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Test Practice Anyone! February 28, 2006

Posted by Lyn Rushing in : Uncategorized , comments closed

The Jefferson Lab Test Site has practice tests for 3, 5, & 8 in math and science. For each test, you have the option of selecting a single strand, multiple strands, and even multiple type tests. One of the main features of this site is that it provides immediate feedback for each and every question. When the student has completed the test it provides a composite score. This can be printed by typing in the students name and telling the computer to reload the page. Then tell the computer to print.

This is the best test practice site I have found.

MySpace Not What it Seems

Posted by Michael Stokes in : Uncategorized , comments closed

How about a MySpace Cheat Sheet for busy parents? If you don’t kow about MySpace and you have or work with children and teens this is a must see article for not everything is as it seems at MySpace.

As a parent and one who works with children and teens, I am not in total agreement with every point of this article. I believe parents have responsibilities to the published profiles of their children and the web sites they are allowed to visit. This is not censorship. This is parenting. Comments?

Detailed Photo from Hubble of spiral Messier 101

Posted by Michael Stokes in : Uncategorized , comments closed

Giant galaxies weren’t assembled in a day. Neither was this Hubble Space Telescope image of the face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101 (M101). It is the largest and most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has ever been released from Hubble. The galaxy’s portrait is actually composed of 51 individual exposures taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in March 1994, September 1994, June 1999, November 2002, and January 2003.

Tag. You’re It.

Posted by Michael Stokes in : Uncategorized , comments closed

If you have been watching this blog you already know about tagging because of the post of our biggest contributor, Jeff Giddens. Now, the rest of the world knows about tagging too. The linked article has the history and how-to’s of this awesome tool for educators.

A new way of searching the web that has emerged in the last year or so makes it easier than ever to find, store, and share information online. Supporters of the method, known as “tagging,” say it could have broad implications for educators looking to direct students quickly and easily to more relevant information on the internet.

Androids And Education

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
Paul Simon, The Boy in the Bubble

What frightening and magnificent times we live in. Now, more than any other age in human existence powerful knowledge, whether arcane or brilliantly simple, is accessible just about everywhere we go. We have yet to fully consider the impact of the internet on our species. We can find almost anything we want to know: the distance and geographic features between two or more locations, up-to-the-second breaking news, intimate data about where others live, definitions/synonyms/antonyms for words in many languages, trivia, information contained within various historical documents, and great works of literature. We are awash in data.

Consider this, before the advent of Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, and other internet-powered search resources we had to rely on information in hardcopy print. The text that we accessed was either in our immediate vicinity (i.e., our office or home) or in a library. Having information confined to print was often enough to curtail our efforts to actively seek it. If we couldn’t find what we were looking for in the same room in which we were standing we usually decided, “Well, I’ll look that up the next time I make it over to the library.” If we never made it to the library we never pursued what we wanted to know. Nowadays, internet technology has removed a great many limitations to our curiosity. The only real restrictions to our thirst for knowledge (in America—for the time being—at least) is our willingness to seek answers. The integration of mysterious quantum computers is likely to yield answers to our questions in decidely non-traditional ways.

This shift in how we question the world comes at a time in history when humans are increasingly relying on technology to extend and enhance biological cognitive functions. Our dependence upon calendar programs to keep track of dates, computer memory to store vital personal information, and devices that help us navigate is growing. Raymond Kurzweil, inventor, creator of Ramona, neo-immortalist, and member of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, believes that humans are becoming cyborgs. It seems that the technological resources we use–handheld PCs, iPods, and jumpdrives–are becoming extensions of ourselves.

Add to the availability of a continuously growing body of human knowledge and our reliance upon external cognitive boosters, a new technological wrinkle: the development of androids. The possibility of androids being used in everyday life is no longer science-fiction. The field of android science is poised to change the way we conceptualize human thought and behavior. In 2005, a number of leading researchers in this branch of science shared findings that are beginning to have an impact on global culture. There is little doubt that the ideas being explored within this new science will affect education and intelligence. It’s a certainty. Whether humans look to androids for companionship, health care in old age, or better understanding of ethical issues the presence of a new breed of automatons is destined to alter traditional approaches to teaching and learning.

We need to begin preparing now. Administrators, educators, media specialists, parents, students, communities, and governmental agencies should start exploring the ramifications of robots, androids, and other related technologies on education and learning. We need to address the emotional and analytical response of humans to androids (as do Stephanie Gray, David Hanson and Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro). The idea of humans and mechanical beings interacting may seem fantastic, whimsical, or too futuristic to contemplate. However, it’s a concept that we must acknowledge soon. Androids and their cybernetic kin will have a tremendous impact on how we educate.

Any thoughts?

The Unfolding OrigamiProject Mystery February 27, 2006

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

Kudos to WraithFX over at digg for shedding more light on Microsoft’s quasi-enigamtic (viral marketing campaign?) of the OrigamiProject. Watching the YouTube video gives you a better idea as to what it looks like and how it can be used. My boss, Monica, thinks this is Microsoft’s version of an iPod.

Literature Teachers: Increase Their Learning POEtential

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

Engaging learning is only a heartbeat away when you use technology-enhanced material. If you’re teaching students about Edgar Allan Poe make sure you drop by Telltale Weekly’s generous (free for 24 hours only) mp3 download of The Tell-Tale Heart. You’re sure to have a broken heart if you miss this opportunity.

My thanks to Cory at BoingBoing for sharing this frighteningly cool resource!

Electronic Art: Digital Painting February 26, 2006

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

I was checking out some open source software sites when I recalled that SEGATech’s Man from Effingham, Joe Strickland, recently mentioned the terrific things his school’s art teacher, Carlee Fuller, has been doing with a nifty, tech-enhanced learning tool. Carlee’s students have been using a great program called ArtRage. Well, it turns out that there’s a new version of the application. It’s called ArtRage 2.0 and it comes with additional features. For those who want even more digital imaging resources, another great program is Paint.NET. Why not download it and/or the equally impressive GIMP free of charge?

We’ll Always Have Paris February 25, 2006

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

Today, I’m in Valdosta, Georgia visiting my wife’s family. This evening, to pass the time (and get my daily helping of technology), I showed my wife’s father Google Earth. As he hopped from place to place, I described how I’ve been teaching educators and students to use the resource. My father-in-law, who is a retired professor of French, soon became excited by our geographical meanderings. He kindly shared a beautiful learning tool with me that I’m sure all French teachers and their budding Francophiles will appreciate: a web-based version of the the plan of Turgot (that is, Paris, district by district as it looked in 1734–although the map wasn’t completed until 1739). Later, I stumbled across even earlier renderings of the City of Light. Bonne nuit, mes amis!

A Microsoft Mystery: What Is The OrigamiProject? February 24, 2006

Posted by Jeff Giddens in : Uncategorized , comments closed

KCasier over at digg pointed me to the enigmatic Microsoft-owned OrigamiProject site (not to be confused with an iEARN’s engaging project with a similar name). I don’t know if I can wait until March the 2nd to find out what it’s all about. Let’s see…I know that NEA’s exciting Read Across America event’ll take place on that day, that NOAA will host its National Severe Weather Workshop, and that the W21 Digital Cities Convention will be winding down in Houston. Other than these calendar dates, I’m clueless. Anyone want to speculate?

UPDATE: According to a post on Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog, there’s talk (from Endgadget and others) that the OrigamiProject is a device that will be “…wearable, always on, no larger than 10-inches, connected through 3G networks, pen-based and have a suggested retail price of $500 or less.” If what’s being said is true, I’m eager to see how this kind of resource can and will be used in instructional settings.