iPod Touch

Why doesn’t the iPod touch include a camera?  Is it because this is one of the few remaining differences between the itouch and the iphone?  It’s possible.

I looked for an “email us your suggestions” link on the apple web page to suggest they consider implementing this feature, as nothing could be better than taking pictures on the go with your ipod and then uploading them for free when you reach a wi-fi hotspot, but to no avail, apple is not like google and does not have a link to e-mail suggestions.

It’s ok though!  If I’m thinking about this then thousands of other people are thinking about this option as well, hopefully some of which work for apple and have the decision making power to implement this change.  I am sure there are technology restrictions and questions of how much more expensive this would make the product, but it would still be pretty darn sweet if they found a way, which I’m sure they will.  Apple’s competitive advantage is their cutting edge, ever-expanding innovative vision and they will find a way to get this done.  And when they do, I’ll be one of the first at the store waiting to buy.

ps – how many people still have their google readers still set up and are reading this new post?  Am I the first from last semester to post?

UPDATE:  1/16/11

Nobody responded, which means people may or may not having their google readers still set up, BUT, on a brighter note, the new iPod touch 4 came out several months ago, and they implemented the double camera feature.  Unfortunately it is not a 5 mega pixel camera like the iPhone, but it still has high def video recording quality.  I asked a worker at the apple store how it could possibly have such low picture quality, but still have “high def” quality video recording and his response was simple.

“Mega pixels are determined by the quality of the camera lens, while high def quality is determined by the software quality.”

I have no idea how much he really knew, and how much he was just saying what he thought would get the sale.  However, it is great they made the change and as apple has been on pace, coming out with a new iPod every year, their next iPod touch will likely have a far greater improved camera.  After all, phones now have 8 and 9 mega pixel cameras built-in, so all technology has to improve with time!

Semester Wrap Up

This semester has been a wild and crazy ride.  We covered so many different web 2.0 technologies, as well as basic word processing and PowerPoint that I found I was already forgetting some of them when I went back to study!  (I only remembered when I saw the web addresses written down in my notes).  Overall this semester has been great.  It was a roller coaster during times of assignments coming due (many times all at once from different classes), but the teachers have all been great, showing flexibility with due dates and extensions.  It’s almost as if the teachers here want us to succeed, vs. the general feeling I had while attending my Undergraduate Program at a different University.

There have been several web 2.0 programs that I am currently investing time into seeing if they’re really for me or not.  I would like to instantly have the type of Personal Learning Network (PLN) that Professor Ransom has for himself, but I know it takes time to develop those sorts of things and much of it really depends on the maturity of the posts you choose to leave.  I enjoyed learning about podcasts, twitter, vimeo, PowerPoint (on macs), mac computers, and everything else that our class covered throughout the semester.  I truly enjoyed the class introductions Professor Ransom started every week by showing us new and exciting websites that he stumbled across from week to week.  It has become very apparent to me that technology is now growing exponentially and it will be impossible to keep up with its growth.  It’s always interesting to see what comes out, and what will be the next big program to take off, but it’s almost impossible to judge.  It’s interesting to contemplate why people want accounts with twitter, but are then afraid that their students might become followers of their posts.  Isn’t that the point of that type of site?  To form and make connections?  I can see how it might get sticky if the students are of a younger age (elementary or middle school), but it also seems as though it could be tough to initially establish a strong PLN if all of the possible security settings are enabled.  How would potentially good future connections know if you’re worth following if they don’t have access to your information before they start following you?  Isn’t everyone an expert on something?  Couldn’t those 8th graders answer tweet questions as to what kids want for Christmas, if the teacher isn’t sure what to get his or her niece or nephew or grandchildren?  Ok, so I’m getting off on a bit of a tangent here.

Graduate school is highly intensive.  Needless to say, I have never had to do as much work over the Thanksgiving break before this year.  I welcome this 3 – 4 week break from school before jumping into semester #2.  I am glad I took EDTS 523 in my first semester as the things I have learned will help me finish courses in my near future.  I look forward to watching technology evolve and before I graduate I plan on doing my best to catch up on what is successful and what is here to stay (such as twitter), as I do not want to have any weaknesses going into an Interview in a few years.  I know schools have their pick of job candidates now a days, and there can be up to 400 teachers applying for the same job, I am willing to do almost anything (I do not plan to compromise morals or values) to get a job offer.  If that means accepting technology and getting to know it as well as I know some of my friends or to develop a PLN so I have massive “brain” that I can pick from time to time, I will do so.  EDTS 523 has motivated me to re-acquaint with the new technologies that are in the world.  Go technology!

iTouch, Websites, and Phone Calls

This week in class we set up websites using dream weaver.  It is very interesting to see that a person can make a website in only a few minutes if they know what they are doing.  It appears as though the software is not extremely user-friendly (compared to other programs such as PowerPoint, Word, or Excel) but, it was interesting when Professor Ransom stated this software is a main program many web designers use.  Four years ago I created a website in one of my undergraduate classes by writing code.  It was far more complex and compared to what I had to do to create a website four years ago, dream weaver is great!

On a different note, I have been reading about the 3rd generation iTouch.  It amazes me the leaps and bounds apple makes with their technology.  Ok, perhaps the changes they have made are not that huge, but a subtle change I’ve noticed is that the headphones now come with a microphone.  This means people will be able to use Skype, google talk, and other online programs to talk with one another via their iPod!  The iPod holds a 30 hr+ charge, 32 gb or 64 gb (depending on the model) of flash memory, so there are no moving hardware parts that can break by running with it or dropping it by mistake.  Technology is evolving around us every day, and I would not be surprised if schools soon make the switch to a wireless environment and schools make the investment to getting these iTouches into the hands of students, as there are aps for virtually anything and everything, which could help improve education.  Examples would be electronic flash cards, for math problems vocabulary words, or foreign languages, or even reading up on history or other activities.  The sky is the limit and it will be interesting to see how far we advance, before the Terminator movies come true.  Well, hopefully that will never happen…but you never know.  That’s all for now.

Update 12/4/09

One thing I forgot to mention that happened this past week is that myself and another peer asked two third grade teachers of a certain school if we could buy their students mechanical pencils as a goodbye gift when we left.  The teachers discussed it and decided that the children were still too young to have mechanical pencils and they would be more of a distraction than an aid in learning.  Now, I personally would consider a mechanical pencil a form of technology, as they are created in factories and although there are no computer chips in them, they magically always seem to have a point that doesn’t need to be sharpened.  Do these teachers have a point, or are they preventing the children from having a point, pencil point (nice pun huh?)?  Also, do you believe that the expectations (technology related) for these children are set so low that they cannot be challenged?  If they aren’t to be trusted with something as small as a mechanical pencil will they ever be introduced other types of technology at a young age, or will teachers dismiss it, assuming the students are not ready?

Black Friday

Although we didn’t have class today I spent roughly ten hours on the computer so far…and two hours on my ps3.  What is wrong with me you ask?  Perhaps not as much as you would think.  Although Thanksgiving was yesterday, between Wednesday and today I have spent over 17 hours on my computer and I plan to be on it for another hour before I go to bed tonight.  I have been working on a final project for my INCL 502 course which has been taking the majority of my time.  For those of you who are in my class you know what I am talking about.  I still have 2 lessons to get through, as I needed to re-do my first two lessons of the semester to create flow with my unit which I changed slightly, after previously submitting the first two lessons.  But, at any rate, let’s talk technology.

I have been plugged into my computer for these past couple days, however I have a laptop which is nice because I have spent time at a library as well as on my living room couch.  When I work hard for an hour or two, I reward myself by allowing me to check my e-mail or surf Facebook for a while.  I feel as though these OCD-like repetitive patterns are similar to the days when everyone used to stay logged into AIM and people would check and re-check their friends away messages every ten minutes.

Leading up to Black Friday I noticed on commercials that companies such as JCPenny and Verizon now show mini logos of Facebook and twitter at the bottom of the screen at the end of the commercial.  (There were some other icons too but I did not recognize them.)  These companies want people to follow them on these Web 2.0 sites to further saturate them with advertising.  I’m sure they induce people with special promotional deals and messages, similarly to being part of a company’s e-mail chain.  I cannot say that I have “friended” any corporations, nor do I ever intend to, but before this class I also said that I would never blog and yet, here I am!  And it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, and maybe being friends with corporate giants will become a necessity for anyone who applies to a job with that company.  Who knows if HR departments will begin to “unofficially” discriminate against job candidates who have facebook accounts but are not friends with the company they are applying for.  Of course the only way anyone would ever find out about this is if they worked in an HR department, but I never thought companies would go snooping through facebook profiles before hiring either but, it happens.

This morning I woke up around 8:30.  I did not go to the stores with so many other enthusiastic shoppers around 4am, but I did hop on my computer and buy a few items electronically.  I didn’t have to fight through crowds at the mall, wait in lines at registers, OR deal with the traffic!  I sat on my couch in sweat pants and a t-shirt, and purchased 4 different items from completely different stores and vendors, for great deals!  AND these companies are going to ship the merchandise I bought from them to my house, for free!

I may not be a technology guru, but I do have a secret when shopping online and I’ll share it with you.  It’s one word, Amazon.  Not only are there great deals (I know this because I compared the items I purchased with other big name companies who advertised black friday specials and Amazon’s prices were nearly identical if not cheaper) but there are specific merchants on Amazon that you can purchase from that will qualify you for “Free Super Saving Shipping”.  The total cost of your purchase just needs to be over $25 (vs. EMS whose special was free shipping with $125 of purchases).  Now, I know not everything can be purchased online for the holidays as it could be tough to pick up certain restaurant gift cards for example, but it is quite easy to do about half of your holiday shopping online and it is convenient!  The only catch is that you have to be sure to do it ahead of time, to allow time for shipments to make it to your doorstep.

Another great thing about online shopping is that some of my family lives in Seattle Washington.  I can make a few purchases online and have the gifts mailed directly to their doorstep!  If I want I can have the items gift wrapped as well!

My big technology point for this week is convenience!  Sure it’s true I’ve been working like a crazy man these last few days on school work, but I can conveniently take my computer wherever there is a wireless spot to work on my assignments.  I also knocked a few people off my shopping list for the season in about 40 minutes, when it might have taken me 40 minutes to find a parking space in some malls or plazas today.  I’m a huge fan of technology, I just hope we don’t find out 30 years from now that the increased wireless hot-spots, along with wireless controllers to video games, cell phones, etc. cause cancer.  I guess every generation is a guinea pig of some sort.  But I would like to believe that big brother would outlaw this extremely convenient technology if it were harmful to the general population (am I being naive or paranoid?).

OK – Time to get back to this Lesson Unit Project.  And as always, Go Technology!

Update:

On a completely separate note, my computer just finished it’s nightly virus scan and it actually found something!  It never does, but tonight it found a trojan virus that came into my computer through google chrome’s downloader.  I thought I would give google chrome a chance, as it is a fairly new web browser and I really like the cleanliness of the screen, and the fact that the address bar is also the google search bar, but I don’t like it if it’s giving me viruses.  There is a good chance I’ll be going back to firefox after this experience.  We’ll see though.  There’s good technology and there’s bad technology.  But there’s no viruses on apples (or very few)!

Schoharie NY

First let me say that the garage band experience was enough to make me want to buy a MAC for my next computer.  That software was amazing and I am a new believer that MACs are much more user-friendly than PCs and it is fairly easy to teach yourself how to use a MAC vs. a PC.  My finished product was too large of a file to post directly onto my wiki page so Professor Ransom and I tried several work-a-rounds.  We finally decided to try YouTube, but there was a compatibility error (possibly due to my project being longer than the maximum 10 minutes allowed per video by YouTube) and we finally got it to work through Vimeo.  When there’s a will there’s a way.

As for our WebQuest project, I am a little tentative to start it, but I know once I do I will dive in head first, as I have with all other projects until this point.  OK, now onto this past weekend.

I spent this past weekend in Schoharie NY, where the weather is mild and a person can find himself or herself surrounded in country and wildlife.  I traveled here with my girlfriend and her family, visiting her grandparents for her birthday.  I was excited to have a break away from technology, as I thought the most technology that would work where we were headed was my cell phone, in certain areas, as there are bad service areas here and there.  Again, I was wrong.  I was shocked to see that her Grandparents had a fairly new desktop computer and that her father brought a wireless router so that their laptops could connect.  We still kept to the great outdoors for most of the day, hiking up Vroman’s nose, visiting local places such as the Carrot Barn and the Apple Barrel, as well as driving closer to Albany to do some mid-day shopping, but sure enough, I found some time to sit down and do a little homework yesterday evening, which I could not have done without Internet access.  Good old technology.

How To of Podcasts

Once again I walked out of class on Tuesday in a semi-daze directly related to the wealth of information bestowed upon myself and the rest of the class.  Ok, so I wasn’t that overwhelmed, as a matter of fact, the garage band software that we will be using seems to be incredibly easy to use.  It’s really very cool drag and drop software and it seems easy enough to put together presentations with voices, music, and pictures.

Before yesterday’s class I was under the impression that the only “type” of people who could post online videos (not counting YouTube) were extremely tech savvy people and would have to know how to read code.

After yesterday’s class I felt as though I saw the creation of podcasts from a completely different view.  Possible.

I am excited to begin working on this project as the software required is extremely easy to use and this is another reason to add to my list of many to purchase a mac the next time I am up for a computer.  I supposed you could say this class has helped to convert me from Windows PC to Mac.  (Of course I do not know the frustrations with mac users who have computers and files that are not compatible with PCs, but that is something I will learn after I purchase a mac).

Two more thing I will mention from class that I thought was incredibly cool were the Readability and LibriVox websites that Professor Ransom showed us.  Readability is a site dedicated to saving eyes of all colors from harmful screen reading.  LibriVox is a massive public domain of online audio books that can be downloaded onto a person’s iPod for casual listening.  This would have made my previous job of data entry much more  enjoyable.  I am also very interested in hearing everyone else’s posts from this week to see if everyone else feels the way I do about class.

Podcasting from Mars?

I thought I would give this post a fancy title to see if I can attract anymore readers, but the real reason I chose the title is because the word “Pod” reminds me of aliens and they might as well have been from Mars before this past week as I did not know anything about them!  I now have over 200 pod-clips downloaded to my computer and I plan to watch them whenever I get the chance.  I have iTunes set up to automatically delete the casts after I watch them, but I am skeptical to see if that actually works or not.  Well, I’m getting pretty far ahead of myself, let me start with a brief overview of what podcasts are, to my knowledge, and then I will explain a little bit more about what I think of them.

Podcasts are a running archive of a specific episode or series of a show, lecture, music, or anything a person wants to make them into.  The key for something to fall under the specific definition of a podcast is that it needs to be an active archiving of “episodes” as your old Christmas party video posted online would not count as a podcast.  (DID I MENTION THAT VIRTUALLY ALL PODCASTS ARE FREE?!?!)

Podcasts seem to be incredibly convenient as there is virtually limitless information that you can subscribe to and an RSS feeder will go online and bring the most recent and updated information to your iTunes for easy viewing.  I discovered that mainstream television shows have small clips and hilites that a person can subscribe to, which is perfect for me as I hate and refuse to have my life revolve around the tv guide, but also because I get bored easily and cannot usually stand to sit in front of a tv show for 30 minutes, nevertheless 1 full hour.  If I am not interacting with technology (as I am on a computer or with video games) I do not like to sit in front of a screen.  To the contrary, I still find television shows such as man vs. food incredibly entertaining and I found that both the discovery channel and the travel channel have multiple free podcasts to choose from, that include clips from such shows as man vs. food.  I also think that iTunes U is an incredibly innovative idea and the thought of anybody having access to online lectures from prestigious universities such as Yale, Oxford, and Stanford literally blows my mind!  It presents new questions that I never thought I would ever be asking myself such as, how much longer are students going to have to pay tuition?  Right now people have to take out loans that they spend years paying back just to go to college and get a degree to get a job.  At what point will all lectures be at the fingertips of individuals and will people be able to access for free or for a small marginal fee?  (Right now at Nazareth each individual lecture we attend costs us roughly $100 – $200).  The thought of the possibility of a free education or incredibly cheap education from Yale, accessed electronically from the comfort of one’s own living room in another state, really blows my mind.  It seems as though the possibilities of technology are endless and so are the doors that technology can lead us to and help us to open.  Not that I want to “fast-forward” through the “now”, but I really can’t wait to see what technology brings to the public during my lifetime.  It will be interesting to see how fast technology continues to evolve and expand, and perhaps even more interesting to see what acquires popularity and sticks around for years to come.  So far I would say twitter and podcasting have made the list hands down!

PowerPoint in the 21st Century

• Short
• Meaningful
• Simple
• 80-20 Rule
• 10-20-30 Rule

These are the three basic rules to follow when using PowerPoint.  98% (this is a loose observation which includes everyone from teachers to trainers from elementary schools to Universities, to corporations) of people who use PowerPoint do not use it in this manner.  Slides are often cluttered with material, and the font is too small.  Students spend their time copying information into their notebooks instead of listening to what the presenter has to say.  In some cases this might not actually matter as the presenter may just read directly off the slide.

There are many general rules to follow when making a slide.  Such as keeping the slide short and simple, but at the same time keeping it meaningful.  A person doing a report should remember that 80% of their presentation should be on research content and only 20% on graphics.  Their PowerPoint should be easy to read, consisting of large font, with only a few words on a slide.  Hopefully no more than 5 – 10 words.  Although graphics are only supposed to make up 20% of a presentation it is very important to pic meaningful pictures, not just horrible clip art photos.  Many times it is recommended to use your own personal images or to get real photographs off the internet to use.  There are several sites that a person can look for free images and the owners of the images state the conditions in which their photos may be used.  One such site is FlickrStorm.

The 10-20-30 rule is a bit more complex then the 80-20 rule, but still simple enough to follow and try to keep PowerPoint presentations within its parameters.

• The 10 stands for how many slides you should have and for how many seconds an audience should have to view the slide before all of the information sinks in.
• The 20 stands for the optimal length of the presentation (20 minutes).
• The 30 stands for the minimum font size (unless you are citing something at the bottom of your slide, in which case the font size can be reduced).

That’s about it.  We learned that making slides flashy, fun, and full of exciting sounds can only distract an audience from the information that you found!  Don’t fall a victim to PowerPoint poisoning like the majority of people who use it!  Try to keep it short, simple, and meaningful.

One other thing that might be worth mentioning.  The 10-20-30 rule was introduced by a salesman who was focusing on sales and keeping the buyer’s attention.  The ten rule might be slightly bendable but I agree with the 20 and 30 rule.  Especially if teachers are planning on using this in elementary classrooms.

PowerPoint can be fun to play with and a great means to get our information out to a large audience.  We just have to be careful not to kill them with boredom!

11/8/09 (Update)

A group consisting of myself and two other classmates just finished putting together a PowerPoint presentation over the weekend.  We made it simple, added audio, and added several extra slides to simulate the movement of different characters and objects throughout the presentation.  We had slides loop to a “You are right” or “Sorry try again” slides.  The entire presentation is around fifty slides, although no slides are heavily dominated with words.  All in all this project turned out to be extremely time-consuming.  Between our efficient group meetings and individual work that I did on my own (between group meetings) this entire project took approximately ten hours to complete.  That is roughly one hour for every five slides.  We ran into some trouble initially trying to attach sound clips to different icons in our presentation, as well as finding a cartoon mom to add to our family, but other than that I would say PowerPoint is very time-consuming and questionably not worth the time necessary to create a more advanced presentation.

I used to be extremely proficient in PowerPoint roughly eight years ago, and continued to be proficient up until about four years ago when I no longer needed to use it in school.  This time around we were using Mac computers, so that was also new to me, but aside from the time off and the minor differences in software and computers used, this was still just as time-consuming as I remember it to be back in 2002.

PowerPoint is a good tool for basic slides when doing presentations, but in order to make a presentation interactive for students, it requires much more work and in my opinion does not justify the time and energy spent, when there are equally (or perhaps more interesting) ways to spend time and energy.  The group project was a good experience and I do not regret the way we organized our project, but if I were to give a presentation on money (what our group project decided on), I might just hand out some money (or Monopoly money) to kids in the classroom for more of a hands on experience with counting.  But I am also very excited to show the class what we put together as I think it turned out pretty darn good.

A Case of the backfiring Twitter

I do not intend this to be my official post of the week, but I heard something on the news that had to share with anyone who was interested.  Larry Johnson, the running back for the Kansas City Chiefs has been suspended indefinitely after “tweeting” gay slurs on twitter.  The radio station that I was listening to stated that Johnson has apologized profusely but his team is still suspending him indefinitely while a further investigation is carried out.  I am not commenting on the tweets or the reaction of the team and league of this whole situation but I just find it mind-boggling that a sports star of his caliber (he led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns several seasons ago and might have broken 2,000 yards rushing or came close) would be dumb enough to feel as though he could just tweet away with whatever he wanted and not have to worry about repercussions.  Freedom of speech will only carry you so far, and this is the type of stuff that would get the average joe fired on the spot if caught by their employer.  Maybe this will be a wake-up message to other professional athletes out there that if they can’t control what they’re tweeting then maybe they shouldn’t have an account.  I am now going to try to make a corny and horrible Spiderman parallel… “With technology comes power, and with power comes great responsibility.  They have to use that technology and power for good!”

Ok, that’s all for now.

Interactive Whiteboards in the classroom

My paper was written on interactive whiteboards in the classroom.  While writing my paper and doing the research on interactive whiteboards, I came to the conclusion that I did not know as much about interactive whiteboards as I originally thought I had.  I knew they were the next generation’s chalkboard, and that they have been steadily making their way into more and more classrooms, but I was not aware of everything they could do.  I know kids like technology and would love a chance to participate in class if it meant going up and writing on an interactive whiteboard, but I did not know that they have been around since 1991 and seem to be just gaining popularity in recent years.

The research I gathered opened my eyes to the pros and cons behind the great interactive whiteboard debate, to interact or not to interact.  That sounds rather cliche, but I did find that, as with everything, it comes down to cost.  The research I dug up stated that overall interactive whiteboards have been found to be beneficial to teaching, however they are several thousands of dollars and school districts have to be able to afford them before they can even think about adding them to their classrooms.

My opinion is still up in the air to the question of if these interactive whiteboards are actually worth the opportunity cost, as I know there are simpler, less technological ways around many of the different activities that teachers can do using the interactive whiteboard.  For example, if teachers choose to create an organizational chart with an interactive whiteboard, they could just as easily (and probably more efficiently) mirror the same activity using sticky notes and just sticking them up on the board at the front of the class.  Another limitation to the interactive whiteboard is space/size constraints.  I remember in my high school math class, when our teacher was showing us algebraic equations he wrote all over a chalkboard that was the entire width of the wall.  It was helpful to see the progression of steps that needed to be taken to solve problems.  Interactive whiteboards limit a teacher’s writing space to essentially the arm-span of an adult, which is limiting.  However, interactive whiteboards do allow you to take screen shots and open new blank pages to write on, with the click of a button, allowing a teacher to create slides and show step by step progressions of math assignments, but in my opinion it is still not the same as being able to see the entire problem all at once.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go up to the class interactive whiteboard and write down some ideas.  The experience of writing on one of these whiteboards is nothing like writing with a piece of chalk or a dry erase marker.  It is almost as if I would have to re-learn how to write, so that it is legible enough for students to be able to make out what I am trying to express on the board.  At the same time, this is a little thing that would get better over time, and teachers might grow to love the slide application as they could make the day’s interactive whiteboard writing available for students online, giving them the opportunity to print it out, or complete their notes from home, if they missed anything in class.

As Professor Ransom said, technology cannot make a bad teacher good, but it can make a good teacher great.  I completely agree with this statement and believe it takes a somewhat imaginative mind to come up with ways in which a teacher can adjust lesson plans to work with technology, or to use the technology available, to its full potential.  Interactive whiteboards are just an added tool that teachers can choose (or choose not to) work into their daily lessons.  It is essentially up to the teacher, but at least school districts are attempting to make the most advanced technology available to their teachers when they can afford it.

Interactive whiteboards are not going away and over time will most likely become the next chalkboard.  Like anything there are advantages and disadvantages to interactive whiteboards but we will most likely see them in the classrooms we eventually end up teaching in, after graduation.  It is the responsibility of teachers to resist becoming stuck in their comfortable teaching routine, and remain open to new and exciting technologies that will come their way throughout their teaching career.  It will take a while for teachers who have never used interactive whiteboards to get used to them, but after they become comfortable I would not be surprised to hear comments such as “I don’t know how I ever taught without an interactive whiteboard before”.