Technologically Literate

I want to thank Dave Cormier for a brillant idea.  Although he was rushed and met with one ill-prepared website, Dave’s presentation at the FOE (Future of Education)  online conference was excellent and could change the way we see the aggregator. 

First, I can’t say that I am a big fan of the online conference.  It’s the blur of a chat room, the bad audio, and sometimes disasterous presentors that keep me watching re-runs rather than participating in real time.  (By the way, thank you to the person that thought of recording and posting presentations.  It’s like TiVo’d education ) However, Dave did it right.  He demonstarted a tool within the context of potential use.

Dave used the aggregator, PageFlakes, as a web portal.  (see it here) He set up each of his ”flakes” to aggregate certain tags (in this case foe2007scm.)  He then encouraged the students to create a blog post or tag a flickr pic.  After a few minutes and a quick page refresh, links started to pour in from the attendees.  I literally sat slack-jawed in my clunky K-Mart recliner.  It was so simple, yet so cool.  

Sure wikis and even expensive web-portals can do similar things but here, right in front of our eyes was a FREE 10 minute answer to keeping everything…and I mean EVERYTHING, in one place.  Just off the top of my head.  This is reseach, assessment, collaboration, community, and even entertainment placed into a nice neat package.

Here are two communities I am working on.  I cannot stress how ease this was.  I hope that I can energize others the way Dave unknowingly energized me.

For teachers at DuBois  http://www.pageflakes.com/kpruitt/11176389   

For PA tech Teachers   http://www.pageflakes.com/kpruitt/11201963

Obviously, I am only working on local items.  I have no idea where this is going nor am I sure what the impact will be.  I can tell you one thing, the success or failure will be clear.  In fact, it will be availble for millions to see. 

 I am not foolish enough to believe that I have caused worldwide or even local disappointment due to my lack of posting but, if I have there, is a pretty good excuse. 

My wife and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first son.  I gotta tell ya, I have never really worked off someone else’s schedule, but waiting bites.  You find out and for 8 and 1/2 months you think…oh God, there is no time.  Then you hit the “maybe” weeks of 37, 38, 39, and soon 40 and you start to wonder if the child will ever be born.  I’m convinced we are on our way to birthing a high school junior.  (Hmm, only two years at home..)

 Is it a contraction or gas?  I can tell you what one feels like, but the other is any man’s guess.  My wife looks at me and says, “I think that’s one.”  She grins…I hyperventilate.

Anyway…When I am not aging rapidly,  I am keeping a new tips blog for my school district.  It’s a simple design based on the great work of my friend Jim Gates.  I am using the blog to try and spread the word about great sites, web tools, and blog posts from around the web.  Stop in and say hi.

I have also loaded some professional development material (mostly for DASD) to TeacherTube.  I am excitied about the prospect of a video sharing site specifically for education.  If you know me or my writing you know that I am an “open web” supporter, but big ripples start with small stones.  TeacherTube could be the small stone that gets nervous administrators to begin exploring web tool potential.

Next time I talk to you…I’ll be a Dad.   That is scary for all of us.             

Many thanks to my friend Patricia King of Loudoun County Public Schools in Purcellville, VA.  She recently attended the Florida Educational Technology Conference and sent along this resource.

  http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/index.htm

The enormity of this project is staggering, but contained in this site are hundreds of stories and poems in both the text and MP3 format.  This site is a dream for anyone that deals in literacy.  (hint: I hope that’s all of us)

I haven’t done a great deal of experimenting, but it seems like it would be a nice companion to Google Lit Trips that was just mention by Will Richardson on March 8th, 2007.

Thought:  Clearences may be a nightmare, but what a great idea for HB instruction. 

Question to copyright gurus:  Could you provide MP3’s of text or articles for educational use?  What if it was direct to the individual? 

I think using social tools for HB Instruction would be a good topic at NECC or at edubloggercon on the 23rd.

There is much debate among students, teachers, administrators, and even technicians about the education value in YouTube.  I, for one, see it as a tremendous resource that, when used properly, brings much needed perspective to lessons.  For example, during a seventh grade discussion about the history of technology (remember they were born around 1995) I use a 1950’s “science and technology” video from Unitedstreaming.  The video is good, it illustrates how NASA and the military drove technology inovoation for decades.  I feel the video provides an excellent historical perspective, but the students response is usually “meh.”  However, when I follow the “boring” technology lesson with few retro Nintendo commercials, the room lights up.  The students bombard me and each other with comments and requests for more visions of the past.  

There are a couple of things that I learned from this.  One, YouTube is not the devil. Two, although a distribing image, the age old saying remains true, there is more than one way to skin a cat.       

Here are two videos I have used in class.  Borrowing a line from Karl Fisch, I use the videos to prompt a discussion about how students are being educated for jobs that don’t exist using technology that hasn’t been invented yet.  That is a tough concept for middle school students to understand, especially students living in a stagnate rural area where much of the economy still depends largely on farming, manufacturing, and mining.  I am happy to report that they like the videos, but they love the conversation about future possibilities. 

Just for fun, here is the Nintendo commercial I love.

Also, I am looking forward to my first NECC and discussing blogging at the edubloggercon.  

Rookie Mistakes!

I’m sure it’s me, but I have yet to be successful in pasting the html for my channel into this blog.  What really confuses me is that it works, until you save.  Help!

Pruitt TV on SplashCast Media.com

Yes, my ego is stroked by having a ”TV” channel named after me, but if you haven’t tried this site yet, do so.  What’s not to love?  You create it, they store it, and you embed it.   No costly subscriptions, no strain on the storage space.  There are real possibilities for professional development that is tailored to fit individual need. 

Since I am inept, here is a link to my channel:  (to sign up click “Get SplashCast”)

http://web.splashcast.net/catalog/channel_details.aspx?code=NFQE5805OG

Thank you to Jim Gates for pointing this one out.