MOVE, LEARN, EAT

In the spirit of Matt dancing across the globe, here's one of guy walking, learning, and eating through 11 countries. Amazing production that again showcases world culture in a very clever way.

Matt who?

A few years ago, Matt Harding became an overnight Internet sensation. He posted a video of him dancing in 42 different countries... yep, that's it.

I challenge you to watch it without smiling.



More about Matt can be found here

The American Dropout Crisis

NPR is running a series on the impact of dropouts.

Here's a great set of resources related to the dropout crisis in America.

http://www.npr.org/series/138542241/dropping-out-the-human-face-of-an-education-crisis

Are you a Gem or a Jerk?

Are you a gem or a jerk?

Daniel Pink has an easy way to help you find out...

http://www.danpink.com/archives/2011/07/a-30-second-test-to-determine-whether-your-boss-is-a-gem-or-a-jerk

Google Apps for Education Resources

Google Apps for Education is an impressive suite of tools.

Here's a great list of resources to help educators get the most of these in the classroom.

These come from the various Google Apps for Education-specific sessions held this past summer in Philadelphia at ISTE.

http://iste2011.googleapps.com/

Data!

Inforgraphics, those catchy, trendy images that expalin complicated concepts visually, are hot on the Internet.

Here's a nice one explaining the sheer volume of data controlling our digital world.

Found via Read/Write Blog

Are you +?

Millions are +ing... Are you?

Google+ is taking over the world of social networking... Or, at least it's getting its 15 minutes of fame this month.

Is it good enough to last? Is facebook doomed to be the next MySpace?

Only time... and the fickle world of the Internet... will tell.

Want to know more about the mysterious new Google+? For a complete breakdown and explanation of all of Google+'s goodness, check out Mashable's Google+: The complete Guide.

Highlights for Recent Supreme Court Decisions that Impact Education

From one of my favorite blogs on law/education:

A summary of 10 recent Supreme Court decisions that impact the rights of children, school board members, school employees, and/or litigants seeking to challenge aid to private schools:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2011/07/the_us_supreme_courts_recently.html

The Creative Commons

A wonder illustrative explanation of the power of the creative commons licensing:

Home Digital Media Centers

I just got a new device for my home entertainment center... ROKU.

Without the hassle of setting up a computer to connect to your TV at home, you can now enjoy your subscription to netflix 'watch instantly' queue on the big screen.

Just connect the small, easy to set up device (retails less than $100) to your TV via HDMI and you're ready to start streaming!

I love it. Remote-controlled, Internet TV on your TV.

Link.

Are you this kind of leader?

I love this blog post about leadership. Absolutely love it.

Are you this kind of leader?

Can you remember the leader you once worked for who followed this philosophy and helped you to get where you are today?

Link.

Google+

Some reports are out there that Google+, the newest player on the social networking scene, is now up to as many as 10 million users after only a few weeks in beta... with membership only given to limited folks at a time to ensure the google infrastructure can support it.

Incredible... more about the new Internet phenom here.

PAIUnet

The vast majority of Pennsylvania school districts have joined the state's first high-speed fiber optic Wide Area Network... PAIUnet.

PAIUnet is a statewide, high-speed educational network that enables educators and students throughout Pennsylvania to create, communicate, collaborate and share valuable resources to enhance student learning.

PAIUnet provides PA Intermediate Units (IUs) and K-12 schools a network that is 50 times faster and 95% less expensive than using the commodity Internet to connect to one another. It increases connectivity between Pennsylvania IUs and school districts providing access to content and resources that will transform the way educational services and information are delivered.

PAIUnet connects all 29 IUs and their member school districts throughout the Commonwealth. It also connects public library systems and charter schools. This project will have an impact on all areas of IU and school services from the business office to the classroom.

Learn more about PAIUnet and its many services available to PA schools.

Copyright and Kids

Here's a short video produced by YouTube with the intention of teaching younger kids about the "Dos" and "Donts" of digital copyright.

Fiber Optics in Laymen's Terms

Fiber optic connectivity is largely the driving force behind the infrastructure that connects our schools to one another, the Intermediate Unit, other school districts, and the Internet in general.

Here's a terrific video that describes in layman's terms how this technology is able to transport data rapidly over long distances.

The Future of Search Engines

Wolfram Alpha is one of the more exciting websites that I have seen in recent memory. I have been a big fan since its BETA launch some time ago. It represents what is to come as we approach Web 3.0... using data contextually to make more informed decisions, leveraging the vast amounts of information avaialble on the web.

Visit the site here.

Take a tour of what the site can do here.

Visit the education-specific site to learn how WA can be used in the classroom.

Screencasting in a jiffy

In need of a way to create quick and easy screencasts of your computer to share with your students, staff, or colleagues?

Try Screener...

Create an account, click record, and you're off...

ISTE 2011

The ISTE Conference is, by far and away, the biggest educational technology conference in the country, maybe the world. Formerly called NECC (the National Educational Computing Conference), ISTE brings 15,000+ educators from across the globe together for a week to discuss best practices in instructional technology. There are strands for IT professionals, Instructional Technology Specialists, Media Specialists, classroom teachers, administrators, and more. Core components of the event transcend any one area of study and meet the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders.

In addition to quality keynotes, workshops, breakout sessions, and exhibitions, ISTE is the place for birds of a feather conversations and networking.

The highlight of the conference for me has always been the vendor floor, where hundreds of exhibitors show their wares. It's thousands upon thousands of square feet of "school technology goodness."

If you are anywhere near Philly this week, you have to check out the ISTE Conference.

More info here.

You have the iPads... now, how do you get the apps?

The logistics behind deploying iPads within any organziations is the single biggest hurdle to overcome once you find the funding. iPads are, by their nature, designed to be individualized, customized tools. They weren't necessarily designed with 'the enterprise' in mind.

A school system that deploys them needs to factor in many decisions about who can buy apps, with what funds, through what means, and according to what standard?

Many districts do not feel comfortable with reimbursing employees for their expenses, distributing gift cards, or using organizational credit cards.

Many districts did not know how to facilitate the app approval and purchase process.

If you find yourself in either or both camps, fear not. Apple has an app volume licensing program that solves these issues.

Find more about the program and how your district can leverage the processes Apple has put into place to assist districts struggling with the logistics of deploying iOS devices.

A Kid Who Gets It

Vi Hart has one of the best student blogs... ever!

I like her simple way of explaining complicated mathemticals concepts.

Watch enough of her videos and you'll grow to enjoy her snarky humor and criticisms of teachers.

How many kids like Vi are there in your school bored to tears?

First Amendment Rights Extend to Facebook Parody Sites

In an interesting turn, it looks like students who create fake facebook pages of their teachers and administrators have first amendment rights to do so within limitations now being defined through case law.

Read a great summary from Ed Week on the recent court decisions this past week from Federal Court in Philadelphia.

Happy Days and the Multiple Intelligences

They don't make TV shows like they used to...

Who knew the writers of Happy Days were the pioneers of the Multiple Intelligences.



This clip is from well after Happy Days had 'jumped the shark' but is entertaining none the less.

How to peel a banana

Have you ever learned that you've been doing something "the wrong way" your whole life? It's an impressive feeling when it happens.

Never happened to you?

Think you know how to peel a banana? Think you do it the way nature intended?

Think again...

How Millennial Are you?

The Pew Center has a quiz to help you rate your "Millennial-ness"

It's only 14 questions and will take you 2 minutes...

http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/index.php

The new iPad is Magical...

Check out the features of the newest iPad... Don't blink.

Blogging 101

Still unsure about what a blog is?

I really enjoy the CommonCraft videos that explain complicated concepts 'In Plain English.'

Learn more about blogs here...



Then hop on over to Google Blogger to sign up for your own.

It's a Jungle Out There...

Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose from July of last year…

One of the most interesting and useful interviews I have seen in a long time.

In addition to an interesting discussion on tablet and eReader technology, it's a great breakdown of how Amazon makes its business decisions, etc.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11138

Sure, it's a bit of an informercial... but, still well worth the time spent watching to gain insights from one of the most successful businessmen in the world.

Following this blog

There are lots of ways to subscribe to or follow any blog, mine included.

You can do it the old fashioned way by bookmarking this site and visiting it when you think of it or have time.

You could also make it easier on yourself and use the RSS functionality built in to the blog to let it tell you when new posts are made... this takes the guess work of whether there's anything new to read out of your hands.

Not sure what RSS is? Watch this short video:
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

If you have a blog reader, here's the RSS feed to subscribe:
http://thedigitalhoff.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

If you are new to reading blogs, I recommend you try Google Reader. It's the best, IMHO. If you have an exisiting gmail or google account, you can set it up in no time here:
www.google.com/reader

Here's a great one-minute video all about Google Reader 'In Plain English'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPZ2Uu_X3Y&feature=player_embedded

My first post

Greetings, classmates --

Thank you for visiting my brand new blog.

I've been avid blog reader for the last 6 years and have an impressive collection of RSS feeds coming into my Google Reader account everyday.

However, I've never been on this side of the blog before...

Here goes nothing!

Mark