This is a very easy to use internet tool that Bam Bam had showed us. When you go on to Tinyurl.com you just enter a long URL and turn it into a small one for example copy shortcut (left click) this URL into a tinyurl. This is a website I use all the time in projects for writing URLs down on paper.
from the smiling crazy clown,
The Joker
Image retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/3aa5pg
Add comment November 21st, 2007
While in tech club (Plug Me In) Bam Bam told us about a new online tool on animoto.com. The tool is used to make advanced slideshows. You add your own pictures and then pick music from your own library or their library on the site. Then it formats the pictures into a high energy, eye catching display.
A great thing about it is that it only takes about five minutes to make and it is free. Also, the way it formats the pictures looks very nice and you can make as many as you want.
One thing that I don’t like about the tool is that only thirty second slideshows are free, if you want a full length slideshow it cost three dollars. Also, it would be nice to be able to format the pictures yourself than rather have the tool do it for you.
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being outstanding, I would give it a seven. Here is an example of one that I have made.
~DJ Cash Money~
1 comment November 10th, 2007
Everyone has had a babysitter or nanny at some time or another. They tend to children and usually give them guidance and attention. And many times we even envision a friendly “Mary Poppins” with a smile on her face.
So is a robotic sitter a bit of a stretch? Can they really give the same amount of love and care a human can? After all, they don’t have feelings. Well, scientists have been studying the interactions between children and robots. They report that toddlers actually socialize and form a bond with the androids. In fact, when their “friend” fell over the kids would help it up by pulling on its arms, just like they would to a human.
In this case the robots have been quite beneficial to people. However, many adults are afraid of the androids acting like their movie counterparts. Numerous Hollywood films such as “Artificial Intelligence”, “The Terminator”, and “I Robot” depict robots as dangerous machines out to destroy the human race. This has deterred many people from wanting to use robots because they fear they can become too clever.
So, should robots become man’s best friend or are they best left for the assembly line?
~Anonymous Bob
1 comment November 6th, 2007
One of my favorite blog posts recently was an interview about technology with a 14-year old boy who goes by the pseudonym Arthus. The way I see it, it’s about time that we started asking kids about technology in schools. After all, they’re our customers!
Unfortunately, Arthus isn’t impressed. The way he sees it, we’re cutting off our kids’ tentacles every time they come to school.
So what do you think? Are your teachers doing anything exciting with technology? What would you like to see them doing? Why do you think that technology is almost always absent from school? How would you change things if you were in charge?
Let’s see if we can get some interesting posts about technology right here on our blog. Here are a list of questions that might prompt your thinking:
Handout_Blog_Topics (download from Screencast.com)
And here’s a list of directions about how to make a post in Edublogs:
Handout_Blog_Posting (download from Screencast.com)
Signed,
Bam Bam Bigelow
Add comment November 4th, 2007
Recently, we began exploring one of the most interesting new tools available online—Trailfire—which allows users to begin to organize their online content. Trails—the end product created by Trailfire users—are collections of annotated websites on a single topic. Knowing how important teaching Internet safety is, I used Trailfire to introduce the characteristics of safe and unsafe websites to the digital junkies in Plug Me In.
My heart was a bit broken, then, when our school district decided to block Trailfire completely because of inappropriate content. “What!” I screamed after getting the email from our school’s tech contact, “How am I supposed to teach kids to use Web 2.0 tools if every good tool ends up blocked. I haven’t seen any inappropriate content—If it’s there, it must be hidden pretty good.”
Curious, I stopped by Trailfire to do a bit of in-depth exploration. After about five minutes, I stumbled across some pretty serious pornography. Turns out that not all Trailfire users are interested in using the tool for good—-or in following the Trailfire terms of service! I immediately “turned off” our Plug Me In Trailfire account and sent an email to the Trailfire tech contacts asking for their help in making their site safer. I’m currently waiting for their answer and will keep you posted about what I find out.
This experience is one that any teacher working with Web 2.0 tools can probably relate to. You see, any time that you’re forced to rely on free tools, you’re also forced to accept the reality that the Web is a dangerous place—and that inappropriate content can be found around nearly every corner. Creators of free services are generally well-intentioned—they’d love their tools to be useful for students and schools—but monitoring every piece of content created by users is simply impossible.
The balance between promoting their tools and limiting their uses is a delicate balancing act to say the least!
Our challenge, then, is to determine what level of tolerance we’re comfortable with as parents and as teachers. Can we really keep our kids completely safe online—in a perfect bubble where they’ll be shielded from any inappropriate content at all?
If we try, what do we lose? Will students be prevented from using highly motivating tools appropriately? Will they lose the opportunity to learn about what responsible students do when they encounter inappropriate content?
This is a question that has to be answered before Web 2.0 tools can really become common teaching tools in our schools.
Signed,
Bam Bam Bigelow
Add comment November 4th, 2007
Nicholas Negroponte of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab once wrote, “One of the saddest but most common conditions in elementary school computer labs (when they exist in the developing world), is the children are being trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I consider that criminal, because children should be making things, communicating, exploring, sharing, not running office automation tools.”
The fact of the matter is that children ARE making things, communicating, exploring and sharing online—They’re just not doing any of it at school!
Check this out:
Download Video: Posted by mjohnson at TeacherTube.com.
Despite being driven by digital tools, students are unplugged as soon as they walk through the classroom door. They spend hours completely bored, divorced from the powerful tools that they happily return to as soon as they step off of the school bus. They are bloggers and moviemakers. They text and IM. They are as comfortable in digital conversations as they are when sitting face-to-face. Technology has always served as a motivator for today’s child—yet it is a motivator that many school teachers continue to ignore.
Plug Me In hopes to change all of that. We are a group of highly motivated kids led by a tech-driven teacher who are planning to document our experiences with technology. We want to share our thoughts about why technology matters, reflect on the tools that we think are the most valuable, and give our readers examples of how technology can be incorporated into the classroom.
With luck, you’ll learn something new from us.
Either way, we’re going to have a heck of a time learning together!
Signed,
Bam Bam Bigelow….Teacher/Sponsor of Plug Me In
Add comment October 28th, 2007
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