Next Monday is the start of the The Great World Wide Star Count. From October 1st through October 15th, you can report how many stars are visible in your location’s night sky. With these data, this project can determine the amount of light pollution in different parts of the world.
Why do we care about light pollution? Light pollution is a strong indicator of wasted energy. Lights, contrast, and glare all impact the number of stars that are visible in a given location. Only the brightest stars are visible when there is a lot of nighttime lighting. Many people in the urban locations have never seen the Milky Way.
The project is an opportunity to encourage astronomy education and great example of collaboration via the web.
In an effort to cut back on all the e-mail we receive, Dan Costa at PC Magazine wrote an article listing 29 reasons not to send an e-mail message. This list is funny, yet many of the reasons are painfully true.
Here are a few of my favorites:
You spent 15 minutes on the e-mail, and the recipients will spend 0.15 seconds before hitting Delete.
Everyone got that joke, saw that video, and sent money to that dying kid two years ago.
You’re slow. By the time you finish typing your message, one of the 20 other people on the list has already responded and made your response outdated.
Missing from the list was– Today is Friday. I think we should all take a break from e-mail on Fridays. I’m not alone on this.
Are there websites that you visit on a regular basis? If so, you must give news (or RSS) feeds a try. An RSS feed will allow new material to come to your computer automatically. No more hunting and gathering online. RSS feeds will save you time.
Below is a quick video that explains how to get started.
Google has just released a presentation program that runs right in your browser. Now you can create and share presentations online. With the addition of presentations, many are claiming that Google Docs now has three tools (they also have a word processor and a spreadsheet program) that can rival Microsoft Office.
Rival? Not really. While I like the ability to work together with people all across the Internet to create a slideshow, I’m disappointed with Google’s new tool. After uploading a PowerPoint file, I saw that its functions are quite basic. Google’s PowerPoint ‘wanna-be’ has a long way to go.
He’s what I think Google’s presentation software needs:
Animations and transitions: If Google really wants to stand out, they need to add a little motion. (The folks at SlideRocket are doing exciting things in this area.)
An easy way to embed slideshows: The whole point of putting a presentation online is to share it with a wider audience. Where is the button that shows me how to embed my presentation into my website?
Sound would be nice: Let’s face it, without the presenter many slideshows are quite boring. Google needs to add audio so the presentations can at least have narrations.
For now, Google’s presentation program is just a toy. It’s worth looking at and it might be fun to dream about what it will someday become, but I don’t see anything useful here. If you want your presentations online, I suggest you create them offline with PowerPoint or Keynote (or OpenOffice for free) and then share your work at SlideShare.
Last year I created a podcast for my physics students. It started off as a simple recap of the past week and an overview of the week to come. However, it evolved into much more than just a review for the students. It became a learning experience for me.
For starters, I learned that students, like with any other resource, needed to be shown how to use the new medium. I guess all the hype over the so-called “digital native” made me think that my students would just instantly pick up on the idea of a podcast. Not true at all. A large majority of my students didn’t even know what a podcast was before I started using them for class. Don’t let the “your kids already know how to do this” blather fool you. They need to be taught.
The students taught me several things too. Especially helpful was the feedback they gave me on a survey I gave at the end of the last school year.
Based on the student feedback, here is what I plan to do differently regarding this year’s podcast:
encourage students to use it: Just like the textbook, notes or homework, a podcast is a resource that needs promoting.
have an out-of-class experience: We always have extra problems and labs to do in physics. The podcast allows students to see examples that we just don’t have time for in class.
always keep the quiz in mind: When making a podcast, always keep your next assessment in mind because it is what many of your students are thinking about as they watch.
more videos: It take more of your time but the videos were far more valuable to my students that just the audio.
write a script: You don’t need to write a script that you plan to follow verbatim but an rough outline will cut down on the “babble” in your podcast.
keep it short: My students complained incessantly when the podcast went over seven minutes. Many of them said they wouldn’t watch it if it was too long.
share clips in class: This goes back to encouraging students to use the podcast. If you have something great in the podcast, there is no reason not to show a little clip in class too.
get them subscribing: Show students how to subscribe to the podcast with tools like iTunes, Google Reader, or MyYahoo. If your podcast shows up on their desktops automatically, they will be more compelled to use it.
There’s a reason sporting events show timers on their scoreboards. When the game is on the line, everyone needs to know how much time is left. With little class time to spare, teachers and students need to keep an eye on the time too.
Whether you’re giving a timed exam or you just need to set some boundaries for your students work in groups, Online-Stopwatch.com provides a timer that can easily be displayed in your classroom.
The site offers a stopwatch and count-down timer. Simply displayed in your browser, the Online Stopwatch has a full screen display for every student to see. It’s like having your own classroom shot clock!
Online-Stopwatch also offers their product in gadget form for your own personal homepage at iGoogle or Microsoft Live. Windows Vista users can get a gadget for the Sidebar.
Can’t always get to the web? They even offer a free stand alone versions for download on Windows and Mac.
I just finished reading “Rule the Web” by Mark Frauenfelder. The book reads much like one of those ‘for Dummies’ books. It is the type of text that can be thumbed through and allows the reader to pick up anywhere they see a topic that interests them.
Frauenfelder covers topics such as Firefox extensions, how to podcast, creating a PDF file, and editing photos online. Of course, as the founder of BoingBoing- the world’s most popular blog, Frauenfelder explains how to set up a basic blog and provides tips such as:
include an image with every post
try to post at least once a day
write about your passion
While the book was perfect for someone who is looking to start a blog or podcast, I was hoping for a little more. For me, the book’s title and cover implied that it was going to spend time discussing how to start an online business.
For the novice, “Rule the Web” is perfect. I think it is a great book for schools to purchase and place in their professional libraries or staff lounges. If you already know how to create a blog or wiki, chances are “Rule the Web” won’t have much new to offer you.
Between fatherhood and teaching science, Dale Basler is
a Technology Curriculum Integration Specialist, independent consultant, podcaster, and web page designer who specializes in work for
institutions and organizations in education.
Next Monday is the start of the The Great World Wide Star Count. From October 1st through October 15th, you can report how many stars are visible in your location’s night sky. With these data, this project can determine the amount of light pollution in different parts of the world.
There’s a reason sporting events show timers on their scoreboards. When the game is on the line, everyone needs to know how much time is left. With little class time to spare, teachers and students need to keep an eye on the time too.
