Showing posts with label March 12. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March 12. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Thing #22 -- Your Cellphone as a Tool

No longer is your cell phone just a device for making a phone call. The capabilities and features of new cell phones now rival your home computer offering texting, photos, videos, blogging, social-networking, personal productivity, mobile office, online connectivity, ...the uses are endless. Our students are tapping into the communication, texting, and and social networking features; but, what about educational applications? Explore some of these sites offering ideas, applications, and ways of integrating this "life" technology into the classroom:


Discovery Exercises:

  • Explore some of the cellphone tools sites and educational technology sites. Do you think that cellphone technology can be used in the classroom?

  • What are some problems and issues you foresee in using cellphones in the classroom? (kids access -- cost, have vs have-nots, methods for including kids w/o phones or services).

  • What is one way you could use your cellphone as a tool for your own personal productivity?
  • How could they be used in the library? ...in the classroom?
  • Write about your thoughts, on your blog, on using cell phones in the classroom and for your own personal productivity.

If you want more:

The power of the web is coming to your cell phone. Learn more about how to take advantage with these tools:
  • Mobile Web - Directory & Search Sites
  • DialDirections - free directions to an address, business, or event, sent as a text message directly to your cell phone.
  • Fring - free calls over your cell phone (requires download, and either 3G or WiFi connection for phone).
  • JahJah - free local VoIP calls, long distance at local rates.
  • Jott - your voice translated into email and text messages.
  • Phonevite - voice messages sent automatically to multiple numbers.
  • TalkShoe - record phone or VoIP calls, publish as podcasts.
  • Talkster - free, ad-supported long distance calling.
  • ToneMine - mix and download free ringtones.

Posted by MyraG at 4:00 PM 1 comments Labels: ,

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Thing # 16 Learning a Language

As an adult learner, learning a new language has been a challenge: money and time for classes, software, books, and instructors. Although there are several online tutorials and practice sites, the element that has been missing is the social networking aspect. To learn a language, you need to not only learn about it, but hear it, read it, speak it, and practice. Short of a trip abroad for total immersion, LiveMocha offers a 21st Century learning approach to learning a new language -- a "web-based language learning solution integrating online instructional content with a global community of language learners". All you need is an Internet connection. According to the LiveMocha site:

"Lesson plans include over 160 hours of beginner and intermediate level content teaching everyday conversational language along with a full range of practical reading, listening, writing and speaking exercises. LiveMocha also leverages the native language expertise of its members by allowing them to enhance the content with grammar tips, alternative phrases and colloquialisms".

In true social networking format (leveraging the collective information and intelligence on the Internet), you can learn, listen, communicate, and interact with other learners, native speakers, and tutors from around the world. Chat with others, integrating writing, listening, and speaking skills and tap the expertise of native speakers. LiveMocha brings several skill levels together as you learn at your own pace, whenever you wish, for as long as you wish.

Currently, on the LEARN section of the site, you can enroll in one of four levels of online instruction offered in the world's six most popular languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Hindi, and Mandarin Chinese. Instruction in other languages will be added in the future, but with the PRACTICE and SHARE sections of LiveMocha, you can communicate in any language with anyone in the world!

Discovery Resources:

Discovery Exercises:

  • Log on to LiveMocha and click Get Started or Register to set up your account. You will need to activate your account through your email address.
  • Blog about your thoughts on this type of e-learning experience and what you learned in exploring this site.
  • What other language learning sites have you found?

Posted by MyraG at 6:00 AM 0 comments Labels: ,

Thing #15 -- Audiobooks and eBooks

The availability of audiobooks and ebooks, free and fee, online has exploded in the past few years. With the Google project to digitize entire libraries, Project Gutenberg, and others bringing public domain books to the web, we have the availability of thousands of books online. Additionally, with the movement to open source and sharing, many more books are appearing online, much to readers' delight.

Although most authors' work is protected under copyright law, many current authors and copyright holders are investigating open access options of the Internet. Neil Gaiman, for example, posted on his blog that he wanted to make one of his books available online... Free. He polled his readers and the overwhelming choice was American Gods. This book is now available, online, for one month for anyone wanting to read his book.

The publishing company Tor, long known for science fiction and fantasy books, now offers a free download of a new Science Fiction title every week -- simply for the asking. Other types of services are also appearing such as email books -- DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed, free or pay-as-you-read.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of the audiobook and ebook download sites:

Discovery Exercise:

  • Write a blog posts about two of your favorite audiobook or ebook finds and provide links.
  • How are these types of sites valuable to you? ...to your library?
  • How will the availability of books online affect libraries of the future? How can libraries compete with this type of availability?

Posted by MyraG at 5:59 AM 1 comments Labels: ,

Thing #14 Podcasting

The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS. In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the few years, it’s easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries to much longer in-person interviews or panel/group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker. iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is a directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options. Another option is the Zune Marketplace site (a Microsoft service). Again, you don't need to own a Zune player to listen to the podcasts. There are several podcasts on dozens of topics and interests. You can subscribe to these services for regular downloads of your favorite podcasts.

Discovery Resources:

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your blog reader (i.e., Bloglines or Google Reader) account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

There are many, many podcast directories and search tools out there. Here are some popular ones that don’t, like iTunes or Zune, require a software download:

Discovery Exercises:

  • Take a look at some of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library related podcasts, book review podcasts, or library news. Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your blog reader account.
  • Create a blog post about your discovery process. How can podcasts be used in the library?
  • Share the link to a podcast you have discovered on your blog so all the class participants can listen to your podcast.
If you want more:

Add some kind of audio component to your blog -- Try Voki and record your own voice (many of you have already added a Voki to your blog).

Do you want to learn how to podcast? Explore some of these podcasting applications -- add a short podcast to your blog.

Posted by MyraG at 5:57 AM 1 comments Labels: ,

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)