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The Hagia Sophia (in Greek Ἁγία Σοφία) is one of the most famous churches in all of Christendom. Prior to the building of Saint Peters in Rome, it was the Christian church. The current iteration built by the Emperor Justinian in the 7th century served as the center for Christendom until its fall to the Muslim Turks in the 15th century. For 500 years, it served as a mosque until Atatürk turned it into a state museum. The Hagia Sophia  is one of the greatest landmarks in history and merits an extensive visit. In fact, I spent 24 hours on a train from Romania to Istanbul just for the opportunity to walk through its halls and visit its famed dome. However, travel is a bit extensive. Here is an exceptional 3D, interactive tour of the Hagia Sophia. Don’t worry about the Greek on the website (unless you happen to know modern Greek). The information in the tour itself is actually english. You can pan, zoom, turn, examine close-ups, etc. It takes a minute to load, so be patient! If you really enjoy Byzantine history, I highly recommend that you follow @Byzantinephil on Twitter If you’re interested in other interactive museum exhibits, check out my earlier post: “The Best Online & Interactive Museum Exhibits“ Share this: Email Facebook Print StumbleUpon inShare0 Digg Reddit   About Jennifer Lockett I'm a student of the human condition: history, philosophy, art, and culture. I am a passionate educator. I am a lover of new technologies and its abilities to share knowledge View all posts by Jennifer Lockett » Leave a comment Posted by Jennifer Lockett on July 29, 2011 in Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, History, Museums   Tags: Ancient Rome, Aya Sophia, Byzantine, Byzantium, Christianity, Early Church, Hagia Sophia, History, Rome, http:/

In a March 2005 podcast (http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/03/03.html), Jon Udell persuasively identified five major factors behind the explosive growth of podcasting and rich media authoring in general: Internet activity is pervasive. Broadband has grown very rapidly, which makes it far easier to “consume large media objects.” The multimedia personal computer can “more or less be taken for granted.” The “distinction between streaming and downloading of media content has begun to blur. . . . People can now have the experience of streaming while enjoying the simplicity . . . of downloading.” Finally, there is the iPod phenomenon and “the rapid adoption of portable MP3 playback devices”—up to eleven million devices in the United States alone. Udell calls the portable audio device “the new transistor radio” and points to the beginnings of a “renaissance of creative stuff happening.” Because this renaissance coincides with the Creative Commons phenomenon, traditional business models need not constrain the artist’s work.

It’s getting to be that time of year. Your chances of seeing school supply commercials have increased exponentially. Kids are breaking out last year’s Elmer’s in anticipation of glorious glue feasts. Teens are cramming their entire summer reading into the last week of August. Yep, it’s back to school time, folks

I’ve been using Google+ since about day 2 of the limited field trial and in that time I’ve noticed that most people, even many of the geeky tech-oriented people, don’t quite get the finer points of messaging yet. It’s time to correct that.

Oh Twitter… How misunderstood you are. You are the semi-colon of social media – people have an idea of your existence but many have not fully grasped your usefulness and beauty. I love twitter and find it immensely valuable for a myriad of reasons: yes, it can be a time waster, however, it can also be a news source, a way to gauge public sentiment, and even a research tool.

Cartoon Story Maker Downloads... Information... Examples... Cartoon Story Maker v1.1 Windows XP, Vista & Windows 7(2.6MB) To install click on the link, select 'Run' (or 'Open'), and follow the prompts. Storyboard planning sheet (pdf 56kb). Plan your story first. Black and white master for photocopying. Help files (pdf 493kb). Print friendly version. A quick look at the Cartoon Story Maker Features Cartoon Story Maker in the classroom Installation and operation Version history Further information and help Help files Alignment with the VELS Other applications... Memory Game Maker Tetris Game Maker Matching Game Maker Sentence Game Maker Comprehension Task Maker Portal Maker Chinese Introductions ESL Phone call French My day in Paris My place At the chemist German My family Greek At the market At the cafe Indonesian At the market Phone call Italian Tour of Rome At the shop Running late Favorite pastimes Japanese Ordering a meal A quick look at the Cartoon Story Maker back to top... Features Make 2D screen based cartoon stories to illustrate conversations and dialogues. Stories can include an unlimited number of frames and are view frame by frame. Each frame can include: Images: Drag and drop library items onto the frame, or import your own digital photos or images saved from the web. Text bubbles: Select from a range text bubbles and information boxes. Drag and drop onto the frame and start typing! Text can be in any language and any script. Voice recordings: Add new voice recordings using the simple built in recording panel. You can also add recordings already saved on your computer. Stories are saved on your computer as HTML page (webpages), and can easily viewed by others on any computer using a web browser such as Internet Explorer. Stories can also be printed. Completed stories can also be loaded back into the Cartoon Story Maker and edited or added to.   A character from the image library sits infront of an imported background image found on the web. Features list character and background libraries import your own images text bubbles and information boxes accent key panel import voice recordings built in recorder to add your own voice recordings unlimited number of frames copy and paste frames preview

print function saved stories can be opened and edited copy and paste text from other documents help files (available online and included in the program) See the Help files for more details.

Why Blogging?The benefits of blogging with students are quite numerous. It is a great platform for teaching online ethics, internet safety, and the responsible role of a digital citizen. Blogging is also a good tool for reinforcing digital copyright laws, to practice writing for an audience, and to get some extra typing practice. Many teachers also like it as a way to collaborate with other classes and often use it for extra motivation with writing tasks. So, there really are lots of worthwhile reasons to start blogging with your students, and the following sites are great places to get started.

Want a truly organized classroom?  Set up a graphic organizer folder system.Print out one of each of these organizers and make a folder for each organizer.  Make enough copies of each organizer for your entire class, with a few extras, and put them in the folders.  Have your folders in an easy-to-reach place, so when you are teaching a lesson that lends it's self to a Ven Diagram, you have them on hand!  Pass them out to the students and bam-you can help your students organize their thoughts on the fly!

Teachers are often diverted from their teaching by tasks outside of the classroom. The Study Help Site provides a simple, on-line suite that helps teachers plan, organize and communicate all at the same time. As you write lesson plans, determine in-class activities and task students with outside assignments, the system automatically and simultaneously provides a free-form organization system and communicates with parents and students. It's simple and efficient. The Study Help Site will allow you more time and energy to focus on the best part of your job – TEACHING. See the Planning, Organizing and Communicating features in action and you'll see how easy it is use The Study Help Site. Or, Sign Up Now to begin simplifying some of your “non-teaching” tasks.