Two great teachers using technology to attract and lure students to learning. Take a look:
Take a look at my friend Cricket's blog (see my comments here). She has created a wonderful program to help teach Art using Sketchfu. She was already a talented artist, but with Sketchfu she is enabling and inspiring her high school students to create, explore and design. And I can't wait to see what they develop.
Another brave teaching buddy is John Parsons. He developed a writing assignment using Go Animate (see my comments here). This is one of my kid's favorites programs to use, and without it summer writing projects would have been a battle. Just watch John's video and you can see ow simple it is to set up, work with and share using the program online. There are plenty of avatars to choose from and so much to say!
Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario
Kari Haugeto
Brief Overview: Travel is always more fun when shared. But we usually wait until after the experience. With Google Maps our family created our travel plans, researched our destinations, invited friends and family to make recommendations and then used the map as a geographic scrapbook of our adventure. We hope the Map will continue to grow as other visit the same areas we traveled building on our experiences. You can do this too, whether before, after or during your next venture. This Google Maps clinic will provide you with the tools to do this and much more.
1. Target Audience- Families with young children that travel for education and pleasure, looking to involve their children in more of the process and presentation of their adventure.
2. Materials– You will need these items to participate:
• Computer
• Internet connection
• Web browser
• Google account
• Google Earth app
• A trip to document
3. Objectives– At the end of this scenario the learners will be able to:
• Create and design personalized maps using Google Maps
• Choose and import images, documents and movies related to your subject to the map
• Demonstrate that you can share them with the world or a private audience and open them up for collaboration with remote users
• Demonstrate that you can add images, video and/or written content to another person’s map
• Integrate your map with Google earth
• Export your data into other applications that use Google Earth and Google Maps
4. Procedure–
• Ask students about places they have been, are planning to visit and where they go all the time.
• Type an address or business name into the Google maps search bar to show how search works
• Show how navigate, to zoom in and out of the map.
• Also show how to switch from Views (Satellite to Earth to Map) and the Features menu
• As a group decide the theme of map for the class.
• Each student should choose a place or trip they will map themselves. Based on their subject have them create a title and description for their map.
• The map will include at least five markers, so have them list five spots to mark as well.
• Show students how to create a personal map in Google maps and have them follow along.
• Make sure they make the map publically available.
• Show the students the marker menu and how to create windows. Next add the 5 markers. They should choose icons when appropriate.
• Show the students how to upload images, how to insert video and images into windows
• Have the students use the line tool to show path from one point to another. Also show them how to mark an area. Depending on their map theme they may not need to use these tools but they important to know.
• Next show students how to use the features menu. Spend time of the webcams, images, videos and wiki.
• Give the students time to find images or movies and write content for their markers.
• Show students how to invite collaborators. Have them allow everyone to edit this map but email invitations to all class members and you.
• Find a link to another Google map
• Show students how adding markers, images, video, windows and features is the same as in their own map.
• Show them how to leave comments on another person’s map.
• Then show how they can do the same thing to help update the maps on Google.
• Have the students visit 5 other maps from the class and leave comments or post markers with content.
• Have students email friends or family to invite them to comment or leave markers as well.
5. Web 2.0 Tool– Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) and Google Earth give a unique visual perspective of our planet, allow us to document everything from the mundane morning school run to a detailed scrapbook-style journal of our travel and includes collaborative features allowing us to develop maps together and share them with just family and friends or the world.
6. Social Participation/Social Learning– Even though we’re making personal maps, we are also learning how to share the maps with others and how to add to other people’s maps.
• As a class choose the subject theme for all our maps
• Create a publicly available map
• Invite others to view and collaborate in the building of the map
• Go to other people’s maps and add content
7. Making Connections– What we are doing is taking an experience the learner has already enjoyed or is planning and having them make geographic connections by placing items on the map. When organizing these items in the map they will also review their experiences, recall events and possibly find other facts about the area they had visited or plan to visit. It also puts everything in a format that allows them to share their experiences with others and have others with similar experiences to include theirs.
8. Create/Produce – In the end each learner will have created a map based on the chosen theme that includes information provided by classmates. They can then share this with friends or the world allowing the project to continue to grow.
9. Assessment –See Rubric for Google Maps Clinic here.
10. Reflection – Reflection is an integral part of this exercise. The student will be called upon to recall their experiences and share them with others. But we are also interested in ways to improve the program and better match the interests of the learner. Therefore learners will be asked to complete a Google Form. The form will ask them to explain the value of the exercise to them, describe how they might have performed this task in the past, list other ways they might use the same tools and list specific programs they are familiar with that perform similar functions. There will also be a text area where they can make suggestions.
The leader/trainer should track student progress through the exercises and keep a log of the questions that arise during discussions and in emails before and afterwards. This log will be helpful in expanding any descriptions or improving tutorials. If possible, note student enthusiasm for different aspects of the program and at the end cross-reference these with the reflection. The end result should be a log with a reflective abstract heading and bullet points for improvements and additions.
I am amazed by the interest my kids have shown in building our map. You can probably tell from my posts that we do a lot of stuff together. But this is a project the kids keep asking for.
Google Earth is my kids favorite map view.
I hope we'll be able to use the movie-making feature in Google Earth. Of course that is outside the range of this RILS but it is one of the things I think will be added sooner rather than later.
The last few days we have played with adding video, images and written content to our markers. We've also played with the marker avatars. Currently it is mostly airplanes, ships and hiking tours. Once we arrive we'll add our own video, etc.
In the mean time, we have been playing with the wiki, traffic, pictures, videos and webcam features. I do not recommend having them all selected at the same time.
There are a lot of features available
in Google Maps.
One item I am having difficulty locating is the time stamp. This is a very important addition to the map because it will give a timeline of events. Ideally we will be able to create a video with an animated map that follow this trip.
Also we aren’t sure if we should just keep updating this map as we continue to travel or if we should just overlay the maps at the end of the year.
The map is open to the public for edits and I am hoping we’ll have some takers soon. I also have some people lined up for my RILS once we get on the ship.
Our friends sent so many emails and comments about their experiences in Spain and Italy that we decided to open up our My Places Google map for recommendations from followers.
Our use is unique in that we are using it to preplan and research our destinations and will fill in the details during our trip.
As you can see we’ve already placed markers for each of our ports of call and where we’ll be starting off in Florida. Our preplanning is using the map to find articles on Wikipedia about each spot we visit as well as to view pictures and video of the area.
We’ve already learned so much.
And, as I mentioned, while we’re traveling we’ll fill in these markers with stories, descriptions, pictures and video from our trip. But we’re also interested in other people’s impressions, stories, favorite hangouts, pictures and video from their travels in this area.
So, if you’ve been or always wanted to go, won’t you click here to join us in filling out the map? If you’re not sure how, here’s a link to a slightly dated tutorial. We can learn so much when we compare experiences and give an area new perspective.
If you have trouble or just want to share online or have links to your own articles, do not hesitate to add them in the comments below, leave comments on the map page or shoot off an email to me.
This is just a quickie to let you know about a little app I am enjoying which works with my Gmail.
It is called Rapportive and if you haven't tried it out, I suggest you do. It links information about the email senders from your contacts in Linked-in, Twitter and Facebook. So when you open emails they look like this:
See that amazing column all the way to the right?!
You can even see their latest posts to the social networks. As someone who gets a lot of emails, I am liking this a lot. Cements the name with the face.
Can you believe there are just three more weeks before the kids go back to school?! At least here in Florida.
I tried to go the extra mile to match the kids needs to a good camp. My daughter is at her old school, where she can be with friends - and she loves it. I had my son Iden enrolled in three different performance camps and Karate - and he loved it!
But Aren, that was another story. He loves science, so I put him in Aerospace camp, Super Science camp and Rocket Camp. He went to a writing camp and Karate too.
This specialized camp is on the other side of Orlando in Windermere and worth every minute of the drive.
At the start of camp the kids were broken into groups based on common interests. They are shown some techniques in Final Cut Pro film editor and the Celtx scripting tool. They talk through some story ideas. By the afternoon the cameras come out.
And kids pick this stuff up quick.
By the end of the week Aren will have co-written three scripts, acted in three movies, filmed and directed one movie and co-edited two movies.
You'd think that would be enough, but as soon as he gets home he wants to work on other films. The following was filmed after camp at home with the iPad2 and edited in iMovie. I only helped by showing him how to use iStockPhoto.com for stock audio.
I was so happy to have this link sent to me by my cousin's better half via Facebook. It is a rare speech given by my uncle. He is very passionate about the environment and human rights. He and my late aunt had used a similar farm in Alabama to help homeless folks. And yeah he's a little hippie-ish. So was my aunt.
Needless to say, now that he is almost retired, he is no less passionate about life. And he's not afraid to discuss it. Professors!
I hope I can be as passionate about the earth, my family and my land.
You should see his kids! Just as into it, every one. Very humbling.
I wanted to share this video my sister created for her business. Kaia Canales is a designer of children's apparel. Well that's not really saying enough. She is more like an explorer in design.
Ever since she began at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC she had an eye for unusual textures in fabric and how it behaves. You know some fabric is shiny, soft, feathery, rough, dull. And she puts them together.
Take a look at the commercial we made about how we have started using Mind Meister to better organize our ideas, thoughts and research. Hope you like it!
MindMeister is mind-mapping software that helps you organize and share ideas, concepts and information, by putting them in context. We have a few ideas on how this app can help our family track what we learn, organize our research and collaborate better with each other.
But first we better describe the different options you might try.
Iden's daily travel journal template is under construction.
Create Your Own
Create a thought pattern style map using a key word, phrase or statement. This one I set up as a template for my son, Iden, to use as his daily journal base for our upcoming cruise. You’ll see in a minute why I would choose this program for my 6 year old, who is just learning to read and write.
Make visual connections
I also created a template for my son Aren, who is currently blogging for our site AwayIsHome.come as well as his own Aren World of Science. Gotta keep him busy!
In research, there are often overlaps. For example on his Barcelona research we connect Barcelona’s famous architect, Guidi to his famous buildings in Places to See and will also end up adding a connection to the map of the area where the building stands.
Aren is working on his Barcelona, Spain research with Mom and Dad.
Aren will use MindMeister Maps to collect and organize his research for both sites. And I am hoping we will be able to merge the sites later and have a master of his resources and create a movie about his summer online.
Insert pictures, links and documents, oh, my!
You can also see in Aren’s Barcelona research we have active links to some map sites, an image of the building by Guidi. And in Guidi’s node we have attached a document that is a biography about the architect. You can view the document without leaving MindMeister too.
Work it out together
I’d like to bring it back to Iden, my 6 year old. He’s a visual learner, but he is also very kinesthetic. Wants to touch and move stuff. Hard to do with ideas. But in MindMeister he can make connections and move items by drag and drop from one node to another. Just a mouse click, drag and drop. And it is very visual. See how we added icons to visually identify each parent node.
People have shared their mind maps
on a wide variety of subjects.
Better yet, we can share the file with each other online and work together, even if I am away on business or he is visiting his grandparents. We can even share with Grandma and Grandpa, just giving them viewing privileges for now.
We plan to use the collaborative feature as part of our planning research with our Internet audience at awayishome.com.
Borrow from another
There is also an area where you can give access to your mind maps to everyone at MindMeister, or borrow someone else’s work and build on it yourself.
What do you think?
Maybe you have some ideas on how to use the collaborative features on MindMeister, or other applications. We’d love to know! Leave a comment to get the conversation rolling. We might even give it a try too.
as a form of instruction. It was mere curiosity when I first logged in with my special membership code and was overwhelmed with the vast selection of topics.
In particular there were two items I always wanted to improve upon. Guess what? They were listed! Photography and Illustrator were now within reach. So I did some sneaky peeking until it became obvious I had to get cracking on my actual class assignments.
But it didn’t stop there, oh no! I wasn’t in the iMovie 11 tutorial for half an hour before they started dangling other programs that can be used with iMovie or imported to augment my projects.
So I took the bait. No, not right away like a trout. No, I waited.
My curiosity knows no bounds and Lynda.com knows it.
See I had already gotten started on a few other areas of study and new I had to finish what I started. So the minute I finished the last training video for iMovie, still flush with a sense of accomplishment and pride, I dove into iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand.
I haven't finish photography or Illustrator, yet.
And "dove" might not be the right term. More like sticking my pinky toe in to see how the water felt.
Strictly welcome and introduction videos.
I am definitely plunging with GarageBand. Or maybe iWeb.
Crap. Who am I fooling? I have to go with iDVD so I can share my videos and pictures with my parents, who are digitally challenged and prefer DVD over YouTube.
But first, I am off to finish creating my fantastic iMovie experience on MindMeister, which I will post on this blog tomorrow.
If you have any tips, tricks or resources that relate to iMovie, please do not hesitate to share them in the comments below!
Help me. I am drowning in two-minute video snip-its. My mind is numb and my eyes glazed over.
When will it end?
What? I’ve only gotten as far as how to import in iMovie 11. And I am 30 minutes in. How many freaking ways can it be done?
Forget I asked. Every stinking camera, digital file and hard drive is covered.
But that’s a good thing. Right?
My training is taking FOREVER!
Yes, that was me about 3 hours ago. And I wasn't really 30 minutes in, only about 20.
Needless to say, I had to make some changes. Quick.
As a result, I now have some important Lynda.com training video viewing techniques that will help you improve your retention, comprehension and attitude toward learning. Check it out.
Tip #1. I know you want to finish quick, but limit yourself to 2-3 videos followed with a break. Go get a glass of water. Try five squats. Do 15 jumping jacks. Who knows you can lose weight while you learn! Just don’t expect to sit through these straight across. Your mind can’t handle it, and the way they break the videos into bite sizes is somewhat hypnotic – at least it was to me.
Tip #2. I know you have a mind like a steel trap, and your brain is incredibly talented. Give your eyes a break! This is especially true if you are viewing using the iPad app. The backlit screen in a dark room will cause pain, pain that is subtle but will keep you from comprehending what you are viewing on the screen. So after 10 – 15 minutes, put the device down and look around your room. Blink a few times. Bend over and let the blood flow to your face. This was very helpful to me.
These tips really helped
me move through the material. I am
confident I will finish in time.
Tip #3. Try it once you’ve watched it. They give you exercise folders for a reason. I had to go back and re-watch some sections because, even though it is really simple to use, I couldn’t remember how to change things from universal to individual. Doh!!
Tip #4. Don’t try to share mental bandwidth with other devices/programs while training. Yes, I tried to answer a text and send an email during a “boring part.” If it’s boring, it is probably important or they wouldn’t have included it. For the most part these guys are bright, charming and snarky. I like that.
Let’s hope I can make it to the end without losing too much knowledge and skill.
If you have any tips for keeping alert through training videos, please share them in the comments below and get the conversation started.
I am looking forward to the next hour of iMovie training on Lynda.com. I downloaded the app so I can watch along on my iPad and do the practical on the computer without having to toggle too much!
iMovie: At the very start of it all! Photo by Aren Elliott.
I have actually learned quite a bit about Lynda. For example, don't watch video without signing in or you will not get credit for the views.
Download the accompanying files in advance to save the wait later on.
Don't share your account info with your honey or he may go rogue and try to learn something too.
I had already made a good dent in iMovie 9, which is on my older computer but was never used.
My son Aren and I had some fun with old footage that we never had any use for before. When you can add text and pictures to the film and move it on the page, animate it, that is power.
Final Cut is my main movie editor, but I am looking forward to being able to do more with iMovie 11. See, I never really learned how to use all the options in Final Cut, and after just two hours with iMovie 9 I could do credits! That is a big deal for me.
Plus it is nice to use an editor that my son can use as well. Though he is going to film camp next week. I wonder what they’ll be using there?
Well I guess it is lights, camera, action for me! On with the iMovie.
My friend Lisa is looking for a new job, but she has a secret weapon. It's a Web 2.0 tool that helps you write and format your resume, and it only takes a few clicks!
The site is JobSpice.com and it really is pretty simple to use. After I read Lisa's review, I went and gave it a try. Below you'll find what I was able to finish in just a few minutes before running out to pick up the kids.
JobSpice.com: From zero to resume in just a few minutes.
See my comment on how I plan to keep my son's school friends close through the summer separation using Myna or maybe Roc music creator at the core. I'll post later this summer to let you know how it goes.
Mr. Haven is a fourth grade teacher in Modesto California, and I think you'll want to follow his blog if you're looking for creative ways to incorporate Web 2.0 tools in the learning process for your students.
Way to go Greg!
If you use Aviary, let me know which tools and how it helps you share knowledge with others. Go ahead and leave your comment below!
Over the next year I plan on visiting quite a few places with my kids.
Erysse, Aren and Iden Elliott. Photo by C. Elliott.
We’re hoping at least 12 states for two to four weeks at a time crisscrossing the US by car. And somehow we’re going to get work done while homeschooling and discovering the similarities and differences between our hometown and where we visit.
No pressure.
Yeah. I know for sure that I cannot do this alone. It will likely take more than the five of us working together. So I have been looking for social networks dedicated to destinations and travel, and I think I finally found the right one.
Florida landing page on Gogobot.
Mind you, when we travel we’ll be visiting areas near relatives and old college buddies as well as no man lands in between. We’d like to plan the trips in one place but get input from everyone and anyone with some knowledge of the area.
Like other travel focused sites and booking engines, Gogobot connects me with reviews, activities, pictures and videos about areas I am interested in visiting. It will also help me reserve a room or find flights from my area to the destination. I can share these reservations with friends, too.
There is a built in booking feature at Gogobot.
Nothing new there.
And similar to sites like Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com I can sound off about places I’ve visited and experiences of interest. I can rate them, share pictures and video as well.
But I can also track the many places I’ve already been through the “Passport” feature and find others who have been to similar places. Plan upcoming trips, allowing friends and family to make suggestions. Or use the feature that puts me in touch with area experts. I can even follow-up with folks who post reviews in case I have other questions.
And this is all done without leaving the site.
Incentives include user point ranking.
They have incentives for contributing, not that they need them. Like Yelp and Trip Advisor, you’d be surprised by how many people want to write up the details of their trips and share them with others.
Actually, you can “follow” others which at first sounds a little creepy, but this option is very RSS/Twitter like where you pretty much are kept up to date on what they’ve posted.
I set up my account using my twitter log in, but you can use Facebook too. It takes a few seconds, then you are prompted to fill your passport with destinations you have visited. You can go into the destination find things you did and rate or write them up, add pictures or video and see what others have said.
You can give or ask for advice.
Because we’re planning trips, I skipped this and went to destinations I know to see what kind of coverage they have.
I’ve actually written a guidebook on Orlando and am a contributor for a snow-sports guidebook. As suspected, popular destinations had more variety and depth. Winter Springs was lacking. So was Clearwater.
So I invoked the Get Advice feature. The funny thing is this feature allows me to post a question on what is like a bulletin board or help desk. I cannot speak to its effectiveness yet. But I will follow up here when I can.
The clincher for me was the way they handle suggestions. This group is constantly updating, upgrading and integrating suggestions by users. You can vote with a +1 if you like the suggestion made and you can see what ideas have been integrated.
Site uses GetSatisfaction to manage suggestions.
User generated content is nothing new, it is the collaborative, organizational and planning tools that will be most helpful for me as we face the long road ahead.
I admit it. I have been completely distracted by Google+ since I gained access last week. OMG!
Here's what I know so far: It takes a little while to set things up - especially if you have hundreds of people in your rolodex.
It is more addictive than News of the World and its ensuing (no pun intended) scandal.
We have just felt the shift in a way Google Buzz failed to manage.
Welcome to the next generation of social networking. I hope Facebook will keep up and my aggregators will let me post once and still be able to share with everyone I care to.
If you need an invite, let me know. If you need a tour, that is coming soon to this very blog. Just you wait!
I'm really, really bad when it comes to privacy. If I'm in a room and people are talking then I feel I'm a part of their conversation, be it passive or active. Just because your not facing me, huddled close to one another and murmuring in hushed tones doesn't mean I won't chime in with an "I couldn't help but overhearing...".
And yes, this does get me in trouble occasionally. Often. Well, regularly.
I can't help it. I have a restless mind, a trained ear and read postures well. And I am oh, so, curious.
Restaurants are the worst. I will zoom in on anyone in earshot and this drives Chris nuts. It drive everybody nuts. It disturbs me sometimes. Amazing what people will say in a public place.
But this morning I was listening on the radio to an interview with Katherine Brooks. A well known director and writer of reality TV shows and documentaries, she's got thousands of Facebook and Twitter fans still her life felt hollow, empty. It held little meaning. A few months ago she was spiraling into a bleak depression. On the radio she admitted at one point it had been more than a month since she had received a hug.
Where the #@&%! were her so called friends?
Face2Face cuts out the electronics and brings Ms. Brooks into the homes and lives of 50 Facebook friends for a day. A day to connect and be a part of someone else's life. She used the technology to make the first connection and is now disconnecting to connect personally.
Building online and using technology, even 2.0 tools that are supposed to connect more than reject collaboration and interaction, is no guarantee that an audience will be engaged and participate. And how can we give a hug or hold a hand across cyberspace?
If you have any ideas, please post them here. If you've been able to create an active community post a link to your site, Twitter and/or Facebook.
Kari sings with Orlando Concert Band
at Lake Nona. Photo by OCB.
For the past few years I have performed July 4th with the Orlando Concert Band at Lake Eola. If you are coming, stop by the bandstand and be sure to say "Hello"!
I have a secret. I don't really do anything. Well, work related that is. Okay, nothing traditionally considered work related. I just get things started. And read. A lot.
In high school we called ourselves doers - people who got things done.
In college we called ourselves activist - people actively supporting what they love.
Now we're called entrepreneurs, and by some flakes but I don't let that bother me.
My son Aren thinks time is short. Photo by Christopher Elliott.
I work with the realization of ideas and creating marketable projects. So far I am 0 for at least a 100 and statistically it's time for a winner. Most of my best work has gone into OPP (other people's projects) so I at least have some street cred for success. And tons of experience.
But I am so frustrated with myself. I have good ideas. Mostly. But I lack the selfish quality it takes to do them.
Notice I say selfish. Negative word with negative connotations.
What I am really doing is procrastinating using one of the oldest tricks in the book for self-deception, semantics.
No, I am not watching Community with my better half, or Barbie Fashionista with my daughter to save myself from being too selfish. I am doing it to avoid the possibility of failure. Or having to work hard.
And I hide it in semantics.
Of course I'm afraid. And overwhelmed. And underfunded. And staring down the absolute unknown.
But wait a sec, am I the first person to be an starter? Am I really creating something totally unique, resembling nothing you've ever encountered, behaving in a completely untested manner?
Probably not. Yes? No. Definitely not, now that I think about it.
My cat Pollux is an excellent listener.
Photo by Christopher Elliott.
There are tools out there to help me and if I can just find a couple of people to use as a sounding board that might help with my personal motivation engine. My cats never disagree with me and are very, very, very supportive but I am not looking for a bunch of "Yes Kitties." No I need some people who can save me from getting distracted and keep me on task. And a few that will take a long term view.
Where will I find these people? Can you make some suggestions here in the comments and I will give you a few ideas as well.
Colleges. Colleges have students and educators that, though overworked, are usually willing to spend some time with you especially if there is food involved.
Entrepreneurship Centers. Yes, we have them all over Central Florida and they are supported by the University system including UCF's CEI. They have experts willing to share their links to resources you may need and give advice.
Experts. You may come across a paper or article that names an expert in his or her field. Believe it or not they are usually willing to share their knowledge and may point you in the right direction for organization or meet-up groups in your area with folks with similar interests.
Organizations. American Society of Journalist, ASJA, is a trade association. The Chamber of Commerce is a business organization. The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are social organizations. There are thousands of organizations but only a few will be what you're looking for. Many you won't even have to join in order to access their research or contact some members.
Government Agencies. Make sure you are connected to a true agency. If they ask you for money right away, it probably isn't legit.
I am sure you have a couple of suggestions. Post them to the comments below.
Well, I feel a little silly. I started my iGoogle homepage a while back and took it, well, nowhere. Really. I didn’t see the point. I didn’t have the time and I didn’t want the distraction or hassle. And come on, what can it possibly do for me?
Turns out it might have been a real time saver, digital personal assistant and project organizer.
This is my iGoogle home page.
Yes, back in December 2010 I was contemplating taking my oldest son out of school, starting up a new Web site, putting an old Web site back on the market, editing the current bevy of blogs as well as running the show at the Elliott Ranch.
We’d only just started talking about maybe going on a big road trip and Chris’ book contract still seemed highly unlikely.
March was a nightmare. The book was picked up by Wiley. We’d been to California for almost two weeks on assignment. Chris had taken Aren on a Disney cruise and Iden to Hawaii. Those assignments were completed but there were trips to Peru, St. Lucia, Colorado and Annapolis on the horizon. All this was managed in email, Google Docs and Google Calendar. Not efficient.
We had to turn down a number of assignments – including Peru – because we just couldn’t manage our traffic. Plus, Iden had a handful more days he could be absent from Kindergarten without being held back. Glad we missed that bullet.
This week, I went back to iGoogle. It was a class assignment. I have to admit to thinking the same thoughts as when I started my account. Why bother?
But somehow, maybe because of the outline to help me get started or the video tutorials, it finally clicked. I finally understand the power of the iGoogle homepage and what it means for me, personally.
This is one of those tools that helps change the size and shape of the boxes that limit us. It does this by helping us assemble tabs on a personal Web space. The tabs act like idea buckets where we drop links to video, websites, newsfeeds, documents, pictures and a host of other helpful related resources via “gadgets” that we can share with others. And they can share back!
Take a look at my FSO/CBR Tab:
FSO/CBR tab is for keeping track of AR resources and important Full Sail contacts.
I am using this page to give me quick links to the information I need to manage my Action Research project that will follow me throughout my Full Sail coursework. I hope to share links and my AR blog with friends in the blogging business as I study the best business models for education blogs. Just looking at the tiny picture you can tell we’ve a lot of work ahead, but soon this page will fill up with shared information and will remain dynamic as we continue to update and add new data and news.
And this is my ETC Tab:
This tab contains links I'll need during my
Emergent Technologies in a Collaborative Culture
class and probably beyond.
See how all the important links, contacts reside in one workspace, not unlike your desk at work. You can find the resources needed to complete assignments here, without wasting time hunting them down. But I can still get to my AR or main page with a click of the tab.
Chris and I already share calendars and docs. Now we can share links and resources whether we’re apart or together on business anywhere there is a connection. Without this tool I don’t know how we’d manage the educations of 3 children, submissions to the 20+ blogs we contribute to or the organization of our upcoming national family road trip.
Maybe iGoogle can help you as well. If you are interested in something you see in this blog let me know and I will gladly share some gadgets with you. And if you have anything you’d like to share, I will greatly appreciate it!
A friend asked on Facebook for a link to a song that makes us smile.
I'm a singer, so you'd think I'd have no problem with this one. But darn it, I just couldn't think!
Too many? Overwhelmed with the sheer number of tunes? No. It had just been a while.
Very recently I came into the latest Weird Al Lady Gaga Parody. And I admit, it was fun, but it just wasn't as far out as I recalled Wierd Al to be.
Okay, it is pretty weird. But compared to Lady Gaga. It could be considered tame.
Still this led me to think about limits. Limits we set on ourselves and the things we allow ourselves to do. And how we are affected by the thoughts and ideals of those around us.
One of the biggest issues I face is the desire to please others. With three kids, I have plenty to please - and that's just at home.
So I am reaching out to the one person whom I believe is not even aware that limits exist. Yeah she's even stranger than Lady Gaga but she gets crazy things to happen - and it's because she looks forward and involves as many people as she can.
You might not even know her, but Bjork is releasing her 8th album. She is Icelandic and dances on the fringe of, well, just about everything. Her creativity and it's resulting projects know no limits. Her new album is a musical description of nature and science. It is out in September, 2011 and distributed exclusively as apps.
I have a link to It's Oh So Quiet, her most mainstream song ever (it is a renamed cover of a 1948 hit by Hans Lang and Erich Meder). But it makes me smile. And when I worry about limits, I find her other work and rethink where can't and can meet.
Do you dream of building your own apps for Apple devices or Andriod? But you're not a coder, you just have great ideas. I have great news for you!
Go to visit AppsBar. According to a recent press release, it tout's itself as "the first cost-free way for any business or person to create professional, multi-function apps and get them quickly published in apps stores."
"appsbar was designed to fill the gap between over-simplified apps and costly, professionally-produced apps. It presents myriad personalization opportunities with a unique interface that guides creators through the entire process – from creation, to editing, to publication - with visual and textual clues at each step. As creators build apps page by page, each app becomes more personalized through limitless combinations of background colors and fonts and the ability to upload images and videos from personal libraries."
This site is a free service and will help you with all the coding and even the submission process. But don't expect to get rich quick. There is a catch. Let's just say you should pay special attention to the licenses and rights granted to appsbar section in its terms of use.
It is also somewhat limited but probably does everything you need. I will share my product, once it is available, on this site.
Please leave a comment if you are thinking of trying or have used this service.
