Blah, Blah, Blah, Blog
August 11, 2011
Many people misunderstand the concept of Rapid e-Learning Development. They have all these new tools and Web 2.0 applications, they certainly speed up the development process. You no longer have to spend hours developing and testing interfaces and writing code for interactivity. Much of that has been replaced by wizards based development applications. What people are forgetting is the most important aspect of the process, instructional design. There are no shortcuts for that part of the process and in many respects it is more important than ever before. E-learning has to be very focused with specific objectives and content needs to be tied directly to those objectives. If there is additional information available, make the student aware of it but don't include it. Let them decide whether or not it will be useful to them. When you start working on that rapid e-learning development project make sure you don't shorten the instructional design process.
August 15, 2011
Earlier this month the hackers from all over the world convened in Las Vegas for the DEF CON convention. The talked about how easy it was for hackers to grab peoples passwords from the convention wireless network. When they did capture someone’s password they posted it on the wall of sheep. Actually they were sympathetic and only posted the first three characters of the password. It emphasizes the need for encrypted Wi-Fi signals and strong passwords. The web contains many small online apps that will tell you if you have a strong password. Generally strong passwords have at least 14 characters; upper and lower case letters, numbers and several symbols. The more characters the stronger the password, but harder to remember. Check out my little tutorial movie in the Tools area on creating strong passwords.
Makers of computers, computer hardware and electronic devices
FComputer Hardware and Software VAR
Computer Hardware and Software VAR
Professional Audio, video and photo equipment supplier
Professional Audio equipment dealer
Makers of cool and efficient fluorescent lighting for video
Makers of self contained audio recording booths
Makers of Cameras, video recorders and printers
Makers of Apple Macintosh based software
Makers of personal, business and development software
Makers of digital media and communications software
Producers of screen capture and screen recording software
Makers of digital creation software
Makers of graphics and productivity software
Makers of communication and productivity applications
Maker of video editing software
Makers of video effects plug-ins
Makers of CAD and 3D modeling software
Technology Coordinator's Handbook
A website dedicated to school-based technology professionals
Technology Coordinator's Survival Kit
A collaborative resource from Iowa's education technology coordinators
Ramblings of a Technology Coordinator
Christine Archer is the technology coordinator for Cherokee Trail High School in the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado. She describes herself as "a social studies teacher turned geek."
Technology Coordinator's Handbook
Includes technology management, training and education, curriculum, and more..
The Educator and Computer Connection
A source of information for educators, parents and students who use technlology to enhance learning. Includes a section with resources for the K-12 School Technology Coordinator
Texas Center for Educational Technlolgy (TCET) website includes an extensive section on technology planning for K-12 Education
The Licking Area Computer Association's Technology in Motion website includes many resources helpful to Ohio educators
Instructional Technology Multimedia Guides
Using digital still and video cameras in the classroom
A resources provided by technology coordinators and dire3ctors to help educators learn and utilize technology
Includes breaking news and in-depth articles about technology in education. A complete resource for anyone combining technology and education, especially those responsible for guiding the policies and acquisitions of a single school or an entire school system
Texas Center for Educational Technology
Technology Lesson Plans
Lesson plans that integrate technology
A private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to making a difference in public education through applied research, product development, and service
Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications, LLC the leading global nonfiction media company. In addition to many other educational resources, the site includes a library of lesson plans written by teachers for teachers. Technology lesson plans are available for grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12
Microsoft education offers lesson plans, tutorials and in-depth Microsoft product resources, including Office and Windows, for K-12 and higher education
Digital Citizenship and Creative Content
The Digital Citizenship and Creative Content program is a free, turnkey instructional program. The goal is to create an awareness of the rights connected with creative content and help students grow to become good digital citizens. Free registration required
HotChalk's LessonPlansPage.com is a collection of over 4,000 lesson plans from Preschool through High School and beyond, that were developed by Kyle Yamnitz, students and faculty at The University of Missouri, and more recently by the users of the website. Includes computers and internet lesson plans, ideas and activities by grade level
A teacher-created site with lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums, downloadable teaching materials and eBooks, printable worksheets and blacklines, emergent reader books, themes, and more. A computer and technology section is included
Free and easy to use resources for teachers dedicated to improving the education of today's generation of students. Provides over 30,000 lesson plans, including those in a computer teaching category
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review. NBPTS offers 25 certificates that cover a variety of subject areas and student developmental levels
Educational tests and other services that states use as part of their teacher licensure and certification process. The Praxis I® tests measure basic academic skills, and the Praxis II® tests measure general and subject-specific knowledge and teaching skills
International Society for Technology in Education
Includes national education technology standards and teacher, student and administrator resources. Includes advocacy forum for technology in education
Educator's Guide to National Content Standards
Includes planning ideas, activities, and additional resources
Includes national standards of education for all subject areas
National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education
Contains a toolkit with the standards and performance indicator framework necessary for development curriculum for entrepreneurship programs as a lifelong learning process
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Ohio Department of Education Academic Content Standards
INFOhio works closely with the Ohio Department of Education to provide students, teachers and parents with resources that support and supplement Ohio's Academic Content Standards. This website includes a host of resources to help Ohio's educational community learn more about standards-based education and how INFOhio's Core Collection of Electronic Resources align with each of the Academic Content Standards
An online collection of thousands of websites which are high-quality, teacher-reviewed, interactive, and free. Each website is aligned directly to the Ohio Academic Content Standards in technology, math, science, language arts, and social studies and ready for use in the classroom
Teacher resources and lesson plans, including online collaborative projects. Includes articles on subjects such as: Using KidWorks, Using Twitter in the Classroom, Closed Captioning for Videos, Computer Management and Daily Web Visits.
EdTechie: Resources for Teachers
Creating blogs and wikis for use in classrooms
Free BlogPortal for creating virtual classrooms
Free weblogs for the classroom
University of Minnesota Educational Technology Center
A discussion about "disruptive" technologies in the classroom
The website for the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) includes blogs and events related to technologies like social media in the classroom
An in-depth look at educational podcasting, including lesson resources
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators includes a section on digital gadgets within Teacher Resources
Using the iPod touch in the classroom
Instructional Technology Multimedia Guides
Using digital still and video cameras in the classroom
Open source
DSpace digital file repository software
LSpace digital file repository software
World's largest open source software development web site
Open source applications for Windows based computers
Open source applications for Apple OS based computers
Linux open source operating system
Networking
How to Build a Wireless Home Network - Tutorial
IP Tutorial - Subnet Masks and Subnetting
Home Networking - Setting Up a Home Network
Opensource software
Scratch Animation Software - Elementary on up
Tuxpaint graphic Software - Elementary on up
7 Best Free and Open Source Educational Software for Kids - Elementary on up
Open source Office software - Anyone who uses Microsoft Office