ISTE Connects - Educational Technology » educational http://www.isteconnects.org Celebrating 30 Years of Ed Tech Vision Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:21:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Planning to Create Lots of Great NECC Content? Share it with Us here! http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/blogging-about-necc/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/blogging-about-necc/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:02:22 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=5533 Do you plan to blog about NECC 2009 or create other NECC related content? We know how much you love shareable Google docs so we created a form to aggregate a list of all the places everyone should check out to find great NECC content. Add yourself to the list so the ISTE Connects community can find you and your content!

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/blogging-about-necc/feed/ 3 Congratulations to The Most Popular Guest Bloggers on ISTE Connects http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/congratulations-to-the-most-popular-guest-bloggers-on-iste-connects/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/congratulations-to-the-most-popular-guest-bloggers-on-iste-connects/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:58:32 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=6067 The results are in! Congratulations Shelly Blake-Plock, Beth Still, and Neil Stephenson, you wrote the most popular guest posts on ISTE Connects! We appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts and wisdom with the ISTE Connects community. We are all looking forward to reading the content you create at NECC 2009 using your free Press Passes! If you’d like to become a guest blogger on ISTE Connects you can register here. See you at NECC very soon!

Shelly Blake-Plock
Blog: http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @TeachPaperless

Beth Still
Blog: http://bethstill.edublogs.org/
Twitter: @bethstill

Neil Stephenson
Blog: http://thinkinginmind.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @neilstephenson

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/12/congratulations-to-the-most-popular-guest-bloggers-on-iste-connects/feed/ 3 Wolfram|Alpha The World’s Most Powerful Knowledge Engine http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/10/wolframalpha-the-worlds-most-powerful-knowledge-engine/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/10/wolframalpha-the-worlds-most-powerful-knowledge-engine/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:35:32 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=5927 Do you remember the first time you used a search engine to conduct research? Do you remember the name of that search engine? I grew up using search engines so I don’t remember the first one I used; however, I do remember times in my life when I’ve sat in front of my computer, pulled up a search engine, and it feeling as though I was tunneling through the collective knowledge of past and present civilizations. Those are very empowering feelings.

I haven’t had that feeling in a long time; like many of you, I have come to expect major leaps in technology and information gathering, so it takes a tremendous amount of change to impress me. Enter: Wolfram|Alpha. This is not your typical search engine; in fact, it is being called an “answer engine.” Wolfram|Alpha separates itself from the likes of Google, Yahoo, and all the rest by delivering answers, instead of results. The databases that Wolfram|Alpha uses are scrubbed of erroneous data and is essentially an aggregate of many of the world’s best libraries.

Typical search engines take your queries and attempt to match them to the best answers, which are based on the most popular results using keywords, track-backs, and a variety of other metrics. Wolfram|Alpha will take search results and compute the data into useful factual information. In the past few years, companies have stepped up to the plate with the intention of unseating Google as the most powerful search engine, but all have failed. Wolfram|Alpha might be that “answer engine” to de-throne Google. Not because it is better, but because it is different. Wolfram|Alpha seeks to serve a new market, based on facts and pure data, which frees us from sifting through the never-ending piles of useless data living on the internet today.

Many argue that Google already does a great job of sifting through this junk data, and I agree; but I have never personally typed a search term into Google and then hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button with the expectation that Google will come up with something worth referencing in a post or article, for example. Wolfram|Alpha has the potential to be that tool which allows us to take the result of queries and reference them as facts. Educational technology is poised to take a giant leap forward when Wolfram|Alpha becomes more popular and their databases prove themselves to be the massive digital almanacs they claim to be.

Watch the screen-cast to get familiar with how to best put Wolfram|Alpha’s search algorithms to work and then run some of your own searches. If you are not impressed, then I challenge you to show me a tool that works half as well as Wolfram|Alpha, while remaining absolutely free of cost.

Here is a comparison of Wolfram|Alpha and Google searching for “mass of the moon vs mass of the earth.” Which engine do you think yields more valuable results from the persepective of usable data?

Creating Wolfram|Alpha Part I

Creating Wolfram|Alpha Part II

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/10/wolframalpha-the-worlds-most-powerful-knowledge-engine/feed/ 4 Tell us How Your School will Spend ARRA Dollars http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/09/tell-us-how-your-school-will-spend-arra-dollars/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/09/tell-us-how-your-school-will-spend-arra-dollars/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:22:24 +0000 Hilary Goldmann http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=5797 We are beginning to hear from schools and districts around the country as to how ARRA dollars will be used toward school and classroom technology advances and professional development. For example, a district in West Virginia “hopes to use additional Title I funding to upgrade classroom equipment, hire professional personnel, support extended school year initiatives and provide professional development for staff which targets technology integration and 21st Century teaching and learning.” 

A district in California plans to use Title I funds for “site purchases that refresh computer labs and expand our interactive instruction with document cameras and mounted projectors. We are also beginning to infuse “netbook” technology into upper grades to foster differntiated teaching strategies.”

Please describe your school or district’s plans here so that we can learn from eachother and share ideas on how to effectively and efficiently spend ARRA dollars for classroom technology and 21st century learning.  Additionally, ISTE will share this critical information and examples with the Obama Administration and Congress. We’ll post again later to tell you what

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/06/09/tell-us-how-your-school-will-spend-arra-dollars/feed/ 0 The American Recovery Reinvestment Act Interview with Hilary Goldmann http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/26/hilary-goldmann-of-iste-interviewed-about-the-american-recovery-reinvestment-act/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/26/hilary-goldmann-of-iste-interviewed-about-the-american-recovery-reinvestment-act/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 13:12:49 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=5386 If you are an educator, a parent of a student, or just an involved citizen, then you need to be thinking about how the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are going to be spent in your district and school. Realizing that this topic is immensely important, and in many ways as equally confusing, I decided to reach out to ISTE’s Director of Government Affairs to learn more about what we all should know about ARRA funds, while also gaining some insight into how they can be effectively spent.

Education

Total: $90.9 billion

  • $44.5 billion in aid to local school districts to prevent layoffs and cut-backs, with flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair (State Equalization Fund)
  • $15.6 billion to increase Pell Grants from $4,731 to $5,350
  • $13 billion for low-income public school children
  • $12.2 billion for IDEA special education
  • $2.1 billion for Head Start
  • $2 billion for childcare services
  • $650 million for educational technology
  • $300 million for increased teacher salaries
  • $250 million for states to analyze student performance
  • $200 million to support working college students
  • $70 million for the education of homeless children

Figures from Wikipedia

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/26/hilary-goldmann-of-iste-interviewed-about-the-american-recovery-reinvestment-act/feed/ 2 Anil Dash Delivers an Insightful Keynote and Announces SixApart Plugins for WordPress http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/17/anil-dash-delivers-an-insightful-keynote-and-announces-sixapart-plugins-for-wordpress/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/17/anil-dash-delivers-an-insightful-keynote-and-announces-sixapart-plugins-for-wordpress/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 18:20:28 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=5158 Anil Dash, co-founder of SixApart, delivered a very captivating keynote at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic concerning social media, why we blog, and connecting across the social web. I found the keynote very refreshing; it reminded me of why I spend so many hours connecting with educational technology minded people across the globe via blogs, twitter, and other countless social networks. Anil also dropped some big news about SixApart’s decision to develop plugins for WordPress.

I have to congratulate Anil and his team for reaching out to a competitor and deciding it was more important to improve upon both of their platforms, instead of just trying to leap ahead of the other for what would be a smaller gain for us, the endusers. Below is Anil’s keynote in four parts; I highly recommend watching it, whether you are a seasoned blogger or just now thinking about joining the blogosphere. Please enjoy, and if you have any questions for Anil you can find him on twitter @anildash or leave a comment on his most recent blog post.



Also check out Shashi Bellamkonda’s blog post that features a 1 on 1 interview with Anil that gives further insight into his announcement. If you want to join some engaging conversations about this you can do so on TechCrunch and ReadWriteWeb.

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/17/anil-dash-delivers-an-insightful-keynote-and-announces-sixapart-plugins-for-wordpress/feed/ 6 Should Schools Sacrifice Class Time for Professional Development? http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/12/should-schools-sacrifice-class-time-for-professional-development/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/12/should-schools-sacrifice-class-time-for-professional-development/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 20:58:08 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=4836 ISTE would like your opinion on schools sacrificing class time for professional development. Experience in front of a classroom is obviously crucial to becoming an effective educator, but adopting emerging educational technologies and learning other classroom skills frequently demand that educators take time off from work to attend seminars, webinars, networking sessions and sabbaticals. Should schools support, condone and/or request that educators take time away from the classroom for professional development? There are a number of reasons to vote “yes” or “no” so please leave a comment on this post that speaks to why you voted for or against this.



]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/12/should-schools-sacrifice-class-time-for-professional-development/feed/ 18 Share your passion for Educational Technology with a visit to Capitol Hill http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/07/share-your-passion-for-educational-technology-with-a-visit-to-capitol-hill/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/07/share-your-passion-for-educational-technology-with-a-visit-to-capitol-hill/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 17:19:46 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=4497  

ISTE is “storming the Hill” while we’re in DC! Join your colleagues and make your voice heard. Schedule an appointment in advance (via the Special Events page of our registration form) to meet with congressional staff from your state. An onsite “boot camp” will prepare you for your advocacy visit, and we’ll provide transportation and a T-shirt!

Hill visitors will also receive a ticket to the exclusive VIP Congressional Reception held the same evening at the Library of Congress. Take advantage of this awesome opportunity and sign up now! ($25 fee required.)

 

 

Information from email newsletter written by:

Leslie S. Conery, PhD
NECC 2009 Conference Chair

Donella Evoniuk
NECC Conference Director

Add yourself to the ISTE Email list!

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/07/share-your-passion-for-educational-technology-with-a-visit-to-capitol-hill/feed/ 0 Bring your own Laptop and Open Source Lab Sessions http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/06/bring-your-own-laptop-and-open-source-lab-sessions/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/06/bring-your-own-laptop-and-open-source-lab-sessions/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 22:28:03 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=4451

NECC 2009 is drawing near and as a result the Bring Your Own Laptop and Open Source Lab sessions are filling up rapidly. Remember to sign up for these free sessions during step 6 of the registration process. If you have already registered you can re-access your registration and add the sessions or your choosing. Be sure to check out everything else in the NECC 2009 program and be ready for a wonderful experience!

Please Note: You will need your ISTE Username and Password to login. If you cannot remember your login information, go to http://www.iste.org/login-help or contact ISTE Membership Services at 1.800.336.5191 for assistance.

]]> http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/05/06/bring-your-own-laptop-and-open-source-lab-sessions/feed/ 0 Vote For The Worlds Funniest Ed Tech Photo Now! http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/04/14/vote-for-the-worlds-funniest-ed-tech-photo-now/ http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/04/14/vote-for-the-worlds-funniest-ed-tech-photo-now/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:24:54 +0000 Joe Corbett http://www.isteconnects.org/?p=3046 Congratulations to Chris Atkinson!

You’ve Won the Worlds Funniest Ed Tech Photo Contest!

Visit his Blog here!

Please vote for your favorite Funniest Ed Tech photo and caption. Clicking on the photos will give you a higher resolution format to help you make your decision. The winner of the photo contest will receive their choice of a Free Ticket to NECC 2009 or a Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera. Good luck and if you have any questions @ me on Twitter or e-mail me directly via joe@isteconnects.org Voting Ends April 24th at 11:59 PM. Good Luck!

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED

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