eMedia57 - electronic & educational media
Time to mothball APA Style
Having been re-introduced to American Psychological Association (APA) Style while working on my master's I realized that I probably spent more time working with APA Style issues than I did in researching and writing the paper! It is not that I am against using consistent styles and proper attribution. I learned to seriously write using the journalistic Associated Press Stylebook and have worked in the corporate world long enough to understand the need for styles and templates. But at what point do you say, "enough?" APA Style requirements dictated how I wrote sentences! The style became more important than the information and message and that is not right.
I spent hours trying to decipher how to correctly annotate items only to find out the publishers of APA Style could not even get their publication correct. http://supp.apa.org/style/PM6E-1st-Printing-Reprint-Corrections.pdf. If they can't do it, how do they expect anyone else to do it? Thank goodness for the Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/ . It was and invaluable resource.
With budgets being scrutinized throughout institutions, academic and otherwise, people will be looking for efficiencies and getting the most for their money. I think it is about time to put the APA Style approach out-to-pasture. They are now up to APA Style 6 and that is about four-to-five versions too many, from my perspective.
Unlike the early part of the 20th century, there is no longer just a single publishing method. There are many options to choose from and more to come. It is hard to decide if you are going to publish in a journal, a book, or some type of electronic version. For example, do you use Microsoft Word or some other word processor or proprietary software? There are 5-6 ways to publish just from Word!
I've used automated publishing systems with XML and Document Type Definitions (DTD), and I think this would be a much better approach to consistent formatting. You input the data once, using XML tags. Then you can interpret the tags and publish the document using a standard publication engine. If you want to change something, it is only a matter of determining how the engine should interpret the tags. You will always have the raw information and you can alter that with your DTD. Input it once and then publish with an altered style or in a different format depending on your needs. How long do you think it is going to take APA to adapt its style to new mobile devices and cloud computing?
The pace at which things happen is accelerating; people want their information quickly and at the lowest price possible. I don't see APA Style providing those options or versatility in its current form. Unfortunately, APA and the other style houses are actually money making entities and it will be difficult to get them to loosen their grip on the cash and influence. I think it is time to take our martphones, iPads and Netbooks and beat this dinosaur back to the Stone Age (or at least the 1920s where it came from) and adopt a more effective technology to provide style and consistency.
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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