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Old Photo Hunt

May 10th, 2009

So one thing that we take for granted in this digital age is the Photo shoebox. You know the type. Stuffed under some bed somewhere full of 4×6 35mm images taken from who knows when of who knows who for who knows what reason. Now with the prevalence of digital photography and sites like flickr, picasaweb, and facebook we have years and years of images stored digitally but sometimes we don’t have that same organic experience of cleaning out under the bed and rediscovering a treasure trove of images from a bygone day.

So this is your time.

As a photographer I challenge you to go on your profiles here, on flickr, wherever and try to find some old photos. Some of your OLDEST photos that you could ever find and post them. Just revisit some past memories this way.

Ok so I know I am weird but I just hit up my sites and found some pictures that brought a smile to my face.

Storage + forgetfulness = searching

April 30th, 2009

I have really neat storage shelf system in my office at home. I was instructed to get it and utilize it by my wife and by my friend. The drawers are seperated into A/V cables, USB + IEEE + Data, Cat5e/Networking, and other such categories that are perfect for the at home DIY Hacker type (i.e. me). Either way with all the great organization its still frustrating that I can just forget where I have put stuff. What that equates to is a frenzied search through all the crazy drawers, shelves, tool boxes, and cabinets to find what should be exactly in its place. It never is though. I always forget to put stuff back or I get distracted and put it somewhere it isn’t. It is so frustrating to lose something and not remember exactly where I put it because I misplaced it someplace different. I will have to modify my organization method to find a better system that works for me. If that comes down to cataloguing everything, so be it. I hate standing in the middle of my office and just be completely grabbing empty thoughts since I can’t remember. I mean my office is clean its not like its just rubble. I just can’t find my items in their neat little places. Only problem with a real restructuring of my organization system is that I will have to fully dismantle and redo my current structure. Problem with dissassembling what is assembled… I might distracted mid way and then have just a TREMONDOUS mess. We shall see.

Down fall of UMPC - Cheap Netbooks

April 27th, 2009

I always wanted a UMPC and somehow never thought I would like Netbooks. My favorite UMPC was the OQO and its slick design. Well now it seems that the OQO is not going so well.

I think that the major reason for this shift is the power and affordableness of the new Netbooks. Lenovo, MSI, Dell, Asus, Acer, HP all have entries in this product category. I am sorry to see the OQO go but I am definitely interested in seeing the advancement of these netbooks.

Technology

April 22nd, 2009

I have always said the following quote and have referenced it to other people but I can’t find it anywhere. SOOO… I am going to put the quote down as my own!!

Technology is only technology to those that did not have it as children…

I have always related this quote to my maternal grandfather. He was an awesome Granddad but he had the funniest quirk where he would eat any and all food that was at the breakfast/lunch/dinner table. I never really understood why until I got older (till then I just thought it was an over eater). My granddad didn’t eat all the food cause he was a pig. He ate all the food because he did not want to waste it. Why was that an issue? He never had a fridge growing up. He never had the convenience of simply shoving food under plastic wrap or in tupperware and putting it in a cold box till later.

Calc

I find often that the generation of teachers I am working with in schools have the difficult time of adopting computer eduction because the same quote applies to them. Students in this generation are without a doubt the MOST connected ever (until the next one). Kids grow up with broadband internet, readily available computers, and more powerful cellular devices that offer computer like capability.

From twitter to facebook to blogs kids can be connected and creating digital content all the time. The generation of educators that are preparing that are often not ready to accept it because they have not had the ease of experience that their children have.

i don’t blog enough - Google Search

April 22nd, 2009

i don’t blog enough - Google Search.

So I did a quick search and though obviously not all the links are related to my google search. I think 337 million hits might be saying something. I am at the MICCA conference in Maryland and I remember when I was a teacher how I could blog often and post. I guess I have no excuse as I seem to have found time now to do a blog post but its about me not blogging. Very cyclical. I am going to work on a better format and see what shakes out.

Geotagging me anywhere

March 27th, 2009

I love that Internet and its barriers to access are so easily overcomed in the present. No longer tied to a phone line that locks out any other use. No longer tied to a desk via an ethernet cable. No longer tied to a building as I have a USB dongle that gives me excellent internet access anywhere I please with in good reception of a cell tower. I also have a GPS chip built into the same card and so I can also determine my location geospatially down to currently 6ft of accuracy.

I love that technology and data can flow so smoothly so seamlessly today in comparison to years past. I can only imagine what the future holds. And sorry if you do not enjoy that concept but for me things like Wi-Max and Google Latitude and other services flowing my information all the time is really cool.

All the world’s a Twitter

March 17th, 2009

Twitter has been all over the media lately. I mean even the Hudson River plane was first pictured by a Tweeter and posted on TwitPic. Awesome stuff. I also read an article about Twitter’s popularity at SXSWI  this year. Interestingly  the author wrote that the widespread use of Twitter had hurt its usefulness. He continued to say how Twitter started with just the digerati and now the abundance of celebs and politicos on twitter has brought a groundswell of non-digirati non-tech non-geek to the community. It almost seems that the influx of people on Twitter and hashtagging has resulted in a loss of data quality. I can understand an over abundance of meta data and overall data could thin the mix but really I am happy to see such an acceptance of Twitter. The world is becoming a smaller more connected place and I love it because there are still more people today than ever before. Thoughts, dreams, secrets are all published for the world to see and share. I know to some that is an absurd proposition and useless waste of time but its a unique capturing of the human mind. Now a kind of collective conciousness is being published in 140 characters or less.

ASCD Conference 09

March 16th, 2009

I never had a chance to blog during the ASCD Conference here in Orlando but now I am finally sitting still at Gate 111 in Orlando International Airport heading home. The conference was the first time that Promethean had made an appearance but I think it will definitely be a regular conference we visit from now on. Dr. Robert Marzano was obviously the big speaker at the conference as he is so integral with the ASCD releases.

School Without Walls

March 11th, 2009

Today I will be working with the Logan school also known as the School Without Walls. This high school has an amazingly enriched program for their students. From classes taught at the US Capital, Corcoran Gallery, and elsewhere, to mentoring with practicing attorneys and Law students from GWU these teachers and students are enveloped with learning opportunities. AWESOME!! Now I am going to have the opportunity to share my technology and how to expand even FURTHER what the students will be able to do. I will definitely show off the ActivExpression in addition to the new ActivInspire. As far as third party stuff Google Earth 5 is a must and maybe Celestia. Fun fun… More than anything I will be excited to see what the teachers there come up with. I know they all are amazing!!

Consortium Building and Differentiation

March 5th, 2009

I have been working closely with districts in and around Baltimore, MD and today was a great beginning of what I think will develop into a Chesapeake Consortium of Promethean School Districts. The counties there have really great vision leaders and a drive to get the most out of their investment. Today five districts and some representatives from the University of Maryland got together and just shared victories and defeats that they experienced with their Promethean rollouts. It was positive energy in the room because even in defeat the group was excited to learn and find ways to succeed. The experiences in the room were diverse as the counties were all at different levels of their respective rollouts. Some have been at it for years while others are just now dipping their toes into the IWB space. I hope to develop more resources out of this group as well because I am sure that it could help other districts.

The key thing that I took away from the session was that unfortunately there is no perfect PD plan. What I did discover and feel that all Tech Directors and Integrators might consider is a approach to teaching teachers the way we teach students.  Specifically… That term we all know and love… Differentiation.

As educators we always talk about the need for us to differentiate our instruction for the classroom. How some students respond to lecture is different than the ones that respond to hands on. I find that teachers are very similar. Some can take an online course, a manual, and vague directions and just run with it. Other teachers are more apprehensive. It is contrary to their learning style to just sit and read/watch course work.  They respond better to an individual directing them and going step-by-step. And some others, God bless’em, want you to prove that their way is wrong since they have been doing the same thing for 25 years. What these different backgrounds teach us is that we have to also consider the options for differentiated Professional Development. Not just having a handout and going cover to cover but allowing some to explore. Not getting frustrated that some aren’t shooting ahead and holding back the class but letting the stars run and jump starting the stars to be. For those very steadfast old school types being understanding and meeting their needs while showing the advantages of the new.