EdVentures in Technology
teaching, learning and change
May 20, 2008 at 9:02 am · Filed under Random Thoughts
Want to help in the fight against childhood cancer? So does St. Baldricks! St. Baldrick’s day has been an annual event in our community for years and yet I knew little about it until this year. Turns out that St. Baldrick’s started as a challenge between three friends hoping to raise $14,000 by shaving their heads. Their efforts expanded and in the end yielded over $100,000! From that beginning, St. Baldrick’s has grown into
“…the world’s biggest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood
cancer! In eight years, events have taken place in 18 countries and 46
US states, raising over $34 million, and shaving more than 46,000 heads.” (
http://www.stbaldricks.org/about_us/index.html)
This year St. Baldrick’s wasn’t held in our community. However, my son’s Cub Scout troop put out a call for volunteers and Hunter, along with his friend and St. Baldrick’s alum Ian, have chosen to participate. We have our own connection to childhood cancer, as a family friend and schoolmate was recently diagnosed with and is currently receiving treatment for, a form of osteosarcoma.
So today, my son and I are beginning our fundraising efforts and are looking forward to losing our locks on the 31st. I’ll be posting pics as soon as the shearing begins!
If you would like to donate to my fundraising effort: https://www.stbaldricks.org/get_involved/donate.html?ParticipantKey=2008-53478
If you would like to donate to Hunter’s fundraising effort: https://www.stbaldricks.org/get_involved/donate.html?ParticipantKey=2008-53476
If you would rather not donate online, feel free to download a donation form here: http://www.stbaldricks.org/includes/downloads/donation_forms/53500/2008DonateS53476.pdf
As I type this, Jon Lester has just pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. I’ll take this as a good omen, since Jon Lester is a cancer survivor himself!
Tags: stbaldrick, cancer, fundraising, hunter
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April 17, 2007 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Twitter Log
- Well it was a long walk in on what is left of my driveway! Not sure if I’ll be going anywhere tomorrow if the brooks keep rising… #
- In MIS meeting but at least I could get out albeit via 4WD. #
- Making the trek home and wondering how the roads are… #
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April 4, 2007 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Twitter Log
So for those wondering, these posts are tests of the Twitter to blog option of the Twitter Tools Plugin. I’m curious to see if or how this stream of consciousness post adds value to my blog. Probably less interesting to those following on RSS but personally, I’ve been finding utility in Twitter from the standpoint that folks Tweet on things that wouldn’t necessarily be blog-worthy but have value to those in their network. As an example, I’ve shared a few interesting Tweets with Luis Suarez, D’Arcy Norman and Jeff Utecht and added a new node (and kindred spirit) to my network – Jeff VanDrimmelen of UNC-Chapel Hill.
If you are curious about Twitter, feel free to add me to your list http://twitter.com/edventures as the search features leave a lot to be desired. Right now I use the trial and error method. Find someone I know, check out their friends and add those that are mutual and in some cases, make new connections I might not have otherwise.
Not sure how long I’ll keep posting these Twitter updates. I do wish there was a way to set it to post privately so that I can continue to log my days but not bore the world.
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March 20, 2007 at 11:40 am · Filed under Teaching & Learning
I can’t believe I had forgotten this “kids conference” when I posted on Vicki Davis’ article the other day. When I worked at Moultonborough Academy, one of our science teachers, Shaw Smith, was the faculty coordinator for the NH Youth Environmental Summit, an environmental leadership conference for middle-school students.
As it turns out, Plymouth State University hosts the one day NHYES conference in our science center, Boyd Hall! This year’s conference was an exceptional success as it sold out and they were in the unique position of having to turn away those who had hoped to register.
One of the unique things about this conference is that the presenters are all high-school students, with a couple of outstanding middle schoolers thrown in for good measure. The students are responsible for developing the conference from soup to nuts including registration, publicity and presentation.
I would love to compile a list of similar endeavors if folks would be willing to throw the URLs my way. If you already have them in your del.icio.us list, just add the tags for:edventures and kids-conference and I’ll create a page for those resources.
Perhaps such a list could serve to inspire others to reach out and engage students at a very visceral level!
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March 8, 2007 at 12:30 pm · Filed under Diigo Links
My wife will be traveling to the Galapagos Islands in June as part of a travel study program through Plymouth State University. Unfortunately for her, the trip leader, Dr. Mary Ann McGarry, has been nice enough to let me help craft the culminating project my wife will develop as the credit bearing portion of the trip. So if you were able to craft a project for someone who will be onsite in an exotic and bio-rich environment, what would be valuable for you? Please feel free to drop your comments below and I’ll see what I can include in the culminating project proposal.
The links below will come in useful as it turns out that the Boston Museum of Science is hosting not only the IMAX movie on the Galapagos, but also the American Natural History Museum’s traveling exhibit, Darwin.
IMAX Educator Resources Annotated
- Link to the educator’s resource guide which accompanies the IMAX presentation of the Galapagos movie.
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Darwin Online Educator’s Guide | American Museum of Natural History Annotated
- The American Museum of Natural History’s educators guide to accompany the Darwin traveling exhibit.
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Darwin – American Museum of Natural History
- Website focusing on the work of Charles Darwin as illustrated in the traveling exhibit.
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Museum of Science, Boston | Exhibits | Darwin
- National and Massachusetts science standards linkages for the traveling Darwin exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science can be found here.
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- National and Massachusetts Standards correlations can found here. - post by edventures
- The Darwin Traveling Exhibit will be at the Boston Museum of Science. The Educators Guide is available here.
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World Wildlife Fund presents The Galápagos Islands
- Information and resources pertaining to the Galapagos as provided by the World Wildlife Fund.
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Galápagos – National Science Teachers Association site Annotated
- The National Science Teachers Association website hosts a wonderful resource on the Galapagos Islands.
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Galapagos Imax Movie – Museum of Science, Boston Annotated
- The Galapagos IMAX movie is playing at the Boston Museum of Science from 7 March – 25 April 2007. Accompanying the movie is the traveling exhibit, Darwin.
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Galapagos – The IMAX Experience Annotated
- Visit the Galapagos, IMAX style!
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November 14, 2006 at 8:45 am · Filed under Random Thoughts
Subtitled Insights from Early Adopters, this SIG advertises sessions on the following topics:
- Social Software in the Classroom: Happy Marriage or Clash of Cultures? (Eric Gordon, Emerson)
- Teaching and Learning in a Virtual World (Rebecca Nesson, Harvard)
- Electronic Constructivism: Inspiring and Motivating Students with Thought Provoking Questions and Emerging Technologies (Dr. Maureen Brown Yoder, Lesley University)
- Social Computing Tools in the Curriculum (Katie Livingston Vale, MIT)
More information is available at the Social Software SIG website including links to presentations and referenced materials.
It also leaves time at the end for furthering the creation of an online community of practice for EdTechies. This is probably the part I am looking forward to the most. I’ll post the details of the sessions that strike me although I’ve got to duck out of the first one to call into a teleconference to discuss Friday’s e-Portfolio summit.
The trip down from NH was a good 3 hours and 45 minutes but luckily, I’ve travelled down here with a colleague of mine, Casey Bisson of Maison Bisson fame so the trip was far more enjoyable than it might have been otherwise.
technorati tags:sstl2006,nercomp, sig, social, software, teaching, learning, technology, constructivism
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November 3, 2006 at 2:25 pm · Filed under Higher Education, Learning Theory
As part of the committee charged with developing the USNH e-Portfolio summit, one of our tasks was to determine our audience. Now this initiative is coming out of a system-wide $450,000 block grant so on one hand an obvious audience are the constituents who pay into the system, namely the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, Keene State College and Granite State College. But my friend and colleague, Dr. Royce Robertson, has thoughts similar to mine when the topic of e-portfolios in the state arises. In his blog, The Virtual Sherpa , he states:
The cycle of change regarding ePortfolios in the State of New Hampshire has a few missing links – teachers, employers, college admissions, and licensing boards.
Which echoes my thoughts exactly. Three of the four institutions have a focus on teacher preparation and education. The State of New Hampshire is eyeing an electronic portfolio requirement. And then there is what we do with those portfolios when we’re move from K-12 to higher ed and from higher ed into the job market.
It strikes me that the most logical partnership would be one between the State and the University System so as to create standards and portability between all of our institutions. Consider what an effective model of Dr. Robertson’s cycle listed above could look like.
Our learners begin their electronic portfolio career as early as the primary grades. These portfolios then follow our learners into middle and high school. As part of their commencement, these learners will be expected to present a portfolio which highlights their mastery of certain core competencies. As they begin to look towards their post-secondary education, these learners submit their portfolios to the institution(s) of their choice as part of the admissions process. Once admitted, the build upon their existing portfolio with their post-secondary work and employ the portfolio as part of their degree defense. As our newly graduated teachers begin to seek employment, this comprehensive portfolio is used during their job hunt to highlight their competencies and areas of expertise. Because these schools are using similar standards, the evaluation process is simplified. Now if the learner decides to pursue an advanced degree, they take their portfolio and carry it over (virtually) to their new institution.
I’ll admit that their are a lot of assumptions here, but since all of these entities are utilizing e-portfolios in one way or another, would it not make sense for folks to be able to take a look at any portfolio and have an understanding of what it represents?
technorati tags:eportfolio, electronic, portfolio, usnh, college, university, summit, psu, plymouth, state, nh
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September 21, 2006 at 5:57 pm · Filed under Random Thoughts
This is an unusual post from a techie but underneath all this techo-garb is a nature boy at heart. My wife Michelle, a 7th grade biological science teacher, picked this book up and I stole borrowed it from her as the picture touched me. It looked so much like my son Hunter.
The book is incredible and I found myself wondering if I pursued the right career when I moved away from working outdoors and into technology. Perhaps someday I’ll find a way to do both.
Last Child in the Woods
I have to thank Wes Fryer for his “Value of Slowing Down” post which reminded me that I had wanted to blog about this!
technorati tags:nature, child, woods, wilderness, wonder, beauty, love
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July 9, 2006 at 7:38 pm · Filed under TechTalk, Web 2.0
It seems that everyday brings a new tool/toy to my attention. Flock, Writely, Skype, WordPress, PBwiki, the list goes on and on as the deluge of feeds from my blogroll can attest!
Between the wealth of new web-based tools out there and my own digitally nomadic life, I thought it time that I create my own list of “killer apps” that I would combine into my truly mobile “office.”
At the risk of sounding like a Google flunky, I have to say that most of the tools they have either developed or acquired I would not hesitate to include as they form the beginnings of an online office suite. So to begin, here are my first candidates:
I would like to include Google Talk but as it does not have native support for Macs, it doesn’t rate as a communications tool in this any computer, anywhere model.
What else do I have in my toolkit?
Box.net – The idea of having online storage available to me with a web-based interface is great. Now they do have a 1GB storage cap for their free service and file uploads are limited to 10MB but for most uses this is quite adequate.
In the semi-mobile category
(semi-mobile only in that it requires external hardware such as a flash drive):
Portable Firefox – I like the idea of being able to carry my browser with me. My USB flash drive can become a portable desktop with a few more power apps like this.
I’ll add to this as I go along but this is a good start.
April 4, 2006 at 7:54 pm · Filed under Random Thoughts, TechTalk
I was checking out my blog stats from Performancing when I noticed that one of the referral URLs to my site was from blogsearch.google.com. I hadn’t heard of that one before so I pulled it up. It’s an interesting way to search just blog content. In a search for “ECAR,” my blog post New 2005 ECAR Report on Students and Information Technology was the second return. It is my sincere hope that speaks highly of the search process. I’ll have to remember to share this with my Web Expressions class.
UPDATE: Ok, so it turns out that blogsearch has been around since September of last year. That’s a lifetime in computer years but I wonder why it didn’t generate much buzz. I did notice as I was poking around that it’s process for returning results seems to favor those blogs with the key words in the title versus the content. I don’t know if I like that. For example, I did a search for edublogs and the first page was fine, but page three and many of the following pages of results had the same blog listed, albeit with differing posts.
I guess I would prefer a feature that would return a blog hit but would then subcategorize or compress links to the same blog.
BTW, Will Richardson’s blog, weblogg-ed.com didn’t make the first page for edublog. What gives? At least James Farmer and Josie Fraser were well represented!
