Nassau BOCESDepartment of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology

Ok, so they may not be WALL-E, but the Korean Institute of Science and Technology and the Nippon Institute of Technology have introduced robotic teachers in Korea and Japan.  According to ETNews, robot teachers have passed the first round of testing and will expand into 500 preschools by 2011 and 8000 classrooms by 2013.

NIT’s e-Nuvo humanoid robot comes with a built in projector, and is meant to build interest in science, technology, engineering, and math by discussing robotics.

There is a lot of work being done in the area of robotics across just about all industry sectors.  It will be interesting to follow these developments and see what the future may hold for our classrooms!  Enjoy the video below of the first lecture.

Weblist is a new way to gather and organize content on the web. Create your list of URLs centered on a specific theme and they will be combined into one easy to navigate URL.  Once you have created your list you can save it as a smart bookmark or as a customizable home page.

Weblist is a free service and registration is optional. If you choose to register as a user your entire list will be saved under your account and you will be able to edit, delete and add to your lists.

Although the service is still in alpha, it is a great site to start taking advantage of and there are certainly many uses for both teachers and students in the classroom.

You can find it here: http://weblist.me/

Some of you may recall the post on Augmented Reality just before the holiday break.  For a recap, you can view it here.  It seems that we are getting closer to seeing AR in the US aligned with instructional materials.  It was exciting to see SMART at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning demonstrating some of the work they are doing in this area.  Although the representative was quick to point out that they are looking to see what the interest is and not ready for market, you will notice in the video I quickly shot (below) that many of the materials are already branded.  Also note that the SMART document camera he is using is not a current model, but one they are soon to release.  Existing SMART document cameras cannot currently be used with AR.

So, it looks like we are closer to seeing this exciting technology in our classrooms.  The video I shot is below.  Enjoy!

 Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. There are nearly 700 maps displaying a variety of data.

Click on the ‘Thumbnail Index’ which gives thumbnail previews of the maps, ‘Map Categories’ which is classified to see the choice, or ‘A-Z Map Index’, and view a map and the associated information.

 The maps and data files cover 200 territories, mainly United Nation Member States plus a few others to include at least 99.95% of the world’s population.

 Enjoy this resource here: http://www.worldmapper.org/

Thanks to Mary O’Meara and James Koster from Massapequa for sharing this resource.

HistoricAerials.com provides free online access to historic and current aerial photography. You can view aerial photography from the 1930s through today. Use the multi-year comparison tools to detect changes in property. Images provided by USGS, USDA, DNR and numerous private organizations.

Find this resource here: http://historicaerials.com/

Thanks to Bob Schilling for sharing this resource!

Certainly any type of media class would benefit from listening to old radio broadcasts from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.  Here is a site that has collected, organized and made available some of the best old time radio shows of the time.

The crackling sound, the sometimes over dramatic acting, mid range audio tone, dialect of the time, creative sound effects; all of these things deliver that nostalgia feeling which makes you feel part of that time.

In an age of the internet, TV, instant means of entertainment and the constand bombardment of media, perhaps all kids should have an opportunity still to sit down and listen to an episode of “The Shadow!”

You can find the Old World Radio Archive here: http://www.oldradioworld.com/

Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 is a new Windows product that allows multiple users to simultaneously share one computer.  Those of you familiar with NComputing will understand this concept right away.

From Microsoft:

Student success is your top priority, so you need to make learning more motivating, relevant, collaborative, and engaging for today’s students and their varied learning styles. Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 is a cost-effective solution that was designed to help you accomplish your goal.

More information on MS Multipoint Server here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/multipoint/learn-more.aspx

Mouse Mischief is a tool that Microsoft makes available free of charge, and that allows teachers to work with Microsoft Office PowerPoint to make interactive presentations. With Mouse Mischief, teachers can add multiple choice questions to their presentations, and large groups of students can answer the questions using mice connected to the teachers PC.

Learn more here: http://www.microsoft.com/multipoint/mouse-mischief/default.aspx

THE Journal article here as well.

Field trips, school events, class projects and anything else where photos and video is captured becomes suitable for shwup!  Sure, there are many sites and utilities that allow you to create slideshow and multimedia projects, but shwup is unique in that through “invites,” multiple people can all upload their media into a project album.  Instead of having to collect everyones images, the shwup services provides an easy way to consolidate everyone’s photos and video in a private, shared online album.

Give shwup a try here: http://www.shwup.com/

Those of you familiar with services such as Animoto and Stupeflix will enjoy this new video creation service from Flixtime.  As with the others, you can mix your videos, pictures and music together into a quick video that can be shared through a variety of services or downloaded to your local machine.

Certainly worth a look for those that want to provide their students another way to express their unique talents and incorporate some dynamic elements into their projects.

Flixtime can be found here: http://flixtime.com/

We hear about how different they are from us all the time.  But just how different are we?  Perhaps this brief quiz will give us “some” ideas.  The data presented following the quiz is interesting as well.

From Pew:  “Take our 14 item quiz and we’ll tell you how “Millennial” you are, on a scale from 0 to 100, by comparing your answers with those of respondents to a scientific nationwide survey. You can also find out how you stack up against others your age.”

Take the quiz here: http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/

Many of us are familiar with the Cablevision offering, but perhaps not many are aware that DirectTV also offers a free service for schools.

Through the DIRECTV GOES TO SCHOOL program, qualifying state-accredited schools, grades K-12 can receive a DIRECTV System® and educational programming package to enhance their students’ classroom experience. It’s television as an innovative classroom tool, designed to reinforce learning, spark imagination and encourage interactivity.

Details here: http://directvgoestoschool.com/

The Department of Education has developed this Portal as an online forum where key stakeholders in education can share their innovative ideas and collaborate to turn those ideas into a new reality.  By connecting an idea from a teacher in Maine to a principal in Oklahoma, or a teacher-entrepreneur in North Dakota with a foundation in New York, the Portal will be a national marketplace of ideas of how we can ensure that every American child will graduate ready to succeed in college and the workplace.

The Web Portal is designed to engage all stakeholders in education: teachers, school administrators, parents, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and the American public.

You can find it here: https://innovation.ed.gov/index/

Not only a great site to learn math skills, this site is also a wonderful example of how to engage students through the use of technology.  The site is a “kids teaching kids” project from Mr. Marcos and his students in Santa Monica, CA.

From the site:

“Mathtrain.TV was created by middle school mathematics teacher, Eric Marcos.  It is part of the Mathtrain.com Project and was created to host our student-created math video lessons all in one place.  It is Web 2.0 friendly with its ability for users to generate “ratings” and “comments”.  Our middle school students use a tablet pc and screen-capturing software, Camtasia Studio, to create the math tutorials.  The site is powered by PHPmotion, a free video-sharing software.”

You can find it here: http://www.mathtrain.tv/index.php

NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. New video segments are produced weekly exploring current applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, topics. The programs are produced for targeted audiences: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and the general public.

NASA eClips™ offer unlimited flexibility in the classroom for timing, sequencing and pacing instruction to meet the needs of students and classroom instructors. Educational material for this program is selected based on national curriculum standards identified by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, or NCTM, the National Science Teachers Association, or NSTA, and the International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE.

Find them here: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/index.html

Through the collaboration of many partners and collaborators, the CSI Web Adventures are designed to teach students the process of forensic investigation and problem solving.  CSI: The Experience is a unique way of supporting learning around biology and science as well as many other competencies of learning.

This project is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Partners include the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, CBS, and Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning.

The main site can be found here: http://forensics.rice.edu/

Teacher materials can be found here: http://forensics.rice.edu/html/educators.html

Dive into the ocean and discover who lives there — from a deep sea octopus to humpback whales. Explore lost shipwrecks, dive and surf spots, the ocean’s deepest trench, and the latest discoveries of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

National Geographic ocean explorer, Sylvia Earle, narrates a highlight tour through some of the best photos and videos in the ‘Explore the Ocean’ layer in Google Earth.

Find it here: http://earth.google.com/ocean/showcase/

SAS Curriculum Pathways is an online resource for students and teachers that adds new tools and interactive content to the classroom.  Available at no cost and used by thousands of educators in all 50 states, SAS Curriculum Pathways provides standards-based content in the core academic disciplines of English, mathematics, social studies, science and Spanish for grades 8-12.

Though SAS offers SAS Curriculum Pathways at no cost, the company’s investment in innovation continues. For example, new social studies materials include an interactive atlas. In math, a new interactive tool helps students develop basic algebra skills. Enhancements to the award-winning Writing Reviser in the English module help students master sentence fundamentals. SAS Curriculum Pathways earned a Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Award this year for Best Reading/English Instructional Solution. New Spanish materials help students develop reading and listening skills in real-world situations.

This great resource can be found here: http://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/

“Within a single generation, digital media and the World Wide Web have transformed virtually every aspect of modern culture, from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we socialize and even conduct war. But is the technology moving faster than we can adapt to it? And is our 24/7 wired world causing us to lose as much as we’ve gained? In Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, FRONTLINE presents an in-depth exploration of what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world. Continuing a line of investigation she began with the 2008 FRONTLINE report Growing Up Online, award-winning producer Rachel Dretzin embarks on a journey to understand the implications of living in a world consumed by technology and the impact that this constant connectivity may have on future generations.

Watch it all online here or see the trailer below:

From the Site:

The countdown has begun. We are looking forward to promoting numeracy around the globe and setting a new world record with our totally free and safe online math contest on 3 March.

Students play at home and at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play up to 500 games during the official event, earning points for each correct question. You can now take part in World Maths Day via the iPhone and iPod Touch. The students who answer the most questions appear in the Hall of Fame.

Prizes will be awarded to the top students in each age category, ages 5-8, ages 9-13 and ages 14-18.

The student answering the highest number of questions correctly in each age group (5-8, 9-13, 14-18) will be the World Champion and receive a Minted Gold Medal.

This is a truly unique world event and a fantastic way to promote numeracy within your school.

Find it here: http://www.worldmathsday.com/

The National Center for Education Statistics hosts a collection of games and tools for students. On the NCES Kids’ Zone students will find information about public and private schools as well information designed to help them choose a college.

The Kids’ Zone’s real value lies in the games, quizzes, and learning tutorials featured on the site. Dare to Compare is a quiz section of Kids’ Zone where students can test their knowledge of civics, economics, history, geography, mathematics, and science. After taking each quiz the students are shown the correct answers. Dare to Compare also allows students to see the national and international average rate of correct answers.

Find the Kids Zone here: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/index.asp

NBC News has been covering the events of the nation and the world for decades, amassing one of the finest and most extensive archives anywhere. Here’s where you can find some of the real treasures in the collection, many of them now available for the first time. Vintage programs, interviews and news coverage, offering a unique and fascinating perspective on our times. Included here are special new programs hosted by Brian Williams.

The Professor Garfield Foundation learning portal is a fun interactive online environment where children can safely explore, learn and creatively express themselves.

PGF offers fun, engaging and transforming educational content for school children between kindergarten and 8th grade. The educational content is upgraded continuously and presented in a popular culture entertainment format. All of the content has been reviewed by educational experts and tested in classroom settings.

You can find the Professor Garfield Foundation learning portal here: http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html

Thanks to Trish Iannacone for sharing this great resource.

There are two sites that I have come to know about recently that deal with “Digital Abuse.”  They are listed below.

MTV’s A Thin Line campaign was developed to empower you to identify, respond to, and stop the spread of digital abuse in your life and amongst your peers. The campaign is built on the understanding that there’s a “thin line” between what may begin as a harmless joke and something that could end up having a serious impact on you or someone else.  You can find this site here: http://www.athinline.org/

As you know, technology allows youth to connect with each other in amazing ways. However, when technology is misused, disrespected, or abused it can lead to difficult situations and consequences. The textED.ca site has been created to help educate youth about how to use technology respectfully and to know what to do when someone crosses the line.  You can find it here: http://www.texted.ca/app/en/

Do your students love to doodle? Give them a chance to showcase their art on Google.com’s homepage by registering your school for Doodle 4 Google.

Doodle 4 Google is a competition open to K-12 students in U.S. schools who are invited to create their own Google doodle inspired by the theme, “If I Could Do Anything, I Would . . . ”

Teachers should go to www.google.com/doodle4google to register their school by 11:59:59 P.M. Pacific Time (PT) on March 17, 2010. Teachers must sign up on behalf of their students and submit their doodles and entry forms by March 31, 2010 11:59:59 P.M. Pacific Time (PT) after they register their school online.

Be sure to visit  www.google.com/doodle4google for full information.  There are some great prizes available!

So, this week many of us waited with anticipation to see what Apple would release.  Some of us tried to grab an unofficial live stream of the event, while others followed some live blogging.  In either event, it seems that we are still trying to figure out where the device will fit into education.  This blog is not about opinion, so I will not offer mine here.  What I do offer is somewhat of a recap of some of the links shared during the last few days that had our minds going.

- First a link to the Apple iPad page where you can get specs, learn about the device and watch Steve Jobs announce the product: http://www.apple.com/ipad/

- Then, PCWorld offered their comparison of the iPad vs. the Kindle DX.

- Next, we had some talk of Textbook publishers embracing the device.  There was this Mashable article that also referenced this Wall Street Journal report.  Those articles talk of a partnership between the major publishers mentioned and a company called ScrollMotion.

- We were also offered an infographic of what you would have to do to earn enough to get one.

- Lastly (at least for this post), anyone that saw the video from CES or the article from eSchoolNews is most likely intrigued by what Ray Kurzweil will be releasing this month called Blio.  Of course, speculation of what Google may be working on is never far behind.

I am sure there will be much more discussion, articles, ideas and perhaps even announcements around this device or what may even be offered in future generations of the iPad.  Until then, lets keep thinking and imagining what, if anything, will come to be of the iPad in education.  Perhaps we all have different ideas and scenarios in our minds.

VocabAhead provides an extensive free collection of unique videos and flash cards to learn vocabulary for daily usage or for standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.  It is also a great resource for students learning English.  The site is both colorful and filled with some fun-filled cartoons to better assist learners. The site sections include a Study Room, videos, a Word List, a forum, and a place for teachers to better engage their students in learning words with widgets that can be embedded. One of the highlights on the site is the “Vocabulary Video of the Day,” which can be delivered directly to you via email.

You can find the site here: http://www.vocabahead.com/

Google recently announced two new enhancement to Google Books. You can now browse through many of the Google Books categories using a horizontally scrolling interface. This same horizontally scrolling interface is also applied to the collections of books that you build within your Google Books account. Now you can create your own public and private “bookshelves” in your Google Books account. Users of Shelfari will probably note some similarities in the two interfaces.

Those of you not familiar with Google Books may find it to be a great resource.  You can find it here: http://books.google.com/

Those of you familiar with Prezi know it as a dynamic presentation tool that puts a creative spin on the powerpoint presentations we all know.

Due to an overwhelming request for “educator” accounts, the company has responded with an enhanced account just for teachers and students.  You can learn more and sign up here.

For Those of you not familiar with Prezi, I encourage you to take a look and experiment with the site here: http://prezi.com/.

Access the Custom Search here and feel free to share!

As I am sure many of you do, I usually maintain a list of sites somewhere (probably bookmarked) where I can find resources related to what I do. Instructionally, I can provide staff with a list of sites I would recommend them exploring. I can’t help but believe that some of them never bother due to the time it takes to navigate to these various sites to find what they are looking for. That is why I created the below. It is a custom search that will return various interactive activities and SMART notebook files specifically from sites that are relevant to instruction.

It remains a work in process and I will be tuning it as I go. If you have a great site with a bunch of resources, please contact me so we can add it to the search.

You will also note that I have added a page (Interactive Activity Search) to this blog site specifically for the search so that you can share it directly with that URL.

An unparalleled treasury of iconic images and groundbreaking photography, the National Geographic Image Collection gathers together more than 11 million images chronicling the world from the end of the 19th century to the first decade of the 21st.

The 450 selections in the new National Geographic Image Collection book, many never before published, represent the finest of the archive. See many of these selections—and get a glimpse into the archive itself—in this new Image Collection photo gallery and video. Plus, flip through the history of photography, from daguerreotypes to digital, in an all-new interactive time line.

For teachers and students alike, this is a great resource of images through time and culture.

It can be found here: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/image-collection/#/explore/