April 2006

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Free Science Videos

April 30, 2006 in Science, Technology | No comments

 

Here’s a few neat sites that have some free science videos:

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Good News Site

April 24, 2006 in Uncategorized | No comments

Do you ever get tired of reading only depressing news? Try the Great News Network, a refreshing news site that offers only good news regarding technological, environmental, social, medical news, and much more.

 

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PowerPoint Design Tips

April 24, 2006 in Technology | No comments

Garr Reynolds’ blog on professional design (called Presentation Zen) tackles the issue of how to make effective powerpoint slides. This quick read titled What is good Powerpoint design? offers a ‘simple yet not simplistic’ approach that most of as instructors should embrace.

 

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Google Cheat Sheet

April 23, 2006 in Technology | No comments

 

Want to see all that Google has to offer? Check out the Google Cheat Sheet, which includes information about Google services, tools and even some background information.

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Free Online Storage

April 23, 2006 in Technology | No comments

 

Want free online storage or backup? Try Orbitfiles, where you can upload and save important documents, movies, music, presentations, etc. Access them from any computer, share them with anyone, and backup your files automatically,

The 1 GB option is free, but you can pay $4.99 for a 5 GB option.

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Online Freebies

April 12, 2006 in Technology | No comments

As we see more media available online, it is nice to see some freebies once in a while. Here’s a few of my favorites (I realize that some of these have a science bias):

  • The George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a free subscription to Edutopia, which seeks to discover new teaching methods and to make use of technology in education.
  • Want streaming music for free? Try The Music Genome Project at www.pandora.com. You can login and enter a style of music or your favorite band, and the site will find similar music.
  • Subscirbe for free to Harper’s Magazine Weekly Review email newsletter, written by Paul Ford. “It’s a sentence-by-sentence snapshot of the awe-inspiring, humbling, infuriating, and funny events that happened in the preceding seven-day period” (from Boing Boing)
  • The National Center for Biotechnology (ncbi.nih.gov) offers online science texts for free.
  • NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) has a Science Teachers’ Grab Bag, where you can find free/inexpensive teaching resources including lesson plans, interactive websites, videos, activities and much more!
  • The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biointeractive website offers free materials for educators including their holiday lecture series videos/DVS, and even some interactive software!
  • The National Institute of General Medical Sciences offers free copies of its publications, ranging from chemistry to biotechnology and all of the medical advances in between.
  • Wisconline (The Wisconsin Online Resource Center) offers multimedia (videos, flash animations, etc) on a variety of subjects to registered users – not just science!

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Redesigning Education

April 12, 2006 in Education | No comments

Last night, Oprah visited with Bill and Melinda Gates to discuss what she called a “silent epidemic” – graduation rates and educational structure in the US. Some frightening statistics about student dropout rates and preparedness were quite shocking, whereby the Gates called for educational efforts that should be focused on teaching students the skills they’ll need to be competitive in the world ecomony of today and into the future. Check out the what Oprah has to say on “American Schools in Crisis.”

This sentiment was also shared in Edutopia, a magazine distributed (free for educators!) by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) – founded in 1991 as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools.

Check out “Risky Business” (the edutopia article) by James Daly. It raises some provocative questions about the state of public education, and what needs to be done to allow for a successful future for out children.

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Google Earth with Discovery Clips

April 7, 2006 in Education, Technology | No comments

I picked up this news from Boing Boing, which picked it up from Cynopsis:

 

 

  • Discovery Communications will now have video content on Google Earth If you’re not familiar, Google Earth is a way-cool satellite imagery-based mapping product that depicts 3D images and terrain with mapping capabilities and Google’s search engine. (Go ahead, plug your home address into it and get the aerial view!) Discovery will initially offer information and video content, in a two-to-four-minute segment, showcasing 10 American National Parks, including Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and Dinosaur National Park.
  • Discovery Communications will launch its first ad-supported broadband channels on April 15. Discovery Channel Beyond and Travel Channel Beyond will offer original and exclusive short-form programs as well as user-generated documentaries. Broadband channels for TLC, Animal Planet and Discovery Health Channel will launch later this year.
  • And finally, Discovery Communications had their annual upfront presentation yesterday in New York City, and a goodly chunk of that information will be included in Monday’s edition of Cynopsis.

Can anyone confirm the first item? If so, I am very enthused to see this integration with Google Earth. Obviously, the DEN has talked extensively about this relationship, but this will be able to showcase it to everyone accessing Google Earth.

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