mrpbps’s posterous

Google is the go-to provider of many things online-search, email, maps, and more. But have you ever stopped to consider all of the information you’re sharing with Google? Read on, and find out all of the dirt that Google has on you.

If like most folk you utilize the ever expanding world of Google whether simply through searching, work with the full Google suite or simply use other social software that is indexed by Google then you need to read this list from the US e-justice Blog. It makes you appreciate just how much our identity is available to scrutiny.

How do you educate a generation of students eternally distracted by the internet, cellphones and video games? Easy. You enable them by handing out free iPhones — and then integrating the gadget into your curriculum.

That’s the idea Abilene Christian University has to refresh classroom learning. Located in Texas, the private university just finished its first year of a pilot program, in which 1,000 freshman students had the choice between a free iPhone or an iPod Touch.

The initiative’s goal was to explore how the always-connected iPhone might revolutionize the classroom experience with a dash of digital interactivity. Think web apps to turn in homework, look up campus maps, watch lecture podcasts and check class schedules and grades. For classroom participation, there’s even polling software for Abilene students to digitally raise their hand.

The verdict? It’s working quite well. 2,100 Abilene students, or 48 percent of the population, are now equipped with a free iPhone. Fully 97 percent of the faculty population has iPhones, too. The iPhone is aiding Abilene in giving students the information they need — when they want it, wherever they want it, said Bill Rankin, a professor of medieval studies who helped plan the initiative.

If you're considering the place of iPhones in education then this article about the Abilene Christian University provides powerful evidence for consideration of their use as another tool. The notion of the pending obsolescence of textbooks has been presaged before however in this case the combination of the the ease of access with a seemingly exponentially expanding field of knowledge surely is hastening this.

The power of polling is one that many educational users of iPhones have yet to access though there are both upsides and downsides to such an approach. Polling certainly enables all participants in discussions and study groups to have a voice however simply reliance on the wisdom of the masses as the "best answer" can be just as misleading as responding to the loudest voices.

Children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills, according to the National Literacy Trust.

A survey of 3,001 children aged nine to 16 found that 24% had their own blog and 82% sent text messages at least once a month.

In addition 73% used instant messaging services to chat online with friends.

However, 77% still put real pen to paper to write notes in class or do their school homework.

Of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as "good" or "very good", while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same.

"Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing," Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News.

"Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries.

Some interesting current research into the effects positive or negative on students using web 2.0 tools. In many ways the conclusion that "the more forms of communications children use the stronger their core literary skills" would appear to be self evident. No one now seriously suggests that allowing students to use ball point or other pens to replace ink based pens didn't enhance student's writing capabilities despite all manner of prophecies of decline in standards at the time. It's really a question of enablement and consideration of the best tool for the purpose that should be the major consideration.

Both the Internet and the way young people use technology are constantly changing, but Internet safety messages change very slowly if at all. A few years ago, some of us in the Net safety community started talking about how to adjust our messaging for the much more interactive “Web 2.0.” And we did so, based on the latest research as it emerged. But even those messages are starting to get a bit stale….

Now it’s time for Online Safety 3.0.

This page from the US Connect Safely group is a discussion based on current research related to adolescent use of the internet. Written in no nonsense terms it seeks to dispell some of the myths currently running through a lot of the media with realistic advice on how to mitigate risk and counter problems. A must read for everyone interested in the issue of internet safety.

The wiki crops up in many companies' internal discussions about process improvements and efficient collaboration, but it is often shot down because so few people have exposure to good models of what a really successful business wiki can do. Ars is here to help with a practical introduction based on real-world examples.

From Ars Techinica, this article looks at realtime use of wikis in the workplace. It is well worth a read for those concerned with preparing students for uses of technology that they might find in the workplace. It also deals with some of the issues that hold concern for users of wikis.

Over the last couple of years, the term “Cloud Computing” has been buzzing around in the techie world.  Inevitably, it buzzes into the education world at some point.  And yes, it’s starting to cause a bit of a stir.  Today a principal from Co. Meath impressed me greatly when he suggested that another of his colleagues try it out. So what is cloud computing and why should Irish schools care?

Simply put, cloud computing allows you to log on to a computer somewhere in the world and use its applications, often for free. A number of companies offer a cloud computing service, most famously, Google with their Google Apps. Google Apps allows users to use fully functioning word processors, spreadsheets, presentation software, email, calendars, web design software, chat, video sharing and lots more for free! All you need is an Internet connection and a school.

Little did I know, but I had been using cloud computing in two schools before I’d even heard of the term.  Right now, my school uses cloud computing through Google apps as a communication tool for all staff and board of management.  I thought it might be interesting for other principals to see how we’ve incorporated it in our school in the hope that it might inspire others to do the same. 

Simon Lewis is a great Irish educator and this very practical post explores how he is using Google Docs across his school. I particularly like the way he uses the tools to meet real needs by fashioning them in very innovative ways.

There are a number of posts from individuals interested in using iPod Touches for teaching and Learning. At Culbreth Middle in Chapel Hill, NC we began a pilot this past August to place the iPod Touch in the hands of staff and students.

Our staff development for faculty to roll out the new technology centered on teacher coaches leading their groups in exploration through professional learning communities.

Our AVID students use the iPod Touch in the AVID classroom and in all other courses. They have piloted this program, using the iPod Touches daily for note taking, keeping individual agendas, translation for world languages, and accessing research through the Internet. In addition, our AVID students use many of the apps that teachers sync with these mobile devices. As student leaders, they’ve understood their responsibility to work and share this learning tool in collaborative groups.

This winter we were able to add iPod Touch labs for each of our seven interdisciplinary teams and two labs for our exploratory and resource teams. The interdisciplinary grade level iPod Touch labs are housed with each team and shared among the four content teachers (math, language arts, science, and social studies). These teachers plan together so that their students have access throughout each day. They access the internet as needed and use many apps as well.

This is the start of a great conversation on the Classroom 2.0 Ning started by Susan Wells from Culbreth Middle School. The 25 pages that make up the conversation answer in a practical way many of the questions that others may have regarding the use of iPod Touches in the classroom.

Google Squared is a product of Google Labs. It displays your search results in a grid format. Each item found for your search term populates the rows and their common attributes are shown in the columns. Rather then listing the web pages, your results are organised.

In my opinion it is vital that we don’t just assume that primary school children, who have grown up with “Google” as a verb, can search internet content effectively.

In July last year Google search engineers recorded 1 trillion unique URLs that they indexed, and that was more than a year ago. The amount of information at our pupil’s fingertips is amazing. Sometimes it is too much.

I think Google Squared is a great addition to classroom searching as it provides well needed structure to those search results. It doesn’t just provide a list of sites to click on but a grid of types of information. Google Squared is limited to the types of search terms that can be “Squared” but I think the added structure is a huge benefit to the experience of finding information.

For this post I have produced a series of screenshots and will highlight some of the unique features of searching internet content in this way to help you get the most from Google Squared in the classroom.

Tom Barrett shows the way again this time extolling the virtues of Google Squared. Don't forget to check out the Slideshare Tom has embedded into this post from his blog.

The just-launched Twitter Lists feature is a new way to organize the people you’re following on Twitter, or find new people. In actuality, though, Twitter Lists are Twitter’s long awaited “groups” feature. They offer a way for you to bunch together other users on Twitter into groups so that you can get an overview of what they’re up to. That’s because Lists aren’t just static listings of users, but rather curated Twitter () streams of the latest tweets from a specified set of users.

In other words, you can create a list that groups together people for whatever reason (the members of your family, for example), and then you can get a snapshot of the things those users are saying by viewing that list’s page, which includes a complete tweet stream for everyone on the list. Lists allow you to organize the people you’re following into groups, and they even allow you to include people you’re not following.

From Mashable comes this quite informative how to, well worth a read if you are a regular Twitter user.

With classes, homework, and projects–not to mention your social life–time is truly at a premium for you, so why not latch onto the wide world that Google has to offer? From super-effective search tricks to Google hacks specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time.