Group items tagged

"Generation V is not defined by age, gender, social class or geography. Instead, it is based on achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights." Additionally the percentages that create content, contribute, etc. affects classroom and project planning. Do we allow students to "lurk" Findings about these Generation V segments: * Up to 3% will be creators, providing original content. They can be advocates that promote products and services. * Between 3% and 10% will be contributors who add to the conversation, but don't initiate it. They can recommend products and services as customers move through a buying process, looking for purchasing advice. * Between 10% and 20% will be opportunists, who can further contributions regarding purchasing decisions. Opportunists can add value to a conversation that's taking place while walking through a considered purchase. * Approximately 80% will be lurkers, essentially spectators, who reap the rewards of online community input but absorb only what is being communicated. They can still implicitly contribute and indirectly validate value from the rest of the community. All users start out as lurkers."

Another Mooc, I got an email from Jeremy Short, the professor leading this course. I was a management major at Georgia tech, I love the incorporation of graphic novels into this course. Here's what Dr. Short sent me: "I'm a professor at the University of Oklahoma. My co-authors and I conducted a study that will soon be published in Business Communication Quarterly where we find that graphic novels are more effective than traditional textbooks for direct recall of material. The study used material about human motivation commonly taught in introductory management courses. In addition to the superior recall associated with the graphic novel version of the material, more than 80% of students indicated the graphic novel format compared favorably to traditional textbooks. Now anyone in the world can conduct their own study to see if their experiences match our findings, as I will be teaching a class beginning June 10 and ending July 15, that is free under the MOOC format and will feature a graphic novel textbook as well as a traditional principles of management text - both books I've co-authored. OU students can enroll through regular registration and take the course for credit, but anyone interested in the class can enroll for free under the non-credit option. The only cost of the class under the second option is the cost of the two texts, which can be purchased for under $100 total."

I've found Lifehacker guides to be reliable in this area. This is their current guide for when to buy things this year and they keep it updated. If you have major purchases coming up and live in the US, I recommend reviewing this guide and sharing it.

There continues to be a problem that not all books in the Amazon kindle store have real page numbers. If students are expected to cite sources and not allowed to use location numbers, then Amazon can expect the pushback seen on this forum post. Meanwhile, a helpful person on the forum has noted how you can know what to read on the Kindle if your professor or teacher says "read page 80-92" - you can dive into the table of contents on the website and save a copy. This is the only solution. It is time for Amazon to get their act together and have all Kindle ebooks display page numbers if there is a printed copy of the book. If there is not a printed copy of the book, there needs to be a consistent reference point or "page" that all can use for sourcing and citing content. "1. Look up the book in the in the Amazon Kindle store (where you purchased it). 2. Click on the book where it says "Look Inside." You want to look at the table of contents, which will have the pages numbers for each chapter. 3. It defaults to the "kindle edition," which does not have the page numbers in the table of contents. However, there is a tab above that says "Print Book." Click on that. 4. Once you're on the "Print Book" display, it shows the page numbers in the TOC. By doing the above, I was able to determine that "the first 26 pages" = Chapters 1 & 2. I used Evernote to take a screen capture of the entire TOC, which I'll refer back to."

I saw this on Fran Drescher's Twitter account from the Cincinnati Business courier and am quite floored by it. Am I the only one who doesn't know this? How about all of the little kids I see where parents are handing them their ipad and smart phones for play purposes. I jusst need to know more but it is based on a study presented at the Pediatric Academic societies meeting in DC. Of course, they recommend hand washing. But pregnant women should be careful - a 10x increase in maternal PBDE's is associated with a 4 point IQ deficit. Of course, we also have the age old question here of causation or correlation.  I do think we need to know more and also if the equipment we're purchasing to use with young children has PBDEs in them.  If you know more, please leave comments. It does say that some manufacturers are voluntarily phasing these out. "Small children should not touch electronic items such as TVs, mobile phones, computers and other products, according to University of Cincinnati researchers. Chemicals found in such items and in many other products, including older carpets and furniture, can cause behavioral and cognition problems, they have found."

A nice iOS/Android/Windows app for creating stop-motion animation. The basics are free allowing you to record and add sound to your animation and to export it in many formats and places. In-app purchases available to allow you to do more if required.

The new $35 Chromecast USB looks to be a great option for those of you who haven't purchased a Roku or Apple TV yet - even if you have, you might still want to get one - especially if you watch a bit of YouTube. Take a look at the setup information about how to do this.

If you have Windows 8 and touch screens like I have in my computer lab. Fresh Paint is one you'll want to have. It supports up to 5 fingers and you can mix colors. Yes, there's an in app purchase, but I'm going free for now. Sort of like an Art Rage.

Another exciting tool to use for the Hour of Code - there is a free module anyone can use, but if you purchase the class option you can track and you can use real names and other options for programming. You might want to try it and see what your students think.

"The world wide web can be a wild place, but with the Chromebook's new Supervised Users feature parents can begin to fence in the playground." Chromebooks now allow you to set up supervised users. Here's a parent guide for setting this up perfect for those purchasing these for Christmas.

$25,000 worth of Apple iPads

Step-by-step process for using Apples Volume Purchasing Program for apps and more.

The difference between advertised fast foods and what they really look like when bought. Photoshoot conducted by a professional, and images of actual food purchased are compared to the idealized version from advertisements. Great study for marketing and photography students.

Wow! That's an amazing representation of what I've always noticed, but never captured on film. This site would be a great addition to a unit on advertising and persuasion. I did such a unit in the past with really terrific results; see http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2010/05/as-seen-on-tv-media-messages-unmasked.html for some ideas I incorporated.

That's exactly what I was thinking too Keith; using the site in a lesson, or unit, about advertising, and how manipulative it can be. There's another site with images here, although it doesn't have any of the contemplative thoughts of the original bookmark (http://www.thewvsr.com/adsvsreality.htm).

An article about how textbook publishers are rushing to include Obama's election in their latest books

One could use this article as yet another reason to show that purchasing textbooks, especially for a subject such as this, is a practice that SHOULD disappear in the near future. When you have access to ALL the world's information as well as commentary on that information, AND as well as the ability to share it electronically and contribute to the commentary, there really just is NOT a need to purchase those books anymore. Or am I completely wrong?

Organizations of all types purchase our videos for training and education

Advancing Excellent Teaching in American Schools Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. Annenberg Media's multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellent teaching. Annenberg Media resources can be accessed for FREE at Learner.org, or can be purchased through the Web site or by calling 1-800-LEARNER.

a simple (and cheap) answer to your personal finance needs. For just $3 a month, it can track your monthly expenses and help you increase your savings.To get started the site takes you through a quick five-step planning process, beginning with an assessment of how and where you want to save.  Then it inquires about your expenses (both fixed monthly and irregular). Finally you fill in your income.  The site will then create a review of your spending habits, including a dynamic list of savings for future purchases. Each month you'll fill in the your expenses using the Receipts category (this comes in handy at tax time as well, since you don't need to store them in a shoe box anymore). There's even a tag feature that allows you to group expenses together. Unlike Mint, Pear Budget emphasizes speed and simplicity. If you decide to register, you can set up an account in less than five minutes (and you can sign up for a free 30-day trial).

Planning is imperative for any technology initiative - iPad or otherwise. You need to ensure that you clearly understand and communicate how the technology integrates with your overall pedagogical objectives. Too many institutions purchase technology and then search for ways to utilize it ... or leave it collecting dust on the shelf.

Avery Give Back to Schools program, an online voting contest that will reward the top 5 vote-getting schools with $10,000 in Avery school supplies, $1,000 in Bonus Box Tops for Education and an additional $1,000 in gift cards for teachers to purchase additional school supplies. The next 25 vote-getting schools would win $500 in Bonus Box Tops for Education. The contest ends September 16.

account training becomes an added advantage if you do not wish to hire your personal accountant to manage your accounts. Accounting involves a lot of activities like book-keeping, preparing balance sheet, maintaining tax records and payroll and so on. There is no way you can avoid these tasks. Every functional organisation has to stick to these activities for the smooth functioning of the firm. Many organisations in the past have suffered from enormous losses only because their employees did not have the required accounting training and thus were unable to handle the accounting services and important financial documents and statements. For overall success, any firm should have a firm grip over the company's accounts and financial position. You can do a lot of things to ensure you are always informed about your company's financial position. First and foremost, you can ask experienced professionals from your company to undergo accounting training courses. By brushing up their knowledge through accounting training courses, these professionals will be in a better position to handle the accounting of the firm. Another option you have is to outsource the task to outside professionals who are competent enough to handle the accounting job. Apart from this, you can also hire accounting firms who can assure you transparency in all the dealings apart from impeccable services. By outsourcing your work to an outside firm, you can save a lot of time of your firm which can be utilised for other management tasks. However, you have to be ready to shell out a bomb to avail of these services and hence it is always a good thing to have your company's own professionals well versed in this task. Once your company professionals go through competent accounting training courses at a reputed accounting training centre, they can be ready to handle different tasks like preparing sales tax reports, creating monthly or mid-monthly reports, calculating reports with perfect sales figure,