academic technology

Great use of maps to show bird species with songs Welcome to xeno-canto, the community database of shared bird sounds from the whole world. Search through the growing collection, identify or discuss unknown sounds and download freely. Do you like what you see? Share your recordings and knowledge!

online magazine that's all about science for the people published by Natl Sci Foundation. Quirky articles good for a general science class

The nuances of Copyright and Creative Commons and the differences between them can be confusing. I recently came across this neat little video that does a good job of explaining Creative Commons and what Creative Commons licenses allow or do not allow people to do with your works. A PDF of the images in the video can be found here.

cool revolving globe

"Share what you know and write a knol. Did you know? We provide dos and don'ts on how to write good knols."

many types of google searches: squared, knol, sets, public source code, blogs

6 screencast tools: You have a few options when it comes to screencasting (such as Camtasia which offers to record your screen for $299, or Camstudio). However, if you want simpler applications that can do the same thing without the heavy toll on your computer's memory or your wallet, try these easy-to-use web-based solutions. Since all of the following offer the recordings for download, you can edit the screencasts to your liking in your preferred video editor, or start over with ease.

Open educational resources (OER) are any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or research. The term can include textbooks, course readings, and other learning content; simulations, games, and other applications; syllabi, quizzes, and assessment tools; and virtually any other educational material. Open resources are issued under a license that spells out how they can be used: Some may only be used in their original form; in other cases, resources can be modified, remixed, and redistributed. OER expand the access to educational resources to more learners, more of the time, and they have the potential to spur pedagogical innovation, introducing new alternatives for effective teaching.

delicious list of public data sets

"In this tutorial I'll show you how to: * Style Google Forms so that they fit into your site's look and feel. * Replace that dull Google confirmation page with your own custom 'Thank you' page. Don't be scared of all the steps. I've broken it all down into bite size pieces so it is easier to follow. If you've already got a Google form ready to style you can skip straight to Step 6."

This resource page provides a wide selection of downloadable "How do I" Blackboard 8 tutorials, in PDF format. Please check this page frequently for updates as we create and post new tutorials and demos.

"Social media is transforming our culture, opening new ways to connect with others and promoting the growth of communities of interest. Higher education is already feeling the impact of social media, and I think we're just at the beginning of that process. 9thPeriod offers a way for the University to leverage social media for pedagogical ends. I'm happy that the Learning Technologies Grant program has funded this opportunity to explore how social media can help support UGA's mission."

respond via text messsaging, twitter or web higher ed free account gets you 32 responses per poll

A key reason some ideas are so successful, conventional wisdom has held, is that a few highly influential people espouse them. In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell wrote that what he calls "social epidemics" are "driven by the efforts of a handful of exceptional people." Those exceptional people tend to be experts on a subject who love to talk. Such people can convince dozens of others of their opinions. An excellent sales strategy, then, would be to find those few critical people, persuade them of the value of your product, and leave it to them to convince others. It's a compelling idea, but does it really work? Social network theorists Duncan J. Watts of Columbia University and Peter Sheridan Dodds of the University of Vermont in Burlington decided to put the notion to a test. What they found is a disappointment for "viral marketers" who specialize in selling products by influencing influential people.

Using Twitter at social media conferences has become a great way to do just that. But Twitter isn't appropriate for every situation. Your audience isn't on Twitter.You don't want the discussion to be public.You need to see only relevent updates.That's where TodaysMeet comes in. TodaysMeet gives you an isolated room where you can see only what you need to see, and your audience doesn't need to learn any new tools like hash tags to keep everything together.

Daniel Pink's lecture about his book, Drive. While directly addresses the business world but the connections to education are apparent. Speaks to why incentive pay for teachers is a ridiculous idea. Even why grades are a lousy incentive for students.

Requires wireless mouse(s) Microsoft Mouse Mischief is a free software download for PCs that integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 to allow educators to insert questions, polls, and drawing activity slides into lessons for participation for up to 25 students. Each student or pairs of students uses their own wireless mouse to do this. Additionally, the teacher gets statistics of who answered first and correctly in order. I priced some wireless mouses for the classroom and found used ones for $6 so this can be a relatively cheap