My new gadget is on the right hand side of my blog at the top and the icon says "call me"
I just got my Google Voice number. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about (that would have included me a couple of weeks ago) Google Voice is a service, free of charge, from Google that acts as a virtual operator. The official Google blog with info can be found here
Currently you can only get Google Voice by invite and you can find a link at the aforementioned link.
Now like I said I just got it but I know about some of its capabilities. You can use it to tie all of your phone numbers (cell, home, work, and others) to one number that you can select. When someone calls that number it can contact all, or non depending on your preference. You have the ability to either take a call or send it to voice mail, which you can pick up later on your computer as text, if that is what you desire.
The first use that comes to mind is I can give out ONE number and screen my calls without giving out any of my PRIVATE numbers. The implications for education are obvious, see how I cleverly bring it back to the goal of this blog ;-) namely I can give my phone number out to my classroom, or parents, or even put it on my blog and facilitate communication with my students without risking my privacy.
Pretty Cool!
Give me a call :-)
bf
Friday, October 16, 2009
Survey
Well Thursday night I started to pull together my thoughts on the survey questions we collaborated on. Whew! it's tough to get my mind around a direction to go with the data. A couple initial impressions, however. First, while there is great information to get on the open ended questions, like what do you teach, collating that data stinks! A better design might have been to pre select and have them choose thus allowing an easier sort. My other impression is wow we all come from a wide net of schools. When I feel down about my long day and my 30 minute commute to class I just have to remind myself of those of you who put in the same day I do but drive from Coopersville or Jonesville.
I look forward to seeing you all in the next class.
bf
I look forward to seeing you all in the next class.
bf
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
WOW KEWL!
I just change my blog template. you just have to love CSS .....cascading style sheets which allows for this to happen on the fly...so to speak.....the new code looks like this
\\pre id="line1"><html dir="ltr"><head><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var a=window;function e(b){this.t={};this.tick=function(c,h,d){d=d?d:(new Date).getTime();this.t[c]=[d,h]};this.tick("start",null,b)}var f=new e;a.jstiming={Timer:e,load:f};try{a.jstiming.pt=a.gtbExternal&&a.gtbExternal.pageT()||a.external&&a.external.pageT}catch(g){};a.tickAboveFold=function(b){b=b;var c=0;if(b.offsetParent){do c+=b.offsetTop;while(b=b.offsetParent)}b=c;b<=750&&a.jstiming.load.tick("aft")};var i=false;function j(){if(!i){i=true;a.jstiming.load.tick("firstScrollTime")}}a.addEventListener?a.addEventListener("scroll",j,false):a.attachEvent("onscroll",j); })(); span class="end-tag">script>
<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="description" content="Blogger is a free blog publishing tool from Google for easily sharing your thoughts with the world. Blogger makes it simple to post text, photos and video onto your personal or team blog."> <meta name="keywords" content="blogger, blogspot, blog, blogger.com, blogspot.com, free blog, personal blog, weblog, create blog, new blog">
<title>Blogger: Foltz B EDU 590 - Create Postspan class="end-tag">title>
<link href="http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/v-css/3178085652-app_common_head_content.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<style type="text/css">
.......d("" + "posteditor");
span class="end-tag">script>
\\pre id="line1"><html dir="ltr"><head><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var a=window;function e(b){this.t={};this.tick=function(c,h,d){d=d?d:(new Date).getTime();this.t[c]=[d,h]};this.tick("start",null,b)}var f=new e;a.jstiming={Timer:e,load:f};try{a.jstiming.pt=a.gtbExternal&&a.gtbExternal.pageT()||a.external&&a.external.pageT}catch(g){};a.tickAboveFold=function(b){b=b;var c=0;if(b.offsetParent){do c+=b.offsetTop;while(b=b.offsetParent)}b=c;b<=750&&a.jstiming.load.tick("aft")};var i=false;function j(){if(!i){i=true;a.jstiming.load.tick("firstScrollTime")}}a.addEventListener?a.addEventListener("scroll",j,false):a.attachEvent("onscroll",j); })(); span class="end-tag">script>
<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="description" content="Blogger is a free blog publishing tool from Google for easily sharing your thoughts with the world. Blogger makes it simple to post text, photos and video onto your personal or team blog."> <meta name="keywords" content="blogger, blogspot, blog, blogger.com, blogspot.com, free blog, personal blog, weblog, create blog, new blog">
<title>Blogger: Foltz B EDU 590 - Create Postspan class="end-tag">title>
<link href="http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/v-css/3178085652-app_common_head_content.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<style type="text/css">
.......d("" + "posteditor");
span class="end-tag">script>
span class="end-tag">html>
Ok...well that's a lot of crap that makes it look like it does now
If you are interested in doing some web site work check out
www.w3.org for all things accessable on websites....you can get a huge amount of information there.
also www.oswd.org for design tips, ideas, and templates.
Sorry for my geekness!!
bf
What does the future hold?
Every month I broadcast the local school board meeting on the cable access channel and therefore I usually get to hear what is going on in the district. We are not a large district by any means but until this year we have been growing a little each year. I think the statistic that was quoted last night was we have had an enrollment increase in17 of the last 19 years.
This year, however, is different. We have lost 47 students between last fall and this year's count date. A good deal of them are from the high school and have gone to alternative ed which doesn't hurt as bad (the funding still stays in the district) The fact is that due to several issues, the economy, the small bubble boom we saw a few years ago, and the fact that the Juniors and Seniors have run head first into the new graduation requirements have left a hole in our attendance - our budget. As someone who cares about the integration of technology into our educational system, and as someone who understands the costs of acquiring, maintaining, and training staff with these tools .
I know I am singing to the choir when I say I am at a loss to understand a legislative system who establishes the budget for school aid in October, or sometimes, November, or whenever it is politically expedient, when schools, by statute have to balance their yearly budgets by the preceding July, 1. In the case of our school district a balanced budget turns into a $465,000 shortfall by years end. I am very concerned about our ability to be able to have those 21st Century skills that we all feel are needed today.
I have heard it said that "those who love the law and sausage should never watch either being made."
bf
This year, however, is different. We have lost 47 students between last fall and this year's count date. A good deal of them are from the high school and have gone to alternative ed which doesn't hurt as bad (the funding still stays in the district) The fact is that due to several issues, the economy, the small bubble boom we saw a few years ago, and the fact that the Juniors and Seniors have run head first into the new graduation requirements have left a hole in our attendance - our budget. As someone who cares about the integration of technology into our educational system, and as someone who understands the costs of acquiring, maintaining, and training staff with these tools .
I know I am singing to the choir when I say I am at a loss to understand a legislative system who establishes the budget for school aid in October, or sometimes, November, or whenever it is politically expedient, when schools, by statute have to balance their yearly budgets by the preceding July, 1. In the case of our school district a balanced budget turns into a $465,000 shortfall by years end. I am very concerned about our ability to be able to have those 21st Century skills that we all feel are needed today.
I have heard it said that "those who love the law and sausage should never watch either being made."
bf
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Ok I'm Hooked
After seeing the Google Form that was put together for the common survey I decided to take a stab at it and I think I am going to put something together for a formative assessment of a Photoshop lesson I will be giving next week. My mom was right....you do learn something new every day!
Thanks all
Thanks all
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Good Resource
For those of us who are working on the historical and other statistical information related to the tech plan portion of our paper I have stumbled across what looks like to be a potentially invaluable resource.
You can access it here
we are heading down the stretch!
bf
You can access it here
we are heading down the stretch!
bf
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Speaking of history
I have been working on my paper and trying to draw some inspiration from my past experience.
My first encounter with a computer was when I was a Freshman on the campus of MSU in the spring of 1975. I took a computer programming class, which wasn't a mistake, self paced however, was. The language we used was Fortran and all of our instructions were in the form of punch cards.
The computer we used was a room-sized mainframe CDC-6500. You sat at the console and punched your cards with a device that resembled a typewriter.
This computer could run at a blistering 10 MHz. You would have to punch literally hundreds of cards to get the damn thing to return a message like, "hello world." Many hours were spent in the lab debugging the program. I flunked!
Flash forward to 2001 where I took a computer science strand at Aquinas College and worked with programming languages like C++, Visual Basic, and a little Java. You would have to write lines of code to get the damn thing to return a message like, "hello world." Many hours were spent in the lab debugging the program. I earned 3.8's.
I am now typing this on a fast IMac that compared to the CDC-6500 is a light-speed 2.6 GHz, or over two hundred times faster. Many hours are spent in the home office finding pictures of dogs wearing hats. I earn great marks!
:-)
bf
My first encounter with a computer was when I was a Freshman on the campus of MSU in the spring of 1975. I took a computer programming class, which wasn't a mistake, self paced however, was. The language we used was Fortran and all of our instructions were in the form of punch cards.
The computer we used was a room-sized mainframe CDC-6500. You sat at the console and punched your cards with a device that resembled a typewriter.
This computer could run at a blistering 10 MHz. You would have to punch literally hundreds of cards to get the damn thing to return a message like, "hello world." Many hours were spent in the lab debugging the program. I flunked!
Flash forward to 2001 where I took a computer science strand at Aquinas College and worked with programming languages like C++, Visual Basic, and a little Java. You would have to write lines of code to get the damn thing to return a message like, "hello world." Many hours were spent in the lab debugging the program. I earned 3.8's.
I am now typing this on a fast IMac that compared to the CDC-6500 is a light-speed 2.6 GHz, or over two hundred times faster. Many hours are spent in the home office finding pictures of dogs wearing hats. I earn great marks!
:-)
bf
Distance education and technology
Well my mom was right, you do learn something everyday. On a lark, because I have so much free time these days between working, doing work for this class, video taping varsity football games, practicing music, and an after school broadcasting club, I thought I would look at the history of what we all currently have in common these days. I of course am talking about our common entry into distance learning. I have participated in one other "hybrid" class before and have helped many students at school with their Blackboard problems etc. but how new is this phenomena of distance learning?
I have learned that distance learning can be traced back to mail correspondence courses dating back to the 1840's. In fact a woman named Anna Ticknow established courses that woman could study at home in 1873. I find that the underpinnings of what we think is a modern concept reaching so far back in our history really interesting.
If you would like to read this article you can find it at;
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/deClair/history.html
bf
I have learned that distance learning can be traced back to mail correspondence courses dating back to the 1840's. In fact a woman named Anna Ticknow established courses that woman could study at home in 1873. I find that the underpinnings of what we think is a modern concept reaching so far back in our history really interesting.
If you would like to read this article you can find it at;
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/deClair/history.html
bf
Monday, September 28, 2009
Accessibility
What propitious timing! this year we have a wheelchair bound student who has Cerebral Palsy and he asked me today if I had any assistive software to help with him with his mathematics. Since one of our objectives for this class are to research this topic.......well........stay tuned to this blog.
:)
:)
Friday, September 25, 2009
This is nice
I have just discovered a resource that I never knew existed. I'm certain that it has been available for some time now but I just found it a couple of days ago. I'm talking about Google Sites. You can make simple websites for free. Admittedly not as full featured as something you might put together yourself using Dreamweaver....or even Facebook but I can see a multitude of uses for it. If you don't have access to a website design program at your school, or even web space for that matter this is an easy thing to accomplish. I spoke with the tech director for our school about my discovery and he said he uses Google Sites often when he gives presentations. No muss no fuss he just launches it and brings up his information where ever he is. Coupling this resource with Google Docs, I think, can be very timesaving.
bf
bf
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Well how's your tech day?
Mine not so good.
Our network is experiencing what seems to be a mild cold......hopefully not full blown Swine Flu ;)
It seems when days like this happen everybody's life is miserable. Mine because I do most of the real-time I.T. and the teachers because when you are in the front of the room and the reason butts are in your seats....well I don't have to say anymore to those of us who teach.
I have a broadcast club and getting the kids up to speed every year is a challenge. I have to figure out how to get some new equipment as we are down to one DV camera that is used by about 10 kids in the club. I am going to try to teach a new technique to them about composing shots this week and well one camera is going to be an issue.
Do any of you use video in your classroom?
bf
Our network is experiencing what seems to be a mild cold......hopefully not full blown Swine Flu ;)
It seems when days like this happen everybody's life is miserable. Mine because I do most of the real-time I.T. and the teachers because when you are in the front of the room and the reason butts are in your seats....well I don't have to say anymore to those of us who teach.
I have a broadcast club and getting the kids up to speed every year is a challenge. I have to figure out how to get some new equipment as we are down to one DV camera that is used by about 10 kids in the club. I am going to try to teach a new technique to them about composing shots this week and well one camera is going to be an issue.
Do any of you use video in your classroom?
bf
Monday, September 21, 2009
Why they call it Windows
It has been one of those technology days! My computer keeps crashing, my applications are freezing, and the students/teachers have been having all kinds of trouble that require my attention. (Did I say I am the building IT person).....Why do they call it Windows?
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Sunday, September 20, 2009
Cleverly titled, "My First Blog"
Hello all,
Well I just finished a nice Sunday dinner of BBQ ribs, and Brussels Sprouts so what better time than now to post my first blog for this class. All I have to be careful of is not get BBQ sauce on my wife's keyboard.
A little about myself as a means of introduction.
I came into education late in life. After working as a union organizer and business rep for most of my adult professional life I starting working at Portland High School as a Para-educator with Sophomore special ed students. I found that I love the environment so back to school to get my teaching certification. In 1979 I left MSU with Junior status and took up studies in 2000 at Aquinas to finish my Bachelor's degree and I obtained my teaching certification in 2004.
Ahhh student teacher at age 49 on crutches from a recent Achilles tendon surgery with five preps in two different rooms at Laingsburg High School.....I made it! - Still looking for my first teaching job :(
I commit to reading all of your posts and will comment appropriately.
You can find my contact information, including cell, work, and home phone numbers on Blackboard as I don't think this is a very secure place to post that information.
Best of luck to all and I would be more than willing to help with anything I can.
Brad Foltz
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