Check out Swivel

I came across a link for Swivel while reading Steve Dembo's DEN Digital Passports blog. Swivel allows you to upload and graph data. You can also copy and paste HTML code to display your graph on a web page or blog like this...

Adding tags to your graph allows you to find other similar graphs to compare your data to. You'll also find other users' data sets that you can use or download.

This site looks VERY intersting! Take a tour of Swivel and see for yourself.

Teach your students about Gerrymandering-- with a game!

Just came across this on the Slashdot blog. It's the Redistricting game created at the USC Game Innovation Lab and developed for the USC Annenberg Center for Communications. Here's a description from the website:

The Redistricting Game is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. Currently, the political system in most states allows the state legislators themselves to draw the lines. This system is subject to a wide range of abuses and manipulations that encourage incumbents to draw districts which protect their seats rather than risk an open contest. By exploring how the system works, as well as how open it is to abuse, The Redistricting Game allows players to experience the realities of one of the most important (yet least understood) aspects of our political system. The game provides a basic introduction to the redistricting system, allows players to explore the ways in which abuses can undermine the system, and provides info about reform initiatives - including a playable version of the Tanner Reform bill to demonstrate the ways that the system might be made more consistent with tenets of good governance. Beyond playing the game, the web site for The Redistricting Game provides a wealth of information about redistricting in every
state as well as providing hands-on opportunities for civic engagement and political action.

The introduction is very captivating, like a movie trailer, with a dramatic soundtrack. This could actually be a FUN way of helping students understand why this is such an important topic.

Check it out at: http://www.redistrictinggame.com/

The 100 best Web 2.0 websites-- The Webware 100

A list of 5000 sites was narrowed to 250 finalists. C/NET then invited its readers to vote and on June 18th the winners were announced.

Go to http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100.html to see the winners for yourself, broken down into 10 categories. Best of all, you can click on a logo to learn more about a site (complete with screenshot) and then go directly to the site itself.

FREE book for your summer reading!

I came across an ad in the Scholastic Administrator for a FREE copy of Don Johnston's autobiography, Building Wings.

Don Johnston's auto-biography encourages students to identify their unique learning styles and motivates them to take charge of their learning potential. It is thoughtful reminder to teachers of the critical task of applying different instructional approaches to deliver core subject knowledge. Published by Start-to-Finish.

Click the link below to receive your free copy (limit one per person): http://www.donjohnston.com/offers/buildingwings/buildingwingscompbookoffer.html

GPS Visualizer

I'm just beginning to learn my way around a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS receiver, and I stumbled across a fun website-- GPS Visualizer.

After wandering around our school campus today and adding a few waypoints, I uploaded the data from the eTrex to my computer, then used GPS Visualizer to create the Google Maps mashup seen here:

You can even create a KML file and see your "tracks" in Google Earth!

Check out this way cool website at: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/

Inspiration's Learning Community

This looks promising! I just learned about this new professional learning community from Laura Gallagher of Inspiration.

The URL is: http://inspiredlearningcommunity.com/

Why Wiki?

Found this great video on Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's blog, and wanted to repost it here so I would always be able to find it.