The Consortium for School Networking has posted a web 2.0 and mobile acceptable use policy (AUP) guide (PDF download). Though brief, the resource outlines AUP policy formation and, most significantly, lists relevant laws for a couple dozen U.S. states. The guide also links to sample policies and additional resources.
"Screencast-O-Matic is the original free and easy way to make a
screen capture
video recording with audio (aka screencast) and upload it for free hosting all from your browser with no install!"
mentioned at ASCUE10 captures audio from computer while capturing which is often difficult with screen capture programs.
National Lab Day is a nationwide initiative to build local communities of support that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students and educators.
Study vocabulary or almost anything
Create your own flashcards - sign up free
Share flashcards with your friends
View the quick guide or watch the video tour
How do other people deal with the torrent of information that
pours down on us all? Do they have some secret? Perhaps. We are asking
various friends and colleagues who seem well-informed to describe their
media diets.
ArcGIS Explorer is a free virtual globe that is much more than just a fun and easy way to explore the world in 2D and 3D. You can use it to add your own data to your maps and combine it with free data from ESRI. You can also customize your maps by adding photos, reports, videos, and other information.
Wiffiti publishes real time messages to screens in thousands of locations from jumbotrons to jukeboxes, bars to bowling alleys and cafes to colleges.
You can interact with Wiffiti from your mobile phone or the web.
Dimensions takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are.
Type in your postcode or a place name to get started.
Create beautiful presentations, access them from anywhere, and share them with the world. With 280 Slides, there's no software to download and nothing to pay for - and when you're done building your presentation you can share it any way you like.
Whether it's quitting time at your job or the remains of the 15 minutes you gave yourself to clean your inbox, it's handy knowing how much time you've got left. This minimalist URL-based web timer provides exactly that service.
boyd, danah. 2009. "Living and Learning with Social Media." Penn State Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology. State College, PA: April 18.
We have already covered why Diigo, a web bookmarking and annotation service, is a powerful tool for managing bookmarks, but why stop there? Diigo can be a very useful tool for helping you to write a college essay or research paper.
Since the Internet is a tool that most students use to do research, and since most research papers are based on quotes used from various sources, Diigo provides a way to not only bookmark your sources, but also to manage and access your quotes, notes, and analysis.
We see the embedded philosophy bloom when students assemble papers as mash-ups from online snippets instead of thinking and composing on a blank piece of screen. What is wrong with this is not that students are any lazier now or learning less. (It is probably even true, I admit reluctantly, that in the presence of the ambient Internet, maybe it is not so important anymore to hold an archive of certain kinds of academic trivia in your head.)
Roughly speaking, there are two ways to use computers in the classroom. You can have them measure and represent the students and the teachers, or you can have the class build a virtual spaceship. Right now the first way is ubiquitous, but the virtual spaceships are being built only by tenacious oddballs in unusual circumstances. More spaceships, please.
Jaron Lanier's article in the NY times.
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Adding to an already rich life, my father decided in middle age to become an elementary-school teacher in a working-class neighborhood in New Mexico. To this day, people who run grocery stores and work on construction sites, and who are now in late middle age themselves, come out when I'm visiting to tell me how Mr. Lanier changed their lives. Go up to any adult with a good life, no matter what his or her station, and ask if a teacher made a difference, and you'll always see a face light up. The human element, a magical connection, is at the heart of successful education, and you can't bottle it.