Coming soon: Presentations for Google Apps

Yesterday Google announced that they've acquired Tonic Systems in order to fold their presentation making, showing, and conversion programs into the Google Apps team of products. Unfortunately I had not played with Tonic's solutions prior to this announcement, and now their website is essentially reduced to a Google acquisition FAQ. So, I'll just have to wait patiently until this summer (the expected "due date") to start becoming familiar with this new option. All I've been able to determine at this point is that Tonic's software was all JAVA-based, and that the presentation element of Google Apps will continue the trend they've started with Docs and Spreadsheets by allowing for shared editing and extensive collaboration.

Jetstream: online weather education

The National Weather Service has a great, in-depth site on weather education called JetStream. I found the site to be very useful with my 9th grade Integrated Science students in our unit on meteorology, although I had to be very selective about which aspects of the site that I used because it has such a great combination of breadth and depth of knowledge. I used the section that instructs users on how to use the NWS on-line products (such as their weather forecast pages), as well as the sections on The Atmosphere and Synoptic Meteorology. In an upcoming integrated unit in Ecology I'll likely use the section on Global Weather, and next year in Integrated Science I'm hoping to use the Remote Sensing section as a tie-in to a project that we do with NASA's local Challenger Learning Center
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Michigan iPod controversy explained

As it turns out, the whole Michigan iPod-per-student "proposal" was, as suspected, never even real. The Lansing State Journal reports that a portion of the budget proposal press conference included an off-the-cuff comment, while holding an iPod, that the Democrats wanted to get "one of these" in the hands of every kid in Michigan. Apparently this statement was not based on any specific proposal, but reflected the general desire of the individuals involved to improve the technology component of Michigan's K-12 education. Given the financial troubles of the state, it's not unreasonable for people to have questioned the statement, and it's going to be interesting to see how the repercussions play out (especially since some of the representatives involved accepted money from Apple to fly out to Cupertino).

TeacherTube: An Online Education/Video Community

TeacherTube (to quote from the site) "is an online media property for people to watch and share Education videos worldwide through a Web experience for everyone." This site as it continues to grow holds a lot of potential for teachers to share their experiences, cool lessons, thoughts and insights with one another.

I know that I find in my job as tech director that I often feel as if I’m recreating the wheel. It is only a couple of times a year that I actually meet with other techies face-to-face and get to share ideas with them and learn from what they are doing in their schools. TeacherTube could really help to create more cross pollination of ideas. In the short time I have been visiting the site I have found some great tutorials on how to use PowerPoint and CamStudio among other things. There are “channels” for the common secondary education subject areas as well as a spot to post student videos.

It seems that a TeacherTube could be used not only for sharing information among teachers, but for posting conference proceedings from across the country. Additionally teachers could post assignments (and potentially lectures) for students that could benefit the education community as a whole not just their individual classes.

CamStudio

CamStudio has to be one of the coolest freebies ever! It lets you record screen and audio activity on your computer and save as .avi and streaming videos. There is also an option to add screen captions. It is just an incredible way to put up tutorials on how to use library databases, or a computer application or how to save files to a computer network etc.

iPods for Michigan: much ado about nothing?

Slashdot recently featured a post referring to a CNET post that referred to a Detroit News editorial lambasting Michigan's House of Representatives' Democrats' budget plan for 2008 that proposes spending $38 million to give every student in the state an iPod.

Or so one might think if they just looked at the vitriolic headlines and following discussion.

I've spent at least a total of 2 to 3 hours now searching for a specific iPod-related proposal, and I can't find anything. What I have found is that the Michigan House Democrats are calling their 2008 budget proposal the Road Map to Michigan's Recovery. The closest I've come is a reference to $38 million in iPod or MP3 player funding in a Detroit Free Press article reporting on the Road Map proposal.

So, is the lambasting here based on some type of insider knowledge that wasn't attributed or referenced (as in, information on a specific funding bill or proposal, and / or the name of the politician sponsoring it)? Is the proposal simply for educational technology funding, which people are assuming is for items like iPods? Is the proposal moot anyway because the sponsors of the bill are a political minority? It's certainly important to recognize that Michigan is facing some serious financial problems, but should this idea be rejected without consideration so that the state can focus on core services? As a technology-oriented teacher, I'd love it if all of my students had iPods. However, it'd take me a considerable amount of work and effort to use the new tool effectively - so hopefully, if true, the $38 million includes a significant amount of funding for teacher training - not on how to use an iPod, but how to integrate it successfully into an educational experience.

Time will tell whether or not the Michigan iPod controversy is legitimate, but it serves as the basis for good discussion. First, this kind of contentious proposal should be on the web before it hits the press - people will inevitably have questions, and primary documentation has proved to be difficult to find. Second, it's important to discuss the need to invest in education even in times of financial stress. Third, the cultural phenomenon of the iPod can't be ignored by educators, and, as with other technological and cultural innovations, should probably be embraced. Finally, the integration of technology in the classroom is difficult - educational processes have inertia, teachers are already largely working at capacity, and adding another widget in the mix is not always welcome.

Google's new mashup tool: My Maps

Google Maps has a new feature called "My Maps" that allows users to tag locations with information that can be saved and shared with others. The user guide for this new mashup tool indicates that users can draw shapes on maps, add text, associate locations with search results, and link to or embed photos and video. Furthermore, control over sharing is robust, allowing users to share their maps with individuals or groups, and to control whether or not the map appears in Google's index.

I can envision using this tool in coordination with an upcoming project I'll be doing with my Ecology course when we'll be producing a video documentary of local, human-influenced environmental disruptions. I'd like to have the students put the video up on the net somehow, and this would be a great way to ground their work. Other disciplines could map out historical movements, literary journeys, and other similar projects.