Simply put, it makes taking screen shots a breeze, and greatly speeds up importing images into the Picnik online photo editor.

A Real Solution For Classroom Teachers The Solution Site is filled with K-12, hands-on, problem based thematic units with real world relevance. Invite your students to apply 21st Century skills and tools in your classroom everyday by incorporating lessons from The Solution Site into your teaching.

As educators, we could stand to do some of this with students. I wonder what this would look like in the classroom? I wonder what it would look like from an administrator towards an educator?

Google just released a major new update to Google Earth that now includes the rumored maps of the ocean floor. Google unveiled this update at an event at the California Academy of Sciences. After installing the latest version of Google Earth, you will be able to explore the ocean floor in the same way you browse the Earth's surface. Besides mapping the oceans, however, Google has also added three more interesting new features to Google Earth: easier access to historical imagery, the ability to record and narrate fly-through tours with the new 'touring' feature, and a 3D map of Mars.

In other cases, the same digital economics have spurred entirely new business models, such as "Freemium," a free version supported by a paid premium version. This model uses free as a form of marketing to put the product in the hands of the maximum number of people, converting just a small fraction to paying customers. It's an inversion of the old free sample promotion: Rather than giving away one brownie to sell 99 others, you give away 99 virtual penguins to sell one virtual igloo. (Confused? Ask a child: This is the business model for the phenomenally successful Club Penguin.)

Very clever vocab builder that is flash based. I only wish that it would have a built-in audio file for each word (I don't think I saw one -- could have missed it).

The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.

Share Your Stuff! myFreepath is a network of people who exchange content through playlists created in Freepath. Share your stuff with a private group or a worldwide audience without having to mess with file conversions or FTP gobblygook. Plus, get access to some pretty cool stuff that was packaged up by others.

netTrekker d.i. wants to send you to NECC '09 in Washington, D.C. June 28-July 1! We understand the difficulties with funding concerns and cutbacks for out-of-state travel. We want to help! netTrekker d.i. will award two $1500 scholarships to assist educators with conference registration, travel expenses, etc., to NECC '09.

Yesterday, I received an email notice saying that a few of my Flickr photos had been favorited. These particular photos were of my children, mostly of my daughter. Every time this happens, I go to see who the Flickr user is, and most of the time, it is a family member, a close friend, or someone I know through Twitter (or other social network). I did not recognize the user in this particular case, and when I went to see their photos, the Flickr message alerted me that none of the user's photos were available. Seeing as my photos had been favorited, I went to see what other photos had been marked as favorites by this user.

Checking out Vocaroo today for a possible segment on PalmBreezeCAFE and thinking about the possibilities for it's use in the classroom. Once you record your audio, you can share the link, embed the sound file (see below) or download the file (.wav). I was able to create my Vocaroo without creating an account.

Ed Shepherd, a middle school administrator in Virginia and valuable member of my personal learning network, recently posted a call for definitions of collaboration. In this case, I decided to forget my affinity for 140 characters and bring it to my blog. So, what is collaboration?

Though this article is written for the business sector, there are many great parallels with how we experience social media's acceptance in the educational realm. The suggestions that are given are readily applied to our setting, as well. In the enterprise, many employees think blogs are merely websites on which people talk about their cat or their latest meal. Many don't know the differences between and advantages of such tools as message boards, blogs, and wikis. They have heard of these terms in passing, but the demands of their day-to-day jobs have prevented them from recognizing the distinct benefits of each tool. Solution: It is useless to advocate for social media tools in a vacuum. Unless you're describing a solution to a practical problem, busy workers will not respond to buzzwords like "wiki," "blog," and "community." Your client usually has about a 30-second attention span in which you can sell a social media tool. An aide in my arsenal has been the excellent videos by Lee Lefever at Common Craft. Lee visually explains social media concepts "In Plain English." Common Craft videos quickly explain complex and sometimes unfamiliar technologies in a few minutes, sans the buzzwords, hype, and sensationalism. Problem: Cynical Clients Who Don't Want to Share Information Unfortunately, some potential SharePoint users balk at the technology because they have no desire to share their knowledge for the benefit of the organization. These individuals tend to equate their knowledge with job security; therefore, they feel nervous about sharing out of fear that they wouldn't be needed any more.

Quick: what was the most widely-used form of media in 2008? If you guessed Internet news sites, blogs, or social networks, you'd be way off. Network TV news (NBC, CBS, ABC) is still used by the highest percentage of adult Internet users, with local newspapers and local TV news occupying the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, in a recently released survey from Ketchum. While old media is still on top, the trends in the survey, which has been conducted each of the last three years, point to a familiar story: media consumption habits are quickly changing. That said, some forms of new media are performing much better than others. For example: - Blogs are now used by 24% of Internet users, up from 13% in 2006 - Social networks are now used by 26% of Internet users, up from 17% in 2006 - Videocasts are now used by 11% of Internet users, up from 6% in 2006 Slower growers include: - RSS feeds: growing from 5 to 7 percent - Podcasts: growing from 5 to 7 percent - Business news sites: flat at 8 percent

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW WEB2.0 LETS US BE PRODUCERS AND NOT JUST CONSUMERS. Audiolife not only lets you create an online store to sell CDs and digital downloads, but it will actually manufacture the CDs for you, on-demand, as customers buy them. The up-front cost? Nothing. Zero dollars and zero cents. On-demand CD creation from Audiolife. (Credit: Audiolife) This is a big deal. As any self-financed musician knows, CD manufacturing is a big investment. Print runs for CDs with a jewel case and nice color insert generally start at 1,000 for close to $1,000, though you can get away with spending a few hundred bucks for a short run, if you're willing to pay quite a bit more per disc. This is all well and good, if you sell all of the CDs you print. If not, you're left with some expensive drink coasters.

Very impressive presentation maker - must get invite (in beta stage).