were made to it. Before, Preview was Apple's way to open up images/PDF's. In 10.5 not only can you view images/PDF's but you can: crop them, resize them, add effects, etc. With the new features of Preview you can edit a picture w/out ever having to launch iPhoto which will save you a bunch of time.

6. PDF - Another useful feature which I use a lot is to create PDF's. On a PC you would need to have Acrobat Distiller or something like that installed. In OSX, all you need to do is a File-Print, click on the PDF and choose the option you want!!

7. Archive/Compress - If you need to compress large files for either emailing, storage, or some other need, OSX makes it a synch. All you have to do is click on the file/folder, select File-Compress and it will make a zip right on your desktop.

8. Disk Utility - Disk Utility is a built in feature to OS X which got a bunch of new features in Leopard. In here you can do basic trouble shoot by repairing permissions/disk, partition a drive, erase/zero a drive, or create a disk image.

9. Zoom In/Out - A nice little feature to have especially if you are doing a presentation and want to focus on a specific area on your desktop is the zoom feature. To do this enable it in System Pref/Universal Access, and then do the following command, shift+command/apple+minus or shift+apple+plus.

10. Spotlight - Spotlight is a great way to search for anything on a Mac. It also has a bunch of plugins and other features that you can find by clicking on the link. I like that not only does it search the computer, but it will search any document, PDF, or email for words that you are looking for.