Relationships can make the online experience more effective, such as when web applications such as Flickr joined with Picnik to provide a seamless way for account holder to edit their photos as they store them in Flickr.

Just as in the real world, relationships change. In the ever changing online world, don't think of your accounts as memberships, because most online web applications don't seem to seem to view you as a member, just an account.

Picnik announced that it will close all free accounts, and everyone needs to gather their images before April. I wondered how this would affect Flickr, but they have a plan to have a replacement application for their account holders.

My suggestion is that you should implement the Ancestors backup plan. Have three layers of backups, especially if you believe your information is important. First, you have your original file. Second, you save this file in one other place (the parent file). Third, save the file in other place (the grandparent file). Be sure to sync those files.

Be alert to all your web applications, especially those you don't use very often. Their terms could change without much warning. Remember, it's all about relationships.

Since Glogster has revoked all free education accounts for a class, I'm recommending a few alternatives.

Glogster is just the latest in a line of websites that took away my education account after they encouraged me to join for free and use their service for free. It seems to me that the teachers who used their service and advertised for them, should receive better compensation than to lose their student accounts.

Altec's 4teachers.org has a suite of free services for teachers, and the one that is most like Glogster is called Web Poster Wizard. I've used it in the past to construct webquests, project based assignments for students.

With Web Poster Wizard, you and students can make posters. You can also create a class and keep track of student work.

Big Huge Labs has many excellent presentation tools that can be used like Glogster, yet they don't have a way for teachers to contain a class.

Otherwise, you can use the old standbys like: GoogleDocs Presentation or PowerPoint to help your students enhance their learning through projects.

clipped from electricarchaeologist.wordpress.com Paper.li – A newspaper format for your twitter feeds April 13, 2010 Shawn Leave a comment Go to comments Twitter is useful. It keeps you connected. But it’s a pain to read. Paper.li is a new service, still in alpha no less, that takes all of your feeds, searches, groups, tweets, etc, and analyzes them once a day to create a newspaper-style presentation. Videos referenced in a tweet? Paper.li will present them to you. Photos, media… it’s all there. I quite like this! Here’s the Electric Archaeologist Today

While there are many mind map web applications available online, they are not always easy to use. Many are little more than an online poster board.

That has changed.

One of the latest mind map web applications, Text2MindMap beta, leverages the true force of the semantic web and sorts text into a series of clusters or nodes ranked and categorized. I want to thank my colleagues on PLURK for sharing this web application. Many of them have blogged and plurked about this web application over the past few months.

You control the text and the organization levels, and the web application, Text2MindMap, does the rest.

As with any web application, its effectiveness increases with its ease of use and portability to a variety of other media that you need to use. Text2MindMap shines in this area also.

Once you make your mind map, you can immediately save it as a .jpg file which can be uploaded anywhere a picture can be used. For instance, you can add your finished Text2MindMap image to your blog, wikis, Flickr account, profile pictures, .nings, and other similar online venues.

I took the sample Text2MindMap, saved it and inserted it here. I'm happy to show you how easy it is to use this mind mapping web application. There was no need to make a screen print and no need to do any editing. The mind map becomes a digital image with all the simplicity and ease of use that busy people need.

So, you say: "HOW do you make a Text2MindMap?"

Go to the Text2MindMap website. Look over the sample Mind Map. As you look over the website, you will notice the directions and hints below the sample Mind Map. Read them.

Text2MindMap works best if you have your text in an outline format, without numbers. Paste your outline in the text box on the left and click on the Convert to Mind Map icon.

Here is a sample outline that I used.

Effects on the Individual

Family Problems

Custodial: Non-custodial Conflicts
Extended Family
Adolescent's Age

Economic Problems

Child Support
Women's Job Training
Lower Standard of Living
Possible Relocation

Poorer neighborhood
New School

Peer Problems

Loss of Friends
Relationships with Dates

I used this outline to create a Mind Map.



This Mind Map was good, but I really thought it needed some enhancement to make it more effective. I used the various tools available to change font size, text color and box color to make the Mind Map better. Here is the resulting second Mind Map.



Another important criterion for effective web applications is speed of use. How long does it take to make a Mind Map using Text2MindMap? If you have the outline already created, it will take approximately three to five minutes.

Enjoy using another excellent web application that can help you make graphic organizers for your classes. I think you will like Text2MindMap so much, you will share it with your students, so they can use it to make their own mind maps to improve study skills, enhance reports and organize projects.

Do you want an interactive whiteboard, but there is no money in the budget for this type of technology?

Well, now you can own a projector that has the capabilities to make any surface an interactive white board, all for a cost of $2,000 or less.

Epson and Boxlight are the two companies who have combined a computer projector with the interactive capabilities of the IWB technologies.

This would be an excellent value for schools that need a projector and want an interactive whiteboard.

clipped from www.eschoolnews.com Epson's new BrightLink 450Wi ultra short-throw projector eliminates the need for a separate IWB. In a move that could shake up the interactive whiteboard (IWB) market, two projector manufacturers have just released new products that can turn virtually any surface into an IWB. The development means schools no longer have to buy separate hardware to enjoy the benefits of IWBs, whose interactive surface and ability to engage students have made them quite popular in classrooms. “We would certainly consider this projector a game-changer,” said Claudine Wolas, project manager for Epson Electronics’ BrightLink 450Wi. “It’s not just the newest and latest in projectors, but in whiteboards as well.” Epson and Boxlight aren’t the first companies to come out with technology that can turn any flat surface into an IWB. But to use these other systems, schools will still need a digital projector—whereas Epson’s and Boxlight’s solutions are self-contained.

How would you direct someone to copy the computer screen, if they want to but have never done it before?

The first step in making an image from something you see on your computer screen involves PRINTING THE SCREEN. It is a relatively simple procedure, once you learn the basic steps. I always like to find instructions that anyone can use, and I have.

One of my Professional Learning Network colleagues, Cyndi Bowman, created a wiki that includes several tips for teachers starting to use technology in their classroom. She covered topics such as Blackboard basics, Safe Assignments, Online photo editing and the Print Screen (Fn Prt Sc).

I'm so impressed with her efforts, because the topics Cyndi has included are those that all teachers want and need to know, especially in the beginning. She also provides instructions in a downloadable format, as .pdf files. If they choose, a teacher can print these instructions and follow them for success.

What are your favorite websites, blogs or wikis that provide support for the teacher learning how to use technology in a helpful, not stressful manner? Let's make a hotlist.