Information Literacy Ramblings

Hi All! Podcasting 101 (Summer 2008)

2008-07-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

23 July 2008

Hi everyone,

Hopefull summer is going well and that it is all you want it to be. How are things going for you in the way of technology and information literacy? Tell me . . .blog.

This summer I decided that I really wanted to get my arms around iTunes and my ipod. This has led me to the the podcasting phenomena which we touched on in class! Now in a class that focuses on podcasting-I love it! I am learning how to use Garageband (Mac) and some of you may know Audacity (pc). Either are very cool! If and when I get my first podcast complete I will share it with you at this site (if possible) Stay relaxed! Take care!

Another word on blogs . . .

2008-05-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting article on Hillary Clinton and what she is doing in the way of blogging as the 2008 Democratic primary race comes to an end. Read this article I pulled from the New York Times:

May 20, 2008

As Primaries End, Clinton Appeals Directly to Blogs
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
As Hillary Rodham Clinton decries the mainstream media for diminishing her chances of capturing the Democratic nomination, she is turning more to the Internet to make her increasingly urgent case.
She held her first blogger-only conference call on Friday, phoning in to about 40 bloggers from the campaign trail in Oregon.
And the campaign has stepped up its use of Twitter, a social-networking service that sends short, text-based posts, to make real-time calls to arms.
The push on the Internet comes amid signs that Mrs. Clinton is getting less attention these days, both in the blogosphere and the mainstream media. Techpresident.com reports that according to the blog search tool Technorati, Mrs. Clinton is being mentioned less than half as often as Senator Barack Obama in the blogosphere and that mentions of her have even slipped below those of Senator John McCain.
And the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks the weekly coverage of the candidates in various media, reports that Mrs. Clinton was a significant factor in 53 percent of the coverage last week, compared with 68 percent for Mr. Obama.
The purpose of the conference call was to thank bloggers for their support, deliver her talking points and have those talking points conveyed to the blogosphere — and ultimately to the superdelegates who may control the outcome of the race.
“Your voices make a real difference, and your engagement in these incredibly significant ways helps to set the ground for what we are trying to say in the campaign,” she told them, adding that they can “influence the rest of the blogosphere and beyond.”
Her campaign has been reaching out to bloggers for a couple of years now and has exploited the Internet, particularly for fundraising and rapid-response messaging. Her Democratic opponent, Mr. Obama, has been credited with using it better, especially for organizing and social networking. But Mr. Obama himself has yet to join a blogger-only conference call.
(Oddly, perhaps, Mr. McCain — the likely Republican nominee who, at 71, jokes about being older than the Internet itself — holds blogger conference calls regularly, though his online fund-raising lags behind his Democratic rivals. )
While Mrs. Clinton started her campaign with the netroots and many in the blogosphere against her, partly for her vote to authorize the Iraq war, several bloggers have become more sympathetic over the course of the long campaign.
On the call, she apologized to them for the bile they confront for defending her.
“I deeply regret the vitriol and the mean-spiritedness and terrible insults and rhetoric that has been thrown around at you, for supporting me, at women in general, at many of those who support my campaign because of who they are and their stand based on principle,” she said.
“But this too shall pass,” she reassured them. “I don’t have time for their insults. I’m impervious to them. I figure it’s a perverse form of flattery that they would spend so much time and energy trying to tear me down when what we need to be doing is figuring out how we’re going to swear in a Democrat next January 20.”
Peter Daou, Mrs. Clinton’s Internet director, said the call had been planned for a while but had to be postponed a couple of times.
So it was coincidental that her first blogger call came during the first week in which Mrs. Clinton had been edged out of the media’s campaign narrative. Many in the M.S.M .have concluded that mathematically, she can’t win. And on that particular day, most political coverage was devoted to the back-and-forth between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain.
But the call seemed to signal a more aggressive use of the Internet as time runs out on her quest for the nomination.
All campaigns have been using Twitter, for example, to notify their supporters of campaign events.
Mrs. Clinton is also using it now to gather signatures on a petition urging the Democratic National Committee to count the votes and delegates from Florida and Michigan.
She used Twitter again on Monday to ask her supporters to make calls to voters in Kentucky and Oregon. That message linked them to “the Hillary Clinton volunteer calling tool,” which allows them to call voters through the Internet, read a script, record the answer and submit the answer to the Clinton campaign so it can get out the vote on Tuesday.
The idea is to drive up her popular vote in hopes of bolstering her argument to superdelegates that, as she put it during the blogger call, she will “end the elections on June 3 ahead in the popular vote” (by counting Michigan and Florida, of course) and that she is more electable than Mr. Obama.
The M.S.M. have heard those arguments before and have essentially stopped transmitting them. But on the conference call, Mrs. Clinton gave full voice to them (though she was hoarse).
Heralding the message she would make on the campaign trail on Monday, she elaborated on her electoral argument _ that she can win in the fall because she has won states with a total of 300 electoral votes, while Mr. Obama has won states with only 217 electoral votes.
“I have a cushion on the electoral vote majority, and he has a significant deficit,” she said.
She said it was “especially important that we try to get people to start focusing on this,” adding, “I think that is the appropriate criteria on which to base a decision. I believe that I have a very powerful case there.”
(She was so thrilled to learn on Monday that Karl Rove, President Bush’s erstwhile strategist, had reached a similar conclusion that she trumpeted the news on the campaign trail, even though Mr. Rove is not a credible source for many Democratic primary voters.)
Electoral votes, of course, are irrelevant to the primary process and when her campaign first proposed this metric in March, the MSM dismissed it.
The delegate math is what counts, and it’s against her. Mr. Obama leads by about 150 delegates and is closer to the final number needed.
To help bloggers counter that notion, Mrs. Clinton tried out a new slogan on the conference call: “It is the map, not the math.”
The “map/math” phrase quickly found its way to various blogs, including Talkleft and Riverdaughter. Some, like Jerome Armstrong on MyDD examined the “map/math” argument in detail.
This in turn prompted a wider discussion in the blogosphere. Many rejected it, to put it mildly. Some, like Outsidethebeltway.com were dubious of her logic but still put the phrase in its headline and in the end concluded that it may be a “defensible” point -- if the only one she has left.
Mrs. Clinton started her campaign as the candidate of the establishment. It may be a measure of how far she has come -- or fallen, in the eyes of her critics -- that she is now using the megaphone of insurgents.

I thought folks might find this interesting!

The VERY last rambling . . .a personal message to all!

2008-05-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Information Literacy Colleagues,
On October 3, 2007 the executive council of the American Federation of Teachers proudly endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, citing her proven albilities to advance our nation's key priorities, and her bold plans for a stronger America. Now Hillary needs our help! Millions of people in Florida and Michigan went to the polls to make their voices heard in the Democratic Presidential primary. They deserve to have their votes counted! The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting on May 31 to make a decision about Florida and Michigan. If you are interested in sending a message to the DNC telling them to count the votes and seat Florida and Michigan's delegates email Hillary at :
info@hillaryclinton. com

Also be sure to check out: www.hillaryclinton. com If for no other reason than to see how far along presidential candidates have come in terms of taking their campaign to the world of cyberspace! Very cool!

Thanks!

THANK YOU!

2008-05-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

Again many thanks to all the stakeholders involved with putting together such a great program this year! What a great cohort of people.! Though times, overextended and stressed with the myriad of teacher duties . . .I am glad I got "on board". I have been pushed into technology and have become more information literate than I could ever describe! I need to shout out a special THANK YOU to LMC Lady aka Linda. Linda has prompted, supported, and acknowledged teacher efforts in the way of incorporating technology for a good long time. Linda shared the information about this program with me last spring. She did not have to! I am so lucky, indeed blessed, to have her has a colleague and friend! Especially since I have been known to get on her last nerve! lol I also want to thank the other dear colleagues at CPSHS who along with me . . . really took the technology plunge! Kristin, Kathy, Kita . . . you are all wonderful teachers, colleageus, and friends! It has been a good ride . . . and we have only just begun. I KNOW there is a good deal more for me to explore, discover and wonder about! I get that. Hopefully I will share more next year about the improvements on my webpage and my results with the use of the research calculator, etc. Until then . . . a good summer to all and thanks!

RSS

2008-05-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed the web feed format of RSS. Each Saturday I check my RSS feeds for MSNBC.com to see what is going to be the topic of Tim Russert's Meet the Press. Is their somee discussion or special guest I should be recording to share a snip of with students come Monday? How about National Public Radio (my favorite station)?NPR's Election 2008 discussions can be RSS collected and the weeks topics in podcasts are stored nicely so that I can easily listen to and/or review at my leisure (while eating, casually reading, etc.) All the good topics of discussion I miss during the day are SAVED. Do others enjoy the RSS feature? Just curious!

Del.icio.us (aka yet another thing . . .)

2008-05-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

I missed one class this year. It happened to be the one that addressed (among other things) the social bookmark manager Del.icio.us I was surprised at how easy it is to register with del.icio.us I know that I will find it useful. I must say that I was very impressed with the step by step instructions for how to sign up and get started. I think this is going to be very handy however I do have a question? Is this any better than using Foxmarks Bookmark Sycnchronizer? While I have not tried foxmark yet I thought that would have been fun to explore as well. In the meantime-I will do what I can to keep up with all the great changes in on the way of on-line technology.

GOOGLE Earth

2008-05-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Without geography . . . you're nowhere . . .man . . .! So goes the main point of a recent technology mini-workshop I took that focused on Google Earth. I learned that that I am able to visit many places in the U.S (as well as around the world) by simply using an address and zip code. It was interesting to visit a location (I visited my high school) and use the latitude/longitude pointer to get around. . . all the while seeing the pointer coordinates change. People can learn about the elevation (the feet above or below sea level)as well as get a cool "bird's eye view" (how high you are above the ground). View the places all around the earth. I went to Vietnam and enjoyed zooming in on places I know in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon for example. However, I mostly enjoyed viewing and navigating the streets of good ole' Saint Paul. If a person clicks on "Street View" roads with available street views appear with a blue border. Those are the streets you can follow as if you are right in the front seat of a car. This is all very fun and I certainly want to spend some time this summer determining how I might be able to use this tool in my U.S. history classes this next fall. One bummer is that NOT every street in our Saintly city has been digitly photographed yet however, it seems that this GoogleEarth technology will only improve over time.

Anyway: do check out GoogleMaps (aka GoogleEarth) at this address: http://maps.google.com/support/

Another new thing -My Portal

2008-05-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Another new thing to share-if you are a SPPS employee. Check out this website: https://myportal.spps.org

This is a new feature that allows SPPS employees to access lots and lots of things that in the past we spent time trying to get to via numerous SPPPS urls. Now everythink is cozy and organized at one site. To name a few things to now easily access:
Infinte Campus-from home AND school
Urban Planet-teachers' school webpage
Naviance-from home AND school-heck I don't even know what that is . . . yet!
The SCIP plan for the district (I assume) and maybe the individual school's too!
TECH HELP! Yeah!!! That would be for me!
United Streaming
Atomic learning
much much more . . . including the SPPS directory, the 10,000 steps program,SPPS news and more!

I'm impressed! I'm excited!

I should also share how impressed I have been with the wonderful, and fine Information Literacy initiative. It has given me an immense amount of confidence to navigate this new district website and more! THANK YOU to all involved at SPPS and Metronet for this great collaboration!

Public Library guest: Karen Kolb Peterson

2008-05-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Today we did a number of things at our May Metronet Info. Lit. meeting One of the most interesting was the special guest of the Youth Services Coordinator of the Saint Paul Public Libraries. Of course I am a big promoter of our libraries in St. Paul. I have been going to the libraries since I was a child and when the Arlington Branch was located in the current House of Clocks building. Currently I frequent the Rondo Library in Saint Paul. I really love this library.

Have you established your on-line account with the Saint Paul Public Libraries? It really is great and you can do the following:

My Account
Pay Fees Online
Card Pre-Registration
Library Locations
Popular Searches
Online Databases
Other Libraries
MnLINK
Using MnLINK
How are we doing?
What should we buy?
Circulation Policies

Their website is: http://www.stpaul.lib.mn.us/

Check it Out!!!!!

Computer Help? Check this out!!!

2008-04-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I took a personal day. Like everyone, I had PLENTY of business to take care of. . . personal as well as professional. You can appreciate and imagine how panicked I was to wake up and find my Dell PC had seemingly ground to a halt! Much of what I needed to do required that the use of my computer. Certainly and without a doubt the MacBook (which is almost always locked away in a secure school spot each night at CPSHS) was a lifeline, as I had taken it home the night before to work with. What to do? Thank God for good friends! My dear friend Ted C. who knows more than a thing or two about computers (tons) suggested that I bring my Dell pc computer to a place I now highly recommend to you. It is General NanoSystems. You can find out more about this company on the web at: www.nanosys1.com

Long story short: A diagnostic test was run (30.00) and it turns out the computer was fine! Of course I was AMAZED when the service guy opened the computer (I have owned it three years) and I saw that it was loaded with dust, dust, and more dust! Suffice to say, when I brought the computer home I promptly and carefully used the right tools to remove the gobs of dust from the computer! The guy that worked with me suggested I add two new (new to me) computer protection software programs to my computer. One is AVG Free-an antivirus and antispyware software for Windows. The other is also free: Windows Defender is "a free program that helps you stay productive by protecting your computer against pop-ups, slow performance and securtiy threats caused by spyware and other potentially unwanted software".

So while I have not yet downloaded these two software programs-I plan to sometime soon! It seems to me that they are just as good as McAfee's. I think Dell and McAfee's must work together to make $$. Should any of you have thoughts on what is the best in terms of computer security-let me know.

But again . . . let me encourage you to check out General NanoSystems. They are located at 3014 University Avenue SE in Minneapolis. Just west of Hubbard Broadcasting/KSTP studios. Their number is 1-612-331-3690!

More on podcasting . . .

2008-04-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

NPR also has an npr podcast directory where you can obtain lots of podcasts and this can be found at:

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php

You can search for podcasts by topic, title, and even the NPR provider (ie MPR). Also there is a Help tab which is very cool in that it clear addresses the many questions people may have regarding podcasts. For example they answer questions such as: What is podcasting? What do I need to hear podcasts? etc.

Check this out if you want to learn more about podcasts . . . and include them in your curriculur content.

Podcasts and politics

2008-04-20T09:12:00.001-07:00

Hi all!

I am BLOGGING today! Anne take notice! I thoroughly enjoyed the last Info. Lit meeting regarding podcasts. I think that I even blogged about some time ago about them earlier. Whether the podcasts are audio or video (and audio)-they have been immensely helpful in sorting out, illuminating, underscoring-all things political -especially in what has been a long, exciting, dramatic-Democratic primary. I think that my students have been better able to analyze the Dem's race because of my involvement in the Information Literacy program and the capacity for all stakeholders involved to provide technology support and hardware. Tomorrow students will be listening to the New York Time's Adam Nagourney, Gerry Mullany, Michael Luo and Kate Phillips discuss the '08 presidential race. Check out Politics Points podcasts at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/ It is abut nine minutes in length.

I cannot emphasize enough the doors that have opened in terms of the use of technology in our classrooms. For the first time-I have especially been surprised at how I can apply that technology to political campaigns every two and four years.

Lastly, Clinton, Obama Ad Wars Heat Up Ahead of Pa. Vote is another great podcast released yesterday by NPR (National Public Radio) which can be found at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89779101 The length of that runs 4:35

Have fun!

4 Woodbury students disciplined after drinking photos turn up on Facebook site

2008-01-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

Reflecting back about the film I saw last week and the whole idea of "social networking" I am much more aware of information that relates to the internet and the vulnerability of young people. This issue frequently gets highlighted on MSNBC with Chris Hansen's To Catch a Predator shows. I suggest viewing them by checking your local listings or go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10912603/ to view a show or two online. It is amazing to see how many people around the country and from all walks of life, are prowling the internet looking to meet minors with the goal of engaging in sex with them.

Additionally, check out this link:

http://www.twincities.com/washington/ci_8105195

It is regarding some teens in the Twin Cities that decided to do some posting on their facebook accounts.

Thats it for now!

FRONTLINE:growing up online

2008-01-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

Colleagues-

Just how radically is the Internet transforming the experience of childhood? This is the question posed by the producers of the latest Frontline special: Growing Up Online that aired tonight on PBS.

I found the show very scary, very dark, very disconcerting. Eating disorders, low self esteem, pain, cyber bullying, cheating, even suicide. How do we teach young people to responsibly interact online? It has been said that the Internet has created the greatest generation gap since rock and roll. It is all very unreal. Having just viewed (and recorded) the film, I need to view it again to truly absorb all I saw and comment further. Below is an article I found in the Boston Globe titled Frontline tackles Internet-driven generation gap by Joanna Weiss of the Globe Staff in the January 22, 2008 edition. It is a good summary in case you missed the show.

"Growing Up Online," the Frontline documentary that airs tonight, starts out sounding alarmist, as well as a few years late. "It's Friday night, and six friends are having a party," a voice-over intones ominously, as teenage boys settle down with their computers to play a first-person-shooter game. "Within minutes, they're locked in battle."

The same gloomy tome is used to describe kids watching YouTube, a boy logging onto MySpace, a group of teens sending text messages. It's the sort of reaction adults probably had when kids first started playing video games, or talking on the phone.

Indeed, "Growing Up Online" takes a parental view, yet it isn't terribly generous to the parents. Yes, many grown-ups are unaware of their children's online doings. But according to Frontline, adults are also barely capable of understanding all of this technology. "My time is over," one teacher laments, and the voice-over later declares the war lost: "It's been said that the Internet has created the greatest generation gap since the advent of rock 'n' roll."

That's a bold statement, and "Growing Up Online" tries to support it with shock-the-parents fodder, much of it assembled from a single, middle-class suburb in New Jersey. There's the seemingly well-adjusted teen who secretly visits websites that encourage anorexia; the high school kids who film themselves drinking on a bus trip, then post the footage on YouTube.

And there are ample interviews with kids who are blasé about their online exhibitionism. At one point, several of them recount a fight in the school cafeteria, recorded on cellphones, and posted online.

"It was pretty good video," one teenage boy muses.

"It kind of made us famous," says one of the girls.

No, they aren't role models for American youth. But Frontline is hard-pressed to tell us how they're different from teenagers since time immemorial: rash, irresponsible, sometimes-belligerent, and excessively proud of their shiny new toys. (One boy boasts of a website called sparknotes.com, which provides condensed versions of the classics. Guess what? The guides are available on paper, too. And we had paper CliffsNotes way back when I was a high school kid.)

Even the most chilling story Frontline presents isn't merely an Internet cautionary tale. Yes, a boy who was bullied, both in person and online, wound up taking his life after researching suicide on the Web. But there's nothing new, alas, about teen suicide or bullying. Teenagers have always had a broad capacity for cruelty; there's a body of film and literature to prove it.

In its most useful moments, "Growing Up Online" tries to parse the differences between then and now, and actually does a fair amount of debunking: Despite widespread fears of sexual predators, we're told, most online sex solicitations come from teens themselves, and are routinely ignored. The film also shows us a few scattered examples of parents and teenagers bridging the gap. When one Goth girl starts posting provocative pictures online under a pseudonym, her white-bread parents flip out at first. But they eventually come to see her Web doings as a benign form of escapism. The relationship is saved.

That's a far more provocative, nuanced way to look at the Internet, and it rings more true: The chief trouble with the cyberspace is that the rules and safeguards have yet to be sorted out. Yes, the Web can amplify social behavior, good and bad, but teens are hardly the only antagonists or victims. And even Frontline has to know this, in the end.

"The computer has become a new weapon in the arsenal of adolescence," the voice-over says at one point. It's a true statement, but it leaves out the rub: Adolescence is the far more dangerous part.

Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com. For more on TV, go to viewerdiscretion.net.

All things current events-Campaign 2008

2008-01-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Colleagues-One subject that I find very interesting is American politics. It must be that it goes hand in hand with American History. Don't get me wrong, I can get sick of politics if not in moderation. However, this Presidential campaign cycle (as most of my fellow readers know) is anything but conventional-and hence lots of fun! I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing articles, podcasts, and all things current events -Campaign 2008 with SPPS students. Wednesday we begin a new semester and I will teach a new elective Semester Two on African American history. I intend to share this interesting article(and yes like the WCCO podcast it is news worth knowing) check it out at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.preview/index.html

Additionally, I enjoy referring time and again to the 2008 Presidential Primary and Caucus map which is interactive and projects well onto the big screen. It really is a great map to share with students. Check it out at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1102#/primaries/

And lastly, I wish everyone an enjoyable and relaxing MLK Holiday!

More on Podcasts: Unveiling Minnesota History Some May Never See

2008-01-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

I found some interesting podcasts regarding my favorite subject: U.S. History. In fact, the following link should lead you to a nice little tour of some unknown aspects of history at the Minnesota History Center that some may never see. Check it out at:

http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=34356@wcco.dayport.com

Let me know what you think? Did you ever know that so much of what we take for granted actually has . . . well a history.

Internet Opens Elite Colleges to All (aka Thing 14 ROR)

2007-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

Colleagues-I would like you to read the following article: Internet Opens Elite Colleges to All by Justin Pope at: http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/M/MEGAUNIVERSITY_WORLD_CLASSROOM?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-29-12-49-41

I learned that the it is has been a long time in the works for the world's top universities to finally get on board with online education. Now a person can go online to learn more through open coursware. The following two paragraphs in the article really caught my attention:

As with many technology trends, new services and platforms are driving change. Last spring marked the debut of "iTunes U," a section of Apple's popular music and video downloading service now publicly hosting free material from 28 colleges. Meanwhile, the University of California, Berkeley recently announced it would be the first to make full course lectures available on YouTube. Berkeley was already posting lectures, but YouTube has dramatically expanded their reach.

If there isn't yet something for everyone, it's only a matter of time. On iTunes, popular recent downloads include a climate change panel at Stanford, lectures on existentialism by Cal-Berkeley professor Hubert Dreyfus, and a performance of Mozart's requiem by the Duke Chapel Choir. Berkeley's offerings include 48 classes, from "Engineering Thermodynamics" to "Human Emotion."

Like the experiences we are having in our information literacy cohort, it seems that not only secondary education but higher education is also changing due as a result of the Internet. That anyone can now go online to pick a lecture they are interested in hearing and viewing to learn more about a particular topic-is amazing. Apparently what is happening at Berkeley is catching on as further in the article it mentions that their eight YouTube courses drew 1.5 million downloads in the first month. The first month? Amazing. What will be the long term implications of the use of technology and highter ed? How might this change or otherwise alter the style and methodology of instructors? What about how people learn? The more I think about this the more mind boggling I find it.

For an example of these programs check out the one at MIT: http://ocw.mit.edu/ I also need to check it out.

In the meantime . . ."Happy New Year!!" I hope that all of you have a great 2008! I know you will wish me the same!

Blogger reaction ramblings. . .

2007-12-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Colleagues-I have had a wonderful Holiday break. However, in regards to Bloglines, I still do not know how to reply to peoples blogs. We have such a great group of colleagues in our Information Literacy cohort but I cannot resist not wanting to reply to a few people. The problem is I can't figure it out. If someone can let me know-please do so. Otherwise I will check with LMC Lady next week.

I do need to reply to two people:

Lindsay (I think) aka Lindsay's 23 and Brad aka twentytreetings

First Lindsay:

I agree wholeheartedly with Lindsay when she states that she has learned so much already about technology due to her participation in this program. I have too! I didn't know how to navigate this much with technology before all of this. The transfer of some of this technology based information that I have learned to my students has been beneficial to them as well . . . I hope. I also like Lindsay's analogy of the acquisition of technology to dance. My interpretation is then when Lindsay dances she learns through trial and error. Not knowing how to dance, my guess it is "One step at a time" as they say. Lindsay has pointed out that this is a similar experience when learning how to navigate through all of this new technology that none of grew up with and have no prior (or little) prior knowledge of. Thanks for "The Last December Postings" Lindsay!

Brad:
Message to Brad: Hello? Drop the dial up access. Do you know how unrealistic it is to be fooling around with that in this day and age? My understanding is that the software and hardware we use is at its optimal best with either DSL or Cable. In both cases, their high-speed is no match for dial up and never will be. I have talked to many people who have had nothing but frustration with dial-up at home. Do you really have time to wait and wait to do things on-line? Not to mention the fact that you tie up the line for people trying to contact you via your land line. So PLEASE consider the switch as it is money well spent. The fact that you will feel better about technology, your participation in the Information Literacy cohort you are in, and your computer and projector.
Go to: http://www.qwest.com/residential/internet/special_offers.html Try it for 30 days. If you are not completely satisfied you can cancel with no further obligations. Also see below:

KEEP A LOW $26.99/MO. PRICE FOR LIFE Sign up now and keep this price for the life of your Internet service with a two-year commitment, or get this price for one year with no commitment. Get up to 1.5Mbps — 25 times faster download speed than 56Kbps dial-up — for $26.99 a month. (When bundled with a qualifying home phone package, $31.99 a month without).

I am very happy with Qwest DSL. It is not as expensive as Comcast's high speed cable but it is a bit easier on the pocketbook. It is also much faster than dial-up. I know that LMC Lady is happy with hers as well.

Best wishes to all of you! "Happy New Year 2008!"

Thing # 8 Dribbling lessons

2007-12-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to see that there is a Dribbling content areas lesson for the social studies. Social studies frequently takes a back seat to math and science at the secondary level unfortunately. This is not the case however with Metronet. I am in the process of creating a lesson with my Hmong History and Culture class which will hopefully make the same real-world connections between students and their community and achieve the same goals that the MN Department of Education has set. To that end, I will blog my results as soon as I have them.

On a separate note, I recommend to SPPS staff that they check out the the recentSPPS bulletin (12 14) to staff regarding titled Healthy Alternatives to Chairs and Desks. The Mayo Clinic's obesity reseacher Dr. James Levine has developed several concepts after two decades of international research. Among other things he recommends: Video-streamed pod-casting as a teaching aid. So the distribution of pod casts as school lessons seems to really be gaining speed. The question I have is will the use of podcasts encourage our students to continue to reinforce television and related media as the only source of gathering information and in lieu of reading books, textbooks and otherwise.

Thing #19 Audio: Steve and Audio Podcasts

2007-12-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia ". . . a podcast is a digital media file, or a related collection of such files, which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. The term, like "radio", can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or authorof a podcast is often called a podcaster."

Being a Social Studies teacher and a student of History, I love all things U.S. History. I am also a follower of the Gilder Lehrman Institute but never took advantage of the podcasts they offered. In fact, until I became involved with the Information Literacy Initiative I did not know what a podcast was. Then a few weeks ago on staff development day, Leslie came over to como to share with staff some information on podcasts and podcasting. Even after that it was still a bit fuzzy in my head. Well early this morning (about 2:00 a.m.)I woke up and was wide awake. So what better thing to do then learn new things about the equipment we were given-in bed! I went to the Audio Podcast from the Gilder Lehrman Institute and listened to an audio podcast created on 2-28-07 by one of my favorite contemporary historians and featured lecturer at The G.L. Inst.-Doris Kearns Goodwin. The lecture? Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. I LOVED it! I learned so much and did not have any distractions-just a dark room, my earbuds on, and my mind back in the 19th century. In summary I learned that in in today's information age when presidential candidates are vetted through the media-one wonders if we will ever see the likes of an Abraham Lincoln again!

I definately will be listening and watching podcasts in the future. If for no other reason than to learn more about history. Upcoming podcasts at G.L. include lectures by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Gordon Wood, among others. You might check out: www.gilderlehrman.org

Lastly, I do have one question. Are YouTube and CNN vidoe clips I enjoy viewing podcasts? I don't know.

Thanks LMC Lady # 11 and more . . .

2007-11-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

I finally met with colleague LMC Lady aka CPSHS Librarian Linda (LL-cool eh?) Wise and we went over some very helpful and important information about Google: How to conduct an advance search option to narrow down information that students are looking for; the domains of .edu, .org, and .gov . . . these may have more reliable information than always defaulting to .com; I also picked up on information regarding the link to organize information by asking a question of Google and hence make researching easier. For example -"the year of the Indian Removal Act was"; lastly the cool "cached" option that allows students to highlight key words and/or phrases in long text, etc. So thanks Lady LMC!

CYBER MONDAY!
How many of you went shopping online yesterday? Did you know that Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday? Have you ever been to: www.cybermonday.com ? It is the unofficial holiday kick-off of the online-shopping season in the US. So instead of the brick and mortar shopping did you warm up that computer . . . and burn up that wallet? For my part, I shopped on-line last week at Amazon.com and dropped a cool 75.00. on books for our Association. I guess I jumped started Cyber Monday. . . unlike Black Friday. Have you ever foughtI was crowds in downtown Chicago the day after Thanksgiving? I don't know which I could not stand more-throngs of shoppers or the PETA crowds marching along State street protesting the use of animal made products in shoes and clothing! Only in America though . . .

Have a good week all!

Postings- I just found them the other day . . .

2007-11-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

I have recently taken the time to create two thoughtful posts, only to lose them in cyberspace. So suffice to say I have been discouraged somewhat. That said, I am going to very briefly summarize a few recent tech events:

11-13 I was sick and unable to learn more about what is available in regards to Google but look forward to rescheduling this with our librarian, Linda.

11-14 Information Literacy meeting aka Mili meeting-it was good to learn of the number of educational sites available to SPPS staff. I especially liked partnering up with a district colleague and learning more about Groliers.

11-19 This was a great Urban Planet workshop with Leslie. We learned the very basics of how to manage our very own school website. I need lots of practice for proficiency here but I look forward to the challenge.

Well I must close. It has been the very best of Thanksgiving weekends! I wonder if had anything to with the fact that I left town for a few days and not much of a care in the world. We need those some days . . .

Lost It! aka Thing 14

2007-11-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

I am mad. Yesterday I wrote a great blog singing the praise of the productivity of our our 11-14 Mili Meeting. I worked collaboratively with a fellow district colleague analyzing the pro and cons of one of our SPPS Online Learning Resources-Groliers. I share all of this in a post yesterday and somehow I lost it in cyberspace. So this blog is much shorter. Let me just reiterate that I thoroughly enjoyed AND appreciated the Info. Literacy aka Mili meeting of 11-14.

One more thing . . .tonight CPSHS offered an Urban Planet training so that staff can set up their own school web page. Very cool. I look forward to working more with Urban Planet because this really is an invaluable tech tool!

The November 14 Mili Meeting aka Thing 14

2007-11-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

I really must say how productive the Mili meeting was on 11-14. I really like the hands on format and the collaborative work we did. We worked with Grolier's Online. While our Librarian in the LRC had exposed us to the world of Groliers at least two years ago, 11-14 provided us with time to really analyze it more. I feel that while still overwhelmed, Groliers and the other online learning resources we were exposed to will continue to encourage and indeed reinforce me to work with technology AND students in a more efficient way in regards to online research. I did also register for the passcode for Unitedstreaming (with a little help from LRC librarian Linda) on Thursday as well! Whew! Oh . . . and how very handy to have the laptop at conferences! Very good!

2007-11-14T11:40:00.001-08:00

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives

2007-11-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting one in regard to the use of technonolgy. I sent my Hmong Culture and society students to: www.cia.gov for lots of great information on the country of China. I am teaching a two week unit on China and the technology timing could not be better. I was able to share information at the CIA and also share some other websites. Things go so much faster at in the computer lab if one can first demonstrate with the use of a computer and projector.

In my history classes I shared a wonderful short dvd piece that was produced by American Family Insurance called Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives. Very good. It visually cited people who overcame hurdles and went on to do great things. Included were Michael Jordon, Michelle Kwan, and Henry Ford to name a few. Students in all classes wanted to see this approximately four minute piece-twice. I believe the "big scree" appeal was one reason but not the only one. Everyday seems a new techy adventure. I am fortunate to be able to share these great things!

This and that with technology

2007-11-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

For about a year now I have had an opportunity to dabble with the use of an LCD projector now and again. Well now that I have one to use all the time, I increasingly use my software that accompanies The Americans the district textbook for teaching U.S. History. Every chapter and section has pre-fabricated power points that are very cool. BUT. . .you can also create your own power-points if you know how and use them with their template. So I am excited to learn as I just had my first exposure to power point at last Friday's staff development day. I need to look more closely to see if these are one of our Things too! I desperately want to learn how to use power point.

And still loving the wirelessness of my laptop in my condo! See everyone tomorrow!

More thoughts on information literacy and technology

2007-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Several things I would like to ramble on about briefly

Tuesday, November 6 (Election Day)

Several weeks ago I was asked to be the building coordinator of the on-line version of Kids Voting (check out http://www.vote.spps.org/) this year at Como Park. From the get-go I had the sense that most staff were probably not to enthused as to bring their students to vote in our computer lab at Como Park Senior on Election Day. Non Social Studies teachers (unfortunately) really don't make connections with their classes and the need for Civic involvement and responsibility in many cases in my opinion. It is like me not getting all worked up about "green" stuff like Global Warming, etc. in my classes and Advisory.

After about one or two weeks I decided to move participation into the relm of Social Studies teachers. I requested that they send their students to the computer lab during their respective classes. I received no opposition to this at all in the days since my request was made. Well come right before Election Day (a day or two before) sure enough, there were several reasons why my Social Studies colleagues could not bring students to the lab to vote. So I "let go" and brought my students. A few other colleagues did as well. It seems that Como Park's participation mirred that of other high schools. See below:

'Kids Voting St. Paul' mock election has its lowest turnout ever

Pioneer Press

Article Last Updated: 11/07/2007 12:36:24 AM CST
First-time candidate Keith Hardy got the most votes for school board, and fellow newcomer Kevin Riach edged incumbent Tom Conlon in the Kids Voting St. Paul mock election Tuesday. Melvin Carter was the top vote-getter among City Council candidates.
A bit more than 3,000 secondary students in district and charter middle and high schools participated Tuesday. The voting was done online at school sites.
This year's turnout - about 17 percent - was the lowest ever for Kids Voting St. Paul, executive director Roger Barr said. It's hard to generate interest among students - or their parents - in a year where there are only local races and no mayoral contest, he said. "I think our turnout is going to mirror the city turnout."
Kids Voting St. Paul, which was formed in 2000, is a chapter of Kids Voting USA, which seeks to educate K-12 students about the electoral process and allows them to vote in simulated elections.
The students' picks for the board were Hardy (2,089 votes), incumbent Kazoua Kong-Thao (1,835), incumbent Anne Carroll (1,493) and Riach (1,098). The four not making the cut were Conlon (1,045 votes), David Peterson (936), Jennette Gudgel (831) and Bernard Ruppert (790).
The City Council results were as follows:
Ward 1: Melvin Carter, 431; Debbie Montgomery, 69
Ward 2: Bill Hosko, 286; Dave Thune, 140
Ward 3: Pat Harris, 340; Gerald Mischke, 107
Ward 4: Russ Stark, 190; Terrance Bushard, 60
Ward 5: Lee Helgen, 208; David Haas,

So the bottom line is that I will try to market Kids Voting more in advance next year. I do think I will run it again through the Social Studies classes. Additionally, I am well aware that there will be much more excitement furing a next year's election because it is a "Presidential" year.

The last few items briefly:

Friday, November 9 (Staff Development Day)

I took crash courses on how to create a Power Point (I have lots to learn) and how to create a Podcast (sorry I had to leave early Leslie). Then I showed interested staff how to put music onto a computer from a cd and then transfer it from the computer library and load onto an IPod. This was a bit challenging because I have loved owning an IPod but much of my musica was initially put onto the machine by a former student. My participation Friday reinforced my skills in how to do this.

Friday evening I purchased a Microsoft LifeCamVX-6000 camera for my computer AND A Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router. Now I can see my friends "real time" that I correspond with in Vietnam on my desktop computer AND I can go wireless with the MacBook all over my condo. Very cool toys/accomodations. . .expensive but cool.

Whew! This has been the week of technology!

Bye for now!

Thing # 10 Google/You Tube

2007-11-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well I took the real You Tube plunge this weekend. You see I have shown students some You Tube clips in recent weeks including Shift Happens, and some campaign '08 soundbites from the candidates on their Road to the White House trail. I found out (at home this weekend) that some You Tube searches could not be viewed due to the mature nature of the subject entered into their search engine. This led me to registering (and creating a User Name and Password) with You Tube so I can access those. I do feel however that I cannot and will not show any You Tube clip requiring me to log-in. This means the due to the mature subject matter my audience at school is too young and thus it is inappropriate. This makes sense to me perfectly. Additionally, I would never share a clip with students before viewing it first myself.

Lastly, why can't we share video clips from CNN? Frequently they have the clips I really want to share but cannot show at school due to the firewall that has been put up in SPPS to block their videos.

In any case, it is all very informative and also important for me to continue to learn how these search engines work. Also we all might want to discuss the nature of ethics and the appropriate use of these videos in our school.

Thing #4 Getting to Know My Public Library

2007-10-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

What is your experience with public libraries and librarians? Long time user? Scared away by mean librarian in your youth?
My affiliation with the Saint Paul Public Libries goes all the way back to my childhood days. I used to regularly go to the old Hayden Heights Branch Public Library (now the House of Clocks?) at Arlington and White Bear Ave. Scared away by a mean librarian? On the contrary. I remember how kind and gentle Mrs. Kramer was to me. I can even remember telling her how excited I was to get ready to take my big trip to California (1975). She in turn would tell me different stories or otherwise assist me.

What would you improve about your library and its services?
I would not change a thing. You see my library for some years has been the Lexington Branch Library. Now a new library Rondo Community Libary has replaced it. I would not change a thing that I can tell thus far. It is a great library! The only thing I have misgivings about is selling food and treats in it! I don't think I agree with that. But it is a great library and under the fine direction of Alice Neve.

How do you use your public library to support your teaching?
Mainly checking out dvd's or videos. I do also use their books from time to time. I also like to go there with the laptop and take advantage of the free wi-fi service. Though today it was down.

Thanks for reading!

2007-10-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

I appreciate everyone's patience. I am still trying to feel my way around blogger.com, bloglines. com etc. I get so terribly tired of pin numbers and passwordss. Life seemed so much less complicated before. In any case expect to hear lots more from me!

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2007-09-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Here is my address