The eTech State Technology Conference

Another great conference from eTech... As always, too busy with presentations and the booth to attend very many sessions, but the ones I got to go to were great.

We also helped out in the Ohio on iTunes U area that eTech had set up for the launch of the new Ohio sections in iTunes U. The site launched on January 27, timed for conference, and they have been uploading content pretty steadily since the launch. I'm very excited about these new resources for Ohio teachers. I hope that it continues to grow, especially with submissions from K-12 schools. This may just prove to be the ultimate resource for our teachers.

My presentation (which eTech recorded for inclusion in the Ohio on iTunes U site) was at 8:00 am on Monday morning - I know, horrible time slot. I didn't expect to have a full session since lots of people drive in for the day and lots of others were still checking in and getting their conference materials. However, I had more than 120 in my session! The room was set up for 160, so you couldn't really say it was a full session, but I thought it was a fabulous turnout for that time slot! I hope I made it worth the effort of getting up and moving so early on a Monday morning! If you wanted to see my session and didn't make it, eTech will be posting them on iTunes U in late March or early April. I will update with a link as soon as it is available.

My resource page for this presentation can be found here.

Happy birthday to Joanie...

Today is her birthday - that's us there a few years ago (in 1957 to be exact). She is one of my 3 older sisters, but the one closest to me in age. And at the rate she's going, she will soon be younger than me!

She's also my BFF. Don't know what I (or the rest of our family) would do without her. Happy Birthday Joanie, I love ya.

Google Earth Plugin now available for Mac users!

The Google Earth Plugin is now available for the Mac! It supports Safari and Firefox 3 browsers....

More information here...

And here is Lovely Lake Alma via the Google Earth Plugin - if you don't have it, get it now! Then you can visit some more great places at EarthSwoop.


Powered by Google Earth Hacks | Map Details | Create your own!

December is a busy month...

I finally did get the tree up, so I am felling a little more like it might be the holidays. Last week, it seemed like I had so much to do for work that it made sense just to skip the holidays all together. But I put in an extra couple of days over the weekend to get where I need to be for upcoming workshops, so I am feeling a little better - I may actually survive.

I always dread putting up the tree (a lot of work), but once I get going on it, it always puts me in a better mood. I love my tree - it is a wonder of snow and ice. It has "Edelweiss" (actually just some artificial white flowers that look like Edelweiss), glass icicles, and lots and lots of glass and crystal ornaments that make it look like it is covered with ice and snow. I have so many beautiful glass ornaments - all of them clear glass, or a few that have some white or gold accents. It has taken years of collecting to amass them. I remember having to wait a few years for after Christmas sales to get enough to actually put up the themed tree. But since then, the collection has REALLY grown. I've never seen another tree anywhere with so many unique ornaments.

So, now that I'm in the Christmas spirit, wonder when I will find time to shop? How about you - is your holiday season off to a good start?

Birthday Roses....

Birthday Roses....
Originally uploaded by pwhyte

Flowers delivered this evening for "Nana," - so nice.... They are beautiful.

It's Back! - Nikon Coolpix 5700

Nueva Cámara - Nikon Coolpix 5700
Originally uploaded by Jorge Louzao Penalva

Well I promised to let you know what happened with the Nikon Coolpix... It arrived back today from the shop - all sparkly clean and working like a champ!

I had an issue a few years ago with my Canon digital camcorder and it cost me a fortune to get it repaired (and I'm sure it was a defect in the camera itself). This issue with a Nikon camera will make me really consider another Nikon when I purchase again. No hassles - just fixed it and sent it back to me....

-- Very satisfied Nikon customer.

King of the Hill (or MOUNTAIN) and the little Prince

Harmon's Northfork Cottages '08
Originally uploaded by pwhyte

These two hikers are top notch - 10 miles of mountain terrain last Saturday! We started out on a shortened version of our yearly hike (toddler and all - didn't want to push too hard), but we kind of miscalculated the distance... We hiked ALL DAY - up hill, down hill, over rocks and boulders....

What an adventure. And poor John packed the grandbaby the whole way! And the grandbaby was such a trooper. True outdoorsmen...

Nana held up well too, till the very end - when my brakes gave out on the downhill. But I really didn't suffer any consequences from the fall - my knees just got a bit wobbly. I have had a bit of a consequence this week though - didn't know I had all those muscles in my calves....

I wouldn't have missed it - the views from the top were breathtaking. And what a wonderful way to spend time with family.

Nikon Coolpix 5700

Nueva Cámara - Nikon Coolpix 5700
Originally uploaded by Jorge Louzao Penalva

I haven't used my Nikon Coolpix 5700 in quite a while - I have a little Canon PowerShot that is so handy that I usually use it, or just snap pics with my iPhone. But fall is here and I want to get some shots with my Nikon, so I got it out and charged the battery and grrrrrrr.... It will not focus - really strange stuff and the picture looks just like it does in the viewfinder.

I was sooooo disappointed, but then I did some research, and it appears that it is a known issue with the Coolpix 5700 and Nikon has issued an advisory here. All I have to do is ship it to them and they will fix it.

I plan to ship it out on Monday - I'll keep ya posted as to how it goes...

Large Hadron Collider

Originally uploaded by Arsmor

If you read the book by Dan Brown, Angels and Demons, you too probably headed to Google to try to sort fact from fiction.... I was amazed by the stuff I read about CERN and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Well they successfully tested the first beam of protons today, and the world did not end (and I didn't find anything that said they had created "anti-matter" that could destroy the world).

This machine is indeed a wonder of scientific engineering. If you want to see a model of it (the biggest machine in the world), have a look at Joey Wade's 3D diagram and models showing the LHC floating above its actual location so you can see how it looks in Google Earth. Get the Google Earth 3D model here (KMZ file).

So how does this solar panel thing work?

solar panel
Originally uploaded by absentmindedprof

I'm sure that the science behind the solar panel is over my head, but still I was curious.

I've been listening to/watching podcasts for my "Using Podcasts to Differentiate Instruction" workshop in Chillicothe this week. I happened upon this podcast, in the iTunes U section from the University of California Televison (UCTV), called "The Power of the Sun: The Science of the Silicon Solar Cell." If you have iTunes installed, here is the link. If you don't have iTunes, you can check out their web site.

Granted, it is some real chemistry and other sciences, but this podcast - if you stick with it - makes it very understandable. Just one example of the vast amount of content out there for our schools that is totally free and right on target for K-12 education. UCTV alone has more than 300 video podcasts, and they are just one of the Universities in iTunes U.

If you have a great podcast to share, post the iTunes link in the comments. (In iTunes, right click on the podcast and choose "Copy iTunes Store URL".)

My latest project...

This is my latest project - redesigning the ohioedtechs.org site. I LOVE creating a new web site, especially if I have control over the design (to a large degree anyways). I can't take all the credit for the design. I started with a purchased template from Open Source Web Design and just tweaked colors and images.

At any rate, that will let you know what I've been up to - now I have to get down to business with ITSCO's web site. Lots of updates for new and exciting workshops and other PD coming this fall! (I've taken up exclamation points again, but will try very hard not to be a GA.)

Gwen is Ninety

This is Gwen. She's my mother and she will be 90 on Wednesday.

She is the most incredible lady I know. She still lives at home in the house I grew up in (in WV - at least 3 hours from any of her children). She still drives - it's 13 miles (of curvy, hilly WV roads) to the nearest town - and she goes to town 2-3 times a week. She is very active at the Senior Center, walking on the tread mill, playing "set back," and generally socializing with friends. She still cleans (obsessively) and does yard work and cooks (for herself and for my uncle who lives across the road). Up until this summer, she also did all the yard trimming with a push mower. She decided that this summer, she just wasn't going to do that any longer. She has had a hip replacement, but it really has not slowed her down any... She refuses to "dress like an old lady" - she is always very modern.

And she is still the boss. She is in charge of her own life and thinks she is still in charge of her kids as well (woe is the one who tries to tell her she's not!). We wanted to have a birthday event for her, but she said definitely "not," so I guess we will save that party for the 100th.

She makes me proud and I love her...

Adobe's "Acrobat.com"

We've been using Google Docs (free) for quite some time now and it's been very good for us as an agency - easy to share files and collaborate. But it is certainly not very "pretty." We also use WebEx (not free) for online meetings/trainings. We've been happy with WebEx, although there is a set up that teachers have to be able to do on their desktop computer - but it's pretty simple.

Today I had a look at Adobe's new Acrobat.com site (still in beta, but free for now). It lacks the spreadsheet feature that we use a lot in Google Docs, but the word processing feature (dubbed "Buzzword") is gorgeous! The whole system allows you to share docs, collaborate, video conference and share your desktop very similar to WebEx, but you are connected to your documents at the same time. The whole thing is done in Flash, so it is wonderfully elegant and seems much peppier than Google Docs. One caveat though, you HAVE to be online, no offline option yet.

I'm excited about this new beta.... Not because it will replace what we currently use (for the moment at least), but because it will force the online developlers to take a hard look at creating a better end-user experience. I doubt it will be free for long, but it appears to be a game changer....

You can log in with your existing Adobe username and password - I was up and running in seconds. Did I say the user interface is elegant? More of what we Mac users have come to expect...

Google SketchUp Teacher's Guide

Have you downloaded and played with Google SketchUp? It's pretty awesome, even for adults. And it's free. If you put it in the hands of your students, they will learn a lot of math, science, geometry, etc. - plus you would be meeting Technology Standard 6: Design of the Ohio Academic Content Standards. Here is the standard:

Standard 6: Design

Students apply a number of problem-solving strategies demonstrating the nature of design, the role of engineering and the role of assessment. Students recognize the attributes of design; that it is purposeful, based on requirements, systematic, iterative, creative, and provides solution and alternatives. Students explain critical design factors and/or processes in the development, application and utilization of technology as a key process in problem solving. Students describe inventors and their inventions, multiple inventions that solve the same problem, and how design has affected their community. They apply and explain the contribution of thinking and procedural steps to create an appropriate design and the process skills required to build a product or system. They critically evaluate a design to address a problem of personal, societal and environmental interests. Students systematically solve a variety of problems using different design approaches including troubleshooting, research and development, innovation, invention and experimentation.

And I found the PERFECT teacher resource for how to implement this cool tool in the classroom... Check out this "Google SketchUp Teacher Guide" - it is awesome. There are great instructions and lessons/projects for every grade level.

PBWiki Summer Camp

If you need a space online to share classroom materials with students and parents, there is no better way to do that than with a "wiki." A wiki (Hawaiin for "quick") is an easy to use web space - and you have options for making it public or private for your students.

We use PBwiki at ITSCO, and we have teachers sign up for an account and free wiki in our Web 2.0 classes. (See an example here. Click on "Sidebar" on the right column to see all the pages.) PBwiki is one of the best choices for educators - they seem to know what teachers want.... :-)

Right now, they are having a free online Summer Camp. Here's the info from their site:

"Want to build the ultimate classroom wiki and have it ready for the start of the fall semester?

Join us for PBwiki Summer Camp!

We know that a lot of educators have heard about wikis but just aren’t sure how to use them in the classroom. In PBwiki Summer Camp you will learn the best way to structure your classroom site, engage your students with audio and video and connect with experienced wiki mentors.

At the end of the summer, Campers who have followed the program receive a free platinum wiki for the school year, as well as some fun swag along the way."

Did you catch that "free platinum wiki" for the school year? What a great way to get ready for fall! Give it a try, you can't lose - it's all free! (I know, got the GA Factor going with this post - too many exclamation points...)

Desmond Dekker

We watched "Fool's Gold" last weekend, and there was a song that I really loved in the movie... (Of course I also really love Matthew McConaughey too...) The song was "You Can Get It If You Really Want." So I headed on over to iTunes to buy it and saw that it was by Desmond Dekker - I already have "The Israelites." Thought maybe someone else saw the movie and liked the music too...

"Paint" application for the Mac

Sometimes when we do a workshop, we refer folks to "Paint," (Accessories, Paint) on the Windows platform. I found a little program that works almost exactly the same on the Mac - it's called "Paintbrush." Sometimes you just need a simple little drawing program....

Find it here.

Oh, and if you want to grab an application's icon and blow it up (like the one here), Bittbox has the "how-to."

I like her...

Of course I "love" her - she's my daughter, but I really LIKE her too. She is so creative and has such a weird sense of humor, that she is really fun to be around. I'm not saying she's "perfect," (she can be a WHOLE lot like her Dad sometimes), but dang it, I really do like her.

She just wrote another article for Crafty Places. She's a darn good writer and a pretty good photographer too. Makes me proud. Also makes me realize that she is sooooo much better at taking pictures that I am - waaaaaa.... I'll just have to enjoy her talent and scrap her pics!

Wordle Word Cloud

This is fun - and it would be great for digital scrapbooking! You can use your blog (which is what I did), your Del.icio.us tags, or just paste in some text.

One of the participants in my online class had put their word cloud on their wiki - thanks Jan!

Make your own at http://wordle.net.

An acre of green...

We have 4 city lots to mow and this kind of weather makes it really hard to get the grass cut, so this week I had to flex some work hours to get it done... I love to mow (usually, but the air was like soup today). It's such a nice break from working on the computer. I've spent a LOT of time on the computer this week working on a project that is really fun. I tend to be more productive when I can work long periods of time without interruption and this week has been perfect for that (although, the project did not demand staying up till 2:00 a.m. - that's just my creative time). When I get the project done, I'll post a link.

Tonight my lawn is lovely and I took a picture, because we will probably have another storm overnight and it will be covered with leaf litter again....