A Great Deal

Everything I know about the Internet, I must now admit, is due to Gabe and Max. Enjoy.

It's a Wonderful Internet

Check out this clever site that illustrates how much life has changed with the Internet:

http://www.itsawonderfulinternet.com

CCCSFAAA Conference

I spoke today at the CCCSFAAA Conference in San Francisco on the topic of Multi-Generational Learning. It was a great audience - very attentive, interested and engaged. If you are reading this blog because you were there and I (once again) shamelessly plugged it to artificially inflate my pathetic hit count - welcome! The links I mentioned are in the right column under the header "iPod Generation Links". You can find an older version of my slides by clicking on "Recent Presentations" in the "Other Links" section. I'll post my latest set of slides soon.

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Ralph Gaston

I’m an orphan now. My Dad passed away on November 8th. It was not entirely unexpected - he was 84 and in declining health, but it was, and still is, a major blow to me. I’ve wanted to write about him for over a week, but am only now able to do so.

My Dad never did anything to make himself famous. He didn’t run for public office or break any world records or record music or act in movies. He was a pharmaceutical salesman. He was as solid as a rock. He worked for the same company for over 30 years, lived in the house I grew up in for 34 years and was married to my Mom for 51 years until her death in January 2002. He was a World War II veteran. He loved to hike and backpack and fish in the Sierras. He had a jeep that he used to take us on adventures out in the desert. He had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh and to make others laugh.

My Dad loved the holidays – Christmas most of all. Our house was always the most decorated one on the street with a life size nativity scene and Santa and elves off to the side. All of them lit up by floodlights. He loved “A Christmas Carol” and when my brothers and I were little we would turn out all the lights in the house except the ones on the Christmas tree. We would lay on the floor and fall asleep to his deep voice reading us that classic tale.

My Dad was a family man. We never once doubted that we were the most important part of his life. He would be the first to tell you his greatest accomplishment was raising his four boys. We were his life and his career never came before us.

I remember my Dad as a somewhat stoic Mid-Westerner - he wasn’t one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. I saw a deeper side of him later in life as we grew closer and as he came to need us for help and assistance, but it turns out that he was a far more emotional man than I ever knew. My brother Mike was going through some boxes to find pictures for his memorial service and came across a small notebook labeled “Tender Moments”. Today we would call it a journal. My Dad recorded times in his life that were particularly poignant, virtually all of them having to do with my brothers and me. It turns out that my Dad was a man of deep emotion and some of his writings border on poetry. It was a wonderful gift to find and it’s difficult to read without getting choked up.

My brother Mike read one of the notations at my Dad’s memorial service. It noted that my Mom asked my two older brothers what they would remember about their Dad if he died. Steve responded quickly, “Well, that he loved us”. My Dad wrote the following over 40 years ago, “How else could I possibly ask to be remembered by my sons”.

Rest in peace, Dad. It is exactly how we remember you.

Modern Education

Another great video that presents the challenges facing us in education - and done in a very compelling style. Enjoy.

RSM/Coto Rotary

This morning I gave my iPod Generation presentation to the Rancho Santa Margarita/Coto de Caza Rotary Club. It was really interesting to me to hear their reaction to it since I primarily give this presentation to educators. One audience member was a part-time professor, but the rest worked in the private sector yet they face all of the same challenges we do in education. We want to make our message relevant to a generation of students who think differently than we do.

I appreciated the chance to speak to a different group of people (and appreciated the great breakfast also).

Virtual World Interoperability

More interesting news about virtual worlds in this CNET article. A very impressive group of companies are meeting and discussing the ability to transfer identities from one virtual world to another. This could be a very interesting development, particularly for students. It could wind up being similar in concept to an ePortfolio. A student's virtual identity could transfer across virtual worlds used by different educational institutions.

Virtual Worlds via Google

Some very exciting news from an article on CNET today. Google is working with a virtual world developer called Multiverse Network to integrate Google tools with their environment. People will be able to use the Sketchup 3D modeling tool and imagery from Google Earth when they create locations in the Multiverse virtual world.

This could open up all kinds of great opportunities for educators. There is a very steep learning curve to create spaces in areas like Second Life. If Google can put some of their engineering expertise into the creation of tools that are easy to use then it will lower the threshold considerably and open virtual worlds to a much larger group of educators. Unleashing the creativity of teachers into amazing new technology like virtual worlds has enormous potential.

Did You Know 2.0

Great video - a sequel to the original "Did You Know" video and well worth watching.

Google Earth and Law Enforcement

More GE news! There is an interesting article on CNET about how law enforcement is using Google Earth in some interesting ways. The images are not timely enough for direct law enforcement, but police have used it to check the terrain around suspected marijuana fields and counties are using it to check for house expansions completed without a permit. This is one way to know when something is a truly transformational technology - people wind up using it in ways that no one could have predicted.

Google Earth in Education

The Google Earth blog has a great article about the uses of Google Earth in education. GE is truly one of the greatest pieces of software ever written and if you are a teacher you should check out the article. It provides links to numerous resources you can use on a wide range of topics.

How to know if you have too much money

If you can do something like this.

NSBA Study

A very interesting study was released recently from the National School Boards Association called "Creating and Connecting". It deals with the use of social networking tools by teenagers. An amazing 96% of online teens report the use of social networking technology and 9-17 year-olds report spending almost as much time on those networks as they spend watching television. Over 40% post comments at least once a week and over 20% do so every day.

You can get the report here.

This is obviously a very engaging environment and one that I think could be leveraged in an educational setting. This week when I was speaking to a group of K-12 teachers I tried to demonstrate Facebook, yet I was blocked by their network access policies. I understand the concerns about the appropriate use of software while at school, but this seems to be a misguided policy, and several teachers in the audience expressed their frustration to me. They said at home they often come across great educational materials, only to discover that it's blocked when they try to use it in the classroom. How are we going to reach kids if we don't do so using tools that are effective?

Serrano and RSM Intermediate

Today I gave my iPod Generation speech at Serrano and Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate schools. They were both great audiences and I enjoyed it a lot. RSM was particularly interesting since both my kids went there. You can imagine how thrilled they were that their Dad was speaking to their former teachers (I could almost hear them cringing as I was speaking).

I need to clarify something for anyone reading this who has heard my presentation. I use my kids a lot in the speech to highlight the differences between my generation and theirs. I have some fun with it and I'm concerned that it might come across as me being critical of my kids - instead of poking fun at the differences (which is my intent). I am truly blessed with two remarkable young people and I am exceedingly proud of them and proud to be their Dad. I'm a very fortunate man for many reasons, chief among them being my kids.

Social Networking Site for Collegians

CNET has an interesting article about the usage of social networking sites among college students and lists some sites that were new to me. Check it out.

Capo USD Adult Ed

Today I did my "iPod Generation" presentation for the Capistrano Unified School District adult education teacher in-service. It was a really nice group. We were crammed into a hot stuffy room at the end of a long day, yet there was a lot of great energy there. Their facilities were not exactly state-of-the-art (adult ed tends to be at the end of the priority list in a K-12 district), yet their passion for their work was palpable. I was speaking to several of them beforehand and it was great to hear of their love for teaching. Most of them teach ESL students and many of the classes are focused on basic life skills. None of the people in that room are going to get rich doing what they do, but they do it because they love teaching. What an awesome profession!

Afterwards a high school computer instructor pointed out that while students today adapt to technology in ways that are amazing, often that knowledge is not very deep. They may think they know how to use MS Office, but they are still lining up columns by hitting the space bar. This is a great point and one that I am going to incorporate into future presentations. Just because they often learn technology faster than us old fogies, we can't assume that this generations of students is technically proficient. They still need solid technical education.

Jott

I did an in-service presentation called "Geek Report" at each of our colleges this week and had a great time exploring geeky stuff with our faculty. I always appreciate their dedication to students and interest in learning new things.

I ran out of time at the Saddleback presentation and didn't get to mention one of the cool new services that I have been using a lot. You should check out Jott.com - it's an amazing service you can set up to transcribe voice messages into text and then have it sent out to email or a cell phone text message. I have reached that age where I forget things a lot and often remember them when I am driving home or somewhere where it's not convenient to write myself a note. I set up my email address on Jott and have their phone number on speed dial on my cell. I can make a quick call, say something like, "Don't forget to reschedule the design meeting on Thursday", and when I come into work the next day that message is in an email to me.

It's a great service, and for now it's free!

Steve Gaston

Today I am going to attend the memorial service for my brother Steve. He died last week one day after his 55th birthday, finally felled by the cruel effects of the Parkinson’s disease he fought so long with an inspiring level of grace and dignity. I have three older brothers and it seems so strange now to think that there are only three “Gaston Boys” around instead of four. My brother Dave and I going to deliver parts of the eulogy and my brother Mike, who is a pastor, will officiate at the service. Steve was the quietest among us and today it’s our turn to turn the spotlight on him.

It’s an impossible task to adequately summarize the life of anyone in a few short words, but I feel compelled to give you a glimpse of my brother, despite the futile task of reducing his life to a brief posting in a seldom read blog.

His life was marked by a series of obstacles. He almost died at birth and had to grapple with a number of neurological and physical ailments his entire life. He did so with his usual manner – quietly and patiently chipping away at the problem until he had it solved. To give you a sense of how he approached these series of obstacles, let me tell you of a conversation we had when I first learned of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. I asked him how he was doing and he said, “Other than learning I have an incurable brain disease, I’m doing OK”. Only Steve could have said that without a trace of irony or sarcasm. He had a new problem to solve and he set about it without a complaint.

Steve was the most helpful person I have ever known and he was always the first person to volunteer and the last person to leave. He derived great joy from helping others and had no desire to receive recognition for this work. The only complaint I heard him make about his disease was how it kept him from helping people – he was the one who now needed assistance and it tore him up inside. If you could have seen his rapidly deteriorating physical condition the last few years, you would have been amazed that this was his primary concern.

I suppose some might say that he didn’t ultimately overcome this last obstacle of his life, but I would disagree. Parkinson’s may have gradually chipped away at his body, but it never robbed him of his dignity or reduced him to self-pity. He may have lost the battle, but he won the war. Because of his faith I believe he is truly in a better place today - standing tall and straight again after years of being trapped in an increasingly constrained shell of a body. He joins my Mom in heaven and I’m sure he immediately set about seeing if there was anyone that needed a helping hand.

CCULAA Conference

I spoke today at the CCULAA Conference and gave my iPod Generation presentation. It was a great crowd - very engaged and active particularly since it was at 4:00 in the afternoon on a hot muggy day. I plugged my humble little blog, so if you are reading this as a result, welcome!

Internet Crash

Some really startling news. Glad I had my blog backed up to a jump drive!

Keep it Simple

Pictured to the right is the remote control for my DVD player at home. Why post such a fascinating image for my two faithful readers of DigitalEdu to peruse? It is a great illustration of something I've been thinking of a lot lately. Simplicity.

There are 41 buttons on the remote for my DVD player. We use it maybe once or twice a week and we use it to simply play movies. I need buttons to play, stop and pause. I have no idea what the other buttons are supposed to do and I don't have the time or inclination to find out. All I want to do is play movies. I have a button to "Prog" and another one to "A-B". Because there is so much clutter on the device, I rarely hit the right button the first time. It's not like I'm a Luddite - I love technology but I just don't want to change my behavior to match their device. I want their device to adapt to me. Why can't there just be one button? When the DVD isn't playing, the button would start, while it's running it will pause, while it's paused, it would stop. That way I only need to hit one button and the device will change the behavior based on my current context.

It's obvious to me why the device is like this - the engineers were too lazy to put more effort into the user interface and the project manager didn't view it as the end user - he/she viewed it like an engineer. Compare this kind of device with the iPhone. There's a good reason people become so fanatical over Apple products. Apple puts an enormous amount of work into the user interface (the iPhone has one button on the front and the software adapts to the current activity the person is performing). They make it simple, they make it elegant and they make it fun. I have recently started using a MacBook Pro after being away from a Mac for a long time and it is a beautiful machine to use.

I also know why more devices are not like the iPhone. It is a lot of work to make complex activities appear simple. That's true whether it's hardware, software, or a teacher trying to explain a complex problem to her students. Last Monday we went live with a new registration system and we spent a lot of time working on the interface and trying to make it as simple and straightforward as possible. We spent hours going over every form widget and every word to see if we could make it cleaner and simpler. We conducted numerous focus groups with students and staff to find out what was important, and what wasn't. So far, the results look encouraging, but we're keeping a close eye on the statistics to see if students are using it with more accuracy and getting through the process faster.

I would much rather have our systems look like the iPhone than my DVD remote. Keep it simple.

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft announced today a remarkable new interface called Microsoft Surface. It is an entirely touch and gesture based interface and the demos look very impressive. Initially it will be out of the price range of your typical individual, but I'm sure that will come down over time.

At this point it's hard to tell if this is just marketing hype or a truly new innovation in computing. What always impresses me though is when systems adapt to the natural way that people behave. In the demo videos, people shrink and enlarge photographs by squeezing or spreading their fingers together. They download pictures by setting a camera on the surface, and the system automatically connects to the camera and "spreads" the pictures out for viewing.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how a system like this could be used effectively in education. Any time the interface doesn't get in the way, we have a much better opportunity for learning.

It looks very exciting and it's great to see something this innovative come from Microsoft. Check it out!

MAP Go-Live

I want to apologize to both of my faithful DigitalEdu readers for the rather sparse blogging of late. Both my professional and personal lives have been incredibly busy lately and it's been tough to to find any time.

Got a few minutes right now and I'm very pleased to announce here that we went live with our "My Academic Plan" project on April 26th. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Our design team did an amazing job on this project, and I can't say enough about them. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had on a project. Their dedication to creating a truly great academic planning tool for our students was amazing. It was a long road, but I believe our students are going to benefit from all the hard work.

MAP is now available for all students through our new MySite 2.0 portal, and available to any staff member by request. If you are not in our district, I created a MAP Information Page that gives you some information which includes a demo login you can use to check it out.

One question any developer always asks is "If we build it, will they come?". No one wants to put a lot of work into a system and then find out that nobody really wants it. That was answered for me when I checked our stats for the first week. We had 840 plans created in the first week of availability, and we have yet to do any promotion. When you count the over 400 plans that were created during the focus groups, it means we are already above 1,200 plans. That is the part I love about my job. When we first made the link live I was watching the stats, seeing students using MAP for the first time and realizing that we were truly helping them make better decisions about their course selection. Very cool!

A Great Week

I got back yesterday with my daughter from our annual trip to Mexico with the high school youth group from my church. This was my third year and each time it is different, and each time it has been an amazing experience. I am never more tired, dirty and fulfilled then during this week. We camp in an area provided by the sponsor - Amor Ministries - but have no running water, electricity, flush toilets or showers. You can imagine what it is like to take 27 middle class kids out of the South Orange County bubble and expose them to what life is like for a majority of the world. If you based your imagination on the image of teenagers on television then you would imagine a nightmare. It was anything but. Every year I am impressed by the quality of these young people. They spent the time digging trenches and leveling ground and sawing wood and hammering nails and mixing cement and framing walls and applying stucco and playing with the neighborhood kids. They did it all with very little complaining and with a sense of purpose that was admirable. It was truly an honor to be working alongside with them.

We have two major goals - one is to build a house in 4 days using nothing but hand tools. The other is to let the family know that God loves them and we are there to provide tangible evidence of that love. I can only imagine what goes through the mind of the family to see three vans pull up, a group of noisy, boisterous teenagers pour out, and in a few days, transform their life. I can't think of a better way to spend a week and coming back to my regular job seems so trivial in comparison.

Amazing Interface

Rob Hartman, the Saddleback College Webmaster, sent me a link to the video below. It shows an interface of the future that is pretty amazing. Imagine how this could be used in the classroom.

http://www.fastcompany.com/video/player.html?bctid=422563006

Immersive Environments

If you want to see what is happening with technology and young people today, then you should read this article that describes what MTV is doing with virtual worlds. I think there is a very exciting trend toward fully immersive environments and it's something that deserves the attention of those of us in higher education. There is a lot of potential here to create some very effective learning environments.

The other day I joined an interesting conference in Second Life. I listened to a live audio feed of an Educause conference that was taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina, but I listened to it while "sitting" in a virtual amphitheater in Second Life with about 20-30 other people, all represented by their avatars. The topic was Immersive Learning Environments so it was a very fitting way to listen in. Frankly, it was not very effective for a couple of reasons. The technology still has a ways to go - there was no live video (only rotating still pictures) and the audio kept dropping out. What was most irritating however was related to human nature (which unfortunately technology has yet to overcome). Just like in real world conferences, a lot of people arrived late, were disruptive, and kept asking stupid questions. I think the potential for creating a very compelling, interactive and immersive environment with this kind of technology is huge. I suppose it's inevitable that we'll have to let real people (with all of their annoying habits) use it.

Did You Know

Interesting video from Karl Fisch:

Bringing People Together

Every once in a while, something happens to people I know and love that puts life in perspective. This past week, Katie Holland, the 17 year old daughter of my good friend Dan Holland, was in a horrible accident while working on a horse ranch near their home in Montana. She lost her leg and is facing a long time of recovery - they have been told to expect a two month hospital stay. She was airlifted to a hospital in Seattle that has an excellent reputation for this kind of trauma. If you are the praying type, please pray for her and her entire family. As the parent of two kids, I can't imagine the ordeal this has been and they have a long road ahead of them.

A web site has been set up to keep people updated on her status:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/katieholland

It's a great example of how technology can be used effectively to bring people together during a time like this. The family doesn't have to relive the experience over and over again and get worn out by answering every call and email. Those of us who care about them can get the latest news on her status, and we get to read all of the wonderful comments that are being left by people all over the country.

Blackboard Scholar

I attended a webinar today on a new product from Blackboard called Scholar. It looks pretty interesting, but I have mixed feelings about their approach. Scholar is a social bookmarking service that can be completely integrated with Blackboard. It has all the usual capabilities of posting bookmarks, tagging, searching, browser integration, etc. Very much like Del.icio.us - which is the service I use every day. Services like del.icio.us are wide open to any content, where Scholar is intended to aggregate links related to specific pre-defined disciplines. Instructors can utilize this source to research the best sites on the web for the topic they are teaching. They created some pretty nifty interfaces into the Blackboard system, both for producing and consuming the content. They made it very easy for an instructor to incorporate the information in their courses.

Sounds great so far, right? A large software company is paying attention to Web 2.0 and integrating a free service into their product. So why my mixed feelings? Scholar is free to consume for anyone, but to produce content you have to access it through a Blackboard server. You can't create an account on Scholar.com - it has to be done through a Blackboard building block.

Now, Blackboard can obviously do anything they want since they are writing the software, and they are making it available for anyone to search and read at no cost. However, they seem to be making a big deal about this as a service to the higher education community. I think it would be a much better service if they didn't constrain the producers to only their paying customers. There are other services out there like Harvard's H20 and University of Pennsylvania's Penntags that perform a similar service without the restriction. Given the major black eye Blackboard has received from their patent issue, it would seem that opening up Scholar to everyone would generate some goodwill from the higher ed community.

Connected Classroom

Here is a really nice video clip that illustrates a lot of what I have been talking about in my iPod Generation talks. It's called Connected Classroom and I found it on the think:lab blog.

Teachers and Marketers

Kathy Sierra has written a very interesting article about the role that teachers and marketers play in society, and what they can learn from each other. As usual from Kathy, it is provocative and interesting.

NOAA in Second Life

I am growing increasingly intrigued by the possibilities of using Second Life in education. Just wish I had the time to play around with it more! Here is a nice video clip that illustrates how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is using Second Life for educational purposes.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, has created a very interesting video that explains the evolution of the web and what Web 2.0 really is all about. Check it out:

Universities and the "Virtual Future"

There is an interesting article on Cnet about the future of universities. I especially liked this quote from Charles Reed, the CSU chancellor, when talking about face-to-face versus the virtual world:

"It's not an either-or thing. We need the 'high touch,' but we need the high tech at the same time."

I think that is the right approach. Pure distance education is not for everyone, but a combination of face-to-face time augmented by a compelling, interactive virtual experience could be for just about everyone. The article also mentions some exciting developments in integrating virtual worlds like Second Life with course management systems.

iPod Generation (Reprise)

I did my "iPod Generation" presentation for the Saddleback College High School Guidance Counselors Day today. It's been a while since I did that spiel and it was good to get the slides updated (they are posted under "Recent Presentations" in the right column). Once again I made a pathetic appeal for people to visit my blog, so if you are here because of it, welcome! I'm glad you have joined my two faithful readers and hopefully the server will handle the increased load.

It was a great audience and I got a very positive response. There were a few requests to come visit the high schools for staff development, which I would really enjoy. All of us in education owe it to our students to stay on top of technology trends so we can serve them better. I love being part of that conversation - it's one of the best parts of my job.

I'm also speaking at the IVC HS Counselor Day in March. I did the iPod Generation speech last year for them, so this year I'll be talking about Web 2.0 and doing a demonstration of our new MAP (My Academic Plan) system.

Yet Another Sign of the Impending Apocalypse

Newsweek magazine has an article this week on the seemingly impossible merger of geek culture and hip-hop. It is known as Nerdcore and believe it or not has a growing list of "artists" (sarcastic use of quotes intentional) and followers. I'm sure that I'm just too old to understand the appeal of any variation of hip-hop. To me, it all sounds like semi-literate ramblings spoken to an annoying beat.

I particularly liked one quote in the article from Jason Tanz who has written a book on rap and white America:

"Nerdcore is expressing yourself and not apologizing for it. But they don't want to win over the streets - they're kind of scared of the streets."

I did a little bit of Googling to find some nerdcore lyrics and ran across this lovely little ditty from a rapper named MC Hawking. The title is UFT for the MC.

Trash Talk
Right now!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Verse 1
I am a scientist.
I am a physicist.
I know what I want, and I know how to get it,
I want to unlock the universe.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
It's the only one for me.

Verse 2
A unified field theory,
it's coming some day wait and see.
A theory to combine electromagnetivity,
with the weak and strong forces and gravity.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
Not Newtonian gravity.

Verse 3
Einstein tried, but he couldn't see,
the random state of the galaxies.
But quantum theory will be key,
to a unified field theory.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
Not relativity.

Verse 4
Right now the best bet seems to be,
the work being done in M-Theory.
Time will tell but I guarantee,
they ain't gonna find it at MIT.

Chorus
The institute won't beat me.
Ain't gonna happen G.

Outro
Cause, I want a unified field theory.
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
You know what I mean?
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
And a Nobel prize for me.

O yeah!
Uhh!

Only in America!

Second Life

There is a fascinating trend on the Internet that I have been wanting to post about for quite a while, but just haven't had the time. Some people believe that the next logical step for the web is to move from a two dimensional space using a book metaphor (i.e. web page) to a three dimensional space. One technology that might fulfill this prediction is something called a Multi User Virtual Environment (or MUVE for the acronym inclined). The most famous of these is called Second Life and it has been growing rapidly due to a lot of media attention recently. In a MUVE you are represented by an avatar, which you can usually customize to meet your particular whim.

I first started using Second Life about a year ago and, like many people, I quickly stopped because I didn't really see much use for it. The primary usage seemed to be for (how should I put this) non family-friendly activities. Evidently people think avatar-on-avatar action is kinda hot. I kept reading more about it, and a couple of months ago decided to give it another shot. It truly is a remarkable place since everything you see in this world is created by members of the community. A number of educators are starting to explore ways to use SL, and it's very exciting to see the level of creativity that is taking place. You can read more about the educational uses of SL on their education page. If you are interested I would recommend signing up for the email list that is on that page. It is very active and a lot of great ideas are being posted.

Be aware that there is a significant learning curve to using SL and you should not skip the orientation that is available the first time you sign on. It is run by a company called Linden Labs and they have had significant growing pains with the recent rapid growth. The site can be quite flaky at times so be patient if you want to learn how to use it.

I think this kind of site has enormous potential in education. It can make distance learning more personal and engaging (the average session time in SL is somewhere around 3 hours and it can be fairly addicting once you get started). The other day I was checking out the SDSU virtual campus that is in the picture and a person "walked" up to me and started chatting. She was a language instructor at a private school in Belgium and we "talked" for a while about how SL is being used in education. It was a pretty fascinating experience and was much more engaging than just a typical text-based chat. It is being used by professors at Harvard Law, SDSU, UC Davis, Ball State, Stanford, and many others. You can find a complete list here.

The Truth About Google Earth

I always wondered how they did it - now we know...

Busy Week

In-Service week is over and it was a busy time. I spoke at 6 sessions, talked about Web 2.0, My Academic Plan (MAP), MySite 2.0 and blogging. It was a great week and I had the chance to talk to a lot of instructors who are doing some very cool things. At least one person who attended my blogging session has now taken the plunge and created a blog - Kris Leppien-Christensen. Check out his blog.