Here’s an interesting Firefox add-on I just found.
http://www.hyperwords.net/index.html
What you should notice if you explore some of the material on the site is that it attempts to build upon Doug Engelbart’s work!
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Category: Resources
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Cool Youtube Video
Ever since I was little I have been fascinated by the shapes and look of the letters of the alphabet. I used to doodle the letters in all different sizes, “fonts” and colours whenever I got a chance. I even taught myself to write with both my right and left hands, just to see how different the letters might look!
One day, I was surfing youtube and came across this video. I think it’s great for several reasons. I love the fluidity with which the older brother creates his letters – they look like works of art! I also love watching the younger brothers attemts to recreate the letters. His are equally beautiful but in a different way. I think one of the greatest privileges a primary teacher has is that of watching little people learn these most basic building blocks of our culture.
I hope you all enjoy the video, too!
Cari Wilson
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Wiki and Social Bookmarking
As students of ETEC*540, we have been asked to make use of two online text technologies – the Wiki and Social Bookmarking.
The folks at Common Craft have produced two light and fun videos explaining these two technologies in a very clear way.
First the Wiki and next Social Bookmarking with del.icio.us
Common Craft has also produced additional videos on RSS, Social Networking, and New Light Bulbs.
I was recently reminded of the online screencast, Heavy Metal Umlaut: The Movie by Jon Udell. The subject of which is Udell’s exploration of the dynamics behind collaborative online authorship. I’ve always intended to go view the video but never got around to it. The first time that I had heard of it was back in 2006.
In 2006 I attended the Ontario Universities Computing Conference (OUCC) held at the University of Guelph. Tim Bray delivered one of the two keynote speeches that year. Bray discussed, among other things, Wikipedia. He used the Heavy Meltal Umlaut as one example of the process by which publishing and scholarship takes place. The keynote use to be available in podcast form from the 2006 OUCC site, however, someone has gone and removed all existence of it from the web – such is the nature of the Internet, I guess. So that others can listen to it, I have been able to locate the podcast in my files and have made it available for download. I suppose it actually pays to never throw out any podcast downloads.
In this podcast, Bray offers an interesting and poignant commentary on the Internet that speaks to university scholarship, Wikipedia, authority, and the act of being an authority on the web. Perhaps the most interesting subject is the dichotomy between book form referenced publishing and Wikipedia. Bray considers traditional publishing to be a process of kill, cook, and freeze while Wikipedia to be cyclic process that is never ending. Ultimately I feel this holds importance for the future of literacy. It is in this light that Bray delves into the future of books, academic journals and the peer review process.
The audio file is just over one hour in length but is a very enjoyable listen. I would caution, however, that it might encourage you to begin contributing to Wikipedia or even to start your own blog.
Download mp3.
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Current Events
Every year when teaching Social Studies 8 I would try to find time for current events. It is a rich curriculum, which I never adequately cover. Although current events are more relevant than the horsemanship skills of the Mongols, It was a curricular area I never got to, until I started putting it online last year. What allowed me to do this was
nicenet a non-profit service for educators which is very simple, but allows for the posting of links and documents and for online discussions. Some of the topics which I have covered in the last year are gay marriage, the Iraq invasion, the coup in Haiti and the Dalai Lama’s visit. This past week we discussed whether or not the US election was rigged. Here are the links which I used.
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New York Post
USA Today
WSOCTV
Global Research
CBC
I asked the students to first read the links, then respond to whether or not they think that Bush won fairly or if they think that he rigged the election. I began, as usual, by being the first to post, and by posting from both extreme sides of the case. As usual, the discussion was very interesting. Each student then has to summarize the discussion and submit his or her two best posts.
Before embarking on this project, I have to teach students how to critically read online and how to discuss online. Grade eights can easily learn this.
As moderator, it is interesting for me to step back from the arguments which I see as particularly naive or radical.
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Two useful resources…
Via Scott Leslie at EdTechPost, comes a nifty service from RedLightGreen:
RedLightGreen is a service from the Research Libraries Group (get it?) that allows users to search over 130 million library catalogue entries. The user can then automatically create citations in either MLA, APA, Chicago or Turabian styles, and with one click also check their local library for title availability. The service is free to anyone; if you are like me and only have to do academic citations irregularly, this is invaluable. — SWL
Oh, do I wish that had existed when I was in grad school. Quoting David Mattison, “This is a killer service, the Amazon of academic library research.”
On another front:
The Routes of English was a programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, it explored many aspects of the English language throughout the world, particularly variations in pronunciation and the sociolinguistic significance of such variations. The programme’s web site retains much that was of interest from the broadcasts, with a good number of audio extracts in ‘ram’ format (playable with RealPlayer, etc.). The site also features: links to related web pages; games; a question and answer section; and an online message board, though this does not appear to be well used. Although intended for a general audience, undergraduates new to English linguistics should find the site a fascinating introduction to the subject.