Think Twice Thursday #5 - Oh Come On...Not Another Power Point?!?!

Now, let me start off by saying that I am probably one of the most guilty users of Power Point in my classroom.  I created and have a Power Point for every unit that I teach.  I can only imagine how boring it was for my students after the 2nd unit to see me start up my computer and projector to begin another section of lecture using Power Point.

Power Point is a very useful tool.  It is a very easy way to present information.  It is a very easy way to organize information for students.  It is very easy to add pictures and video.  It is also very easy to use wrong and use slides the wrong way.  It is also very redundant, and thus, very boring.  Students are tired of Power Point.  Most of them will tell you they have done more Power Point than any other kind of projects.  How many Power Point Presentations have you created???

Five years ago...heck, two years ago, Power Point was THE method of using technology in the classroom for many teachers.  Because of Web 2.0, teachers have more options for presenting content to their students.  So with this post, I make a suggestion.  Think Twice about using Power Point for your next lecture presentation.  Instead, use some of the other tools out there.

Digtial Story Telling - Use sites like PhotoPeach (which you can turn your presentation into Quizzes) or Animoto.  Tell your lecture through pictures.  You can also download Photostory 3 from Microsoft.  Another option is Voicethread and make the lecture more interactive.  Storybird would be another option, and your students could add to the lecture

Glogster - Make a lecture into a Glog.  You can easily link to outside websites that enhance your lecture and then return back to the Glog.  Embed videos and audio clips for your students to watch and listen to while you take a break from the lecture.  A great change of pace to Power Point, with some of the same features.

Prezi - Take that linear Power Point Presentation, and put it on a 3D canvas.  Upload videos, pictures, and PDF's.  Zoom in and focus on a certain aspect of your presentation.  Students who have not seen Prezi, will probably be more attentive in class that day seeing you use a new presentation tool.

Comic Strips and Cartoons - Yes...Comic Strips and Cartoons.  Make your lecture into comic books.  Make it entertaining for your students.  Imagine the reaction students would have that day if you had a cartoon for their lecture that day.  You can visit my previous post for information on Comic Strip and Cartoon websites.

Virsona - Create lecture from the perspective from someone in history in the form of a chat.  Let your students ask the questions to lead the lecture.  You can see my blog post about it here.  Or for entertainment purposes, you could use a site like Blabberize, and record the lecture ahead of time.

Timeline - There are plenty of Timeline Applications on the web.  You can visit my blog post about them here.  Take your lecture to a new level and present it in a timeline, giving your students chronological order within the lecture, helping students with their organization.

Again, don't get me wrong, Power Point is great...but it is time that we rethink or Think Twice about how we use it in our classrooms.

Twitter Tuseday #5 - Twitter Apps

With the rise in Twitter there are plenty of viable options for Twitter Desktop Applications, iPhone Applications, and other Smartphone Applications.  I will first examine the Desktop Twitter Applications.  I also am a PC guy (currently) so these will all be Windows based programs.  There are more than these, but these are the ones that I found the most information about.  They are in no particular order.

Tweetdeck - This is the desktop app that I use.  What I like is the user interface.  It is also compatible with your Facebook.  I don't really use it for that.  It  will automatically shorten URL's in your tweets as well.  You can view replies, Direct Messages, etc. in its own column keeping you connected with Twitter while working on other things.  It minimizes to your toolbar as well and displays a "tweet" window when you receive any new tweets.  You can also get the application on your iPhone.

Hootsuite - Advertises itself as a more "professional" Twitter Client.  You can get your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Ping accounts via the desktop software.  You can schedule tweets and organize into Columns and Tabs.  You can track statistics and even retrieve embed codes so that you can add search columns to your website.  You can also get the application on your iPhone.

Seesmic - Like the others you can organize our tweets and Facebook feeds into columns.  You can also incorporate your saved searches and Twitter List.  Nothing really different from the others.  I did notice that it seems to be the one application that has a Twitter client for every model of SmartPhone..except the iPhone.

Skimmer - Same features.  Main difference is that it can be linked to Blogger, Flickr, and Youtube, as well as Facebook.  Basically, it keeps you from checking the websites that you probably visit everyday.  Other than that, there is not much difference than the others.  By visiting the site you can view some screenshots of the application.

Digsby - Includes IM and Email inclusion as well as linking to Facebook and Twitter.  It creates a toolbar at the bottom of your screen with access to the accounts that you grant it too.  You can visit the website for screenshots and a demo video to help further explain some of the many features.

iPhone Apps
I own an iPhone.  Just got it, so upon joining Twitter, I immediately starting looking for a good Twitter App.  I currently use Twitbird.  I suggest that you just search "Twitter" from the App Store and read the reviews and features to determine which is best for you.  There are MANY, MANY others, but I will look at some of the more popular ones here:

Twitbird (comes in three versions: Free, Pro, Premium).  Each one offers different features.  The free version will come with some advertisements in your tweets.  Worth paying under $3.00 just to not have to see them!  I like the Push Notification Feature (cost a little extra) but it will alert you of replies and direct messages.  You can also create an Instapaper account to save links.  Very user friendly.  You can visit the software creator's site here.

Tweetie 2 - Brand new recently updated.  Does not offer Push Notifications according to the description I read, but will probably be in a future update.  Has a lot of features, probably more than I need.

Twitterific Premium - Can also be downloaded as a desktop application for Macs.  I originally used this one before changing over to Twitbird.  It has a lot of great features as well.  No Push Notifications, and from what I have read, not many differences between the paid and free version.  I liked the dark theme and the many different colors of the Tweets.

SimplyTweet - You can view the developers website here.  SimplyTweet has a lot of the similar features.  Has Push Notifications as well as many different themes.  You can also view it in landscape and portrait mode.  Something the other Apps allow as well.

EchoFon Pro - Formerly known as Twitterfon, and you can visit the developers website here.  Supports Push Notifications.  Can be used for free SMS according to the website.  Also is available as a desktop App for Macs.  Like the others, you can also setup multiple Twitter accounts.

Twittelator Pro - You can visit the developers website here.  It advertises the ability to create your own theme.  Includes many dingbats, or emoticons to enhance your Tweets.  Advertises over 200 features, but one of those is NOT Push Notifications...if it had that, this would probably be the most complete App for Twitter.

BlackBerry Twitter Apps Information
- Free BlackBerry Twitter Apps Roundup
- Seesmic for Blackberry
- Article over official RIM Twitter App

Droid and Nexus One Twitter Apps
- Twidroid
- Top Three Twitter Clients
- TweetCaster
- Seesmic

Must See Monday #5 - All My Faves

You are probably thinking this is going to be a list of all my favorites...but it is not.  All My Faves is actually a "search" engine of the websites that appear to be the favorites for a given week or topic.







While visiting one of the feeder middle schools as part of my job, the math teacher introduced me to the website All My Faves.  It is a search engine of the most favorite links and/or the most popular links.  What I like most about it is that you can see the most favorite by category...and then by subject, or sub-category.  When you hover your mouse over the favorite you want to visit, it gives you the title of the website as well as a brief description.

Topics can also be separated by country (Brazil, India, Australia, Unites States, United Kingdom, and Canada) as well.  The categories that you can view are Blogs, Education, Entertainment, Games, Kids, Shopping, Travel, and then Weekly Faves.

Education is the one that I will focus on for the purpose of this Blog Post.  Under the education tab you will find websites separated by Subject matter, and then board topics such as Home school, Libraries, Technology, Writing Skills, etc.  A neat way to find out what is popular in education on the web.  Below is a screenshot of the webpage.

The Weekly Faves is also another section worth examining for the purpose of seeing what are the most popular websites for the week.  It also has 2009 Favorites and provides an archive for each week as well as 2007-2009, which could make for an interesting history assignment.  Blogs is also worth looking at for finding blogs about specific topics you might be interested in outside of education.

Hope you find something you like here.

Blio eReader

Maybe the competition to the iPad and the Kindle will be Blio.  Blio is a state of the art eReader, a Bookstore, and has a superior graphic display.  Blio is software.  It will be available soon for PC's, Laptops, Netbooks, and Mobile Phones.  You can browse through more than 1 million books..as of right now.  Once you download a book, you won't need an Internet Connection to read it.

You can find out more about Blio on their About Page, which also has a nice comparison chart of other eReaders.  The bookstore will be available in February.  I know this post is on February 1st, but not this soon.  It is definitely worth bookmarking and checking back to see when the software is available.  I expect it to be an App for the iPhone as well soon after the official release.  The image below shows many of the special features.

21st Century Census

As most of us know, every 10 years the United States completes a Census to gather important data about our population, mostly for determining members of the House of Representatives...or the only reason politicians care about the Census.  In case your math is not up to par, the last census was in 2000, the beginning of the 21st Century.  When I look back 10 years I am astounded by all that has changed in the world of education and technology and their relationship to one another.

Many of the technological software and hardware that we find ourselves often "not able to live with out" were just a thought or in their early stages in 2000.  Smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, WiFi, Wireless Networking, Nintendo Wii, Netbooks, and Web 2.0 to name a few.  They have all had a great impact on our lives and education.  With a lot of these changes, our growth in technology is helping us all to be more connected.  One of Obama's goals is the creation of wireless networking for the entire country; free WiFi.

With the upcoming census, it would be to the benefit of the citizens of the United States to figure out where American families stand with technology.  So here are some simple questions that we should include in the 2020 Census, if not 2010.

1.) How many computers/laptops are located within your household?
2.) If you have Internet, what speed do you currently use to connect to the Internet (Dial-up, DSL, Cable, Satellite)?
3.) Do you use wireless Internet?
4.) Do you actively use Social Media/Social Networking Sites like Twitter and Facebook?
5.) Do you own a Smartphone such as a Blackberry or iPhone?  Do you plan on purchasing one in the near future?
6.) Does your work/school require the use of computers?
7.) Does your work require the use of a Smartphone?

What questions would you include so that we could get a better understanding of "Technology in America?"