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?