Goggle Docs

At the present, I'm writing a paper with a friend of mine, which we hope to have published and present at a conference. The cool thing is, we are writing this paper without emailing it back and forth or sharing the same computer. We have over 1,000 miles separating us, yet we are able to work almost side-by-side! The Internet allows us to do just that! We are using Google Docs to process, edit, and save our work. We each have a log-in that allows only the two of us to view and work on the paper. It automatically updates and saves all the changes with a running history of who and when the changes are done. This is so cool!! What did we ever do before all of this technology?!? It took much longer to collaborate, that is for sure!

Wiki, Whata?

I'm exploring the world of wikis. I can see the benefits of this web 2.0 tool. After struggling through the learning process for creating a web site, I can appreciate the idea of creating a web page that isn't as complicated! I like that more than one person is in control in the development of the page. Wikis are easy to update by allowing everyone to contribute. This responsibility doesn't fall on just one person who may or may not ever get around to updating.

There are many applications for the wikis. The media centers may use wikis to provide links for various research subjects, conduct book reviews and summaries, list community events and workshops, exchange ideas and information, and conduct conferences. The tech facilitator may use wikis to bring the latest tech news to the faculty, staff, and students, conduct workshops and conferences, list technical information, allow faculty and staff to exchange ideas and information. The sky's the limit!

I ran across a great video that explains how wikis can be used. Please take a minute to see this video, "Wikis in Plain English."

Did you see it?!?

Today at approx 11:50 AM, I had chance to step outside the school building and witness something incredible! The space shuttle passed over on its way to land at the KSC in Florida. The truly amazing thing is I went inside and 5 minutes later was watching a live broadcast of the shuttle approaching the space center! In less than 20 minutes after watching in the sky here in the middle of the United States, I watched the shuttle come to a complete stop on the runway at Kennedy Space Center! It blows my mind how far technology has brought us and where it is leading us into the future!

Technology Vision

“The brain gives the heart its sight. The heart gives the brain its vision." -- Kall

“Some people have the eyesight of a hawk and the vision of a clam” – meaning, people can see 20/20 and not need glasses, but have no vision, no larger picture, no idea for the future and what they want to do.

I've found that most people know exactly what they want. The problem is that they are scared they cannot get it or don’t know how to get it.

This site is to help myself and others with a vision of technology in education.

IM in the Library?

"Tapping the Tools of Teen Culture" from the Digital Divide Network. I enjoyed this article! The part about connecting students and their library through IM was intriguing. The thought of students having a book talk through IM and even involving participants from outside their school community (students from another area) seems to be better than even blogging! Think about the impact on learning when ideas can be developed together online just as they would if everyone was in the same room! In addition, maybe that one student who doesn't like to speak up in front of crowds would feel safe enough to "speak up" online! Then after all is "said and done" for the IM book talk, the students would have written record of the entire discussion that could be printed and used for future reference! The learning power this offers sends my mind spinning! =)