| Digital - teacher | Education in a technological world

All change, for the new year

I've been mulling over a change for a while now - with regards to my use of Twitter. I've had my account for a while now, and when I set it up I used the school name (@porchester) as I was (and still am) tweeting mainly about educational matters; sending requests, passing on tips, giving advice, seeking help, etc. 

Believe nothing...

I was pointed in the direction of this amazing video on YouTube recently (thanks to @russelltripp and @digitalmaverick for the heads up) all about ChromaKey (Greenscreening). 

Farewell, 2009

Yes, it's that time of the year again as we all take a look back at the previous 12 months. Personally, looking back over the year, it has been an unique year in the life and work of the digital-teacher... 

Whetting my appetite

2Simple are really teasing teachers at the moment about their latest title if you follow them on Twitter. Not long ago they announced brand new software at their advisors day, and tweets coming from the event spoke of "Animated Stories", "CrazyTalk style speech effects" and most intriguingly "Augmented Reality features". 

Etherpad opens up

As promised by the developers of Etherpad, the source code for it has been made open. You can view the source code here, as well as read known issues and comments from others who have already created their own versions of etherpad.

Kindness through Kiva

Browsing through the latest issue of Webuser magazine, I stumbled across Kiva - a "micro lending" service that is simplicity in action.

2Simple's New Product

Last week I was keeping an eye on twitter whilst 2Simple had their advisors day, and following their hashtag of #2simple to see what was being discussed, and what new products they revealed.

Advertising Overkill

I am hearing strange noises coming from another room. They are unhappy and frustrated noises. These noises are only ever heard when a commercial "catch up TV" service is being watched.

Adventures in Skype

On Monday evening, we tried out a new idea for our staff meeting at school. We had arranged for Mike Fleetham - of thinkingclassroom.co.uk - to train us in some of his thinking skills and criticial skills techniques. 

A 2Simple Christmas

Had a great idea this morning for the end of term, that will involve using technology to make a traditional gift, through 2Simples Online Tools via our Learning Platform.

Etherpad returns, kind of

Well, not long after I had written and posted my thoughts on Google's killing of Etherpad, than a tweet from @teachernz appeared with a link to a new post on the Etherpad blog. And it was a good message for a change.

Fading into the Ether(pad)

I was saddened to read yesterday that Etherpad will soon be no more. Etherpad is, for those who don't already know, a fantastic realtime collaboration tool that works great in a classroom situation.