John Woodring

Too big to be a country, too small to be an insane asylum

I am still have a problem believing this story and that it comes from my native state. South Carolina Attorney General (and candidate for Governor) Henry McMaster sent a message to Georgetown County claiming the county’s ban on concealed weapons on school campuses violates South Carolina’s law on concealed weapons. Georgetown banned all concealed weapons on school campuses in an effort to make schools safer. South Carolina state law says concealed weapons can be carried on school campuses as long they are locked in a center console, glove box or trunk of a vehicle.

Okay would someone please tell me how Georgetown’s children are served by having firearms on campus? What floored me even more was people who were interviewed supporting the right to carry firearms on school campuses. There have been incidents of parents being arrested for disturbing schools because they decided to get into a fight at school, and we are not talking a high school sporting event either. Someone will get a gun from their locked trunk and finish one of these fights one day. Once again South Carolina will make national news for all the wrong reasons.

Story from My Lowcountry 3, SCNow.com

I’m trying to cut down

Mashable relayed a New York Times story about teens realizing they are spending too much time on Facebook and are pledging to either cut down or totally give it. This sounds like a positive step by some teens or these are teens who are not getting enough friends. Teens taking part are promising only to login at certain times and “punish” those who break their promises. Let’s see if peer pressure makes a dent in Facebook.

Reality Camera, really?

Tech Crunch announced one of its Tech Crunch 50 favorites, Tonchidot has released it’s iPhone app to a worldwide audience. Tonchidot is an augmented reality application which means people who use the app can leave notes, pictures, or audio recordings at whatever point you are in the earth. Users can also see posts other users have left. This is made possible by the iPhone’s GPS and compass abilities. The education use is students can see what other people have said about about museums, historical places, zoos, etc…. This information could help in completing reports about field trips and other educational outings. Of course this is also another way to see reviews of restaurants as you walk down the street.

Interactive displays go on a diet

LG announced what is billed as the “World’s Thinest” 42-inch LCD panel. This is another step in what I believe where interactive whiteboards are headed. Classrooms of the future will have thin display panels that can be manipulated via touch and/or tablets carried by teachers and students. Of course these displays will be 3-D compatible as well. Source Engadget.

Podcast or Pencast?

Earlier today I decided to give podcasting another try. I have been thinking about this for awhile now and just decided to go for it. The new thing is I used my Livescribe Pulse pen to create this episode of the reborn Teacherbytes Podcast. I jotted down some notes on a my special notepad then tapped the record button. As I talked about topics I made some notations on the pad next to my notes. When I was finished I uploaded the notes to the Livescribe site and set it as a pencast in their community section. Then I exported the audio into Audacity to convert it into an MP3 file then finished uploading all the files to the proper sites to finish my podcast. Look below for the audio and pencast.

Teacherbytes December 21, 2009

Teacherbytes

Today marks the day most schools start their holiday break. Two weeks to rest and recharge the batteries for the push till the end of the school year. Hopefully, you will have a restful and happy holiday break.

3-D Heading this way

One of the biggest trends is the production of 3-D movies. While 3-D movies are nothing new, they have been around since the 1950’s, technology has made them easier to view. If you have ever been to Disney’s Philharmonic or The Muppets in 3-D at Disney World you know what I am talking about. The latest big screen version of A Christmas Carol and Avatar are pushing the 3-D viewing pleasure in select theaters this holiday season.

Naturally, the next step to help sell home videos is for home electronics to take advantage of 3-D technology. CNET reported the Blu-ray Disc Association has settled on a standard for Blu-ray devices to use. It will only be a matter of time before 3-D Blu-ray devices will start making their way into schools to add a different perspective to some lessons. Eventually, all kinds of educational titles will feature 3-D. Think how this might effect Science, math, and social studies.

Livescribe glitch

Livescribe CEO Jim Marggraff sent an e-mail out today apologizing for the problems it’s new App Store beta has been causing the whole Pulse system. I blogged about my use of the Live Scribe Pulse Smartpen and I still love using it. The pen works just as advertised recording my notes and syncing audio for playback by touching a point on the notes with the pen. However, the Livescribe Desktop and Livescribe Online have more work to do. I had problems uploading a one-page note with audio to the online site. While on the subject of the online site, it would be nice to access my pencasts without having to go through the desktop app. (CNET)

iTunes U reaches 100 million downloads

One of my goals for 2010 is to better promote iTunes podcasts and iTunes U to the teachers at my school. Apparently, iTunes U is no longer the best kept secret of educational resources. CNET reports iTunes U recently reached 100 million downloads. For those of you who may still not know, iTunes U features lectures, instructional videos, and other educational media from schools, colleges, and universities from around the world. iTunes is just not for listening to music and you don’t have to have an iPod to make it work.

Underwater Volcano Caught on Video

CNET has some incredible video and photos shot from a robotic submarine of an underwater volcano erupting. This is the first time an underwater volcano has been recorded. Geography and Science teachers can probably find lot’s of uses for this media in their lessons. Here is some video from NOAA and CNN.

In the post Grandson of the Echo Pen. I said I would like to see if MyScript for Livescribe would be able to convert my terrible handwriting into somewhat intelligible text. Well Tim Fahlberg, a representative from Livescribe, heard about my challenge and took me up on it. Tim took my demo note and ran it through MyScript to see what happened. Believe it or not it only got one word wrong and that was because I really messed up that word. Okay Tim, I'm sold. I will be testing out MyScript for Livescribe when I return to school after the holiday break. 

Here is Tim's video of converting my note using MyScript. 

In my first year of teaching, I had my class market and sell a fictitious product called the Echo Pen as part of Junior Achievement’s Applied Economics. The Echo Pen would recall everything it wrote for it’s user making it a handy little gadget. It did not take long before the Echo Pen became a reality. There have been various pens that recorded what a person wrote but they did not do too well commercially. When I first saw the Pulse by Livescribe at my local Target I thought it would not last long either. That has been a couple of years ago. My interest grew when Best Buy and Staples started carrying the pen. When two administrators at my school purchased the Pluse and raved about them, the pen had my attention. Attention yes, purchase no because I still thought the Pulse was a solution looking for a problem.

The problem came after a couple of meetings which stressed the need for observations to be as low key as possible. In other words, no laptops or netbooks should be taken to a classroom since they can be seen as threatening. Just write a quick note, give it to the teacher and be on your way. Good but I still like to  document my visits. The Pulse records what you write which similar pens also did. The difference the Pulse makes is it can record audio the replays it at the point you write a note by tapping on the note. A special dotted paper, optical camera, and microphone makes this magic happen. I plucked down some hard-earned cash and got my own Pulse. Does it work as advertised? Yes!

I used my Pulse in several classroom observations over the last couple of days. Usually, I don’t record audio during these visits because I am documenting technology use and giving recommendations. At the end of the day I take sync my pen with my computer and transfer my notes to the Livescribe Desktop. Then I copy and paste these notes into the technology integration portfolios I have created for each teacher. If I wished, notes can be uploaded to a website then e-mailed or shared on social networking sites, blogs, or websites. With handwriting recognition software it can convert handwritten notes to editable text. Good luck with my chicken scratch. Today I used the full recording capabilities as I recorded a friend of mine who spoke to a Journalism class. It has really helped me because I don’t have to carry around my laptop and it’s distractions.

Can the Pulse help students? Yes. I could have used this in many lectures when the teacher would speak at a rapid pace. Tape recorders never really worked for me because I really did not want to hear the lecture all over again. While studying, tapping my notes at the point where I have a question and hear that part of the lecture can really help. The Livescribe website has a K-12 section which gives other examples on how the Pulse can help students, teachers, administrators, and parents. As I plan on exploring other uses for the Pulse smartpen Grandpa Echo Pen must be smiling.

Here is a quick demo of what the Pulse smart pen can do. Please forgive my chicken scratch handwriting. You can also click here if you cannot hear the audio.