Bill's posterous http://billcamp.posterous.com Most recent posts at Bill's posterous posterous.com Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:00:00 -0700 Looking for iOS RSS reader/podcatcher and appreciating BeyondPod for Android http://billcamp.posterous.com/looking-for-ios-rss-readerpodcatcher-and-appr http://billcamp.posterous.com/looking-for-ios-rss-readerpodcatcher-and-appr

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I am appreciating BeyondPod (podcatcher/RSS reader for Android) even more now that I'm trying to find something equivalent and also free on iOS (for iPod/iPhone).  I'd be thrilled to get your recommendation. I want an app that will provide offline access to the text, images, and audio of all blog posts (including text only posts with no media) to which I subscribe using RSS.  As I research more, this app seems to be neither an offline RSS reader (no audio for most of those) nor a podcatcher (posts without an audio/video attachment do not show up) but a combination of both.  BeyondPod does exactly that.  (I've personally paid for the app because it was a good podcatcher for me, but the free version did all that too.)

I have what I thought was a great idea to enrich New York City walking tours organized by a history teacher at my school. Students are asked to prep for these historical tours and, for some of them, have the responsibility to teach about a site on the tour. In the past, paper visual aids have not worked that well as they are either to large to carry around the streets of NYC or to small to be seen by everyone in the group. Also, some students might want peers to listen or watch a small clip of audio or video as part of on-site presentation.  Smartphones and the iPod touch seem like the perfect, highly portable, and pretty ubiquitous devices (for our older high-school students) allowing consumption of this information while standing at a site. A blog with a public RSS feed seems like an easy way for students to publish and distribute their presentation.

As students will be using their own personal device for this, I intend to find and recommend free apps for Android, iOS (iPod/iPhone), and Blackberry since these are the platforms most students will have, and I don't want to require students to buy anything if I can avoid that.  (For the few students who don't have one of these devices, pairing up will be fine.)  

So, what offline RSS reader/podcatcher for iOS or Blackberry do you recommend?

Image by Daniel Rodriguez via Flickr (license: cc by-nc-sa)

P.S. If you'd like to reply using Google+, here is my G+ related post.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700 The default privacy of socializing has changed per @zephoria http://billcamp.posterous.com/the-default-privacy-of-socializing-has-change http://billcamp.posterous.com/the-default-privacy-of-socializing-has-change
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Karen Blumberg's (@specialkrb) recent post with resources for teaching teens about online privacy settings and information from Dr. danah boyd (@zephoria), reminds me that we should be equipping young people with skills to address online privacy, but not necessarily because of online predators or product marketers.

During a recent presentation to parents at my school by Dr. boyd, she highlighted the fact that the default privacy of socializing for many teens is now pubilc due to online social networks being a major way to socialize. For many adults now and most adults when we were kids, the default for communicate was private or at least semi-private.  When socializing without online networking tools, you have to actively work to communicate to a really large group of people (by speaking louder than anyone in the room for example). Dr. boyd pointed out that young people mostly want to socialize with their actual friends and real-life acquaintances.  (By friends, I don't mean the definition used by social networks.) A Kid's' intention is rarely to share everything with the world.  However, the social networking tools that have given kids the chance to hang out with friends (despite over-scheduling and offline safety concerns that restrict hanging out in person) don't work like face-to-face conversations. While it is possible to communicate somewhat privately on sites like Facebook, it actually takes work to make those conversations private.

While these privacy setting complications are not new information, Dr. boyd's statements helped me remember that just because kids post even innocuous things online that can be seen by others, they still value privacy like adults. That means parents and educators need to remember that kids now have to work at privacy just like working at keeping their room clean, remembering their homework, organizing their notebooks etc.  Unfortunately, adults have to work at understanding and helping kids with the social-network privacy issueswithout the wisdom from experience that we have due to our personal journeys as we grew up.

Image by Matt Conrad via Flickr - CC BY-NC-SA

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0700 Science Shared on Online Communities - Ed Week article http://billcamp.posterous.com/science-shared-on-online-communities-ed-week http://billcamp.posterous.com/science-shared-on-online-communities-ed-week
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While reading the Education Week article "Science Shared on Online Communities", this text gave me an idea:

While researching an exhibit on the theory of relativity, Mr. Friedman reviewed professional and amateur websites on the subject. “Some of the amateur sites were terrifically good; they’d invented better analogies for some concepts than the professionals, … but I also came across sites that looked just as good, with animation and graphics, but that were completely wrong,” he said.

Mistakes or bad science online can stay up for years and get top search billing, he noted.

“Science is self-correcting; it can take a few years or a few centuries, but we tend to correct our mistakes,” Mr. Friedman said. “Will that eventually happen with the Internet? I don’t know. We don’t yet have a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for things on the Internet.”

I might be reaching, but if there is a science topic that is frequently misunderstood by students and misreprestened online, I could imagine an assignment requiring students to look at incorrect examples posted online and then carefully (and respectfully) explaining why they are wrong. This seems a good exercise in critical thinking, provides students the opportunity to really "own" a concept frequently misunderstood, and highlights the digital literacy issue of not believing everything online even though it looks good.

If you are a science educator and have any topics in mind where an assignment like this might help students learn better, please post a comment.

Image by GNOME icon artists from Wikimedia Commons 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:13:04 -0700 Jott service ending on May 3 -- bummer http://billcamp.posterous.com/jott-service-ending-on-may-3-bummer http://billcamp.posterous.com/jott-service-ending-on-may-3-bummer
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If you use Jott, you have probably already received the message posted on the Jott blog stating that the service will no longer operate as of May 3, 2011.  That makes me sad.  

For those who aren't familiar with Jott, it was a nifty service with multiple features centered around converting voice to text and text to voice for a reasonable price.  Before I started using a smartphone, I found it extremely valuable as it allowed me to add content to web service such as Google Calednar and Remember the Milk by just making a phone call.

Since using a smartphone, I've depended on it a little less, but there are still a few things for which I need to find a replacement.  Therefore, if anyone reading this has suggestions, please leave a comment.  Here's what I'll miss about Jott:

Voicemail to Text
Voicemail left on my AT&T Android cell phone is converted to text, sent to me as a text message, and emailed to me both with the transcription and an MP3 recording of the message attached. The text message/email also includesthe callers name (if in my Jott address book) and calling phone number. 

According to Jott's blog post, their technology is part of AT&T's Voicemail to Text service but that appears to cost about 20% more than I was paying to Jott, and it doesn't address my other uses of Jott mentioned below. I started looking at Google Voice a while back, but laid it aside when I needed to pick a phone number. It might be time to take a good look at it again as I think it might address this need, and you no longer have to get a Google phone number to use Voice.

Recording My Thoughts Completely Hands-free
While driving, I can place a phone call to Jott (using the hands free dialing features of my vehicle, of course) and with only my voice I could leave a message that would be automatically added to a Remember the Milk list of my choice.  (Remember The Milk is a separate service, but Jott uses RTM's API add content.)  As I often listen to podcasts or audio books while driving, I found this useful to make brief notes I could refer back to without taking my eyes off the road. The interface also only required saying a single command after making the phone call as opposed to navigating a complicated voice menu that would be a big distraction.  

The integration with RTM is great. In addition to the text being added to my list, a link is provided to a recording of the original voice message so I can easily listen to it if the transcription was poor.  This was rare though as Jott does an excellent job of transcribing even with message left in a somewhat noisy environment while driving.

Family Grocery List
This is the one I will probably miss the most and think it will be the hardest to replace.  Anyone in my house can pick up our family land-line telephone, press the speed dial for Jott, say "grocery list", and name an item they just realized we are running out of.  This item then gets added to a Remember The Milk grocery list that I share with my wife. We can then access RTM on a computer and print the list, or I can pull up the list on my smartphone.  This is the same functionality as "recording my thoughts" above except that Jott allows you to add multiple phone numbers to your account.  When a phone number is associated with a Jott account, the caller ID information is used to basically log you in to Jott.  That is why you don't have to fumble through some sort of login procedure other than just placing a call.  My elementary aged children have both been adding items to our family grocery list this way for a couple of years. 

Jott also has a couple of other  features that I don't use much but that I think are neat.  The first is the ability to send email to anyone in your Jott address book simply by calling Jott and saying the person's name.  Second, you could actually subscribe to the RSS feed for any blog and have Jott read you the feed by just calling in and saying a couple of commands.  I don't feel the need to replace those as the smartphone has provided alternatives to doing that when I'm not near a computer, but they were innovative features.

So if you have any suggestions for replacing my family grocery list with something else that lets my family members pickup a regular phone and say what they want with little fuss, please leave a comment!

Photo from Flickr by Pete Prodoehl 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:22:00 -0800 Variety of grade book choices in Google Apps EDU Marketplace exist. Maybe this is a solution to loss of InteGrade after our switch to Whipple Hill SIS? http://billcamp.posterous.com/variety-of-grade-book-choices-in-google-apps http://billcamp.posterous.com/variety-of-grade-book-choices-in-google-apps

A variety of grade book choices in Google Apps EDU Marketplace now exist. Maybe this is a solution to the loss of InteGrade after our switch to Whipple Hill SIS? The change to Whipple Hill as been great overall, but some teachers are still looking for a better electronic grade book solution.  The one provided by the WH SIS is many steps back from InteGrade, which we used to license when we used Pearson's SASIxp Student Information System (SIS) because that is how teachers submitted term grades and narrative comments.  Teachers who wanted an electronic grade book to track day-to-day work then had easy access to use those features if desired.

Since electronic grade books are not required at D-E, most teachers who want to use them have higher than median expectations for features and the interface.  Some who used InteGrade in the past have reluctantly gone back to just a personally created spreadsheet because we don't have better choices to offer as an institution.

Maybe one of the Google Apps Marketplace options might be a good fit. Some free include LearnBoost, Engrade, and ThinkWave Gradebook. Does anyone reading this have any experience to add for any of them? (Also, I haven't looked into their business models to understand why they are free so any input on that will be appreciated too.)

In addition to the standard grade calculation options, I'd like to see the ability for teachers to share assessment grades and feedback to individual students at the teacher's discretion. The integration with our Google Apps for Education domain would hopefully mitigate the complication of students needing to create individual login accounts and provide a Single Sign On feature.

P.S. In Whipple Hill's defense regarding the Podium grade book (offered in WH's SIS product), there is potential once more development is focused on that aspect of the SIS. The fact that posted assignments can be automatically added to the grade book today with no more work than clicking a box or two is nice.  Also, the potential for teachers to use the grade book as a way to share individual feedback on student work is great for those teachers who want that.  (This is not a universal teacher desire.)  However, seemingly small things like the inability to turn of the running, numeric, cumulative average has resulted in leaving that feature off for our entire school. Also, after having used the grade book myself for a year and a half, I can see other issues that stand in a teacher's way. Time may be the solution for this as the company does continue to evolve their overall product and listen to user feedback.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Sat, 08 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800 Alfie Cohn on The Future of Education http://billcamp.posterous.com/alfie-cohn-on-the-future-of-education http://billcamp.posterous.com/alfie-cohn-on-the-future-of-education

As part of the Future of Education series, Steve Hargadon recently conducted a one-hour interview with Alfie Kohn on December 16, 2010.

Alfiekohn

Some of the interesting points Mr. Kohn raised include:

  • Standardized tests do not assess real learning and actually get in the way of teachers making classrooms into what they sh ould be.
  • Homework is generally inappropriate.
  • Good teaching and good parenting is hard work.  Both should be a collaboration between children and adults. Relinquishing some control as a teacher or parent is more difficult than authoritarian methods.
  • Current teacher preparation needs more emphasis on pedagogy versus content.
A recording of the Elluminate session including the back-channel chat that occurred during the interview is available here. (The recording link is at the bottom of the page under the "Other" section.)

A simple audio recording of the interview is available here: mp3

Links to subscribe to the Future of Education series in order to easily download past recordings to your iPod or other player at here.

(Photo courtesy of Mike Gifford via Flickr.)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800 Future of course management systems http://billcamp.posterous.com/future-of-course-management-systems http://billcamp.posterous.com/future-of-course-management-systems

On his Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson predicted the following technologies will be around in five years:

  • Social networking tools and bookmarking sites 
  • Course management software
  • E-mail
  • Blogs and wikis
  • Word processing spreasheets, presentation and drawing programs
  • Online productivity tools
  • Digital cameras, still and video - perhaps merged - and editing software
  • Portable computing devices (netbooks, laptops, tablets, smartphones)

Hmm, 2016...

I'm not sure about course management systems (CMS). While they will not be gone then, they might be on their way out in their current form. I could see CMS being replaced by social networking tools, wikis, document collaboration systems (e.g. Google Docs) or all three depending on a teacher's needs. Traditional CMS seem much like  traditional classrooms that are teacher-centered. If education continues to evolve toward more student-centered pedagogy than teachers will need tools to facilitate students' creation and publication of content instead of a place to just post homework and teacher supplied resources.

If social networking tools, wikis, and doc collaboration systems advance to more easily integrate with student information systems for easy student roster and section management then there seems to be little or no need for a traditional CMS. There will always be a need for teachers to distribute information to students, but that could be handled in the collaborative tool alongside student created work. It might be a great way to model for students too.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0800 Thoughts on becoming a top performing school http://billcamp.posterous.com/thoughts-on-becoming-a-top-performing-school http://billcamp.posterous.com/thoughts-on-becoming-a-top-performing-school
The superintendent of my local grades 6 to 12 school district asked for comments from the community to help define a top performing school district. As I was writing an email to him, I realized this would be a good topic to open up for anyone to contribute (assuming some reads this and chooses to comment).  My suggestion is only part of what should be considered, and I raised it due to my professional speciality and experience.  Obviously, there are a variety of components for a top performing school district. Please add any you feel are important as a comment to this post.  They don't have to be technology related just because that is was my focus in this case.

First, while I understand why standardized test scores can't be ignored they should not be the only focus in aiming for top performance. While testing seems to be improving with advances including computer-based adaptive tests such as the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAPS) and the College and Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA), I think most testing probably has a lot of room for improvement.

As a side note, my thanks to Jonathan E. Martin, Head of St. Gregory College Prep, for introducing those assessments to me during his NEIT 2009 presentation. Prior to that I was more cynical of the value of standardized tests and not in tune with the fact that high-school testing has made significant advancements due to computer technology. (I love having my mind opened through learning new things!)

A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for being a top performing school district is making sure students are trained in and have the opportunity to practice digital citizenship skills and collaboration with others using digital tools in a supportive environment.  Getting them to collaborate with others outside of school through national or international projects is even better. (Examples of the latter include the Flat Classroom Project for high school students and Digiteen for middle school.)  I believe collaboration with others will become even more important for the future, and it will increasingly require the use of digital technology to bridge continents and time zones.  For our 6-12 district, this should start in the middle school as that is when children should be very focused on learning how to learn. With regard to digital citizenship issues such as digital footprint, online socialization, distraction, and safety/privacy, middle school is when many children are very active online as content creators.  This should also help make them ready to for the 1:1 laptop program already in place at the high school.

Many adults assume kids are experts with technology. I think that is an over generalization. There's a blog post here on this topic I just read today that I agree with. The magic is students' interest in technology and their motivation to experiment with it as a way to learn. They do not have automatic expertise. Teaching and learning is still required.

Students have facility with what they know about technology, but there are things they shouldn't just be expected to learn on their own nor from each other without guidance. I assume that same statement is part of the reason sex education programs were started in schools years ago. Technology related issues have the additional challenge, as compared to sex education, in that many parents (for now) have little knowledge of digital footprint and social networking issues since we did not grow up with those issues. At least for sex education, there is a reasonable assumption that parents have some personal experience.  ;)  This leaves a gap in learning and practicing digital citizenship that professional educators should fill.

  • Do you think kids have an automatic facility with technology that does not need to be taught?
  • What digital citizenship issues, if any, should schools devote resources to in order to teach students about and provide opportunities to practice?
  • What other (technological or not) aspects of a school district are important to be a top performer?
  • Does the value of standardized testing increase significantly by using tests such as MAPS or CWRA?

Please add your thoughts in a comment!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:44:00 -0700 Getting started with Google Lit trips http://billcamp.posterous.com/getting-started-with-google-lit-trips http://billcamp.posterous.com/getting-started-with-google-lit-trips

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Google Lit Trips are a neat way to use the Google Earth application (free from Google here) to enhance the study of literature. While I've seen references to Google Lit Trips for a couple of years, I had not taken a detailed look at any myself or tried to create one until recently.  With interest increasing among some teachers at my school, it has become a priority for me to learn more about the technical details.  Therefore, I went a web searching and pinged my PLN to get started.  I'm certainly not even close to an expert on this, but I do know how to create a Google Lit Trip now.  Here are resources I used to get started:

The googlelittrips.com website, in general, is a good place to find sample lit trips other teachers have made.  The Getting Started Tutorials are an overview, but there are not a lot of technical details on how to actually create a lit trip. 

What seems a better resource for actually making a lit trip is the Lit Trip Tips section of the site. In particular, "Building Lit Trips_Basics.pdf" is a good place to start. Note that the Basics PDF document has some broken links to mac.com/MobileME pages that no longer exist.  However, you can get to most of those guides if you go to the Lit Trip Tips page and just select them by name there.

When you are ready to make your place descriptions more compelling by adding images and formatting, the "Formatting Place Marker Descriptions (PDF) document" does a great job of showing you how to use HTML (web page markup language) to do this. Don't let the presence of the HTML code on the page scare you off.  If you look at a particular element in the example (such as number 4, the image) individually without letting the entire description overwhelm you, you'll see it is clearly explained by comparing the code, the final result and the explanation table at the bottom of the page.  (For D-E teachers, I'm happy to meet with you to explain any of it.)

If you would like to start by using Lit Trips created by others, you can browse or search contributions at the Google Lit Trips website. There is also a useful guide called "Basics of Viewing a Google Lit Trip" on the Tips page.

Thanks to Jerome Burg, the publisher of the Google Lit Trips website, for collecting and authoring these useful resources.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:20:00 -0700 K12 Online 2010 presentation on Creative Commons http://billcamp.posterous.com/k12-online-2010-presentation-on-creative-comm http://billcamp.posterous.com/k12-online-2010-presentation-on-creative-comm
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The 2010 K12 Online Conference starts this week, and the first presentation I plan to watch (well, listen to while I drive) is Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know by Rodd Lucier from Ontario, Canada.

Here's the description from the conference presentation page:
Creative Commons is the most powerful mechanism for media development you’ve never heard of. In this presentation, you will discover how learners of all ages are gaining access to millions of free images, audio files, video elements, and written materials allowing the creation of unique multimedia products.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:58:00 -0700 Thursday evening enrichment options for teachers http://billcamp.posterous.com/thursday-evening-enrichment-options-for-teach http://billcamp.posterous.com/thursday-evening-enrichment-options-for-teach
If you have some time this Thursday night, September 23, and want to feed your brain, two free online seminar offerings are available. Both start at 7:00 PM EST.

Option A: LearnCentral.org is hosting the Internet web based seminar (aka webinar) titled "Edublogs Fine Focus - Going LIVE & PAPERLESS with Google Docs. See below for a description.

Option B: The New Media Literacies Community is hosting a webinar on multitasking. See below for a description.

At least 15 minutes before attending, I suggest that you check to see if you have the appropriate software installed by visting https://www.elluminate.com/Support//?id=62/

If you attend, please let me know how it went. I'm unavailable as I will be basking in the glow of Middle School Back To School Night.

Going LIVE & PAPERLESS with Google Docs
Thursday, September 23, 7:00 - 8:00 PM EST
Join Jo Hart for a look at the many ways of using Googledocs. Ellena Bethea will focus on how she uses Google Spreadsheets, Google Drawings, and Google Forms to eliminate worksheets in the high school classroom, with an emphasis on high school science. Ellena is a fourth year high school chemistry teacher at a private school in Manhattan. Her focus is finding ways to use technology to enhance inquiry and learning in the classroom. http://www.learncentral.org/event/101930

New Media Literacy - Multitasking
Thursday, September 23, 7:00 - 8:30 PM EST
This session is centered around the debate of multitasking as a skill vs. distraction in relation to learning. It will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the differences between multitasking, continuous partial attention, task-switching and the various other definitions that have come about to describe the ways in which we switch our attention from one thing to another faster and more frequently than ever. Whether you believe this can be a valuable skill in learning environments, or consider it a deterrent, one thing we know for sure is it's not going away. Come contribute your experience, reflections and tips about this controversial skill in our 21st century classrooms, and explore how we might move beyond the debate and into useful practices.

An onilne follow-up chat is scheduled here for Tuesday, September 28, from 4:00 to 5:00 PM EST.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:16:00 -0700 How to select the NEW Google Docs word processor http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-select-the-new-google-docs-word-proces http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-select-the-new-google-docs-word-proces
A new version of the Google Docs word processor was released a few months ago. One of the biggest changes is that real-time, simultaneous editing of a single document by multiple people now works much better than in the past.  You can actually see the location of the cursor of your co-editors so you know what part of the document each is working on. (For anyone familiar with Etherpad, it now works much like Etherpad did except that text is not colored by author.) Personally, I've also found the improvements in bullets and commenting to be a big step forward.
 
How do you "upgrade" to the new version of Google Docs? You need to create a new "Document" (as opposed to Presentation, Spreadsheet, etc) after you have opted in to using the new version. At some point, Google states that everyone will automatically be switched to using the new version.  Until then, you can upgrade to the new version of Google Docs for all new documents by doing the following:
  1. Login to Google Docs.
  2. Go to Settings (upper-right corner) and chose Document Settings.
  3. Choose the Editing "tab".
  4. Put a check in the box next to "Create new text documents using the latest version of the document editor".
For now, documents previously created using the old version, stay in the old format. My understanding is that Google will provide an option to upgrade old documents sometime in the future.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:55:09 -0700 Free way to potentially help a public library via Facebook http://billcamp.posterous.com/free-way-to-potentially-help-a-public-library http://billcamp.posterous.com/free-way-to-potentially-help-a-public-library
I am posting this on behalf of my wife, who is the Executive Director of the Montclair Public Library foundation. Yes, I realize the title of this post sounds like an email hoax or SPAM.  It is not. I did a little checking around myself and found articles from The Huffington Post and the NJ Star-Ledger (NJ newspaper with the highest circulation) about the first round of money donated through Chase Community giving. Voting closes on July 12, 2010 so if you interested in helping, please check it out before then.

From Liz:
The non-profit I run, the Montclair Public Library Foundation, is in a contest sponsored by Chase Bank. This is a legitimate contest; Chase has given money away through this mechanism previously. The library is being slammed with budget cuts this year and desperately needs the help. Montclair is a very economically diverse town. For many people, the library is their only access to the Internet or computers. There is ALWAYS a group of people waiting for the library to open every day. Several homeless men and women also seek refuge in the library. The top 200 charities receive between $20,000 and $250,000. We are currently #299. Can you help spread the word? If you believe libraries are important, please help us. Here is the link to vote:

If that doesn't work, you can visit our Web site at www.montclairplf.org. Directions to vote are on the top of the home page.

Thank you!
--
Liz Campbell
Montclair Public Library Foundation
50 South Fullerton Avenue
Montclair NJ 07042
ph (973) 744-0500 ext. 2222

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:30:00 -0700 How to setup a NEW, free Ning sponsored by Pearson? http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-setup-a-new-free-ning-sponsored-by-pea http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-setup-a-new-free-ning-sponsored-by-pea
As of July 20, 2010, Ning will be no longer be providing free sites/social networks.  However, Pearson will sponsor educators in North America in order to provide them with free Nings.
  
I haven't had an authentic reason to do this yet, but these steps seem reasonable for obtaining a free Ning so I'm documenting them here for future reference. Please feel free to add corrections or clarifications via a comment to help makeup for some of my speculations.

1. Create your new ning at http://www.ning.com/main/createyourown 

As of today, this still works to create a free Ning, but I do not know if this will still be valid after July 20 when Ning starts charging for all Nings.  On a Ning FAQ page (under "Will Ning still offer a free plan?"), it states that new Ning networks will have a free trial period.  Therefore, I assume you could create a trial Ning then apply to have it sponsored by Pearson. My hope is that the sponsorship approval process will happen before the trial period expires.

2. Apply to have Pearson sponsor your Ning at http://about.ning.com/pearsonsponsorship/
 

When asked for Network Name and Network URL on the Pearson form, use the name and URL for the network you created in step one above or the name/URL of a Ning network you've already created in the past that you want to covert to a Pearson sponsored Ning network.
 
An announcement from Ning about this program and Pearson's role is available here.  The free Ning for educators is under the Ning Mini plan, which includes a subset of features previously available on a free Ning. A chart showing the differences between a Ning Mini and more expensive Ning plans is available here. For those who have used Ning in the past and have a lot of what-if questions about exceeding the Ning Mini limitations, I suggest reading The Fine Print section on the Ning FAQ page.
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:25:32 -0700 How to finish a PBworks wiki setup without the welcome email http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-finish-a-pbworks-wiki-setup-without-th http://billcamp.posterous.com/how-to-finish-a-pbworks-wiki-setup-without-th
When the welcome email doesn't arrive, you can finish setting up a workspace by doing the following:
  1. Go to my.pbworks.com and make sure you are logged in as the workspace administrator.
  2. Go to the workspace name and add the following to the URL:  /welcome.php  (e.g. http://mywiki.pbworks.com/welcome.php)
  3. This link will take you through the set up process.
(Thanks to the PBworks support team for this information.)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:24:00 -0700 Learning about posterous http://billcamp.posterous.com/learning-about-posterous-7 http://billcamp.posterous.com/learning-about-posterous-7

(Note this video has nothing to do with posterous.)

How_To_Upload_and_Embed_an_Image_In_PBworks.swf Download this file

 

I'm giving myself a really quick, self-guided overview of Posterous because I will be showing it to three faculty members in less than an hour. (This post is somewhat a test of using it for more than just text.)

I probably first heard it about a year ago and didn't really do anything with it.  Then I noticed Arvind Grover's increasing use of it with Twitter, and I listened to an interview with the founder on the 21st Century Learning podcast. This go me thinking that I frequently have ideas and resources I want to share but I rarely make the time to sit down to write a more formal blog post for on TabletTails blog. Like email became something that can be less formal that a printed business letter (the later getting closer to extinction), posterous seems a little less formal than my blog (at least to me.)

Anyway, yesterday I was asked for advice on technology to support a group of students who will be traveling in Italy as part of a summer course D-E is offering.  As part of the experience they will be taking digital photos and possibly recording audio and video. For various reasons, students will not be taking their laptops. Although they keep paper journals, we wanted a easy way for them to share their experiences as they happened with folks back home and also provide them a place for digital content they can refer back to when they create a collection of digital artifacts and writings after the trip (when they have regular computer access again).  Posterous seems a good tool to try for this since email is simple and more likely to be available at times due to smartphones and maybe occasonal borrowed computer access.  I'm eager to see how this works out!

P.S. I wanted to see how emailing a video attachment works so here's a video I had laying around that demonstrates how to add an image to a PBworks page.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:20:00 -0700 Just listened to Exploring The 'Upside Of Irrationality' on an NPR podcast. Relates to authentic audience for student work. http://billcamp.posterous.com/just-listed-to-exploring-the-upside-of-irrati http://billcamp.posterous.com/just-listed-to-exploring-the-upside-of-irrati

Just listened to Exploring The 'Upside Of Irrationality' from an NPR podcast. Podcast and transcript are here: http://n.pr/c3YAaD

It seems to me that the research could parallel a discussion of the benefits of an authentic audience for student work (or even a perceived audience.) Substitute grades for money in the discussion.

Publishing student work to been seen by peers or a wider audience (such as anyone on the Internet) is one way to expand the audience.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:11:24 -0700 Useful twitter tools and resources http://billcamp.posterous.com/useful-twitter-tools-and-resources http://billcamp.posterous.com/useful-twitter-tools-and-resources Here is a current list of the twitter related tools and resources I find useful:
http://delicious.com/bcampbell/recommended+twitter

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/69937/Image15-1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bgZSBKNuut Bill Campbell Bill Bill Campbell