My wife told me I should read this Scientific American Article. She found a link to it on Ryan’s blog. I immediately noticed that it’s much longer than my normal attention span. “Make sure you read all the way to the end,” her email told me. I knew I was going to be quizzed on this, so I dutifly clicked on the link. That was … Continue reading The Expert Mind

Karl Fisch is a technology coordinator at Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Each year, he is given the opportunity to speak at the school’s opening day meeting. In the constant struggle to come up with a message that would be beneficial to everyone, he came up with a PowerPoint presentation about the changes coming from globalization and technology. While most of his content comes from … Continue reading Did You Know?

I’ve seen several recent news items about GPS tracking systems being used in different contexts to keep tabs on people. Most of them work in essentially the same way. A device is attached to something that doesn’t stay in once place (like, say, a taxi — or maybe a child). This device reports its position to a GPS satellite, which interfaces with software that tracks … Continue reading I'll Be Watching You

I finally finished updating the WordPress Getting Started Guide for Brecksville-Broadview Heights teachers. We upgraded to WordPress 2 this summer, and the new guide will help teachers set up blogs and get started with the program. Despite a couple recent requests for copies of Frontpage, I still think blogs are the way to go for teacher web sites. They’re fast, relatively trouble-free, and easy to … Continue reading Getting Started With WordPress

Sometimes, we fail to realize the degree to which systems are interdependent on one another. Last Friday, a sign appeared on the front door of the high school. “The building will be closed on Saturday due to electrical work.” The custodian clarified. The electricity at the high school will be off on Saturday between 8:00 AM and noon. If the maintenance work goes poorly, we … Continue reading Domino Effect

In 1999, I was applying for a teaching position in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools. The first interview was at the high school. After the interview, I asked if I could walk around the building a little before leaving. I had never been there before, and wanted to take a look around. School was out for the summer, and I was given permission to roam the … Continue reading Distance Learning

The Stop Badware Coalition was mentioned last week on Security Now! In a week of truly depressing security news, this was the one beacon of optimism discussed. The Stop Badware Coalition is an organization that is developing a list of web sites with known malware content. The coalition categorizes software that disregards a user’s choice over how his or her computer will be used as … Continue reading Stop Badware

I have three calendars on my bulletin board in my office. One is a standard calendar that clearly shows the days with Sundays highlighted and holidays easy to pick out. The second is the school calendar. This one-page calendar shows the whole school year at a glance. If I can find the month we’re on, it’s easy to find the next school holiday, or to … Continue reading The Calendar Problem

I was doing some maintenance on our online learning system (Moodle) in July. I decided that it would be a good idea to remove teachers who aren’t using the system. We have a lot of people who express interest, play around with it for a while, and then decide it’s not for them. So I wanted to remove all of the staff accounts who hadn’t … Continue reading Summer School

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I’m just starting to get caught up on all of the podcasts I missed when I was on vacation. A couple weeks ago, the guys over at EdTechTalk hosted LibraryFest, a webcast on the role of libraries and librarians in 21st century schools. Their primary guest was Joyce Valenza, a dynamic, forward-thinking, technology-focused school librarian from the Philadelphia area. The discussion is online, along with … Continue reading The 21st Century Librarian

Emily started the dinner conversation. “According to Ruff Ruffman’s web site, cheetahs can run 70 miles per hour.” “Really? What else did you find out?” “Dad, I think we should Google cheetahs after dinner.” We did. We found the Nature site, which says cheetahs can run 60 miles per hour. National Geographic agrees with Ruff Ruffman. “Daaad…” She was getting impatient now. “I want the … Continue reading Considering the Source