Author: abendelow
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The times a-change for the union with democratic dynamite; stick to it now with social media
Yep. Don’t go down to the union hall. Go online to Facebook. Because the old school centralized 2.0 apps like AFT‘s stateweb (b. 2001) that have allowed local councils to post information on a central webpage have been passed already perhaps by social media. They’re using it at the federal level of our American Federation…
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First thoughts on EDT 6040–Visual Literacy in the classroom
Our teacher for this class, Professor Richter, is not a practicing teacher. Nor is he an administrator-teacher, or a recently-retired one. Neither is he an un-tenured PhD. or a college administrator. No, this fourth teacher in our cohort of Educational Technology at Concordia University of Chicago is an artist first (”Art is the process or…
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An editing and organizing exercise for the new media
It used to be (in a 1.0 world) that when one wanted to share information, one gathered information and then posted it in a place–in print in newspapers, books, or other publications, or in a speech. Then, when one wanted to solicit public opinion, one had to go a different route, and use the telephone,…
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Something visual that reflects me
in this case, a pre-fab Animoto video. [Note to Animoto–want more viewers/users? Allow a preview function. Many users won’t appreciate not being able to see interact more with your admittedly flashy video’s creation]http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1273964389&f=QNwB6TDaAo5gNrm50g0cxA&d=33&m=b&r=w&i=m&options= Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. Like the city in the garden, the urbs in hortis, I am both civilized and…
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Man the planner–another Ur-technology
Had dinner with my boy tonight, the university student-recording artist (mostly the latter.) He was dressed in his last clean clothes–his suburban clothes. He freeloaded on a Metra train out to the house–having no money for laundry, food, etc. His rent he’d paid, but his job screwed up his paycheck, so he needed to borrow…
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How can I not raise my voice
in praise of Voice? Google Voice, that is? It transcribes my voice messages with scary accuracy and supplants the need for a call to a voice messaging machine. It is a technological friendly scribe, a replacement for the friend who says, “Hey, so and so called. He says…”. Oh, sure, it’s not perfect. Take a…
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If their predictions are correct, it's 2-3 years until game-based learning "tips"
I love writing that affirms my hunches and verifies my observations. So I am appreciative of former Elmhurst, Illinois resident Will Richardson‘s participation in and linking to the recently-released Horizon Project Report. The 12th annual product of the New Media Consortium, it makes some exciting predictions. Here’s a run-down of how they see things evolving in the…
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Stanford Prof: Video games teach leadership and collaboration
Especially the multi-user massive kind, such as World of Warcraft. People are looking to escape this world, but not its labors–hence the huge numbers of regular people (not just alienated adolescent boys) who are so engaged with the “game world” that they think nothing of paying $15 a month to study problems, create narratives, delegate roles, and…
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Energized, and then enervated by my first collaborative IM session tonight
conducted via Skype. I actually made the beginner’s mistake of clicking on one of my colleagues names so as to open up a window and a video/audio connection. She expected to text with her three colleagues and now here was her t-shirt-ed fellow student showing up on her computer screen expecting collaboration. Weird for us…
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an open letter to State Superintendent of Illinois Schools
to State Superintendent of Schools Christopher A. Koch100 N. 1st Street • Springfield, IL 62777 Dear Superintendent Koch, As your fellow educator, I write in response to the rapid changes going through Illinois public schools this spring. At a time of unparalleled disruption in Illinois public education, it is important to act flexibly and wisely,…