I’m proud to announce that all regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings, beginning with yesterday’s special meeting, will now be available on iTunes for listening to on your computer, or iPod. Meetings will be posted by the end of the business day following the meeting.
To subscribe in iTunes click the following link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ccsd181-board-education-podcasts/id363744270
To subscribe in a podcatcher other than iTunes use the this link:
Part 1: (Does not feature D181)
Part 2: (Features CHMS and Elm)
District Technology is pleased to announce that Aviary is now available as part of Google Apps. Aviary is a web based design suite with drawing, image markup and even audio editing capabilities (though I’d stick with GarageBand for audio editing). Documents that you create are stored in your Google Docs so you can access them from anywhere, and since aviary works in a web browser you can edit them from anywhere too. Unfortunately, aviary is currently only available to staff but we are investigating student access. Note: Aviary requires flash and will not work on an iPod, iPhone or iPad
To access Aviary:
1. login to your Google account at http://webmail.d181.org/
2. Click on the more link in your top Google Apps navigation menu
3. Select Aviary from the drop down menu (It takes a minute for aviary to load after clicking the link)
4. Select the Aviary application you would like to use and start creating
Alphabet Rain is quick and free game to help elementary students with their typing. As letters fall from the top of the screen the student hits the corresponding key on the keyboard and earns points. Each round lasts a minute and gets progressively more difficult, and would be a great warm up for a lab or keyboarding session.
Although not specifically education related, I wanted to take a moment to highlight Snopes. com, the best site on the web for information about urban legends or scams. Snopes provides some history of the urban legend or scam, and information to confirm or deny the accuracy of it. It allows you to browse by category such as: Crime, Computers, or Fraud or you can use the sites built in search to find a particular myth.
So the next time you or your students hear about a gang initiation activities at a local Walmart, or an email claiming Bill Gates will give you $100 if you forward the email on take a moment and check out Snopes.com.
NY Times – Inside the Olympic Action:
“The New York Times has good collection of videos and audio slideshows designed to take you ‘inside the action‘ of Winter Olympic events. The videos will take you down a luge run at 90mph, through a snowboard half pipe, and down the men’s downhill ski course. Along the way athletes and coaches explain intricacies of each event and how the athletes maneuver through their events.
Applications for Education
Inside the Action could be a good resource for learning about Olympic events from an ‘insider’s perspective.’ You might want to use these videos in conjunction with a Google Maps Street View tour of the Winter Olympics.”
(Via FreeTech4Teachers.com.)
NASA Lunar Simulator on iPhone and iPod Touch:
I don’t often write posts about iPhone apps or iPod Touch apps, but today I learned about one that I had to pass along. NASA recently released an iPhone app that they’re calling the Lunar Electric Rover Simulator. As I don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch myself, I haven’t been able to try it yet, but the Lunar Electric Rover Simulator looks like it could be a fun learning experience for students that have iPhones or iPod Touches. The app is free and can be found in the app store where you can see more screen shots of the app in action.
Mashable, which is where I learned about the app, has some more information that you may be interested in reading.”
(Via FreeTech4Teachers.com.)
This morning many of us were awoken by a magnitude 3.8 earthquake that struck northern Illinois, likely many of your students were as well. Below is the link the US Geological Survey’s site on the event, and if more resources are found they will be added here as well.
US Geological Survey
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology: Education Outreach Center
FEMA for Kids: Earthquakes
Global Earthquake Response Center
Chicago Tribune: Mild Earthquake Rattles Chicago Area
CNN: Earthquake rattles northern Illinois
Google News: Chicago Earthquake
BrainPop! Earthquakes
BrainPop! Plate Tectonics
BrainPop! Natural Disasters
Discovery Education: What are the odds? Earthquakes in the Midwest
We are aware of an issue keeping users from sending email and are working with Google to resolve. Will keep you updated.
Update: And we’re back.
