Monthly Archives: March 2011

Mar 22 2011

OTR Links for 03/22/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Mar 21 2011

Love & Hate on Twitter

In my Twitter stream last night, I saw a message from the Guy Kawasaki Alltop stream that talked about an infographic about Love & Hate on Twitter.  I’m a sucker for a good infographic so clicked through and saw the image.

It’s a long infographic and so it took some time to read through and totally understand what was in the design.  I had this bizarre feeling that I’d seen this before.  It’s not too bizarre because I’ll spend time reading these things and I know that I’ll revisit some of them.  Then, I hit the bottom of the infographic and saw Copyright @ 2011 Neoformix.  My head snapped up just a bit.  Neoformix is Jeff Clark.  Jeff is a former student of mine and Neoformix is an outlet for his graphic and programming creativity when he’s not out running.

I flipped over to the Neoformix website to confirm and, yep, that’s him.  But, there’s more.

I think that most people like a good infographic.  But, if you’ve ever tried to create one yourself or assign it to students, it is not a trivial task to undertake.  I think that most people just assume that you open Photoshop and then go to it.  And, for the most part, that may be right.  However, for this infographic, Jeff has created a blog entry describing how he created it.  I was impressed when he started off indicating that he collected the data for “love” and “hate” from over a couple of years.  Talk about dedication to the project.

As you read the post, and I hope that you do, Jeff provides a nice insight to the developer side of these things.  It’s great reading.  I know that @pmcash was going to explore doing this as an activity in Computer Science this year.  After all, many infographics are a new spin on working with histograms, a standard task in programming.

So, please take a moment to read Jeff’s post and if you’re having students create infographics, bookmark it for later reference.  It’s a keeper.

Crossposted at: http://plpnetwork.com/2011/03/21/love-and-hate-on-twitter/

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Mar 21 2011

OTR Links for 03/21/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Mar 20 2011

Google Translate Doesn’t Help

I do check the comments to my blog.  I really do.  Even the things that Akismet tags as spam.  I’m cleaning things out tonight and notice this reply.

Sie krochen und versuchte Ubertragung Salon Handys mts Spiegel mit Wellenschliff Frau de Beauseant in einem modischen Theater. Simply the best myvideo Exponential Unterschied in den Kosten, beginnt Nokia drucken anderen Unternehmen sind nicht nur funktional, sondern fur den Preis. Brauchen Sie mehrere Stunden am Tag, um solche Auswirkungen von Larm auf den Menschen Nickerchen. Da unsere Telefone obwohl und Chinesisch, aber es ist vip-Telefon, das ursprungliche Modell, das von gro?em Wert sind und daher nicht zuganglich gewohnliche Burger. Handys aus China haben sich bereits gezeigt, dauerhafte und zuverlassige elektronische Waren werden, steht vollig im Einklang mit internationalen Normen fur Qualitat. Und DiSEqC. Zunachst einmal stellt sich ein Service-Center, wo es Spezialisten, die Kenntnisse und Erfahrungen in Bereichen wie Mobilfunk, Reparatur von Handys haben, PDA Smartphones, Reparatur von Kommunikatoren sind, Reparaturen Sony PSP, sowie die uber moderne technische Basis mit einer jahrlichen Kapazitat Nachrustung Ausrustung. Wir sind zuversichtlich, dass die Zahlungen uber Mobiltelefone mdash; logische Schritt in der Entwicklung der Zahlung Technologien, mdash; Bernard erstellt.
Einfuhrung moderner Technologien im Maschinenbau und Elektronik in China ist recht schnell. Stinger antivirus software Prognose der Analysten Panasonic unterscheidet Optimismus. Alle Informationen auf dem Handy amNASh HUMOR Igel mit einem Kater wird nur anti. Ich bin mude REMOVE AKKOMULYATOR hilft Der Gro?teil Nichts. Willkommen in der Online-Shop von zellularen Handys, Kommunikatoren und Zubehor FonMarket! War bereit, Abschied zu ersetzen Vorganger verbrachte. Dies ist deutlich hoher als in den US-Markt, wo das gleiche Modell ssentyabrya zu einem Preis verkauft. Ist es moglich, Jimm ubernehmen neue Funktionen zu kommen mit?

Hmmmm.  Obviously not English or French. It does look at bit German-ish to my non German speaking eyes.  From my years living in Kitchener-Waterloo and the Oktoberfest, I do recognize "Willkommen".  The rest is a little obscure!  What to do?  I’ll get my old friend Google Translate to help out.  I’ll even let it recognize the language in case I’m wrong…

It is indeed German.  Now, I knew a lot of really smart people who spoke German as their second language.  Maybe there’s something really relevant in this reply.  Here’s the translation.

They crawled and tried to transfer phones mts salon mirror with wavy de Beauseant woman in a fashionable theater. Simply the best myvideo exponential difference in cost, other companies, Nokia will start printing are not only functional, but for the price. Need more hours a day to have such effects on humans of Larm nap. As our phones though, and Chinese, but it’s vip phone, the original model, which are of great? Em value and therefore not accessible to ordinary burger. Cell Phones from China have already shown to be durable and reliable electronic products, is completely in line with international standards for quality. And DiSEqC.At first of all, is a service center, where specialists have the knowledge and experience in areas such as mobile communications, repair of mobile phones, PDA phones, repair of communicators, repairs Sony PSP, as well as about modern facility features a year Lichen capacity retrofit Equipment. We are confident that the payments via mobile phones mdash; logical step in the development of payment technologies, mdash; Bernard created. 
Introduction of modern technologies in mechanical engineering and electronics in China is quite fast. Stinger anti virus software forecast of analysts Panasonic differs optimism. All information on the phone amNASh HUMOR hedgehog with a hangover, only anti. I’m tired REMOVE AKKOMULYATOR helps the Gro? Part nothing. FonMarket Welcome to the online store of cellular phones, communicators and accessories! Was ready to replace farewell predecessors spent. This is significantly higher than in the U.S. market, where the same model ssentyabrya sold at a price. Is it possible to take over with Jimm to get new features?

I don’t know why I doubted Akismet in the first place.  This looks like someone spilled a German dictionary on the floor and tried to put it back together.  Some makes sense but others don’t. 

Either that or Google Translate dropped the ball.  Somehow I don’t think so.Tags: , ,

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Mar 20 2011

Today in Twitter

Are you the type that likes to review what’s happened during the past day with your Twitter account?

Do you have this paranoid feeling that people are talking about you and you missed it?

Is there an event with a hashtag happening that you’d like the details about?

Is there something going on with a common word that you’d like any and all of the details about?

Is Twitter blocked at your location but you still want to follow any of the above?

Do you want to know everything but don’t want to be connected to Twitter 24/7?

If any of the above apply to you, then Twilert may well be the answer to your problems.  It’s a simple and yet very powerful concept.  Just head over to the Twilert site and login with your Twitter ID or Google ID and create yourself a Twilert.  It can be any user or hashtag or search term.

Twilert then goes to work aggregating all of the comments based upon that search term and sends them to you in the form of an email.  The final step in this process is to pick a time when you’d like Twilert to email the results to you!  I follow the term “dougpete” and have mine delivered at 2pm.  It’s a nice mid-afternoon to late-evening diversion.  (Never mind the green marks – that’s my Web of Trust letting me know that those links are safe.

If you should miss a message or want to jump into the conversation, Twilert conveniently provides links for you to right in the email message.

 

If your job is tracking social media conversations about your product, it’s invaluable.  But, even hobby users of the service want to stay on top of things, so why not? You’ll never miss a message again.

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Mar 20 2011

OTR Links for 03/20/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Mar 19 2011

Response to TheNerdyTeacher

I’ve tried to respond to TheNerdyTeacher on his post wrapping up the MACUL Conference but Blogger is unable to post it for whatever reason.  I’ve been burned before so have the habit of copying the reply before clicking post.  Here is what I was going to say!

The original blog post appears here .

I did notice the social media centre and it was unfortunate that the Help Desk was right beside it! Perhaps that’s why people weren’t there? <grin> As you say, it’s an experiment and so I’m sure will grow in subsequent years. The concept of a conversation place just needs to grow.

I’m sorry that our paths didn’t cross during the event. It would have been nice to say hello. I did FourSquare but checked in to Cobo and was hoping that that would be where people went.

Personally, I like the feel of a MACUL. It’s big enough that you can essentially have it all. It’s small enough that you don’t have to walk forever to get to the next session. I really like the layout of Cobo for a conference – it’s just a matter of minutes between sessions.

As I indicated in my blog post this morning, the highlight for me was talking to the young ladies and gentlemen in the student demonstration area. It’s one thing to hear from a paid keynote speaker about the promise of technology but it’s quite another to see kids that get it. Kudos go to the teachers that took the time to first recognize that something great is happening in their classrooms and secondly, to take the time to plan, supervise, and spend time with their students during this period. Anyone who questions the value of technology and/or social media should sit with those students for half an hour. Their eyes would truly be opened with their use of technology and the way that curriculum is being addressed by such use.

Michigan educators should be proud that you have such a wonderful conference that you can attend so conveniently.

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Mar 19 2011

MACUL 11

On Thursday, I took the opportunity to participate in a day of learning with Michigan educators at MACUL 11.  The MACUL Conference (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) is held annually and bounces back and forth across the state.  One year, it’s in Grand Rapids and the next year it’s in Detroit.  This year, it was in Detroit amd so it’s a no-brainer to attend.  $5 for parking; $3.75 each way for the Tunnel Bus and you’re dropped off right at the doors of Cobo Centre.

Just a word about Cobo Centre – I know that there were news reports about the North American International Auto Show and others wanting the facility upgraded.  There are some places where a coat of paint wouldn’t hurt but I would hate to see the character of Cobo destroyed.  Unlike the new shiny conference centres where it’s one square room after another, Cobo is truly unique.  Once you master the concept of the zones, it’s a wonderful place to explore.  Even when there’s time between sessions, you can spend all kinds of time looking at the plaques of the Michigan sporting greats.  Sneak behind the curtains and you’ve got a great view of the Detroit River.

Back to the conference.  The only hitch for the day was not receiving my name tag in the mail before the conference.  When I asked at registration, I was referred to the “Help Desk” behind me.  OMG, the lineup was huge!  I had timed my arrival for 8:15 in time to hear the opening keynote, Rushton Hurley, at 8:30.  I did get the recommendation to avoid the lineup and just enjoy the keynote.  Problem solved and about 75 minutes later I was also legitimately registered.  I also have another green MACUL Conference bag to take home…I could hear the complaints already.

The opening keynote was a reflection about technology in the classroom.  “What Technology Has and Hasn’t Changed with Teaching and Learning” could easily have been a full day of thoughts and reflections.  It’s also one of those topics that has a million different angles that may be different depending upon your perspective.

Between sessions, while everyone was seeking a coffee, I decided to sneak in and bug Leslie Fisher before her presentation.  Leslie and I go back many years and it’s always a pleasure to have a conversation with her.  We did have a chance to chat about golf, wine, family, and children while her A/V was being set up.  The night before; she had tweeted about not bringing any green to wear for the MACUL St. Patrick’s Day event but that was OK.  With her high level of energy, nobody will notice.  I spent the next session with her talking about “Google – A Bit of Education, Entertainment, and Discovery”.  Like any Leslie presentation, no matter what you think you know, you’ll find that she’s way ahead of you.  I did walk away with some things to follow up on!  I was impressed as well – Leslie does use social media as well as anybody and has made RockMelt her browser of choice and used it during her presentation.

In advance of her presentation, I had sent out a Tweet commenting on how quickly her session was filling up.  I didn’t realize that this was an invitation for a couple of Tweeps that were trying to find me.  Stalking?  As I was leaving the room, Jeff Trudell cornered me to introduce himself and we had a nice “get to meet you chat”.  I was also invited to join the SIG-TC annual meeting as his guest.  (I couldn’t vote but they had food)  He also indicated that Gina Loveless was looking for me as well…  In fact, as I tried to get down the hall to see the last part of Kevin Honeycutt’s session, I got stopped in the hall and had a very nice chat with her as well.  What a couple of great people to meet.

MACUL then kind of shuts down from 11-1 to let you enjoy a lunch at Cobo or the restaurants in the vicinity or to visit the vendors.  I headed off to the vendors.  It was an interesting exhibit hall compared to others that I’ve attended.  With negotiated pricing on technology materials, there was a lot to learn about educational pricing on products.  There was the mandatory SMART and Promethean displays but also a number of other interactive whiteboard vendors.  If there was a focus on technology, it was about things that display images in the classroom.  The highlight for me was to visit the TechSmith booth to see the latest with Jing, SnagIT, and Camtasia.  There’s so much that can be done with these tools.

The real star of any show, however, is always the kids.  Just outside the vendor area, there was a display area where students had set up info areas about various projects.  I get a kick from this – there are whole teacher led sessions in the conference proper about how to podcast or make a movie but you could spend 10 minutes with a Grade 5 student and get up to speed!  I visited the area and a few students showed me their electronic portfolios, enjoyed some digital stories, learned about a new tool to me called CrazyTalk, and watched some Grade 7/8 students show off some of the mobile applications that they had created using XCode.  It was exhausting as the kids knew that they had a limited time to show off their learning and they threw their hearts into it.

But, I also had a free lunch waiting for me so it was off to find the SIG-TC / SIG-TECH room.  I sat at a table with a group of technical coordinators and, after the food, we had a chance to talk about the issues of the day.  The challenges are the same this side of the Detroit River as the other.  Budgets are cut back; Student Admin systems remain frustrating; How do you provide adequate Professional Development; Will Netbooks really stand up in the classroom; How will you transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 in a successful manner; How can you filter the bad stuff and allow students to get to the good stuff; Does OpenOffice have a place in education as a cost effective alternative to the other office software; The big saviour seems to be cloud computing…after all, all kinds of money is poured into connectivity and there is so much free and education friendly.  We talked about image sizes and protecting that image – it was a great conversation.  Jeff joined our table and we did talk about the OSAPAC process.  We talked about the Ontario successes in licensing the Adobe Creative Suite and Learn 360.  It was disheartening to hear the penny pinching that was having to happen to successfully license a single lab of Dreamweaver.

All this took place is less than an hour and it was back to the conference floor.  I bounced between Kevin Honeycutt’s session “Social Learning Networks” and Steve Dembo’s “Storytelling for the YouTube Generation”.  Fortunately, they were in two halls right next to each other with a dividing door to facilitate the enjoyment of both sessions.

Then, it was time for another quick tour of the exhibit hall.  Nothing had changed.

I need to plan to be in places quicker than what I do.  There was a really interesting sounding session about the use of Edmodo and Social Learning in the Classroom.  I probably dallied looking at the plaques on my way there and the session was SRO by the time I got there.  Sigh.  I dropped in on another session that didn’t do much for me.  But, in the meantime, another Twitter user wanted to meet up.  So, I found out where he was and headed up to a 1:1 learning session which was also SRO.  But, this room had a couple of doors so I just sat in the hallway and attended the session that way.  Towards the end, Mike Kaechele skipped out into the hall and we had a really good chat.  Mike seems like a very nice guy and I was interested in how he was using Scratch with his Grade 6 class.

Exhibit hall again … nothing had changed.

I decided to crash one of the paid workshop sessions just to say hi.  Years ago, Sally Irons used to attend all of the Doug and Grover sessions when we tag teamed at MACUL.  In fact, my fondest memory was of being in Grand Rapids and Sally showed up with her new born baby in a stroller to join us.  The least I could do was to say hi to her and Paula Donner as they were preparing for their workshop.  It was a short reunion but great.  I had to smile when Paula said “hey, remember partying at the BOB in the Rapids?”

The final session of the day was a split between Leslie Fisher’s Twitter session and Rushton Hurley’s session about why your students should take part in a video contest.  I was also curious about the Guerilla sessions but it was an empty room every time I stuck my head in.

And then it was time to head home.  I headed out to the Tunnel Bus stop where the promise of regular service didn’t live up.  But, it was such wonderful MACUL weather, I decided to walk back to the tunnel where I found the buses.  Two of them waiting to go through Customs!  As they headed off for their loop through downtown Detroit, a third one appeared!  Not a problem though – soon it was our turn – the back was filled with some Michigan youth headed to Windsor to enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day facilities there so there was no time to sleep on the bus.

Going into the conference, I recall Gina asking me how to get more Canadian educators to attend the MACUL Conference.  It’s unfortunate but the conference seems to always hit the Ontario March Break.  Maybe they need a marketing scheme to convince folks that Detroit or Grand Rapids are desirable vacation destinations!  At approximately 4000 attendees, this is a nice sized conference.  It’s big enough that they can provide all of what you need and expect for a quality event and yet, it’s not so huge that you get totally lost and overwhelmed.  For me, I get pumped with the learning and the conversations and really enjoyed my Thursday at the conference.

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Mar 19 2011

OTR Links for 03/19/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Mar 18 2011

Friendship

I wish I could remember who tweeted out this link this evening but I can’t find it.  It was about a link to Quora answering the question "What are some iconic images of friendship?"

I checked out the link and, wow.  What a great collection of images to answer the question, especially the one voted up to the top answer. 

I can’t help but think that the images could be used to spur some writing about the friendships that are illustrated or that the images could inspire students to create their own images of friendship.  Thanks to Peter Beens who turned me on to the concept of "creating an image" rather than just "taking an image".  It makes a world of difference.

Please take a moment to click through and see these iconic images.  And, thank you to whoever tweeted out the link in the first place.  I wish I could give you credit for this wonderful find.

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