Notes from Millie D

• edublogs: Lehmann’s Philly: the same, but different.

  Ewan McIntosh provides his summary of Chris Lehmann’s presentation at NECC08

  tags: edublogs, Lehmann, NECC08

• Wordle - Guiding Principles-Maine Learning Results

  I used Wordle to create this graphic of the Guiding Principles of Maine’s Learning Results. I will be using this at an upcoming presentation.

  tags: principlesmaine, wordle

• Constructivism Defined « Ed Tech Journeys

  This entry offers a nice overview of constructivism.

  tags: constructivism

• Dabbleboard

  Here we are with another virtual whiteboard that can be shared with others in real-time.

  tags: dabbleboard, whiteboard

• Literacy Debate - Online, R U Really Reading? - Series - NYTimes.com

  The Future of Reading
  Digital Versus Print

  This is the first in a series of articles that will look at how the Internet and other technological and social forces are changing the way people read.

  tags: nytimes.com, nytimes, Internet, Reading

• uTIPu - Easily record and share your screencast videos

  Record videos of your screen using this tool. The nice part is that it is free. Windows users only.

  tags: screencast, screencasting, sharing, screencapture, software, freeware, tools, capture

• Cameroid - Use your webcam to take photos online!

  Don’t fret if you don’t have photo booth. Cameroid is her for you. Take crazy (or not) snaps with your webcam straight from your browser. Thanks SkipZ for the link.

  tags: webcam, photos, fun, web2.0, photography, camera, cameroid, fotos

• Home (gtools4teachers)

  This site is designed to help teachers to understand how google tools can be used with their students.

  tags: gtools4teachers, google

Last night I posted a picture of my outline for a keynote I’m giving next week. I wanted to post the picture with the notes I’ve embedded within Flickr. I was too tired to think about Googling the query so I put in out to my network. After a couple of minutes I decided to Google it and found a site called Mbedr.

Mbedr allows you to take any flickr photo that has notes and embed it. You provide the address and the size of the output picture and the site gives you the embed code. Here is an example of a picture I took at Game 2 of the 2004 World Series.

This tool can open up the possibilities with a classroom to showcase
final products. Art appreciation teachers can think of a thousand uses
in marking up pieces of art with notes. Math teachers can use it to
explain mathematical thinking and concepts within a completed problem.
History teachers can use maps to discuss famous battles throughout
time. I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface of the usage for a tool
like this. I would love to hear how you would use it.

My Notes with More Details

Originally uploaded by mrichme

I’ve been talking advantage of wallspace, post-it notes, and time in getting ready for a keynote address I’m giving soon.

I wish I knew how to embed the notes I’ve attached to the photo. Can anyone help me with this?

• The Power of Tags, The Power of Words | Bit By Bit

  As part of Bob Sprankle’s final project he created a Wordle tutorial. Bob has a strong grasp of how this tool can be used in the classroom to affect student learning.

  tags: tags, bestpractices, web2.0, bobsprankle

• Hot, Flat, and Crowded | Thomas L. Friedman

  This is Thomas Friedman’s follow up to “The World is Flat” mega-success. The book comes out September 8th. There is a hidden suprise if you go to the website, but I’m not telling.

  tags: friedman, crowded

It has been a while since I really put together a meaningful post, I don’t count the links I find as a meaningful post.  I can’t even claim that I haven’t had anything to write about lately.  I guess it is a sign that I’m enjoying my summer vacation.

The last couple of weeks I’ve immersed myself in being with my family and engaging in professional development opportunities.  Last week I was fortunate enough to be at Alan November’s Building Learning Communities, which someday I’ll post my reflections but I’m still soaking up the experience.  I’ve been able to attend NECC and MLTICastine08 virtually thanks to ustream, CoverItLive, and my RSS feeds.  So I want to thank all of the people who have done their part in allowing my to attend these conferences through their lens.  In the tradition of pay it forward I did used CoverItLive to live blog sessions at BLC and really enjoyed those who hopped on and joined me.  CoverItLive is a tool added to my personal toolbox.

Now I’m starting to change the professional development lens to a presenter.  I’ll be a keynote presenter in August at the SAD 61 Summer Technology Institute and I’ve been working on my presentation a little here and there but I have the rare opportunity of high speed internet and no children for the weekend.  I figure I don’t have any better opportunity to get this presentation done!  So tonight I decided to have an outline/mindmap going in a visual way but not utlizing technology.  Blasphemy you say!  I say no way!  I’m using post-it notes so I can move things around customize my outline.

Sometimes a computer screen can be limiting.  In my living room I have a wall that is 12 x 7 with nothing else on it.  I consider it my blank canvas and I’m hoping that by the end of the weekend it turns into my presentation.  We can hope right?

One of the tools I’ve been using this summer to stay current on a lot of topics is Plurk.  Plurk is another microblogging tool that uses karma to provide users with perks in customizing your experience.  I like Plurk for a few different reasons-verbs and threaded conversations.  Plurk starts off your entry by allowing you to use one of the common verbs or you can freestyle your 140 entry.  The verb allows the person to use a stronger voice to make your update.  The threaded conversations are great because users can interact with the author and start a conversation rather than hit and run with a tool like Twitter.  Did I say Twitter?  Yes, I’m still using it but have been frustrated by the outages that have become more frequent lately.  Plurk has been more stable.  Do you have to choose one or the other?  My answer is a resounding NO.  Both serve a purpose in a PLN.

I’ve been thinking a lot, I know it is a dangerous thing, about a lot of topics that will eventually make it to blog entries.  “Modern Day” Conference (virtual vs. face to face), Conference Ettique, Shifting the Paradigm of Learning and Technology, Kiva.org, and Starting the School Year Right.  So look for some post in the coming weeks as I flesh out these thoughts and my experiences throughout the rest of the summer.

• DIFFERENTIATION TOOLBOX

  The site is a nice way of introducing differentiation to a teacher. You start off with a quiz and then you can check out sections on resources, curriculum, and assessment. The site also contains a discussion area.

  tags: differentiatedinstruction, differentiation, resources, education