Ephemera

Finally, if you have a chance, view the great work that my AP students have contributed to the wiki that I built for them as my research project: http://hispanismo.pbworks.com/
They have surpassed my expectations in writing in Spanish on three different pages: Trucos, Canciones and Forum, about focused topics that matter to them. Relevant, practical communication is the whole point of taking a world language until you get into college lit classes. You will eventually be able to see their video projects on the Telenovelas section too. It is obviously a work in progress that will see ongoing refinements.

Why did I call this last entry "Ephemera"? We are all here on earth for such a short time. Let's make it count by focusing on what matters most for each of us, whatever that may be. Among those whom I have known and loved are some very special people who have taught me the importance of balance in life--and the essence of taking the long view:
-a D-Day survivor (Utah Beach, Bronze Star, Purple Heart--saw comrades blown to bits), at 89, he is still one of my best friends;
-a German artist whose conscripted father disappeared on the Eastern Front, never to return, when he was 14 years old;
-Survivors of Nazi persecution who were my esteemed professors and friends;
-another of my oldest friends, who lost her father at a young age to a Stalinist labor camp in Siberia while she and her mother endured a harsh Soviet lifestyle alone--they ultimately left Russia with a young child in tow and started a new life here;
These people all have been (or were) wary of totalitarianism and thought control emerging in new guises. Sexy technology and information-handling will never supplant our own critical faculties (unless we let them). You are aware, of course, that Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google was the son of Soviet emigres who came to the U.S, claiming persecution despite having received professional educations at state expense. We still do not know how much our every move on Google is tracked and recorded. Ironic? Coincidence?

Everyone needs to have and to express a point of view. Life would be boring otherwise. But we must never forget that there is very little that is new under the sun (in the great scheme of things).

It's been fun--thanks for the wonderful Media Specialists who have helped to make this Blog possible, and thanks for reading!

The Myth of the Global Village

In case you thought that it was not really all about the money...
In developing countries, and our own backyard, a new digital divide is growing. Service access to those who do not generate web-based income is being limited or reduced: "One Internet Village, Divided" New York Times, April 27, 2009: (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/start-ups/27global.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=one%20internet%20village,%20divided&st=cse).
Cases in point are YouTube and Facebook, which are trying to limit bandwidth and reduce the quality of service to places that generate lower revenues, mostly in Asia and Africa. Their original business models of "build large audiences and generate revenue through ads" is being challenged. We are fortunate to be in a place where free educational purposes are underwritten...for now..and access is free...for now.
The long-term implications of these business developments will be interesting to follow.

The Library of Congress is on You Tube!

I had already planned to do only one more post to this blog, but the news that the Library of Congress has its own feed on You Tube (since late March 2009) was just too important not to mention: http://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress.
I happened on to this today while avocationally searching for an obscure U.S. military microfilm from 1949 for a French historian friend of mine in Normandy. Sitting in my own office beats making a trip to Washington, D.C. to dig in the National Archives and review films on site for him like I had to do ten years ago.
It would seem to me that the media professionals "in the house" can use this development as evidence to lobby for terminating the blockade of You Tube for teachers in MPS system. MPS' ignorance is not bliss for those of us who need that resource for making instruction come alive.
The LOC also has a blog (yawn), Twitter feeds (yawn) and regular podcasts (not a yawn), which include a fascinating and ever-growing collection of digitalized resources like historical recordings of music, interviews and much more.
MPS, are you listening?

Message or Massage?

Now that my Wiki is up and running, just could not resist the temptation to revisit Marshall McLuhan. If you click on the image at left, you can read it more clearly. For those who came of age post-Internet, here is a tutorial: http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/. Lest we think that anything be completely original, McLuhan anticipated not only the demise of print media as we know it, as exemplified by the current painful metamorphosis of traditional newpapers, but also coined the term "Global Village" long before it was a defunct--or was that "de-funked"?--old-hippie store near the West Bank of the Mississippi.
McLuhan's most oft-quoted aphorism (pithy phrase) is "The medium is the message..." The title is usually incorrectly cited, due to a typo which left his influential book being entitled The Medium is the Massage. McLuhan did not object to the typo, and liked the ambiguity. " Mass-age?" ..or maybe "massage" of one's brain by various media...or...? Re "message" vs. "massage" - maybe some of the media specialists (or others) had courses in "Media Studies" or the like in high school or college? Gratefully, I was spared the tortured discourse of academics who specialize in some permutation of "Media/Gender/Cultural Studies" (akin to "21st-Century Intellectual Basket Weaving 101").
But the real message here is about McLuhan and what we have been up to all year in MILI. We are fully-formed adults. Our students are not. We cannot underestimate the force exerted by the new media on the shaping of their ability to reason, on their relationships to others, and their supposed "ownership" of their knowlege and educations. The media that they and we use are the real message and are shaping us in ways that we still do not fully understand.
As for the myth of the "global village," watch for another post. It's really all about the money, always has been, and always will be in the end. You did notice that PBWiki has "gone uptown" with its logo so as to attract more solid, paying customers, didn't you? Very few people in the real world of business would ever take a cute little "pb sandwich" logo seriously for long!

Just when I thought that I hated Twitter...

Just when I thought that I hated Twitter and was determined not to write any more about it, two minutes ago, the following article popped up. It's about a University of Wisconsin neuroscience researcher who found a way to help people with neural injuries communicate via Twitter solely with their brains.
Since I have a student who suffered a severe spinal cord injury last summer, I can see that this would be life changing:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/22/twitter.locked.in/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

2.0 Memes and Cyber-Poverty

There is an old Middle-Eastern proverb that I heard a long time ago, ironically, from a Brazilian: "The caravan passes, and the dogs sit in the dust, barking."
It resurfaced today in a piece on cyberscience-fiction author Bruce Sterling--"Let Them Eat Tweets" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19wwln-medium-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Tweets&st=cse. Didn't know about him before, since I am neither a "techie" nor a sci-fi fan. In case you are wondering, as I was, what "memes" are in a cyber-context--here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme.
I do, however, feel vindicated in not jumping on the Twitter bandwagon and for keeping my cellphone private. (When the inevitable terrorist attack occurs that knocks out the transmission towers, I will still have my land line).
The "law of the pendulum" never fails. If something swings from "cutting-edge" to "mass-market," its value declines. It is Sterling's contention that "Connectivity is poverty," i.e. that most people now cannot afford privacy, and that those of us who cannot unplug are suffocated by the barrage of incessant, often superfluous online communications that run many of our lives these days.
Bottom line: If you are really "All That," then no one can get you on your cell phone and you don't even bother with Twitter unless you are planning to make money from others' use of it, to wit, Oprah. PS--Don't her personal assistants already have enough to do?

Googlelamania, the Brave New World of Intellectual Piracy

Have you ever read a description of the Google HQ lobby? There is a projector wall in the lobby of Google's HQ of searches scrolling in real time. Your searches are not private, any more than your house valuation , the details of its location, your image on "Street View" cameras, or the tracking of your searches for marketing insights.
It's no wonder that our students have trouble understanding the concept of "intellectual property" when we promote the use of Google tools, while Google does not pay a representative portion of the work of news organizations (among other things) that it uses without permission.
For the full reflections on how Google is changing the face of journalism with "targeted" marketing based on an ad model that "understands your history," in the words of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, see today's New York Times editorial by Maureen Dowd: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/opinion/15dowd.html?_r=1&ref=opinion.
When "editors" and "publishers" become anonymous, and news is "target-marketed" based on the tracking of individual Internet searches, the potential expands for the abuse of intellectual property rights and freedom. Anyone worried yet?

Climbing the Ladder - Electronic Portfolios (Thing 16)

The concept of eFolio Minnesota is wonderful--a versatile tool for students and job-seekers. The idea of posting a portfolio on line is up-to-the-minute, but I am not convinced that it is any more effective than blindly sending out numerous resumes in the the hopes of attracting attention.
Good marketing is usually targeted marketing, not a random shot in cyberspace.
The appearance of the efolio site is bland and its "feel" is rather jumbled and "institutional". Some sections are more applicable to student purposes than others, and some of the links are print-heavy and cluttered. If I were either a student or a job seeker, I might find threading my way through the site layout discouraging. Having explored similiar sites when I was a job-seeker, I found having to dig through pages and pages of "helpful" hints about resumes and interviewing rather tedious and ultimately of little use. It's sad but true that personal contacts are still the way that most people get into their schools of choice and/or win employment.
The "MN Online" link is good for general information about the MNSCU system--a kind of "one-stop shop" for those seeking courses or campus information. That could be a boon to students and families researching college options. The Monster.com link appears the most appealing for younger users in style and substance. These tools are certain to evolve with time and competition.

Down the Rabbit Hole (Thing 21 - Podcasting)

Podcasting has great potential for many different applications. Its newness makes it vulnerable to the randomness that afflicts many of the current resources, and wide open to slick commercialism. As I've said before, more talk does not ensure better talk. The following are the results of my trip down the podcasting "rabbit holes" of a few sites as I try to plan my implementation of a podcast assignment for next quarter. My goal in structuring the assignment is to link the classroom with the Spanish-speaking community in the Twin Cities, and to link the podcasts to my webpage and the student-oriented Wiki that I am building.

But first, a review of the reference sources:

Let's start with the best: I have already been using the BBC podcasts all year for listening comprehension development. I also have them linked to my webpage so students can access them at any time. The people who produce those podcasts obviously not only speak well--they also know how to write well. That's why they don't just babble. The Educational Podcast Directory is a wonderful resource--content-rich, well-organized. The "Intercultural and Cross-Cultural Communication" sections are excellent for World Language teachers. I plan to spend a lot more time there. It would be exciting to be able to use Skype in MPS, as some nice models on the site illustrate.

Now, to the questionable:
Podcast.com was inaccessible; Podcast.net could not be located; Podcastalley.com featured links such as "Open Source Sex" and "Dan Carlin's Hardcore"; Yahoo Podcasts mostly highlighted popular music and did not seem particularly deep ; another was Podcast Awards, offering such winning links as "Midwest Teen Sex Show." Hmmmm...

As usual, check out all sites before recommending them to students! There are more sites "mushrooming" every day, but most look like advance "feelers" for commercial exploitation. Who knows how many of them may even be around in even six months' time.

Request for Comments or "How the Internet Got Its Rules"

I never knew how the original Internet protocols were designed and implemented, and how they shaped what we now take for granted. Today is the 40th Anniversary of the "Request for Comments." The R.F.C.s were born in 1968, long before the WWW (or email!), and were memos written (and often shared via the U.S. Postal Service and Xerox machines) among nascent computer scientists to share ideas and information about early network protocols. Although the original R.F.C.s are now obsolete, they evolved into the standard method of publishing Internet protocol standards. What they meant for the average- to below-average-skilled user like me is that they were foundational to an Internet culture valuing transparency, the free exchange of ideas and vetting by peer review. In forty short years, that's a major accomplishment. To read more, see the following by Stephen Crocker, the originator of the R.F.C.s.: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/opinion/07crocker.html?ref=opinion

Battle of the Browsers

There is a lot happening on the browser scene these days. The winner, according to some experts, is Google Chrome...(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/personaltech/26basics.html). It offers high security (a plus for me) and an "input bar" that searches through your Web history. It also allows for add-ons. The latest Safari does away with the tab bar, though I personally like that. Firefox has become faster and alows more customization than others in the "Tab Mix Plus" which I have not tried, but I think it sounds interesting.
I will probably stick with Firefox for now, though I am partial to Internet Explorer too, since I like the tab bar a lot. I am a "challenged" multitasker even under the best of circumstances. The point is, check all of these options out and see what works for you. It's great to be a "sought-after" demographic!

Pod People and PS FYI "POS"

Since my AP Spanish students have been exposed to high-quality Spanish-language podcasts and videos from the BBC all year, I am looking forward to making a podcast part of next semester's assignments. We have been examining the roots of modern Spanish-speaking civilization in the Americas, and connections between the past and present. (Example: Modern manifestations of the Mayan culture in the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala and beyond, exemplified in the work of Nobel-prize winner Rigoberta Menchu and others).

In the past, I emphasized the many research- and language-practice links already loaded on my webpage (since 2005!): http://south.mpls.k12.mn.us/31Jul20052.html) and had students present Power Point oral reports in class on a variety of culture topics. That was quite labor-intensive with the numbers of students enrolled in Spanish classes. It is no simple task to edit numerous student writing assignments in another language and provide meaningful guided feedback. It is a very different process from first-language writing development.

Now that I have learned how, I will have students do a podcast in Spanish on a topic related to the contemporary Spanish-speaking world, a world very much alive in Minnesota. Their podcasts will have a special new relevance. I am still refining the themes, but the assignments will involve an interview with someone from the community. Since the students we see nowadays need very prescriptive rubrics to complete assignments sucessfully, the MILI-suggested podcast rubrics will be useful.

PS FYI--Raise your hand if you know what "POS" stands for in texting slang: OK--"Parent Over Shoulder" (by now, that little screen would have gone blank if you had caught a student or your child texting something inappropriate). How quickly those little peas sprout wings!

BBC Mundo - Podcasting Versus "Pod" People

One of the most important resources that I have loaded on my school webpage is a link to BBC Mundo (BBC World Service in Spanish language): http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/news/. Each Monday, to start the week and to practice listening and reading comprehension, we look at a few videos and/or short text articles. These items also provide excellent models for World Language podcasts because of the quality of the writing and presentation, and the vast, ever-updated range of topics. When I survey my classes, they inevitably mention BBC Mundo and the link to the Discovery Channel in Spanish on my webapge as two of their favorite resources.
Not only are they getting language enrichment and high-level reporting, but they are also learning that our own news media generally present a limited range of views.
With the decline of conventional newspapers and the explosion of "news" blogs biased to a particular point of view, it is crucial that we offer our students examples of high-level professional journalism from around the world.
For an interesting read on "self-segregation" in U. S. society based on points of view, including on the Internet, (what I would term "pod-peopling") see The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008).

Hazardous Half Lives on Facebook

OK -I swore I would not write one more thing about Facebook, but here goes...
There are some long-term consequences that no one can adequately predict about Facebook postings. I am reminded of nuclear half lives--not that I pretend any special knowledge of nuclear physics--I leave that to our Mr. "Discovering Science". According to my old Webster's (how's that for an ironic title?) a half-life is the period required "for the disintegration of half of the atoms in a sample of some specific radioactive substance."
Well, people are discovering that their past lives are still "radioactive" too, as the author of "Growing Up On Facebook" notes (New York Times, 15 March 2009): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-lede-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Growing%20Up%20On%20Facebook&st=cse. Someone who hadn't seen her in decades posted a picture of her at age 16. Sure glad that I have always been averse to having my picture taken, especially by strangers! Some very interesting statistics are posted in the article: the age 25-50 category topped the charts at 3 + hours for the average time spent on Facebook during January, 2009. Nostalgia? Narcissism? Both?
How about authentic self-invention? There is something tragic about the apparent need in our society for the creation of an alternative "self" and transmission of same to the rest of the world via impersonal means.
More practically, a related phenomenon is that fact that all this may eventually cost people lots and lots of money far down the road. The potential impact of the "half-life phenomenon" of published private information on job-hunters is already well-established. College kids, whatever you do, don't let anyone snap that photo of you grinning and naked in the hot tub at that fraternity kegger! It may come back to haunt you more quickly than you think.
An insurance specialist I know adds that sites like Facebook, and the disclosures therein, take on lives of their own once published. They may be exploited by insurers seeking to limit their exposure to pre-existing conditions (such as detailed addiction narratives and accounts of personal trauma). In short, his advice is: "Take it to your shrink," or "Save the drama for your mama."
Once our words are out there in the universe, they are no longer our own.

BBC Podcasts - The Major Leagues

If you have not yet experienced them, take a few moments to explore BBC World Service podcasts. You will be connected to the entire planet. They are even offered in multiple languages:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/

They make excellent models for the students and us to emulate, plus it's just so much fun to hear all the different accents of the English-speaking world represented.

Tell Me a Story (Thing 10)

There are numerous applications for digital storytelling in the World Language (WL) classroom, though I have not yet put them into practice. Since I teach language mostly through the use of narratives of all sorts, I am already a "believer" in the power of stories, myths and legends.
Here, in no particular order, are some of the most salient applications of digital narratives in WL:
-personalization and extension of previously studied content;
-demonstration of understanding of previously studied content;
-exploration of rich cultural content through the study of myths from various cultures and the "construction" of one's own myths;
-narration of current events in a storytelling format that personalizes events for both the creator and his/her audience;
-enrichment of connections between the classroom and the real world through practical applications of digital narrative techniques.
In short, everyone loves a great story.
The most obvious obstacles to incorporating digital storytelling in my classes are:
-large class sizes, limiting the degree of personalization of guidance and feedback that I can offer;
-lack of cameras;
lack of lab time.
Teacher narratives are always so tragic!

Twitterjitters, hashtags and "floggers"

How would you picture the inventor of Twitter? In fact, like famous college dropout Bill Gates, the inventor of Twitter, Evan Williams, also dropped out of college (so much for going into massive debt for an Ivy-League education!) and grew up on a farm in...Nebraska: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/jobs/08bosses.html?_r=2. What he has created has already morphed beyond his wildest dreams. All it takes is one marketable idea...This illustrates how little we can predict about the evolution of our students' lives and careers.

Not being a "Twitterer" myself, I was amused to read a half-page article from the weekend Wall Street Journal (March 14 - 15, 2009) by columnist Julia Angwin re her demanding Twitterer "followers" (who knew?) and the "performance anxiety" that Twittering on a mass scale can engender: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638550095558381.html?mod=googlenews_wsj. Don't people have better things to do? Where does this endless search for narcissistic instant gratification end?

Well, at least I am expanding my vocabulary: I did learn that "hashtags" are the "#" marks that people use to identify keywords in their tweets, "supposedly making their tweets more searchable." PS Media Specialists--How do you properly acknowledge a "tweet" in a bibliography?

Enter the Floggers. Argentina is now home to a "flogging" sensation named "Cumbio" who is a youth icon of the moment: 36 million visits to her fotolog site this past year. (Ironic that the original sense of the word "flogging" had to do with public humiliation). But I digress. Floggers take photos of themselves and post them on photo blogs, users comment on each others' photos, and organize the current equivalent of flash mobs (how quickly fads change!). Fotolog.com http://www.fotolog.com/ claims to have more than 5.5 million users in Argentina and almost as many in Chile. To see the full story: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/13/america/profile.php. Tweet tweet, snap snap!

That's Life!

Exciting (old) news--Google has acquired and digitalized the 10,000,000+ photos in Life magazine's photo archive http://images.google.com/hosted/life. What a treasure trove! I could spend hours and hours perusing and absorbing what is there. A(n) historian friend of mine in France (D-Day specialist) whom I alerted about this (he is working on a book about the famous Magnum photo agency), is no less than ecstatic about this resource.
I plan to mine it for all sorts of references like the Spanish Civil War, social change in Mexico and Central America, and more (like personal enthrallment). History Day teachers, knock yourselves out!
The site does elicit some valid criticisms, such as the fact that it appears to be organized haphazardly. As the author of an article in today's NY Times notes: "...Google has failed to recognize that it can't publish content under its imprint without already creating content of some kind: smart, reported captions; new and good-looking slide-show software; interstitial material that connects disparate photos; robust thematic and topical organization." Here's the link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/01/technology/01wwlnmediumt.php
Well, I am sure that the rest will come with time. For the moment, it is a thrill for "visual people" like me just to wade into the ocean.

Evolution of Text

Just want to share a wonderful editorial that I had saved, but not shared, from back in September re the September, 2008 Atlantic article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/technology/21ping.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Darlin%20September%2021%202008&st=cse
A notable comment for those of you who are engineers: "...The engineer's point of view puts trust in human improvement" (italics mine).
Very inspiring. This post not quite a Twitter, but close!

Wikimania and Walled Gardens

Looks like the Baltimore Public Schools are getting into individual classroom wikis in a big way: http://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&tab=wm#inbox/11f91ee6c4610b2b

Am still trying to find the time to get my AP Spanish wiki up and running. Any helpful hints about setup stages? I don't want to wander into "walled gardens" that are irrelevant to the overall purpose: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walled_garden_(technology)

Bridging the Gap and Edmodo

What do Edmodo and Ruby Payne have in common? Ruby Payne is a rather controversial educational theorist and workshop presenter. Her focus is bridging the gap between children in poverty and their teachers, who are from mostly lower-middle- to middle-middle-class economic origins. She has succinctly characterized some elements of communication and lifestyle differences by social class (not without criticism from some quarters) and developed highly prescriptive methods for educators to deal with those differences. She defines these "hidden rules of poverty" as superseding racial distinctions:
http://www.ext.wvu.edu/cyfar/rut/hiddenrules.htm

While I do not accept her theories wholesale, she has identified one important element about the culture of poverty: it is marked by a participatory, collaborative communication style (and generally lots of background "noise"), not unrelated to the necessity of sharing material goods for survival in other aspects of life.

Many middle-class teachers are perturbed by what they perceive to be student "outbursts" in class when, in fact, for some students, "participatory" oral communcation is a way of life outside school, against a backdrop of talk, television or radio noise.

Edmodo, with its immediacy and focus on dialogue and instant feedback, could be a rather useful tool in helping some students in poverty bridge the educational-behavioral gap in communication styles in a non-confrontational manner. Students would benefit from the instant feedback and the opportunity to acquire behaviors that reinforce concentration and self-restraint, with positive implications for their studies and life outside of school.

Creative Commons and Copyright (Thing 9)

Because copyright law is so complex, I am grateful that others are constantly watching its ongoing development. As an evolving field, copyright law is a critical topic for the MILI context. If we are not well-informed, how can we help our students to understand the underlying concepts of "intellectual property"?

My personal experiences with those showing respect for copyright law have reinforced my understanding of why it matters. I have been contacted several times by various people here and abroad wishing to copy parts of my graduate research.

It is also gratifying that Creative Commons is now available in an ever-increasing array of languages. The definition of "intellectual property" is not consistent across cultures, and the concept continues to grow in legal importance as the world shrinks via electronic media.

"Anonymous" A-Rod and Internet Infrastructure in Jeopardy

Don't know about anyone else, but I will be thinking twice about responding to "anonymous" online surveys any more, especially those that are work-related. It seems that third-party access to a supposedly "anonymous" survey of drug use among ballplayers is how Alex Rodriguez' prior use of performance-enhancing drugs was exposed: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/technology/16link.html?scp=1&sq=privacy%20web&st=cse. Educators may also need to think through the implications of this re using online surveys with minors. In addition, the great minds of computer engineering are now saying that the Internet's infrastructure is decaying rapidly and will need to be "reinvented" or at least "reconfigured" soon. That could mean less individual privacy to ensure greater security: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/weekinreview/15markoff.html?scp=2&sq=internet&st=cse

One for the Road re Facebook...

From the 8 February, 2009 New York Times re "Cyberbullying" of teachers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/us/08cyberbully.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Cyberbullying&st=cse.

I find it very ironic that most of the best information that I receive re the Internet is from print sources! 'Nuff said re Facebook - we're "not in Kansas any more"!

Facebook Fine Print (Thing 13)

Read the fine print and then decide if Facebook in its current form is really a good tool for you: http://www.legalandrew.com/2007/07/21/facebook-and-the-law-8-things-to-know/
Here's what a few kids are saying, FYI:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2301537792

Here's what the office of the NY Attorney General has been thinking in the not-too-distant past:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9788413-36.html

Plus, the Facebook "founder" may have stolen the business model upon which it was based and has been involved in multiple infringement lawsuits: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/31/why-were-suing-facebook-for-25-million-in-statutory-damages/

For a case about "The Indiscreet " (i.e., really stupid teachers) on Facebook: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/319902.html

Some people really need to be saved from themselves!

...or from the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/08/AR2009020802365.html

And now for a few words from "The Academy" (aka "Academia"): http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/309855

Caveat emptor!

Please don't take my Kodachrome away...

Winter getting you down?

Want to play with photos or show the students how? Here's a free photo-editing site that does not require registration and you can do it right from your browser window. You can even post to Flickr or, God forbid, Facebook: http://www.picnik.com/ It's positive recreation for photo beginners - much more creative than trolling on Facebook or YouTube.

When it all gets to be to be toooooo much, take a break with this site: http://www.pogo.com/home/home.do. With more than 100 games, there's something for everyone, and best of all, you and the students can play in multiple languages (and you didn't think you were a polyglot!). I'm going to put this link on the "Fun Pages" of my webpage.

If you are totally at wit's end, you will find this silly little link irresistible (kids of all ages adore this one because it's just so loopy): http://www.poissonrouge.com/kidscorner/.

Foxy Synchronization

Until the introduction of Foxmarks http://www.foxmarks.com/, it was difficult to synchronize bookmarks on various PCs. As wonderful as Delicious is, there is a plus to Foxmarks that goes one step beyond: if you wish, it will automatically synchronize bookmarks among your multiple browsers and computers, including between Internet Explorer and Safari. So far, I like the way it works, and best of all, it's free for the moment.

Don't beam me up, Scotty!

Although a frequent critic of Google, I have to say that Google Earth is breathtaking. My mind is way ahead of my typing fingers in imagining the potential applications of this marvelous tool: http://earth.google.com/. Go visit ASAP and see what I mean! For example, click on "Touring" and you can create narrated illustrated tours of a site. Click on "Historical Imagery" and you can travel back through time. The applications for earth sciences seem boundless. In Spanish, I am dreaming of multiple applications pertaining to the vast, diverse geography of the Spanish-speaking world. See it all before the advertisers populate this wonderful parallel universe!

Intellectual Robber Barons

The debate over Google's Book Search (book digitalization project) continues. Better minds than mine (such as Robert Darnton, the head of the Harvard library system) continue to raise concerns about Google, lacking serious competitors, having a monopoly of virtually all digitalized books covered by copyright in the U.S. . Google denies that the profit motive is an operational force in the project, but that seems highly disingenuous:
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/ .
Others raise more general legitimate concerns about the centralization of information and who will eventually have or lack access to that information: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/technology/internet/02link.html?scp=1&sq=Millions%20of%20Books&st=cse. History has shown that profit motives typically gain control. This continues to be an interesting case that educators need to follow closely.

Cyberrific!

The image at left is one of a set of digital "callout" cards from a new site created by the Ad Council to help our charges deal with "Cyber-Issues" like e-bullying, digital dating abuse, incessant harrassment texting, posting of underaged nude photos of self or others, etc.: http://thatsnotcool.com/. It seems quite constructive, and written in the language of our students.
Google is underwriting the advertising for the first few weeks of the campaign, which will include print, radio and television backup starting February 9. Let's hope that eventual advertising does not include products that reinforce the materialism and stereotyping that drive a lot of this behavior. (I have my own thoughts about the serious benefits of a part-time job and payment of one's own phone bill as reliable means of limiting time available to devote to all these activitiess, but that does not solve what has obviously become a real problem in a parallel, non-material universe where many kids are living). Here is a link for the full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/business/media/27adco.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Teens%20Harrassment&st=cse. Be the first in your school neighborhood to promote this!

Wacky Wiki

It was too good to be true: Wikipedia will have to start limiting editorial access due to some recent entries with malicious intent. It is sad, but probably inevitable that more editorial oversight needed to be added, and probably not for the first time, just a case more egregious than most:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/wikipedia-may-restrict-publics-ability-to-change-entries/?scp=2&sq=Wikipedia&st=cse (New York Times, 26 January 2009). Those of us using or trying to build our own Wikis - beware!

Money Money

Another reason that we need to scrutinize the search engines that we use and recommend: it all comes down to economics, not intellectual priorities. According to the NY Times article below on business unit reductions (22 January 2009), Google "makes virtually all its revenue from advertising related to Internet searches." That means that profitability informs site rankings:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/technology/22views.html?scp=1&sq=Internet%20giants&st=cse

However, Google and Microsoft, both giants, are shedding non-core units in response to shareholder pressures over lower profits in the current econonmic crisis. Surprisingly, You Tube (owned by Google) is apparently still barely profitable. Apparently, everything really is cyclical.

Going Deeper - Thing 8

In digging through the Hennepin County Public Library Databases, I came across a real gem that I have already linked to my webpage: "Tell Me More". It is a self-study site offering multiple languages and practice in all modalities. It will enhance my own learning as well as that of my students.

Even more potentially exciting is a site that is currently only available in English and Arabic: "Meedan" http://meedan.net/. It is a social-networking site with automatic translation software by I.B.M. already built in. Its designers hope that it will facilitate positive communication, particularly about the Middle East. While there are still the inevitable glitches that seem to be inescapable with automatic translations, the potential for extending its peaceful applications on a global scale is very promising.

Jet Streams--Who Needs Search "Engines"?

The perfect tool for limited attention spans and students who don't want to bother with text at all: "Cooliris"! That's what it has come to--the "magic" of the cinematic Web!

http://www.cooliris.com/

Deciding that the Web is too "too text-heavy, " founder Josh Schwarzapel developed a visual Web-browsing tool. It is a free accessory for Web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Currently downloaded 40,000 times a day.

Flying high above the Information Superhighway...

Mind Control - Thing 7

Inspired by the political mural painted on the side of a rural school in Cuba (see ill.) I am intrigued by questions like "Who decides what the message should be?" "For whom?" and "For what purpose?" (Actually, those questions were already asked by Jacques Derrida, a French intellectual, quite some time ago--not original with me!).

But, in looking at the suggestions for Thing 7, I am compelled to ask "Who prioritized the Google search lists?" "For whom?" and "For what purpose?" Relying on another's editing is still is a form of mind control, call it whatever you like.
Now to the details...
"Chrome": handy, but indicates further consolidation of marketing potentials
"Custom Search": good tool for students, a time-saver, ok for use in class
"Image Search": students already know about this one...interesting, but only for those who know how to sort...
"Maps Search": a no-brainer, addictive, and has useful commentaries
"Blog Search": Who prioritizes them? Rather commercial and not useful without a specific purpose. Our students generally do not have the reading skills to sort though this site in an intelligent fashion
"Ask": mildly amusing, nada mas, cutesy
"Kartoo": fun, but random, very French--prefer Cooliris!
"Yahoo": ...is for yahoos
"Gigablast": What do you expect from that name?
"Viewzi": Multiple perspectives, a real "platform" for launching a meaningful search
"Search Me": Well...ok, if you insist!
Enough is enough!
Would rather not explore things named "Dogpile" and "SurfWax"--my life is too short!
Will talk about the Comparison Charts later...
Hasta pronto!

Cuba Libre (and I don't mean the cocktail!)

After spending part of winter break in Cuba on a tour specifically designed for educators (from university to elementary levels) to see the observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution and its progress(remember "Godfather II"?), I am reminded of how fortunate we are to have all the resources that we do.
Teachers in the US. complain a lot. I can say, having gone to Cuba without any preconceptions, that there are so many positive things about the tools at our disposal, that we should complain a little less and appreciate a little more about what we actually do have, including Web 2.0. We visited many different sites, including a remote country elementary school, where teachers and students use recycled materials to build learning stations, have no computer at all, and yet they manage to teach and learn to read well:

PS--Cuba has a higher literacy rate (documented by independent external evaluation) than the U.S., despite a much lower per-capita spending rate. What is wrong with that picture?