A Piece of My Mind

Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the link, you can view the caucus results for Iowa inside Google Maps to see which precinct voted which direction for their 2008 presidential primary. An even neater use of this is the sidebar that has current topical links to articles, videos, and even a “How the caucuses work” article link. How sweet is that? Those Google guys and gals are some innovative folks. Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact they get 20% of their work week for personal interest research and projects? Maybe? 

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, google, googlemaps, president2008

A la Dan Pink and his focus on design, Time magazine recently posted an article about students using design to become famous in the Google world we live in. Jamie Wilkinson, educator at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, had an idea. He would teach students how to become famous (or at least their sites) on the Internet. What is the point? Why would these kids care?

As Wilkinson sees it, this is the world in which his students will be competing — a world wide web where almost everyone is “trying to become viral, and constantly confronting savvy online audiences that have razor-sharp b___s___ detectors.”

Software is being used to track the popularity of the student sites. They can even check in on the class blog (Warning: mature language possible) for updates. Wilkinson’s curriculum is designed to give students direction on making their blogs famous and staying on top. But is that enough for the students who are graded basically on how software perceives their popularity? Would they turn that knowledge into a unique design to capture the attention of web users everywhere? When the heat is on and the semester winds down, how much of this new content would come in handy? Or would they just embed a sleazy YouTube video to generate traffic from the work of others?

As Wilkinson goes around the class, asking people to show what digital art they’ve made over the last week, it’s clear these tawdry music videos are the hit of the day. One student reveals that his short video has generated 13,000 views in only a few days. “Wow, talk about selling out,” Wilkinson marvels. “I thought you weren’t going to stoop that low…but you can’t deny the numbers. Look at those page views; that’s amazing!”

Hmmmm. Design? I guess some things never change.  How would the results of this class’s choices change the curriculum next year? Seems like it is an interesting social experiment in itself.  I am thinking some deeper ethics guidelines or morality conversations just might be in order for version 2.  But that’s just me I suppose.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, ethics, design

Here is a great list of Google Maps links to all types of mash-ups. Look at the clouds, track a package, explore and map the Bible, map 2008 campaign contributions, track terrorism, or even find a public toilet.  You name it, it seems to be a part of this great list.  This might even give you some ideas to try out on your own.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, Google_Maps

Google has teamed up with Weekly Reader to create lesson plans for the revision stage of the writing process.  This is a great way to learn revision while collaborating in a cool read/write web sort of way.  These lesson plans are directed toward teenage students, but any teacher worth his or her salt can adapt and modify to fit other ages.

Learning Google Docs has saved our middle school campus a ton of time by sharing documents and spreadsheets campus-wide eliminating the need to walk to check a sheet in the office or meet just to agree on a revision or final copy.  Our students need to begin learning this process as well.  Revision is the toughest part of the writing process because the ownership is so near and dear (or laziness sets in).  Take this chance to engage your students in the process by utilizing the free tools we have available on the Internet.  You will be surprised how many decide to voluntarily work on their writing at home.  Seriously.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, literacy, Google

If you found yourself in need of some geography lessons for your K-12 classroom, then do I have a deal for you.  National Geographic Xpeditions has been nice enough to share lessons, projects, and maps on their site by grade level. There is a wealth of information available for educators to take advantage of. 

Here are just a few of the items that the My Wonderful World blog pulled from the site to share:

• Map your class! - (can be adapted for various age groups)Have students locate on the map (e.g. with removable stickers) countries from which their families immigrated to the United States.
• 20 QuestionsPlay - 20 questions with a world map!
• Name Game - Have students name a world location for each letter of the alphabet.Name GameHave students name a world location for each letter of the alphabet.
• Country Comparisons - Have students research and then compare and contrast two countries.
• Map your community - Have students look at a variety of maps, and then get them to create a map of their neighborhood or school with a key, title and appropriate map conventions.
• Locate Earth’s Physical Extremes - Maps4Kids - Maps4Kids provides a series of “top 10” lists about the Earth.
• Locate Earth’s Political Extremes - Maps4Kids - Maps4Kids provides a series of “top 10” lists about the Earth.
• Seven Wonders - Maps4Kids - Use the lists at Maps4Kids to have students locate and research the history of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
• Top 10 lists - Have students use other available resources to research and compile their own “top 10 lists” and locate them on the map.

These are just a few of the items National Geographic has made available.  Go try it out for yourself.  There are some awesome resources out there for free for EVERY grade level. 

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, geography

Tim Wilson, a technology integration specialist from Minnesota, hosted a session at NECC last year (NECC will be in San Antonio June 2008). The audience put together a list of classroom uses for podcasting. Tim blogged about it and offers this list:

Collect field notes during a science field trip
Living museum, researching characters
“Radio shows”
Creating audio guides for local museums
Teacher powerpoints
Early language learners, (rhyming, etc.)
Staff development
Screencasts
Language learners recording assessments
Discovery Education videos
Science reports
Art projects
Digital portfolios
Weekly classroom news
Serial storytelling
Reflective journals
Summaries of school events
Broadcast school sporting events
Roving reporters
Capturing oral histories (family history)
Podcast vocab words and spelling lists
Flashcard practice with iFlash
Musical compositions
Soundseeing tours

Since podcasting is new to many in our school district, I thought I would offer this list up and see if anyone was interested in trying it out.  If you are, give me a call.  We have the equipment available for our staff to try these things out.

Any other ways to use podcasting that you can think of?

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, podcasting

Arizona State University is offering science students and teachers a great opportunity.  Have a science question?  Post it and let them help you out.  They call the site Ask a Biologist.

While you are there, subscribe to their podcast.  You are going to find some great stuff here!

Thanks to the folks over at the Generation YES blog for pointing it out to me.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, science, asu

Hey history and social studies teachers!  Here is a great chance to get your kids involved with the upcoming election in a 21st Century way.  Here is what their site has to say about the event:

On November 14, 2007, The EWN Foundation together with the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at The University of Central Florida, The Presidential Classroom and The United States Association of Former Members of Congress will conduct a three hour National Youth Presidential Forum (NYPF). The NYPF will be webcast to an estimated 25 million students, who will be first time voters.

Presidential Candidates will participate in the Forum from remote locations of their choice. The candidates will field questions from a moderator and students representing the Presidential Classroom. After the webcast, students will participate in an on-line vote for the candidate they would choose in the 2008 Presidential Election. Student’s feedback about the candidates’ responses will be collected and provided to the candidates after the event.

Each student will receive a login code from their teacher, 7-10 days before the event. They will pre-register to vote at www.rocktheweb.org. There will be pre-event class work assigned by the teachers. Then each student will attend the event at their respective venues. After the event, each student will receive a unique ballot code that will enable them to return to the web site and cast a vote and complete a survey about the Forum.

The goal of the NYPF is to increase the knowledge of our youth and to promote participation in the upcoming 2008 Presidential Election.

Check out the Rock the Web site for information and registration. 

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, history, election, rock_the_web

This is more like a virtual note to myself and readers than it is a new post.

Educators struggle with what is right and wrong from the copyright guidelines and what we do with our students.  Wes Fryer takes on the topic in a fairly easy to understand way in a recent post.  You might also still be able to find his article from TCEA’s publication TechEdge here.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, Wesley_Fryer, copyright

What else can I say about the technology sessions offered in the k12online conference? Check out the poster below, and then check out the site. This is your chance to learn new technologies and the pedagogy behind them without having a class full of people sitting around you. No pressure to move on until you are ready. Yet, there is a ton of free support offered in this as well, so you are not left stranded. The conference is one I highly recommend.

Oh, did I mention it is free?

If you need help getting an RSS feed reader set-up so you can follow the conference happenings easier, let me know. I am always more than happy to help out.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, k12online07