Quantcast

Browse by Tags

All Tags » technology   (RSS)

connecting

"What is one item of technology that the world would be better off without?" I ask one morning for Bell Work. It feels like a soft ball question, but a few students struggle with it. "Let's get to work," I implore two boys. "I'm sorry, I'm thinking," Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

2010 03 2

John Spencer

3 Comments

five thoughts on Twitter

I have been on Twitter for awhile now. I've wanted to write a blog post about it, but my thoughts range so much that I thought I would share some random musings: There is no sense of permanence or posterity. There is also little sense of who has read Read More...
Filed under:

,

2010 02 28

John Spencer

5 Comments

sometimes it's best when technology isn't user-friendly

The simple addition of "pages" tabs into Blogger has made student portfolios so much easier. In the past, I would say, "I want you to have a blog that also functions as a website and as a wiki, allowing me to edit your portfolio. I'm not telling you how Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

2010 02 20

John Spencer

2 Comments

combating the myths of online reading

I'm reading a great book called Readicide, but he has a very anti-computer bias. I get it. I can be a bit of a Luddite myself. However, my concerns have more to do with the entertainment of the medium, the loss of community in online communication and Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

,

2010 01 27

John Spencer

0 Comments

shaking the dust off a vapor existence

A man with an unrefined voice and a slightly hick accent stands before the crowd and offers his thoughts on the universe. How did this ever go viral? How did he ever attract these outcasts? Where are the three points? Where are the fill-in-the-blank answers. Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

,

,

,

2010 01 12

John Spencer

5 Comments

cloud cartoon

I often feel like I have to choose between an ultra-rigid Course Mgmt System or "The Cloud" (which often has age limits). This cartoon is about the reality of that. Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

,

,

2010 01 10

John Spencer

2 Comments

congratulations, it's a blog!

I'm a big fan of NPR and their project "This I Believe." So, I thought I would explain a blog with a few belief statements: I believe that fiction can be as true as fact and that satire can be as honest as a critical analysis. Thus, I go back to A Brave Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

,

,

2010 01 5

John Spencer

8 Comments

issues with "the cloud"

kids lack access to the cloud and are forced into a course management box When speaking about technology integration, the first option people suggest is the notion of course management system. Just create one online hub where all things are accomplished. Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

2010 01 1

John Spencer

4 Comments

hour-glasses and e-readers

It's easy to confuse accuracy for truth, efficiency for effectiveness and novelty for innovation. Case in point: an hour glass is less effective than an atomic clock, but more effective than a sun dial. Yet, the medium itself manipulates people either Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

2009 12 29

John Spencer

5 Comments

adventures in pencil integration

It's 1907 and everyone is raving about the importance of twentieth century learning. A new pedagogy. A new approach. This is the story of a man on an adventure to liberate his school from chalk and slate and to begin the process of pencil integration Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

2009 12 22

John Spencer

3 Comments

meet android

A few days back, I had a dream about Google. I've always had vivid dreams about current events (one involved me being invited to a literal global pissing contest sponsored by No Child Left Behind and another involved Al-Qaeda buying our school and turning Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

2009 12 16

John Spencer

4 Comments

iCrack

Intoxicated drivers are eleven times as likely to cause a car accident as sober drivers. People who text while driving are twenty three times as likely as those who aren't texting. I'm not surprised. I've had awkward conversations with people who bust Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

2009 11 17

John Spencer

0 Comments

an unexplored area of bias

Recently I wanted students to examine if they could identify a fictional story on a website. I used one "neutral" website with true information. I then created two articles, one that was true and one that was false. In the first website, I created a very Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

,

,

2009 11 10

John Spencer

0 Comments

tiny blunder

Does anyone have official instructions on using emoticons in parenthesis? I needed to use one in an e-mail this morning and it made the smiley face look like a double chin - a sort of Rush Limbaugh happy face. I feel like I've spent a good portion of Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

2009 10 28

John Spencer

0 Comments

rethinking Ning

I just re-read a few of my last posts and they seem to be non-educational and a bit whiny in tone. So, here is one directly related to teaching: I use Ning with my students. It's actually the first of the programs they use. I have found that even the Read More...
Filed under:

,

,

2009 10 21

John Spencer

0 Comments

More Posts Next page »