The End of Isolation

As an early adopter of the social networking site Twitter, it has become my most frequently used source of new ideas, inspiration, links to resources and research etc. – in essence, it's a key part of my professional learning network (PLN). This was an unexpected outcome for me, as to be honest, when I first signed up it was more out of novelty value than with any expectation that it might become what it is today – and I honestly expected it might last for a few weeks in my consiousness then fade like a number of other social networking … Continue reading The End of Isolation

A biker’s tale

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0&w=460&h=300%5D As someone who regularly bikes to work (around 40 minutes each way, each day) I was interested when the link to the video embedded above appeared in my twitter feed this morning. Makes me thankful that I live in a city where cycling is reasonably well catered for with a growing number of cycle-ways, and, thankfully, no silly law that makes it illegal to ride where there isn't one. The video caused me to reflect on one of the meetings I was a part of yesterday in Auckland, where we were discussing the concept of disintermediation, which, in … Continue reading A biker’s tale

Te Apiti Cluster day

I spent the day in Palmerston North with the Te Apiti Cluster conference, an inspirational gathering of around 150 teachers from the six schools in the cluster. I provided one of the keynotes on the, with Mark Osborne, DP at Albany Senior HS providing a second. I also did a workshop titled ‘thinking digitally’ in which I spoke about the online tools and applications available to teachers and students to help them develop thinking skills. I created a series of ‘LiveBinder’ files with the links embedded which can be accessed below: Thinking tools Online Search Critical Thinking The point of … Continue reading Te Apiti Cluster day

Communicating in a crisis

The earthquake in Christchurch has provided an opportunity to reflect on a wide range of ideas and issues about the things we think are important, and how best we might prepare ourselves for the eventuality of a crisis situation. I remember as a student at school being required to undergo ‘earthquake drills’ and ‘fire drills’ on a regular basis, never really thinking we’d some day have to go through one for real. It’s only during a time of crisis that the importance of some of this preparation comes into focus. One of the things that has impressed itself on me … Continue reading Communicating in a crisis

Best of the web 2010

Best of the web 2010http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=bestoftheweb2010-101015075457-phpapp02&stripped_title=best-of-the-web-2010&userName=rbyrnetech View more presentations from Richard Byrne. Just when I think you’re on top of what’s out there and available on the web I come across a presentation like the one above that reveals a whole heap of online applications and tools that do cool stuff that I’ve not come across before. Richard Byrne’s Best of the web 2010 (or 64 tools in 60 minutes) provides a quick overview of 64 online tools that are free to use. They include tools for online video editing, audio editing, storytelling, search, image handling, mind-mapping, online learning and much … Continue reading Best of the web 2010

Using ICTs as an aid to public speaking

Presentation Tools I had the privilege of being invited to share some ideas on how ICTs can be used to support public speaking to a gathering of members of the local branch of the National Speakers Association of NZ this evening. It was a pretty daunting task, presenting to a group of people, many of whom make their living from speaking, and all of whom are committed to improving how they speak professionally. After sharing some thoughts I have about how to use slideshow tools such as powerpoint, keynote and impress to best effect, I used a LiveBinders ‘binder’ to … Continue reading Using ICTs as an aid to public speaking

Historypin

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdT3eKdto4w&hl=en_US&fs=1&w=320&h=192%5D Some years ago now a colleague of mine and I put an idea to a potential funder to develop an online timeline for people to contribute photographs and stories that could be tagged to specific locations – linked to collections in museums. The proposal wasn’t successful and so our idea languished. So it was with interest I explored HistoryPin today, after the link was sent to me by Malcolm. Created in partnership with Google, HistoryPin allows anyone to contribute photographs and stories, linked to a specific location, building up a visual history book. Viewers can search for and … Continue reading Historypin

Amazing Web2.0 Projects

I had dinner just a couple of weeks ago with Terry Freedman and his wife just before I left the UK, where he told me about his most recent e-book – Amazing Web2.0 Projects . Terry has done a fine job collating and editing this volume. it contains details of 87 classroom-based projects from around the world, involving the use of Web2.0 applications. The case studies present the benefits and  challenges of using Web2.0 applications in the classroom. The examples cover all of the education spectrum, from kindergarten to post secondary – and are organised accordingly in the book. The … Continue reading Amazing Web2.0 Projects

The Web at 20 years

Tim Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web, made the first proposal for it in March 1989, and on 25 December 1990, with the help of Robert Cailliau and a young student at CERN, he implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet. That’s 20 years ago! So to commemorate, ON magazine has published a special edition that looks at the Web at 20 (PDF download). It contains a range of interviews with key people involved in the development of the WWW, exploring both the historical development and future directions of this phenomenon. … Continue reading The Web at 20 years

Top 100 tools for learning

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=top100tools2009-091116040558-phpapp02&stripped_title=top-100-tools-for-learning-2009-2509241 View more documents from Jane Hart. Jane Hart has just published the final list of the top 100 tools for learning that she has compiled from the Top 10 Tool Contributions of 278 Learning Professionals worldwide. Jane’s list is always worth a read. No real surprises in this year’s list in terms of the applications listed in the top 100 – however, of real interest is the fact that, for a list of the top 100 tools for learning, there’s only one LMS that has made it into the top 20. Perhaps the dominance … Continue reading Top 100 tools for learning