Thursday, March 17, 2011

MindMeister


MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different classrooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other's changes as they happen.

Please click HERE to see a  MindMeister that I created.  This MindMeister will also provide you with some insight as to why I value technology in the classroom.  Feel free to edit it.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Rethinking Education


http://ksuanth.weebly.com/wesch.html
 Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist at Kansas State exploring the effects of new media on society and culture. 

After two years studying the implications of writing on a remote indigenous culture in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, he has turned his attention to the effects of social media and digital technology on global society.  His videos on culture, technology, education, and information have been viewed by millions, translated in over 15 languages, and are frequently featured at international film festivals and major academic conferences worldwide. 

Wesch has won several major awards for his work, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award, the John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in Media Ecology, and he was recently named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic.  He has also won several teaching awards, including the 2008 CASE/Carnegie U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities. 


Click HERE to view more videos by Micahel Wesch.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

VoiceThread

VoiceThread

With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install.

A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.

Users can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as archival movies.