I have a second life...do you?

I know I am not that old but I remember the "coolest" technology in our classrooms in junior high was going on a computer to play Oregon Trail. Looking back, I cannot believe how far we have come. If you asked me today to tell you something about that educational game, I couldn't. I think it would be because it wasn't collaborative, interactive, colorful, or had any connection to my life as a learner. 15 years later, on my couch, I found a learning environment that I wish we had a long time ago. The site is called Second Life and it is a 3-Dimensional learning and exploring world. You get to be involved in everything when creating and learning in this setting. First you pick a Sim first name and choose a last name from a list that is given. Then you choose a basic avatar to enter the 3-D world. Once you actually get into the site, the world is yours, literally. You can do almost everything you can do in real life and sometimes things you cannot. For instance, flying is not something you can do if you want to get somewhere fast but in Second Life, flying is a normal. The user can go to fun places within the site that have interests that you like or you can go to educational places that will teach the user, in an interactive and creative way, about the subject.




The possibilities of using this site in a classroom would be endless. The teacher could call for a meeting in a location and all avatars would meet up there. You can even upload pictures and slide shows into the environment. If a school district got a grant for something like this, some money could be used to "build" the classroom setting. The only issue would be that the students would go to a place that may have inappropriate things and you may not know what you are going to find in some of the destinations. Another cool part of this site is that you can use a microphone to talk instead of type. But all students could use this site and I believe they could be very successful and learn a lot. This is the kind of learning that students want so bad and Second Life gives them the opportunity to learn in a great, new way. If they don’t learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn.

Technology is an Olympic Champion

Ahh, the winter Olympics. Every 4 years we get to sit by out televisions and watch the very best athletes take part in sports that involve frozen water and snow. If you live in Illinois, you know very well how difficult those sports can be. But have you ever thought about the technology that is a part of the Olympic Games? It has grown tremendously over the years and it has had a tremendous impact on the Olympics. Some of the new, awesome technology includes something called a supercomputer and weather control. Io9.com says that in the previous summer Olympics 2 years ago, the 10 most powerful computers were purchased from IBM to help predict the weather. I can really see how this can be helpful for the games, especially the winter games for the simple fact that most of the sports need cold conditions. I couldn't believe that in the Beijing Summer Olympics, they actually would fire cloud seeding material into rain clouds before they could cause problems for the athletes. Controlling the weather...Seriously!
Now, we could watch the games on NBC and NBC sponsored channels, but NBC wants to give the viewers every opportunity to view their favorite sport. NBC will broadcast live as well as taped games. They will also put the games On-Demand and if that isn't enough, someone taped it and you can go to YouTube to watch what you missed. The Olympics can very easily take over your life for a couple of weeks. With every event, there are people who want to ruin it. (Unfortunately) The Olympics has stepped up their security and have added facial recognition software, equipment that identifies radioactive isotopes.
With these 2010 Olympics, the technology is great. In British Columbia, they have 800 Servers, 6,000 Computers, 4,000 Printers, Result system terminals that include CIS terminals and Intranet terminals with over 100,000 hours of testing. Wow, that is a lot of technology that is needed for the games! I wonder what happens to the computers after the games are over. Do they donate them? Every 2 years, it seems as if the technology in the Olympics is becoming more advanced but with that being said, it also seems as if the Olympics are moving away from just simply watching athletes at their best. What will the Olympics come up with next?


What will the Olympics come up with next?

Skype and Verizon..A love affair?

Remember the "car" phones that used to weigh 55 pounds and were larger than your head? We have come a long way since then. Cell phones go smaller, added a "flip", ringtones, QWERTY keyboard texting, touch screens, and apps. What will they think of next? Being an At&t, previously Cingular, customer for 11 years, I now enjoy their 3G network. This means that while I am talking on the phone, I can text, browse the internet, or just check my Facebook account. There is a Skype app and I think that is very neat because now not only can you talk to someone anywhere in the world, you can look at them while you are doing it. I can just think how awesome this would be for anyone but especially soldiers who miss their families.


At&t has a Skype app and it appears that Verizon Wireless may be next. Skype is a VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) software that enables conversations that take place all around the world. The two companies issued a statement to the press saying they will hold a joint news conference Feb. 16 at Mobile World Congress. (http://www.internetnews.com) As a network that is the largest 3G network, this could be a major deal for Skype!
John Stratton, executive vice president and CMO at Verizon, and Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype, will be the speakers at the press conference next Tuesday at MWC, being held in Barcelona, Spain, according to the statement.(http://www.internetnews.com) You may ask yourself why this is such a big deal. Here is the kicker. Skype has been a non-supporter of wireless carriers for some time now. Skype CEO was known for saying that the carriers served their own interests rather than the interest of the customer. (http://www.internetnews.com)

I guess there was a change of heart. I wonder if the economic crisis has anything to do with it. Enterprisemobiletoday.com states that Skype is hoping to double their revenue by next year. Seems to me that Skype is starting to compromise and now understands that they need to be involved with wireless carriers if they want to stand a chance of surviving in the corporate world. Well, we will have to wait until this Tuesday to see what decisions were made in regards to Verizon and Skype.

Math IS Fun!

So, math. Enough said, right? Well that is sometimes how my students feel and they aren’t afraid to let me know. I really try to use technology when I can. I say when I can because we have 10 computer labs to share with 3,000 students. Needless to say, I rarely, if ever, get the chance to bring my students to the lab. When I have been able to, I have used a website called Math is Fun-Math resources. I like this site because unlike other math sites, this site is more than just simple worksheets or kill-and-drill. The student or teacher can pick from a "map" of the most popular math skills such as Algebra or Data Analysis. The site has tutorials and facts that will help the students with what they are struggling with. The site also has puzzles and worksheets. This site is very user friendly and the students can navigate the site with ease. The other really cool thing about this site is they math dictionary. The user can choose a letter of the vocabulary word that they want to learn more about, and they words that start with that letter come up. I tell my students to use this site at home, as well, for homework help.



Another resource that I use a lot, and have been using since college, is Aplusmath. This site is good because it not only has worksheets and homework help but fun things like games and even flash cards for practice. This site would actually work better for use in a computer lab when there is time such as after a MAP test. I really don't use this site to teach anything new but again, it is a nice resource for students to use at home, especially the flash cards for those students who need to practice on math facts. Yes, my 8th graders need a lot of help with math facts and I cannot be their all the time to help them. This site is good for parents to be there and supervise.