Gates Foundation funds teacher quality models - eSchool News
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given more than $2 billion to education. Three school districts and a coalition of charter schools have agreed to be test kitchens for some radical ideas for improving teacher quality -- from paying new teachers to spend another year practicing before gettin.. .. read more..

Google adds automatic captions to YouTube - By by Chris Lefkow, AFP
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Google, in a significant development for deaf Internet users, announced it was adding automatic caption capability to videos on YouTube. Google said on Thursday machine-generated captions would initially be available only in English and on videos from 13 YouTube "partner channels" but it hopes to ex.. .. read more..

Manufacturers Debut Pico Projection Products Using Texas Instruments DLP Pico Ch..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A number of recent new product introductions offer more evidence that Pico projectors are being embraced by manufacturers. Texas Instruments announced the company's DLP Pico chipset is the technology used by four companies with new product releases. They are Samsung, WowWee, Optoma, and Dell. TI sai.. .. read more..

Google Wave, and Why What We Are Living Through Really is Different - Margaret S..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

It could be argued that until very recently, there wasn?t really anything fundamentally new about the internet. Email was just a faster and more efficient version of the post and telegrams. Web pages were similar to publishing and broadcasting ? a one to many model, albeit with the barriers to entry.. .. read more..

Google Steps Closer to Real Time Search with Translate Update - James Glick, the..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Google have just released a new feature for it?s Translate service ? translate as you type. In a move that must be closely linked with a similar upcoming feature for Google Wave as well as the enevitable shift to real time search. The Mountain View outfit have raised the bar once again in the online.. .. read more..

It's official - Google gets Gizmo5 - Mike Dolan, Fierce VOIP
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Last week we reported rumors that Google bought Gizmo5, an Internet VoIP provider that competes with Skype for peer-to-peer and low-cost VoIP calls. TechCrunch had reported earlier that Google had bought Gizmo5 for $30 million, but the official announcement had yet to be made. According to Google's .. .. read more..

Online Learning Projects: Student Produced Podcast - Gary R. Armstrong, Joanne M..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Classroom instruction continues to change dramatically with new technology and pedagogy. Faculty aspire to develop innovative programs and creative education while seeking effective teaching strategies that capitalize on emerging technology and invoke student interest and involvement. Research shows.. .. read more..

Advanced IT Education for the Vision Impaired via Online Learning - Helen L. Arm..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Lack of accessibility in the design of e-learning courses continues to hinder students with vision impairment. E-learning materials are predominantly vision-centric, incorporating images, animation, and interactive media, and as a result students with acute vision impairment do not have equal opport.. .. read more..

Computer Anxiety in Online Learning: The Effect of Computer Self-Efficacy - Raaf..
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

It has been reported that as many as fifty percent of adults, including first-year University students ,have some sort of computer-related phobia. This report demonstrates that the use of computers still has some unpleasant side effects despite the Internet boom in the past decade. Past research sho.. .. read more..

K-12's Stab at the Killer iPhone App - Bridget McCrea, THE Journal
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Before the iPhone hit the mobile phone scene in 2007, the word "app" wasn't part of the typical person's vocabulary. That's changed over the last two years or so as an increasing number of software developers have come out with applications for mobile devices and an ever more diverse range of users,.. .. read more..

HTML5: The Web Beyond Web 2.0 - Ruth Reynard, THE Journal
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

There are various ideas of how HTML5 has already changed and will continue to change how we view and use the Web. Scott Loganbill suggested: HTML5 represents the biggest leap forward in Web standards in almost a decade. Unlike the specifications that came before it, HTML5 is not merely intended to p.. .. read more..

Is American Education Neglecting Gifted Children? - David Nagel, THE Journal
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

America's 3 million gifted and talented students are getting the shaft in the vast majority of K-12 schools, according to a new report from the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted. The report found that gifted students are being negl.. .. read more..

How Secure Is Cloud Computing? - David Talbot, Technology Review
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cloud computing services, such as Amazon's EC2 and Google Apps, are booming. But are they secure enough? Friday's ACM Cloud Computing Security Workshop in Chicago was the first such event devoted specifically to cloud security. Speakers included Whitfield Diffie, a cryptographer and security researc.. .. read more..

Google Gives a First Look at the Chrome OS - Erica Naone, Technology Review
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Google gave the first demonstration of its Chrome operating system today, at the same time opening the source code to the public. The company highlighted features that have grown out of what vice president of product management Sundar Pichai called "a fundamentally different model of computing." Unl.. .. read more..

A 25-Year Battery - Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Batteries that harvest energy from the nuclear decay of isotopes can produce very low levels of current and last for decades without needing to be replaced. A new version of the batteries, called betavoltaics, is being developed by an Ithaca, NY-based company and tested by Lockheed Martin. The batte.. .. read more..

Can college students learn as much in online learning? - Dave Murray, The Grand ..
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Some higher education leaders I met Friday think so. I?m attending an education writers conference in Chicago this weekend, looking at the future of higher education. As always, the Hechinger Institute folks have brought together an impressive array of panelists. Our first session focused on moves a.. .. read more..

Unique Online Learning Course Launched In India To Train Budding Women Politicia..
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

In order to train women in politics, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) and the Center For Social Research (CSR) has launched an online course. The course is aimed at women who are already politically active and also open to women who might not have much background in politics but who neverth.. .. read more..

Online college admissions services growing - Dennis Carter, eCampus News
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Online college admissions services growing - Dennis Carter, eCampus News With an average of one counselor for every 500 public high school students in the U.S., college applicants are often left without professional guidance--and so internet-based companies offering admissions advice are hoping to f.. .. read more..

House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Second..
Monday, November 23, 2009

I would like to share with you the new model of instruction that has emerged in the classrooms with which we work. Teachers are using mobile devices like this handheld computer or this netbook to collect real-time data about their students' progress and learning needs. They use this data to customiz.. .. read more..

Google Launches New Translation Features - Official Google Blog
Monday, November 23, 2009

Google has launched three new features as well as a new look and feel for Google Translate ? a service that helps people access information throughout the world by enabling them to automatically translate text and and web pages into their own language. Google Translate offers 51 languages, represent.. .. read more..

Grading 2.0: Evaluation in the Digital Age - FionaB, Hastac.org
Monday, November 23, 2009

As the educational and cultural climate changes in response to new technologies for creating and sharing information, educators have begun to ask if the current framework for assessing student work, standardized testing, and grading is incompatible with the way these students should be learning and .. .. read more..

Bendable Magnetic Interface - Duncan Graham-Rowe, Technology Review
Monday, November 23, 2009

Computer users have been typing on keyboards and clicking on mice for more than 20 years. An experimental new interface under development at Microsoft could give them a completely new way to use their system. Multi-touch and motion-sensing devices have recently emerged from research labs, offering n.. .. read more..

Google Offers Peek at Operating System, a Potential Challenge to Windows - MIGUE..
Monday, November 23, 2009

Google began lifting the veil on its planned Chrome operating system on Thursday, but it said that computers powered by the software would not be available for a year. In September, Sundar Pichai of Google discussed the Chrome operating system, which will not be on computers for a year. But with the.. .. read more..

Google Wave relies on kindness of strangers - Gavin Clarke, the Register
Monday, November 23, 2009

Unveiled in May, Wave is still in an embryonic state. Google's manager told Salesforce.com developers and users Thursday that it needs lots of people either running Google Wave, building their own versions of Wave using the 40,000 lines of code Google has open-sourced, or interoperating between the .. .. read more..

Online Learning Accessibility: Google adds automatic captions to YouTube - By by..
Monday, November 23, 2009

Google, in a significant development for deaf Internet users, announced it was adding automatic caption capability to videos on YouTube. Google said on Thursday machine-generated captions would initially be available only in English and on videos from 13 YouTube "partner channels" but it hopes to ex.. .. read more..

Online Learning Potential Reach in Web 2.0 - CORDIS
Monday, November 23, 2009

Web 2.0 refers not to technical changes in the way that Web applications work, but to the expanding nature of what they are being used for. The Internet is now used by 1.7 billion people (24.7% of the world population). More than 160 million people every month are logging on to social networking sit.. .. read more..

Cleaning Up the Clutter Online - David Pogue, New York Times
Sunday, November 22, 2009

Readability has changed my life. It?s a new button on your Web browser?s toolbar. With one click, it eliminates EVERYTHING from the Web page you?re reading except the text and photos. No ads, blinking, links, banners, promos or anything else. The text is also changed to a beautiful font and size (yo.. .. read more..

Big Sensors, Shrinking Cameras - David Pogue, NY Times
Sunday, November 22, 2009

This is a review of two new cameras that have had camera aficionados? palms sweating for months: the Canon PowerShot S90 ($412) and the Panasonic Lumix GF1 ($870). Those prices are much higher than for similar size cameras, but these models represent huge, technologically amazing steps along the cam.. .. read more..

Five Impressive Real-Life Google Wave Use CasesNovember 14th, 2009 - Jennifer Va..
Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Google Wave invite rollout extravaganza started more than a month ago. While in some respects the buzz around Google Wave has started to subside, the term is still constantly one of the top trending topics on Twitter, and new gadgets, extensions, and applications are now starting to appear on a .. .. read more..

Apps to Help Guard Against Flu, and Worse - ROY FURCHGOTT, NY Times
Sunday, November 22, 2009

If just thinking about the H1N1 Swine Flu virus gives you the chills, Harvard Medical School may offer? well, not a remedy, but a safeguard. It is an app called the HMSMobile Swine Flu Center. Developed by the publications arm of the medical school, the guide offers updates from the Center for Disea.. .. read more..

Why would you use URL shorteners? - David Pogue, New York Times
Sunday, November 22, 2009

?Hi David, Why do people (including yourself) use URL shorteners in anything other than Twitter? I think it?s an unnecessary and unpleasant layer of opacity between you and your readers. I don?t know where the link goes to and I don?t like getting in the habit of clicking these things. Why not just .. .. read more..

Statewide Support for K 12 Online Learning Grows - David Nagel, THE Journal
Sunday, November 22, 2009

States and districts have increased their support for online K-12 education programs. Twenty-five states now run statewide online initiatives, according to new research from the Center for Digital Education (CDE) at policy and research firm e.Republic. That's up from 15 states running such initiativ.. .. read more..

Strengthening our relationship with China - Harold McGraw III, Star-Ledger
Sunday, November 22, 2009

In every sector of our economy, we should welcome fresh opportunities for partnership. For example, during my trip to China this week, we launched new partnerships with Chinese companies in professional development and online learning. Over the years, the relationship between the United States and C.. .. read more..

Professors and students differ in opinion on technology in class - Zac Halpern, ..
Sunday, November 22, 2009

A study completed this year by the U.S. Department of Education concluded that the use of technology in the classroom enhances learning. "This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems,.. .. read more..

Europe split on Google book plans - David Reid, BBC Click
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Google's $125m deal with the American book industry is on hold. Google plans to put millions of the world's books online and create the world's largest virtual library by 2010. The company has already scanned 10 million out-of-print books as part of its Library Project. Google plans to charge people.. .. read more..

Windows 7 borrowed 'look' of Mac - BBC
Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Microsoft executive was quoted in an interview as saying "what we've tried to do with Windows 7...is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics". The comments, by partner group manager Simon Aldous, appeared in UK computing trade magazine PCR. Microsoft countered that Mr Aldous was not involv.. .. read more..

Wikipedia's future in Africa - Dave Lee, BBC World Service
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has big ambitions for the developing world. Expansion into Africa and other non-English speaking areas is a top priority for Wikipedia, site founder Jimmy Wales has said. Speaking on the BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme, Mr Wales outlined the next step for t.. .. read more..

Clicker Aims to Be the Path to TV Online - MIGUEL HELFT, New York Times
Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Web is increasingly filled with television shows, but finding them can be hard. Clicker, a well-financed startup, believes it can help. On Thursday, the company is rolling out its service, Clicker.com, which it calls a ?TV Guide for the Web.? ?If you created TV Guide in 2009 instead of 1953, you.. .. read more..

Another Web Video Face-Off: Roku vs. Boxee - BRAD STONE, The New York Times
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Boxee draws in a wide variety of video from the Web and presents it in an interface designed for viewing on a TV screen. Roku and Boxee are two radically different companies pursuing the same goal: to bring the wide-ranging world of Internet video to the living room TV. Roku?s set-top box.In the spi.. .. read more..

Microsoft Launches Anti-piracy Twitter Feed - Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Microsoft announces that it has launched a dedicated Twitter feed for its anti-piracy enforcement team. Despite attempts by Microsoft and other IT companies to curb piracy, often through aggressive policies, a recent report by McAfee suggests that the rate of file-sharing sites hosting unauthorized .. .. read more..

The Technological Dimension of a Massive Open Online Learning Course: The Case ..
Saturday, November 21, 2009

In 2008, a new term emerged in the already crowded e-learning landscape: MOOC, or massive open online course. Lifelong learners can now use various tools to build and manage their own learning networks, and MOOCs may provide opportunities to test such networks. This paper focuses on the technologica.. .. read more..

The Impact of Openness on Bridging Educational Digital Divides - Andy Lane, IRRO..
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Openness has been a feature of higher education for many decades, particularly through the establishment of open universities, although there remain debates about what openness means in practice. Digital technologies, some based on open principles, and digital content, aided by open licences, have b.. .. read more..

Increasing Access and Enabling Global Participation in Higher Education - Tannis..
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Two of the major challenges to international students? right of access to higher education are geographical/economic isolation and academic literacy in English (Carey, 1999; Hamel, 2007). The authors propose that adopting open course models in traditional universities, through blended or online deli.. .. read more..

Transcript of CNET Conversations with Eric Schmidt - Molly Wood, CNet news.cnet...
Friday, November 20, 2009

Eric Schmidt: Google Wave is a similar, new effort within Google to try to redefine the way people communicate, primarily using e-mail and instant messaging. And what's neat about Wave is once you're in the Wave, your usage, based on our testing and our early use, is very different. It's the blend, .. .. read more..

Current Twitter trends: Google Wave - the Independent
Friday, November 20, 2009

Google Wave has shot back up into the top of Twitter's list of trending topics on the morning of Friday, November 13. Internet giant Google has been successfully using viral marketing to promote its new social networking software called Google Wave. Twitter users not yet signed up to Google Wave con.. .. read more..

Google Chrome OS: Do you believe the hype? - Asia CNet
Friday, November 20, 2009

As with most products that have the name Google attached to them, Google Chrome OS is generating a lot of hype--and, if this TechCrunch post is true, we'll finally get to see if it will live up to the hype.Don't get me wrong: I agree with what Google is saying that it's all about the Web now, and th.. .. read more..

Switch to Mac Cheat Sheet - Cameron Sturdevant, eWeek
Friday, November 20, 2009

"Switchers" - those who have decided to leave the Windows world for Max OS X - can get up close with Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition as eWEEK Labs Technical Director Cameron Sturdevant takes a few minutes to delve into his review of the product. Sturdevant reviewed the product when it releas.. .. read more..

12 Things to Know About Google's Go Programming Language - Darryl K. Taft, eWeek
Friday, November 20, 2009

Google's new programming language, called Go, took the application development world by storm when the search giant released it Nov. 10. The ambitious technology's pedigree features programming experts from the Unix world, including Ken Thompson, who teamed with Dennis Ritchie to create Unix. Create.. .. read more..

Facebook Case Sets Up Google Latitude as Tempting Legal Tool - Clint Boulton, eW..
Friday, November 20, 2009

The exoneration of a Brooklyn teenager with the help of a timely Facebook status update has sparked interest in social networking tools as evidence for law enforcement officials and litigators. This could heighten interest in Google Latitude Location History, an opt-in feature that lets users store .. .. read more..

Online enrollment soars at PSU?s World Campus - Anne Danahy, Centre Daily
Friday, November 20, 2009

When Al Turgeon taught Penn State?s first completely online class in January 1998, the turfgrass man-a professor had about 17 students. Six weeks later, that number had doubled. Today almost 10,000 students from around the country and world are taking classes from what Penn State calls its World Cam.. .. read more..

Online Learning: Second Life allows Escambia County educators to meet in an onli..
Friday, November 20, 2009

Escambia County School District recently purchased a significant piece of land which will be used primarily for professional development for teachers. The acquisition, which holds several facilities for teacher resources, also houses a tree house conference area and a state-of-the-art, glass-dome ro.. .. read more..

Click ?n' learn: GCCC adds more online learning - CHRIS SEGAL, News Herald Write..
Friday, November 20, 2009

Gulf Coast Community College administrators are adding online course offerings, which now include six associate degrees that can be completely solely online. The degrees include general studies (liberal arts) A.A. degree and A.A. transfer tracks in elementary teacher education, history, psychology, .. .. read more..

Progressives Seize 2.0 Meme on Twitter - Ole Ole Olson, NEWS JUNKIE POST
Thursday, November 19, 2009

Progressive activists on Twitter have begun organically taking over the 2.0 meme for hashtags. The pattern is growing and appears well on its way to going viral. What is a meme? According to Wikipedia: ?The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly.. .. read more..

Gov 2.0: Transparency without accessibility? - By Alice Lipowicz, Federal Comput..
Thursday, November 19, 2009

When a redesigned Recovery.gov Web site was unveiled last month to track the distribution of stimulus dollars, it was touted as another example of the Obama administration?s push for greater transparency. But the technology and design of the site left one segment of the population less than satisfie.. .. read more..

Ride the Wave: Google Wave Destined to Make a Splash - Shannon Grippando, Univer..
Thursday, November 19, 2009

In case you haven?t heard, Google has a new toy in the works set to launch later this year: Google Wave. And just as they wowed the world with Google Maps and their oh-so-simple Gmail service, Google Wave will revolutionize the way we communicate and collaborate on the web forever. It?s that amazing.. .. read more..

Comedy Twitter feed lands TV deal - BBC
Thursday, November 19, 2009

The feed began in August after Halpern moved back in with his parents. A Twitter feed featuring pearls of wisdom from a 73-year-old father could become a family comedy on US TV.Justin Halpern, 29, has become an internet star with more than 700,000 followers since he began posting his father's often .. .. read more..

Bing teams up with Wolfram Alpha - BBC
Thursday, November 19, 2009

Bing will use Wolfram's algorithms and data sets. Microsoft has teamed up with a web tool once hailed as a rival to Google to provide results for its search engine Bing. Wolfram Alpha aims to answer questions directly, rather than display a list of links like a search engine. The "computational know.. .. read more..

The slow death of landline phones - Tom Geoghegan, BBC News
Thursday, November 19, 2009

British government workers are getting a two-day taste of life without fixed line phones. But how easily would the rest of us surrender our landline? You pick up the phone on your desk and there is no dialling tone. Your colleague does the same. It's a scenario repeated across the country, in a cata.. .. read more..

Learning Online:The Class of 2013 Spends 1/5 of Day on Computer! - CNN Money
Thursday, November 19, 2009

For the first time, the study delved into exactly how much time multi-tasking students were engaging with their preferred media on a daily basis, for any purpose. When all platforms were totaled, the study found that students are spending a whopping 12 hours daily, on average, engaged with some type.. .. read more..

Google backtracks on putting world?s books online - Dominic Rushe, Times Online..
Thursday, November 19, 2009

Google has slashed in half its controversial plans to become the world?s biggest online library in a legal move to appease critics, including China, the US Justice Department, authors and publishers. In an American legal filing made close to midnight on Friday, Google and its publishing allies set o.. .. read more..

Online Learning for Dollars: Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions - ..
Thursday, November 19, 2009

Between Craigslist and eBay, the Internet is well established as a marketplace where one person?s trash is transformed into another?s treasure. Now, thousands of teachers are cashing in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as s.. .. read more..

Cloud computing envelops EDUCAUSE talk - Dennis Carter, eSchool News
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Conference sees attendance drop from 2008, but remain steady despite a slumping economy that has colleges trimming travel budgets. The 2009 EDUCAUSE higher-education technology conference in Denver Nov. 3-6 saw campus IT administrators present ways to preserve technology budgets during an economic d.. .. read more..

E-Mail 'Biggest' Security Risk, Microsoft Says - Jabulani Leffall, THE Journal
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

An organization's security has a lot to do with its e-mail system, a top security manager at Microsoft suggested. "Messaging is fraught with a lot of challenges," said J.G. Chirapurath, Microsoft's senior director for identity and security, in a phone interview. "It comes down to the integrity of th.. .. read more..

Districts Get To Work Making Themselves Safer with REMS Grants - Dian Schaffhaus..
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A small Arizona district will be bringing in expertise to help put the finishing touches on school safety plans and training. An Oregon district will be hiring a part-time person to coordinate emergency planning. A sizable Florida district will be adding GPS and biometric identification systems to i.. .. read more..

Google: Firms can get rid of Office in a year - Victoria Ho, ZDNet
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

In a year, most enterprises will have the choice to "get rid of [Microsoft] Office if they chose to", suggests Dave Girouard, president of Google's enterprise division. Girouard, one of the company's four presidents including founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, said in an interview with ZDNet Asia .. .. read more..

Office 2010 public beta leaks to Internet - Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Office 2010's public beta has leaked to the Web, days ahead of its anticipated roll-out next week, searches of file-sharing sites showed today. The 32- and 64-bit versions of the Office 2010 Beta have appeared on several peer-to-peer BitTorrent tracking sites, including Mininova.org, with the first .. .. read more..

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten growth - Associated Press
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Goofy videos weren't on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the Internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online. Instead.. .. read more..

Peer-To-Peer Recognition of Online Learning in Open Education - Jan Philipp Schm..
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Recognition in education is the acknowledgment of learning achievements. Accreditation is certification of such recognition by an institution, an organization, a government, a community, etc. There are a number of assessment methods by which learning can be evaluated (exam, practicum, etc.) for the .. .. read more..

Open Textbook Proof-of-Concept via Connexions - Judy Baker, et al; IRRODL
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

To address the high cost of textbooks, Rice University?s Connexions and the Community College Open Textbook Project (CCOTP) collaborated to develop a proof-of-concept free and open textbook. The proof-of-concept served to document a workflow process that would support adoption of open textbooks. Ope.. .. read more..

Educator Use of Social Networking Lags Behind Interest - Scott Aronowitz, THE Jo..
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The final results of an extensive nationwide survey on educator use of social networking were published last week, and it appears that more than six educators in ten are at least interested enough in the growing medium to register on one or more sites. What this will mean in the long run for the imp.. .. read more..

School Librarians Lead the Social Networking Pack Among Educators - School Libra..
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Media specialists are more likely to join social networking sites than teachers and principals?and they?re more likely to adopt a variety of content-sharing tools for personal, professional, and classroom use, says a new report. ?A Survey of K?12 Educators on Social Networking and Content-Sharing To.. .. read more..

Splitting Up Search - Duncan Graham-Rowe, Technology Review
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Searching the Web could become faster for users and much more efficient for search companies if search engines were split up and distributed around the world, according to researchers at Yahoo. Currently, search engines are based on a centralized model, explains Ricardo Baeza-Yates, a researcher at .. .. read more..

South Alabama looks to expand online learning offerings - Renee Busby, AI.com
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Next fall, more students at the University of South Alabama might be watching their professors while sitting in their dorm rooms. The university wants to expand a "hybrid delivery system" through which students could listen to lectures online while also having a schedule of regular classes. The inte.. .. read more..

Memphis in July?must be Laptops?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

The digital age has provided me the opportunity to learn through a vibrant and expanding network of amazing minds - my personal learning community. The chance to engage in conversations with colleagues from around the world through blogs, skype, twitter, etc. has exposed me to many ideas that push .. .. read more..

A New Year
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I am never sure just how to feel when we return to school in January.  The Christmas Break was much different for me this year - I hardly “worked' at all.  I spent the break enjoying time with my wife, our kids, my new “wiki” (see previous post) and reading about trains and travel .. .. read more..

A Wiki for Christmas?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

My wife has long shared my love of animals, yet resisted adopting one due to her allergies. While we do have several fish, since my cat passed away three years ago I have not been able to replace him with either a cat or a dog. Last night before our family dinner, a [...] [From: Whip Blog , Februar.. .. read more..

Extended classroom?a tale of connection.
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I can be guaranteed to get a reaction from students, colleagues or parents when I talk about learning in the new digital landscape. With ever-increasing connectivity and digital spaces, I have no doubt that going to a physical “school” on a daily basis for an education will be an option .. .. read more..

what Pink Thinks?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I am excited about tomorrow….and not just for ANOTHER dump of snow that most teachers and students hope will cancel school. On Sunday noted edublogger Karl Fisch, who calls Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado home, finally made mention of a kewl new project involving two 9th grade hono.. .. read more..

Trying not to sink?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

My recent lack of blogging activity has even resulted in a couple of people have inquired as to my health. Truth is, I am fine, just slightly overwhelmed. There has certainly been no lack of blog fodder, with many ideas flowing through my cranium. It's just a pure lack of time. With my day [...] [Fr.. .. read more..

Overwhelmed? ?Glad it?s Friday!
Thursday, July 30, 2009

As I was sitting at my desk - staring at my screen - I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. Open was my twitter, skype and netvibes (my current feedreader). I have found lately that skype and twitter have pushed blogs (including my own) to the background. Like our kids, I like the immediacy [...] [From:.. .. read more..

Connected to the Top of the Earth?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Breaking down the walls of the classroom and having students connect with the world is one of the powerful learning opportunities afforded by Web 2.0. Fredericton native Brian Jones is taking his concern for the environment and for student learning to a whole new level in a couple of months when he .. .. read more..

Wanted: International Middle Schools for 1001 FWT
Thursday, July 30, 2009

A little over a year ago Korean educator and edublogger Clay Burell and myself were playing around with a number of collaborative tools together online. It was interesting to connect with someone around the world, a full twelve hours away. From there both he and I have gone on to develop vibrant and.. .. read more..

Feeling the warmth?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I have never been to Australia…at least not until yesterday (today?). Some students at our school are participating in the upcoming middle school writing workshop of the 1001 Flat World Tales project, along with another Canadian school, four US schools and two schools from Australia. After ass.. .. read more..

Aperture 2 is out
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Apple has got Aperture 2 out now. There is an upgrade price for us Aperture 1.5x users, so I'm thinking that the Education price on this is going to be pretty good as well. It looks like the minimum specs are about the same, so older hardware should be able to run it… not [...] [From: EDITing .. .. read more..

Sprout
Thursday, July 30, 2009

I just got my invite to take a look at Sprout, an interesting little widget builder that can take a number of resources and make them “flashed” - essentially you could use this to replace PowerPoint or Keynote if you want to deliver webcentric presentations. If you combine this with Yaho.. .. read more..

Pic of the Week - Dali?s Clock
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Dali's ClockOriginally uploaded by idarknight.  Well, with the weather warming up, everything is starting to melt and the kicker is that it's raining outside today. The last time that I was in the rain this winter? London. So I thought this was only appropriate. [From: EDITing in the Dark , Februar.. .. read more..

Google, what?s with the deal with slow scripts?
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that various Google apps - Reader, Mail and iGoogle are not playing nice with Mac browsers - at least on Macbook Pros? This has happened on two machines that I support - to the point where FF and Google are not playing nice and locking up [...] [From: EDITing.. .. read more..

A first look at Spore
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Wired seems to have got the scoop - at least on the screen shots and associated blurbs. I almost picked up Endless Ocean last night, but wanted to read a review first. The reviews all say that it's an incredibly unique game that fills a niche that is unfilled, just as Spore does, of creativity [...].. .. read more..

Spore Disperses Sept 7
Thursday, July 30, 2009

According to the Guardian and  on the official site as well.  [From: EDITing in the Dark , February 20, 2008] 286388 .. read more..

Throw Sugar out the Window
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Wired is reporting that the XO rev that is Windows capable is now getting field tested. Wired is saying that this is likely as much to do to ensure that kids in the developing world are “hooked on Windows”. While, I would agree - not being an MS fan - I think there might be [...] [From: .. .. read more..

Aperture 2 - first impressions - on an old Mac
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Well, Aperture 2 is certainly impressing me so far on my old mac - Power Mac G5 (Dual 2 with 2GB RAM and a 64MB video card). There is still a lag when you want to start into some of the more processor intensive tools, but the wait is considerably shorter than what it was [...] [From: EDITing in the .. .. read more..

FireFox3b3
Thursday, July 30, 2009

After having issues with Google and FF2, I decided to try 3b3. Having read that 2 was not very stable and not good on Flash, I tried b2 and watched it die a nasty death on Facebook and several Flash sites. b3 however seems to be running along fine and so far is not having [...] [From: EDITing in the.. .. read more..

Idea Sex - yeah the title got my attention too
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Leave it to The Escapist for titles like this now eh? First from the article: No.2 … Keep the classroom, but change it and everything around it. Make the money in education slosh a different way. Have schools, colleges, communities, businesses and all other parts of the education system talk t.. .. read more..