Right now I am surrounded by technology and all kinds of distractions. I am watching a presentation on the big screen. I’m typing on my blog on my laptop. There is a book in front of me. My iPod shuffle is charging (not really a distraction, but it is present). I also have my iPad …
Everytime I think of Badges, I think… “We don’t need no stinking badges!” from the movie Blazing Saddles which was taken from an earlier movie. And there is a whole page about how this misquote became famous! The point is that perhaps the word “badges” is a bit loaded. Badges make me think of police …
I feel like I’m heading for one of those “After School Special Endings” when it comes to my daughter and technology. I have been pretty open with her and have allowed her to explore technology on her own with no real filtering on my part. I guess this comes from the excessive trust that my …
The Pew Surveys have inspired me to do a quick inventory of how I use technology in my classroom. This seems like a good time to examine and reflect on how I have used technology to inform my choices for the next school year. Ah, the joys of summer. I teach in a one-to-one school …
Somehow we have come to the conclusion that we want everything for free. We get apps and sign up for webpages that offer us lifesaving convenience for free! The problem is, as we all know, is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. We are constantly trading something for the convenience of …
-Prepare for glitches. They will happen. Roll with it. Here are some ideas about sharing multimedia with an audience: 1. Take into account that equipment differs. If you are going to be traveling with your presentation, you might want to make a few versions. Think resolution, audio, and format. What is the most universal format …
Okay, so that title is misleading. As teachers, aren’t we working together with technology to improve student learning? That’s kind of the point, right? This is supposed to be the case, but in my sixteen years of classroom experience, I think I’ve seen more resistance than acceptance when it comes to the changing world of …
I have been inundated with reports about the NSA wiretapping scandal. The best comment I heard so far came from NPR this morning. A woman (don’t know her name) pointed out that Obama said that this is a good thing because now we can have a national conversation about the issue of surveilance. Her point …
It’s the weekend before we start our first session of the Technology Institute. We have been busy preparing sessions and developing our syllabus, but the bottom line is that nothing really happens until we meet the members of the institute. That’s when the Nebraska Writing Project really starts to shine. The best teachers of technology …