Sunday, March 26, 2006

I've been away at two conferences this week and my mind is spinning based upon the wealth of information that was shared at these conferences. I have much to add but that will have to wait. In the meantime, I would like to share this essay, "Difference is not a Disease," written by a high school senior in New Jersey. He shares his perspective on neurological diversity, special education and contributions to society in a way that is enlightening and informative.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Interested in seeing a preview of the voice recognition feature that is built into Vista, the new OS from Microsoft that is due out in the fall? This videocast posted on a blog demonstrates how it will work and it is quite impressive and looks incredibly easy to use. What is amazing is that it is built into the operating system and allows complete control of your desktop, word processor, game programs and the Internet! It takes Microsoft accessibility to a whole new level!
Will Richardson in his column entitled, "It's Not the Technology...." succintly summarized the purpose of educational emerging technologies or the Read/Write Web:

"It's getting to be less and less about the tool and more and more about the opportunities the tools create, the "why", not the "how." And the "why we should use any of these tools" question is all about their capacity to build connections and community. It's one thing to master the skills to create whatever artifact you want: PowerPoint presentation, claymation sequence, screencast, blog post...whatever. But it's another thing entirely to know how to take that creation and use it to connect to people, ideally to other learners, and start conversations with them about the value and meaning of whatever it is we create. That's the shift. Creation in the relative vacuum of the classroom can no longer be the final goal. It's publishing. It's teaching through that creation, connecting through that creation that we should be striving for."


To be unaware of the fascinating conversations occuring about education and Web 2.0 tools is to be missing out on stimulating discussions about learning and teaching in the digital age. I will attend the MassCue Technology Leadership Symposium on Monday where Will Richardson and Jamie McKenzie will speak. I eagerly anticipate the discussions that will ensue! It is such an exciting time to be an educator!

Saturday, March 11, 2006


I recently had the opportunity to see the Fly Pentop computer from LeapFrog demonstrated at a conference. They were available on ebay so I picked one up and can't wait to test drive it myself. It appears to have some educational applications beyond what the company touts. The scheduler function may be helpful for kids who need auditory organizational cues to stay on task or as a reminder. The writing function may help students with letter formation.

I'll report back after I receive it and test it out with my two teenagers.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Have to share this link!!
Just came across this eight minute testimonial video from the University of Wisconsin. It spotlights several college and grad students using reading sofware (Kurzweil) to help them access their curriculum. It's a great way to see how students benefit from these types of technology tools. What makes it even more valuable is it uses the words of the students themselves!
(The only thing I would change is the voice quality of the sampled computer generated voice is not indicative of the quality that is currently available. Check out the voices at nextup.com.)