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Shared by Pastor Rob Guenther - I've often wondered why DVD's don't have a TV edit track. You'd think it would easy enough to add a track where the foul language is edited out just like they do on TV. I'd let my boys watch some PG-13 movies if they had such a track. Well, there may finally be a solution I've been looking for... VidAngel.com offers $1 movie rentals. Well, sort of. You pay the retail price of the movie (let's say $20) to get a digital copy and they promise to buy it back (in this case, for $19) within 24 hours. (Or for a $2 "rental" fee if you get HD instead of SD.) I think it works like Red Box in that if you don't return it in 24 hours, they buy it back for $1 (or $2 in HD) less the next day until you run out of "credit" and then you eventually own it for $20. Cool program. But... what I like even better is the filter options they give. You can choose to remove sex scenes or bleep out certain language. Then it shows you what you'll see and hear and the new length of your movie. I think this could work well for youth groups as well as for individual or family uses. I think I'm really going to like VidAngel. I can still be culturally current but without putting garbage into my head. I may ditch Netflix DVD for VidAngel soon.

Has anyone ever used something like this in his classroom?  I have students that greatly enjoy having some music playing in the background (I limit it to classical piano, mostly).  Anyone know of a study that demonstrates if this helps students learn?

I've used Simply Noise in my classroom of 5th graders and I have had mixed results. Some kids really like it and some hate it. I tend to prefer the brown noise as opposed to white or pink noise. I think I might make less of a deal of it with my next class next year and just use it for a little longer period of time to get a better read on its effectiveness. I took my students to on a field trip to Environmental Systems Inc in Brookfield, WI and they use brown noise generators throughout their office/cubicle area to mask ambient noise. I found it very soothing. They used to have it timed to go off at 4pm and they found that their employees subconsciously sensed it was time to leave for the day. Not wanting to encourage them to leave early, they decided to gradually bring the volume of the noise down over the course of 30 minutes and that took care of their issue. Not necessarily applicable to what you were asking about, but kind of interesting.

http://www.technologyintegrationineducation.com . Technology Integration in Education is a site that does away with the hours of searching the net for the right resources for you. TIE is the Facebook or Linkedin of Education. It is the site to go to network with educators and professionals around the world in order to share best practices when it comes to teaching with technology. TIE is the site that allows members to form groups around ideas, resources and skills. It provides a place where best educational videos can be shared. It provides tutorials in the form or Podcasts or live webinars that give members the opportunity to share some of the multiple resources they could use in order to achieve different objectives. There is a constant streaming of news articles from most of the major educational technology magazines available in one location. In essence, everything an educator could need to integrate technology in their daily teaching can be found in this one location. Well know companies as well as start-up companies now have a single location where educators can go in order to see everything. This centralized location dramatically cuts down on the research and planning time and provides a way for companies to attract prospective clients to their company in one centralized location. Educators are able to blog and discuss their teaching as well as the products used in an open and friendly atmosphere. The opportunities are endless.Join us at http://www.technologyintegrationineducation.com

This new camera was released this summer. An all in one camera that does streaming (from what I can tell it would likely work with FinalWeb Streaming) and can be controlled all with the web interface. It also has the more tranditional pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) interface as well, if you already ahve that. Wire audio from a microphone or your sound system to it, connect it to your broadband and you would be up and going. Or, use the SDI video connection to go something something like Wirecast on your computer for more control. Refer to my presentation from WelsTechConf on video streaming, this new camera is one I am now reviewing to replace our first camera we installed this last year. We may shift then the camera that is our "primary front and center" off to the side more for the "B" roll view.

Excellent short article with essential IT management concerns and strategies for colleges and other non-profits, including  our synod, high schools, schools and, yes, churches. The same key questions and communication activities need to take place. The upfront costs of an IT system are only the beginning. The costs over the lifetime of the system (even a single computer with software) need to be included and budgeted. 

Use this tool to allow people to book times on your Google Calendar.

Great tool - maybe a way to schedule conferences? I'll try it this fall and let you know how it goes!

Take a look at PicKATime for conference scheduling. Ours is up right now so you could look at it on our site - emanuelnl.org/school Works great and parents love it; not free through. $50 a conference. We think it is worth it. The secretary sets it all up and teachers have access and see their own scheduled conference times. I find youcanbook me works well for teachers setting up individual conference tmes with me for purposes of their tech growth planning throughout the year.

Haven't tested this out yet, but seems like a great feature. Looks like it is a free and paid service level thing. I was skeptical of Proclaim's price to value ratio, but the more we use it the more it seems to be worth the monthly/annual expense.

YouVersion is offering its NIV2011 for a free download so you can read offline if no network connection is available. They do this periodically, so get it while it is offered - free. Almost any device can use this app.

Not so much a technology post, but think it over - giant outdoor bananagrams...  Okay, I mostly thought Sallie would enjoy this one, but perhaps others could make use of it.  It'd be a good first day of school activity as well.

Love it!!! Thanks for sharing!

Sallie, I don't remember if this tool showed up in one of your classes, or if it was in another, but it is a very handy tool.

Yes, that was a tool I recommended in the web design class, but i wasn't aware there was a mobile app. Thanks!

YouCanBook.Me is an appointment scheduling tool that works with Google Calendar. We are looking for a solution for scheduling home visits and parent/teacher conferences. This might work well!

I used this for home visits this past summer and it worked great. For me, the only drawback was less control over scheduling. I was criss-crossing the county a couple of days because they pick the days and times, but otherwise it worked well for me and it was really easy. The parents thought it was easy too.

Seems to be primarily a database, but has great flexibility and incorporates a lot of collaboration features. May work as a prospect database for some ministries. I'm exploring using it for client tracking for our local pregnancy help center. I'd love to hear if anyone's already using it and how.

Bought a book today in epub and mobi formats, but not from Amazon, so it didn't sync to all my kindle-app devices. Found this. I'm guessing there's a version for Windows too.

Bought a book today in epub and mobi formats, but not from Amazon, so it didn't sync to all my kindle-app devices. Found this. I'm guessing there's a version for Windows too. Bonus!: Send documents from other applications to your Kindle via the Print menu, or right-clicking in a Finder/Explorer window.

Bought a book today in epub and mobi formats, but not from Amazon, so it didn't sync to all my kindle-app devices. Found this. I'm guessing there's a version for Windows too. Bonus!: Send documents from other applications to your Kindle via the Print menu, or right-clicking in a Finder/Explorer window. The only downside is that the file has to be 50 MB or smaller. :(

Recommendation from Clarence Chapman via G+ - If anyone is looking for a relatively in expensive video editing program that has a lot of ability and runs very simular Final Cut Pro try Cyberlink Power Director. We have been using it for a couple of years now and it is pretty powerful software.

This is very good software at an extremely good price for only a short while more. A good training course on udemy.com https://www.udemy.com/powerdirector/

Probably not a new website, but one I just found. This is part of the Worship Facilities magazine that I have gotten in mail for years. Looks like a resourful site having some great ideas. It is also compatible with Feedly if you want to throw it into your church tech feed.

The article is mostly an interview with Covenant Eyes, who makes accountability software and recently produced a free e-book for parents. I downloaded it to check it out and ended up reading the first four chapters just today. Chapters are short and include discussion questions. For a non-WELS resource, so far they do a fairly good job of being gospel-centered/grace-driven. Looks like a great resource.

Slide shows, but you type in what you want it to say and it speaks for you.

A module you can add to Moodle for single sign on between Google Apps and Moodle. It seems that this code doesn't work for Moodle 2.x yet, but it is a compelling option for larger organizations...

Should have mentioned how I barely scratched the surface of the NEW Doceri app when I showed it on screen on Tuesday. This is really now a powerful tool - check it out!