Open Your Mind to Open Source

Yesterday, my pal Davide Rogers shared a wonderful resource with me and others attending his Open Source discussion panel. If you haven't heard of or seen Downloadpedia, drop by the site today. This online library of freeware, shareware and commercial software for Windows, Linux, and Mac is a wonderful addition to any educator's arsenal of tools for learning.

Out of This World Visualization

Yesterday, I presented a session with all kinds of resources for visualizing ideas. Even though I mentioned ways to conceptualize astronomy, I forgot to mention the following gem. Created by the student team of Michael VanDaniker and Andrew Lund, the Solar System Visualizer is a helpful resource that shows the motions of celestial bodies in our solar system.

History, Hope, and Healing

What a moment to watch history, hope, and healing unfold! I'm sitting here in a Crowne Plaza hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. My friend and co-worker, Mike and I have been following a number of media sources (both web-based and television) throughout the evening. Regardless of who won the election we both agreed that we and all of our fellow citizens need to put politics aside and get to work making our country the kind of nation where ALL children can grow up safe, smart, strong, and sure of hope and liberty. We need to be more than Democrats and Republicans. First and foremost, we need to be Americans.

Americans--real Americans--can and do rise above their differences to unite. Those who love this country may disagree. However, they are steadfast in their unwaivering dedication to the belief that everyone...everyone...has the opportunity to pursue a a better life. Americans, real, true patriotic Americans work together to build, maintain, and sustain a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Obama's victory speech:


McCain's gracious concession speech:

"Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans,"--John McCain


I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous.
I had the kind of a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school.
Of the America that made America famous...and
Of the people who just might understand
That how together yes we can
Create a country better than
The one we have made of this land...

What Made America Famous
by Harry Chapin

Seeing What Makes Politics Tick

I know it's going to be an interesting day.

For starters, I'm attending and presenting at GAETC 2008. When I'm not visiting with old friends and doing a little networking today, I'll be earnestly conducting a session where the participants explore tech resources designed to help students visualize instructional concepts. Preparing for the session (and another centered on digital video-editing) has consumed most of time during the last few weeks. I want the attendees to leave with new and useful ideas about how they can make learning more engaging, efficient, and effective.

In the midst of all this conference excitement there's a presidential election in progress. I'm so glad I voted early. That said, I'll probably be visiting Election 2008 powered by Twitter as well as the following sites:

• CNN's Election Center 2008
• Electoral College--What it is and how it works
  
• Electoral-Vote.com
• Federal Election Commission (which, by the way, has information related to Finance Reports and Data )
  
• FiveThirtyEight
• Google 2008 U.S. Election
  
• Google News and it's stories related to Elections
• Pollster.com
• PollTrack
  
• Yahoo's Political Dashboard

Related links:

• The internet offers politically-minded individuals many opportunities to critically examine the demographic forces in play that may be influencing decision-making. Dropping by a site such as Census.gov allows informed and novice voters to explore population statistics that bring context to political debates
• Presidential Watch 08 is a site that generates a map of the political blogosphere.
  
• For the curious, digitized voting guides via TheBallot.org. If the offerings housed at the site are found wanting, users may apply for an account and create their own.
  
• Sponsored by the League of Women Voters Education Fund, the site known as Vote411 provides all manner of facts regarding voting in the United States of America and worth visiting.
• Since it's a pretty good bet that money plays such a major role in politics , the information at OpenSecrets should be required reading for voters.
  

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GAETC 2008

Well, here I am in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm visiting the Big Peach along with my colleagues who'll be networking with other educational technology specialists and sharing what they know. We've all been very busy preparing for GAETC 2008.

Range of the Strange

It’s Halloween, the perfect time for spooky things. Make the most of the day and tap into the potential of perplexing peculiarities. Have learners do some higher level thinking by exploring intriguing topics. Consider using this spooky day to help learners integrate technology in the pursuit of answers to mysterious topics. Here are a few web-based resources guaranteed to exercise the imagination and leave students just a little unsettled.

Exotic creatures have always been a source of mystery. Loren Coleman, world-renowned cryptozoologist, has an eerily informative approach to tracking elusive organisms of all kinds. He reminds all of us to keep an open-mind. Loren contributes to Cryptomundo and writes thoroughly fascinating books about creatures that may or may not exist.

The very planet we inhabit is a source of awe and wonder. Even though Google Earth now makes scanning the globe considerably easier, the world retains many mysterious places that are sure to keep curious minds occupied. For example, take a look around and be fascinated with the Unexplained Earth.

Mysterious disappearances also engage eager minds. When things and people vanish, we instinctively want to know why. Whether investigating the curious facts surrounding the Mary Celeste or the enigmatic exit of the crew and passengers who disappeared along with the USS Cyclops, vanishings make us want to know more.

Boo!

Look Through Any Window

I wonder how many of my friends are going over to Amazon to do a little windowshopping? Although it's in beta, I can see how this type of interface could be adopted by those who design educational content.

Spiffy!