I’ve got a Google Wave account and have been diligently passing along as many invites as I can to educators who definitely need this incredible service. I know that many of my friends don’t exactly understand why they need the service. My pals have been using old-fashioned email for so long that they are still thinking of digital communication in a paradigm that Google Wave is washing away. Thank goodness two amazing individuals of Lifehacker renown, Gina Trapani and Adam Pash, have written The Complete Guide to Google Wave.
I’m doing a lot of my work on non-PC/Linux-based OS machines these days. As a result, I’m patiently waiting on Google to release a version of its Chrome browser for Mac and Linux. In the interim, I stumbled across CrossOver Chromium, a Mac and Linux port of the open source Chromium web browser while nosing around the Codeweavers site. I intend to give the application a whirl.
As all this Googlistic news rapidly made its way through PC World and other tech news outlets, I listened to Dr. Melinda Maddox of the Alabama State Department of Education address NATC conference attendees about the need to re-conceptualize how teachers can better meet the needs of today’s learners. Dr. Maddox discussed…
economic concerns and how they will undoubtedly drive the need to look for more low-cost/no-cost ways to deliver education in an innovative manner
current policies that unintentionally or intentionally create barriers to education
input/data from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members that acknowledge and document a need for re-thinking school as we know it
the realization that technology integration is more than just flashy web 2.0, hardware, and software
the What Works and Innovation Fund and how it will, according to the US Department of Education, “support competitive grants to LEAs and partnerships between non-profit organizations and LEAs that have made significant progress in improving student achievement or other areas to scale up their work and serve as models of best practices” (for example, discerning why and how to develop new assessments that really provide timely and useful feedback so as to augment learning) and
As I listened, I thought about the way Google’s plans could positively impact student achievement. For example, Google’s desire to provide Chrome OS for netbook users (i.e, teachers and students in many schools) means that districts might no longer have to pay Microsoft or Apple for an operating system. If schools no longer had to follow directives to spend money on textbooks, educators and pupils might come together via Google Docs to create their own dynamic, web-based, media-rich, replacements for textbooks that merges with Moodle or other free, resources and tools. New technologies such as Google Voice may even re-engineer the manner in which learners communicate with teachers and do it for FREE, leaving much more money available for other, much-needed projects (say, decreasing the digital divide).
I wonder if any forward-thinking superintendents or administrators are ready to give Google a try. What’s to lose if they do? They’ll have money. That’s right. If they try Google and decide to return to commercial resources, they’ll be able to do so.
Do a regular Google Search, and you now get a Show Options link at the top of your search results. Clicking it gives you a wealth of options for refining your searches. You can filter by time (past 24 hrs, past month, past year) or by type (video, forums, reviews) or even change the way your data is displayed! Check out the WonderWheel and Timeline views!
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is a handy programming language that every educator and student should appreciate and explore. It’s great! KML was originally created by a company called Keyhole, Inc. that derived its name from KH reconnaissance satellites, the original eye-in-the-sky military reconnaissance satellites that were first launched in 1976. KML is very, very useful for representing geographic-related information. If you’ve got geographic information, digitize that data and KML will help you display it with impressive clarity on a computerized map. It’s no wonder that KML was developed for use with Google Earth, a super-spiffy digital globe.
I just got an email from Google K-12 Education Outreach via Cristin Frodella announcing that Google is now accepting applications for participants in the Google Teacher Academy program. I heartily encourage all interested educators to apply. I met Cristin last year in California when I had the great honor and pleasure of being invited to attend GTA where I became a Google Certified Teacher. Since that time, I have continued to benefit from the experience. I met a number of talented individuals from locations all over the world and in doing so enriched my knowledge and skills.
Here’s what Cristin had to say:
In celebration of National Teacher’s Day, we are happy to announce that applications are now open for our next Google Teacher Academy, which will take place in our Boulder, Colorado office on August 5th, 2009. For those unfamiliar with it, the Google Teacher Academy is a FREE professional development experience designed to help K-12 educators get the most from innovative technologies. Each Academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local region. The GTA is open to teachers all over the world, but participants must pay for their own travel and lodging, if necessary.
Want more details?
Click here for more information about the Google Teacher Academy. C’mon! Take a chance! Check out the application and be sure to apply by MIDNIGHT, July 3rd, 2009.
Have you heard about about Insert Drawing? It’s a new feature in Google Docs. According to a recent post at the Official Google Docs Blog, users now have the means to “create and insert rich, colorful drawings into documents, presentations and spreadsheets.” Spiffy!
Sometimes, looking at an issue, a concept, or a subject from a different vantage point gives us a whole new means of comprehending the topic. Ultimately, shifts in the direction of our inquiry, engendered by changes in the manner in which we’re making observations provide new perspectives. By observing a notion from different angles, we end up with a parallax view of the idea. We begin to understand that there are more layers of meaning to take into account, additional details that are worthy of inspection.
Humans appreciate familiarity. We grow accustomed to routines and fall into them with startling regularity. When we use a particular path to arrive at a desired destination, whether making our way to a market or an answer to a question, the ruts that form our route are continually reinforced by our travel. The more often we progress along the circuit, the deeper the rut becomes, the more ingrained the routine is in our approach. For example, many individuals, when conducting research these days, automatically turn to Google or Wikipedia for an answer without bothering to deviate to an alternative road to enlightenment.
To be sure, Google and Wikipedia are useful tools for research. Both are invaluable for tracking elusive explanations. However, neither of these paragons of probe are the quintessence of query. There are other avenues of access to answers. Research scientist David François Huynh points out this fact eloquently as he discusses the merits of Freebase Parallax, a “a novel browsing interface” designed for use with Freebase, an open, shared database of the world’s knowledge. Dr. Huynh’s impressive video demonstration of Freebase Parallax ought to convince even the most die-hard fans of Google and Wikipedia that a fresh perspective can often yield richer solutions in a shorter amount of time.
Drop by Freebase and check out the Categories there.
What do you know about a unit of knowledge? Google’s relatively recent Knol is designed to help users locate an authoritative article about a given topic.
My apologies to director Alan J. Pakula and actor Warren Beatty for alluding to their 1974 film the political thriller, The Parallax View, in my post title. No conspiracy was involved. It’s an engaging (if not disturbing) work of cinema that’s guaranteed to deliver a shiver or two.
Well, I’ve downloaded Google Chrome, installed it, and taken it for a quick test run. My first impression was, “Wow! This thing flies!” The way my pages are loading is enough to make me want to continue using this new browser. I like it and intend to put this new browser to work for the next week or so. In fact, I just made this post using it.
Related links:
Download Google Chrome (It’s currently in beta for Windows and not quite ready for Mac at this time
I’ve got a Google Wave account and have been diligently passing along as many invites as I can to educators who definitely need this incredible service. I know that many of my friends don’t exactly understand why they need the service. My pals have been using old-fashioned email for so long that they are still thinking of digital communication in a paradigm that Google Wave is washing away. Thank goodness two amazing individuals of Lifehacker renown, Gina Trapani and Adam Pash, have written The Complete Guide to Google Wave.
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