NECC Blogs and Podcasts directory

http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/glance/blogging_podcasting.php

blogging workshop - thoughts

these are my notes from the blogging session while I can still remember them.mentioned both gaggle and epals. They use free services
blocked blogger.com / blogspot.com b/c "next blog" button could take kids to inappropriate sites.
http://edublog.org
http://www.weblogg-ed.com/
the general tone was that they used blogging to facilitate online discussions, esp with regard to literature discussions, and social sciences.
No district wide policies or guidelines. Some teachers moderate some don't. Emphasis on classroom management. All students are disciplined for online activities as they would be in real world. Online bullying has same repercussions as real world.
need some warning / instruction for teachers upfront. some teachers incorrectly set security so students had admin rights and were deleting other students' work.
Deadline is 2-3 days before grading to allow for "the internet was down" "my dad was on the computer, etc.

good example of trackback URL usage

http://edtechlife.com/?p=1360
and
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/07/02/web-2-necc/

See how the original blogger's post linking to the other site shows up on the second blog almost in its entirety as a comment? That's trackback.
See: How do I use trackback?
Wikipedia - track back

Handhelds, Handhelds, Handhelds - options for 1 to 1

We're looking at doing some handheld pilots. (Palm Pilots and PDAs). However, we've discovered in our testing that the Palm Pliot synch software (PalmDesktop) is really pretty poor software and will only work for one user on a machine, and that use must have admin rights to install. Also, the software requires write access to its own directory, which means the software is volatile and regular use by the users could break the software and cause someone to need to re-load the software, resulting ultimately in downtime for the user and an additional task for our tech support staff, which could slow their response to other more serious problems.

So I was looking for alternatives to Palm Pilots at NECC, and found quite a variety of options.

The first is the pocket PC, which has a similar price point to the Palm Pilot, and is also approximately the same physical size. you can get Pocket PCs with 802.11 wireless cards, and I'm told they can save to a path on a windows network. This would take advantage of all the network resources available already at our schools, and allow students to save their documents locally at home, and then save to their home drive at school. Another great feature of the Pocket PC over the Palm Pilot is that you can save and edit excel and word documents (not sure about PowerPoint) on the Pocket PC. With Palm you need an additional software- documents to go.

Now in talking to people about the pocket PC, there are concerns about whether the PDA market is going to be around in a year or two. With the move to combo cell phone / PDA units, there may not be a retail market for a regular standalone PDA.

So what other options are out there?

• "Nova" - a low end tablet PC, price point from 399, 499, 599 depending on features. Wireless included, I'm not sure if it is running windows CE, or a full fledged XP that you can log onto, just like a desktop or laptop, joined to the domain.
  
  The 599 version includes a data logger, from fourier-sys, the makers of the Ecolog data logger.
  
• Alphasmart Neo, which really has an admittedly small set of features limited to word processing and text functions. These have to be synched with a PC to transfer data.
  
• Also from alphasmart is the Dana, which has wireless capability (in theory). It runs on the Palm OS, and uses the "wifile" software for palm to connect to the network. At last check, this software required a wide open network share to enable saving. (Something that is strongly frowned upon for virus and security reasons). Also, I would prefer to have students be able to save their work right to their personal home drive, not to some generic dumping folder, requiring more manual intervention to get it where it belongs.
• There were a number of alphasmart knock offs at Necc. There was one called a one to one mate, with a color screen (shown below).

• The Microsoft Origami (demo models were made by samsung). Which is another small tablet that does runa full fledged version of windows XP, and can be joined to a domain. The price point on this is around 1000$ retail. They are working on coming out with an education version and they are hoping for a price point on that at around 600-699$

There's a lot of neat stuff coming out, at lower price points than laptops. The Nova and the Origami type devices are going to be the future. But right now, they're still a little too high priced to compare with the value we can get with a wifi Pocket PC.

Also, I think they're just a little too new for me. I always like to let someone else work out the kinks. I've been through that already with the wifi on the Danas.

Short-throw projector whiteboards at necc

These pictures are of the smart Board input panel, and the wall moun base for the projector. (You can see the tubing for the projector coming straight out from the mount.)

I was looking a lot at the newly released short throw projector / interactive White Board combos. Smart Board has one, the 6100, and Promethean had one also.

Pros / Cons
Smart Board setup has a complete speaker set built into the wall mount for the projector
Smart Board can capture external video through the board software (Anything you can plug into an AV input - Document cameras, cable tv, VCR, etc)
The inputs are not directly on the projector, but on a moveable input panel that is connected to the board. (The source selection can be done straight on the smart board)
The Smart Board projector has a mini computer built into the projector so you can operate the board without being connected to a computer and save to a USB flash drive.

Promethean's board has a height adjustable wall mount. (So a completely wall mounted board can be adjusted by a teacher to change height to student level, or for students with disabilities.)
Promethean's projector arm is mounted to the board, so when adjusting height, no calibration is necessarry.
Promethean does not have speakers currently. (They are working on it.)
Promethean uses the Activ software to run the board, which is in my opinion more difficult to use.
Promethean's student response system has a beta software product that can be put on laptops, and use the laptops as a response system without having a set of the clicker hardware.
Promethean did not mention if it could be run without a computer.
The price points of both units are around 4200$.

Here are the pictures of the promethean short throw setup: