Need a good laugh? Watch this!

Animoto-- you have to try it!

Upload pictures, select music, and let animoto put together a very cool slideshow. A free account let's you create a 30 second presentation. Full length videos require a subscription. Here's a quote from their "about us" page:

Animoto Productions is a bunch of techies and film/tv producers who decided to lock themselves in a room together and nerd out.

Their first release is Animoto, a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced on a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.

Getting started with RSS

Here are some links to get you started with RSS:

Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/
Create your own FREE account on this well known RSS aggregator

RSS Compendium: http://allrss.com/rssfeeds.html
You'll find at least a few things of interest to add to your Bloglines feeds here

Will Richardson's RSS quick start guide: http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf
The best guide I've seen for getting started with RSS.

Will Richardon's RSS Wiki: http://webloggedlinks.pbwiki.com/RSS
Will has posted many RSS links on his handout wiki site.

RSS: The next killer app for education: http://technologysource.org/article/rss/
This article was published over 4 years ago, but it has a few nice examples on the relevance of RSS to education.

Using Bloglines: http://preetamrai.com/weblog/archives/2005/04/25/bloglines-how-to-keep-track-of-hundreds-of-blogs-and-some-news-and-some-podcasts-and-some-flickrs-photos-etc-etc/
An excellent tutorial from the betterdays blog by Preetam Rai of Singapore. Print this out and refer to it when you're getting started on Bloglines.

My Bloglines feeds: http://www.bloglines.com/public/jdornberg

Spam Scam Alert!

Don't be fooled by an invitation to join the Quechup social network! It's a scam! Here's a screen shot of the email I received. I have no idea who the person is who supposedly invited me, but even if I did, that doesn't mean it is legit. Identities and email addresses are easily spoofed by the phishers

Check out this post from Wes Fryer... http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/09/07/beware-of-quechup-spam-scam/

and this one from the Cool Cat Teacher... http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2007/09/quechup-with-latest-spam-scam.html

...for more details

More about Elluminate vRoom

Here's a link to an interesting article on how schools are using Elluminate vRoom for distance learning: http://www.thejournal.com/articles/21222

The article points out that distance learning has been around awhile, but typically schools invest in dedicated rooms with videoconferencing equipment, speakers, microphones, etc. or in portable videoconferencing equipment. In my opinion, a solution like Elluminate is better because with very little additional hardware (a webcam and/or microphone) students and teachers can participate in a variety of online field trips, webinars, meetings, and collaborative projects, whether it's in a computer lab, or at one workstation, with or without a webcam, with no additional software to purchase. Sessions can be recorded and replayed later for review, or for absent students.

We are using a new electronic gradebook in our county this fall. I'm hoping I can use my Elluminate vRoom to have several webinars with teachers at their convenience without either of us having to drive. And because I can share or remotely control applications, the sessions can still be interactive.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to roll out this "paradigm shift" in PD.

Gamer Revolution

By accident I came across a very well done documentary on video games on CBC. Gamer Revolution. Here's the companion website: http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/gamerrevolution.html

This program will be repeated on September 13 at 8 PM. Set your VCR, Tivo, or DVR. You have GOT to see this program!

I am not a gamer, except for my minimal skills on our Nintendo Wii. I was dumbfounded by how huge this industry is! In Japan and Korea the best gamers are as well known as rock stars or athletes in this country. And although the average "career" of these elite gamers is only about 6 years, in Korea they are actively recruited by the banking industry to be stock traders. In the United States gamers are recruited by the Army!

Here's a quote from the website: "The U.S. military developed America's Army as a recruitment tool. It was released in July 2002. Since then it has been downloaded by 8 million players in 60 countries and updated 23 times. There have been 3 billion player rounds and nearly 200 million player hours have been logged. Approximately 150,000 new accounts are created each month. Only two years after the game launched, the U.S. met its recruitment goals."

This show is fascinating! It's a must see! I've already emailed CBC to see if this outstanding documentary is available on DVD. Here's a promo video:

FreeVideoCoding.com

Blogger has a new button!

I just noticed the upload video button today. Here's a Photo Story I created a couple of years ago after attending the NSBA conference in Denver.

This is a lot easier than uploading to YouTube or Google Video!