Revolutionary invention

Every so often an invention comes along that changes the world. This just might be one of them.

A Japanese inventor has come up with a way to take everyday plastics and convert them back into oil. Approximatley 1 kg. of plastic can be made into 1 litre of oil using about 1 Kw/h of electricity, but emitting zero emissons of CO2. This has the potential of saving our planet from choking to death on plastic, turing it into a renewable resource while greatly reducing CO2 emissions as well.

Check out the video link here to see it in action.

Holographic rock concerts

We've all seen holographs at one time or another. However, the technology around holograms has advanced significantly. Japanese music artists are now incorporating holographic singers into their concerts. Is the end of the rock musician as we know it? Hardly, but it does give us a glimpse into the future - imagine having ten rock concerts of the Rolling Stones at the same time in different cities around the world as the audiences watch 3D holographic images of the band? What about being able to web conference with another class using this technology?

As always there are positive and negative sides to technology. Time will tell.

Check out the concert on the video by clicking here.

We're back!!!!

Yes, after a long absence the GSS Tech blog has returned in all its glory. For those of you who are just joining us, the purpose of this blog is to keep GSS staff informed and up to date on the latest technology in the education field. It will also focus on the impact of technology in the classroom.

Having said that, it is always a plus to have feedback on the postings or suggestions from you, the reader, about what you would like to know more about. So don't hesitate to add a comment or email me suggestions at mike.archibald@sd6.bc.ca

Today's article looks at the perceived dangers of texting and facebook being worse than watching TV. Our generation grew up watching hours and hours of TV - how is that any different than today's kids spending hours and hours texting and facebooking? This article by Education Week makes the argument that as long as students are doing their homework, spending all that time online may not be the worst thing in the world. To see the article go to Education Week website by clicking HERE.

Unusual and useful sites.

Here is an interesting article on how Generation Y students are harder to teach. You can read the post here.

For those doing current events, or just interested in the headlines, Newsmap takes the latest headlines and creates a map of them. You can zoom in and click on the story you want to read and it takes you to that link. Stories are color coded according to topic and you can select from major regions of the world. As well, the size of the story box is related to how recent the post was placed there. A creative way to look at the news!

For the artsy types, Zoomquilt takes you on an never ending tour through artistic landscapes. You zoom in on the landscape and it changes to another, and then another, and then another for en eternity. Pretty cool!

If you want your students to be familiar with an excerpt from a movie, but either can't find it or don't want to show it, they can listen to an excerpt at Listentoamovie.com. They have about 1500 movies you can choose from and students simply listen to a section of it. You could have your students visualize what is going on - great for Drama or Art.

Finally, here is a great site for Chemistry teachers. Chalkbored.com lists assignments and links that can be used in Chemistry classes. Probably worth a look.

Spring Break Reading

As we near spring break, here are some interesting articles you might like to check out. This is also a good time to check out some of the previous posts on the blog that you might have liked to investigated earlier but did not have the time.

1. Digital nation - this was mentioned in an earlier posting but if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you watch it over the break. It is a documentary produced by the PBS series Frontline that looks at the impact of digital technology on our society, especially younger generations. You can view it in clips at Frontline's website. It is about 90 minutes but very interesting to watch.

2.Visual Learning - this article looks at the impact on math achievement when using visual aids.

You can see it here.

3. Internet Depression - this article looks at the relationship between how much time you spend online and depression. See it here.

4. Friends no more - this article by USA Today looks at how some people are saying "NO" to Facebook and logging off. Read it here.

5. "I" Generation has no off switch - Finally, this article looks at how the latest generation has technology as part of their DNA - figuratively speaking. Read it here.

If you have any other requests or other things you'd like to know about, please let me know. At the March staff meeting you will have time to investigate some of the posts on the blog as well as some others I will give you. Feel free to check them out any time.

Enjoy the readings and have a good spring break.

This week's sites

Here are some more interesting sites I have found this week on the wire.

1. Amazing space - http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/ This is a good resource site for science and astronomy. Lots of interactive materials.

2. Google for educators - http://www.google.com/educators/index.html Google is every where, and while it might seem like its trying to take over the world , google is offering a wide selection of tools designed for education. This is the home page for “Google for Educators”. Check out this page while you are at it – lesson plans – http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/lesson_plans.html

3. Popling - http://www.popling.net/ This is a flash card website that will help you to learn foreign languages. Languages include

It also has resources for chemistry, geography and more.

4. Foreign Language Flashcards - http://www.foreignlanguageflashcards.com/ Another Language resource and as the name suggests this one use flash cards to help you learn.

5. Lingolook http://www.lingolook.net/home.html – this is another language site with a slightly more real word twist. Flash cards for travel.

and finally more flashcards. These are not only for learning languages but also for a wide variety of other subjects –

http://edufire.com/games/flashcards Edufire

Doc Stoc

Another great site is called Docstoc. This is a free database of items that have been uploaded by other users that you can search for.

You create a free account and then start searching. I searched for items related to the novel Animal Farm and found all sorts of assignments, powerpoints and other documents that I then downloaded and can now use with my class. You can narrow the search results or you can search the entire database.

It takes a little digging but once you get the search results you're likely to find something that is worthwhile. Most documents are in either word or pdf format so they're ready to go. Another site worth checking out.

Quia.com

This week's entry looks at an interactive site where you can post online quizzes for students to complete. The site is called Quia.com and you can sign up for a free trial version to see what it can do. When you click on the above link, you then want to access the Quia web link which is in the middle of your screen. There is a $50/year subscription fee but that drops to around $40 if ten or more teachers are interested. This fee may be covered by the school.

What's so great about Quia, is that it allows students to log in, complete an online quiz, and then get immediate feedback as to how well they did. Not only do they get the number correct, but they also get shown which answers were correct and which one's were not.

You can create a variety of quizzes including multiple choice, matching, t/f, fill in the blank and even open ended questions. My socials 10 students used it to review material for their final exam and they loved it.

As well, if you want to use the results for marks, you can create a class, and then when the exams are finished, the results of the students automatically get put into a mark book for you to use. It also shows you how many times they attempted the exam, who completed it, and who did not. You can then decide what to do with the marks. If you use a test bank of questions, the exams take very little time to complete. As well, there are already dozens of tests already created that you can access. In others words, most of the work is done for you and includes dozens of subject areas for you to access. Find a quiz, copy it to your classroom and you're ready to go. Students can also access them at any time so if they are away, they can log in at home an complete the assignment.

As well, there are other activities students can complete such as interactive matching games, hangman, jeopardy, etc. They can all be tailored to what you want to have them do. I will be demonstrating this at the next staff meeting so you can get a better look at it. Definitely a site worth checking out.

Ipods continue to change education

As mentioned in the previous posting, Ipods are having a dramatic impact on how education is changing to meet the needs of today's learners. Students in Minnesota have begun using them with remarkable results. Read the article here.

If you're interested inig having students work with digital images in a creative way, check out Big Huge Labs' site This site has been approved by the district and restrictions have been removed. There are a variety of programs that students can use to upload photographs and then turn them into creative projects. One that my students have used is called Mosaic. Students first register for free, then they have access to this program to create a mosaic of pictures. Once done, they can download it into their folder on the server. After that, the mosaic can be imported into Microsoft Word where they can use text bubbles to add details. Click here to see an example of one.

Happy surfing!

iphones revoluntionizing education

Here's the link to a great article I came across recently - talks about how iphones are going to revolutionize education in ways we can't even begin to imagine. Follow this link to read all about it - iphone in the classroom We may have to rethink what our district policy says when it comes to using cell phones in the classroom.

As an aside to this, another great example of using cell phones in the classroom can be found in the book "From Toys to Tools". I have a copy and if you'd like to take a look at it after I'm done with it, let me know. You can also order your own copy from Amazon and use your pro-d funds to pay for it.

The Committed Sardine

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! Hard to believe 10 years have passed since the millenium. One can only wonder what technological wonders await us in the decades to come. This will actually be my focus at the next staff meeting when I give a presentation on how technology is going to impact education. That ties in to today's blog posting.

Blogs are an increasingly common way of sharing information. Last year I used a program called Edublogs which allowed students to be able to write in a blog and respond to questions that I posed. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of blogs on every conceivable subject. A good one that I have found is called The Committed Sardine and can be found by clicking on the link. It is an informative site with lots of relevant articles on technology and education. If you click on Resources you will find digital handouts that you can read. Some of them include "Understanding Digital Kids I & II", "Living on the Future Edge" and "Teaching for tomorrow". The articles are not very long but are well worth reading.

I will be incorporating information from them in my presentation. If you click on the Blog link on the home page, you come to a very interesting blog that is updated daily with links to the latest and bizarre happenings in the world of technology. Some of them are very interesting while others are extremely funny and good for a laugh. Check it out.