Dropbox - Online File Storage

Dropbox is an online file storage tool that let's you access your files from any computer that is connected to the Internet.  I have explained Dropbox as an "Online Flash Drive" except this flash drive will never get left at home when you really needed that presentation for school!  Dropbox offers many plans for you to use including their free plan which offers you 2 Gigabytes of storage.  Dropbox is a webtool, but you can also create a folder on your computer that can sync automatically with Dropbox.  This mean you can still have access to your files when you are not connected to the Internet, and once a connection is made, changes to files are always synced to Dropbox.  They also offer apps for mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad in order for you to view and share files and photos from your devices.  You can learn a bit more about Dropbox here!

Hack Jam Pittsburgh - Programming for Teens

This looks like an awesome opportunity for teenagers to learn about how to create on the web by using programming code and other web tools.  The quote on the website says it all...

“The goal: help millions of people

move from using the web to making the web.”

You can register for the Pittsburgh "Hack Jam"(9/23/12 from 1-3pm) by clicking on this link.

Symbaloo

Since so many tools we use anymore are on the web, we also need a great place to organize and share websites.  There are many social bookmarking tools on the web, and one I have enjoyed using is Symbaloo.  Symbaloo has a great interface where each site is a button in a folder.  You can create different folders of sites, and you can share these folders with other friends connected to Symbaloo.  Symbaloo also offers a great EDU interface, so it is safe to use with your students as well.

Fun Tuesday Post! --- Be Careful What You Find on the Internet!

Here is a fun picture to start your Tuesday!  Also, this is a great picture to lead a discussion on making sure you use appropriate sources for information on the Internet.

ZamZar File Conversion

ZamZar is a website that offers free file conversion for multiple file types.  If you are looking to extract text from a PDF, or open a Microsoft Publisher file on your Mac you can use ZamZar.  ZamZar work likes this, you upload the file to the website, and you choose what type of file you would like in return.  You will be emailed a link (usually within minutes) in which you can download the file to your computer.  It works pretty easily.  Some larger file conversions may take a bit longer, and the results for some files are not always perfect, but all in all it is a great utility!  Another great new feature is the addition to download video and audio files from the YouTube or other sites.  I like using ZamZar to do this, because you can choose what type of file you would like in return.  You simply copy the video link into ZamZar, and choose the video format you would like to use.  You can also choose an audio only (MP3) format if you would just like the audio from the audio track from the video.  Always remember copyright rules when doing any of that as well!  

Quote of the Day

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Free Apps at Starbucks...

There is nothing like a good cup of coffee to start the day, but now you can add a free iPhone app to your Vanilla Latte!  For years at Starbucks, you could always pick up a little card that offered a "Pick of the Week" song code that you could download directly from iTunes for free.  The other day while I was waiting for my coffee, I looked at the "Pick of the Week" card that is by the register, and I was surprised to see it was not a song...it was for an iPhone/iPad app!  The app for that week was a Dora the Explorer ABC game app that is perfect for my four year old son.  They have also offered a Scrabble game, a Golf Tutor, and the Shazaam music app in past weeks.  The Pick of the Week still does offer songs, but the addition to IOS apps is a fun addition to the morning coffee experience!

Jing and Screencast

Here is a quick post about two great technology tools created by TechSmith.  I recently had to record a presentation for faculty that was originally scheduled for a face to face meeting.  There are lots of ways to do this, but I chose Jing and ScreenCast.

Jing is a free utility that you need to install on your computer.  It gives you the ability to create a screenshot or record video directly from your monitor.  It is very simple to share and record your screen, and free to use for up to a 5 minute video.  After you create your video, you can save a Flash file to your computer, or you can upload it directly to ScreenCast.  Using ScreenCast, you can email individuals a direct link to the file, or you can embed the video to your blog or website.  Both tools are free to use!  They both have a Pro version to give you a little more functionality.

TechSmith also has some software applications that do a little more robust recording, but if you need something simple, try Jing and ScreenCast!

Social Media Explained...

Here's a fun post for Sunday!  Enjoy!

Corkboard.me

Corkboard.me is a great website for collaboration, classroom posts, meetings, book discussion and more.  We have been using corkboard at our school to collect information before meetings to help generate discussions.  It is a simple concept!  You go to corkboard.me, you board link is created automatically, and you add sticky notes.  Once you add a note, they can be seem from anyone who has your link.  You can simply email the link to all the users you need to to give access.  You can use the site for free, or you can pay a small monthly cost to customize your corkboards.  The Pro features allow you to password protect your board, customize the web address, and control who can delete posts.

Today @CorkBoardMe announced that their site works native on the iPad.  I checked it out, and it works very well!  You can access any corkboard from Safari directly!  You can check out the information from the Corkboard.Me Blog.

Corkboard.me is a great resource to help make a powerful "21st Century" change in your school or professional culture!

Who Do I Follow?

I love Twitter!  It is a great way to quickly find resources, share knowledge, and learn from great educators and people from around the world!  I have been working for the past year or so to build a strong PLN (Personal Learning Network).  My network is geared towards education and technology, and I have learned so much!  I would love to share something about so many of the folks I am following, but to keep this a little shorter, I have decided to list a few folks below that I have recently retweeted.

@AngelaMaiers - Angela is an inspiring person to learn from!

@tdeflitch - I have the pleasure of working with Teresa.  She has a great passion for education!  Check out her blog!

@web20classroom - Steve pushes endless knowledge to a huge network. He is a great resource!

@coolcatteacher - I have read Vicki's Cool Cat Teacher blog for many years!  She is a great resource!

@russeltarr - Great history teacher!  I have connected with him in many twitter chats as well!

@rmbyrne - Richard's Free Tech for Teacher's blog should be a must read for all educators!

I have found that building a strong PLN takes time, but it is well worth the work.  If you are struggling with this process, start with some of the individuals I have listed.  They have a strong list of followers that will help you start to see the power of twitter!  Twitter is all about sharing, so do not be shy!  Talk to people, share your knowledge, and you will find your network will continue to grow.  Please feel free to follow me as well @dpiemme.  I look forward to sharing with you!

Computer Science Student Network

The Computer Science Student Network is a new site just launched in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC).  The site has been created to show students of any age they can create, build, problem solve, and work with technology and robotics in many different ways.  Students can explore with science, technology, engineering and math concepts (STEM) in real or virtual ways!  Students can learn about game design, programing in Robot C, and manipulating robots in the new virtual robotic world software.  The Computer Science Student Network is showing students that working with these STEM concepts does not have to start when they are older.  It can truly start now!

iTunes A to Z

If you have an Apple device (iPod, iPhone, iPad), you have probably connected with iTunes at some point to sync of transfer music to your device.  That may be all you have done on iTunes, but there are a lot of features that makes Apple's digital music software very powerful!

iTunes A to Z is a great resource to learn about many of the powerful features of iTunes.  As you look through the features of iTunes from music sharing, radio stations, podcasts, movies rental, and genius selections, you will find that iTunes can be your hub for all of your digital library.  iTunes is also available on both a PC and Mac computer, and it free to download here! 

OpenDNS

I had a wonderful conversation with some of my middle school parents this morning.  The conversation was geared around technology use and our students.  We discussed many issues from the the use of personal technology in school, appropriate access to social media, and our push as a school to use cloud based applications.  The conversation was very dynamic and important.  Communication education about the use of technology in schools is so valuable. 

One question led to a discussion about how to monitor and block specific sites at home.  There are many desktop software products such as NetNanny that are very powerful.  This is software that would need to be installed on specific computers (or now devices) to monitor content.  Now that most households have a network of technology, it is sometimes better to monitor content from the network level.  This used to require expensive software of hardware, but there is a great service called OpenDNS that is free and easy to setup.

OpenDNS is a web based tool that allows you to use special defined DNS servers to monitor content on your network.  You simply change your DNS servers on your WiFi and wired router to the servers addresses OpenDNS provides and your network will essentially flow through the Open DNS database.  You can still manage how secure you would like the content to be, and you can also block specific sites that may not be blocked.  The beauty of OpenDNS is you can monitor all of this via a simple web browser, and it is very easy to setup via instructions on the website.  If you are looking for a low cost (Free) monitoring tool, take a look at OpenDNS.

Thank you once again to my parents that hosted and attended the discussion this morning!

Sold on 3D Movies?

I took my two munchkins to see our first 3D movie this afternoon.  We saw Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which was re-released in 3D this past weekend.  This was not only their first 3D movie, it was mine as well.  I was not quite sold on the hype or excitement of watching in 3D.  I am excited to say, that today's showing totally sold me on 3D movies...at least animated movies.  I have always been a big fan of Disney movies, and one of my favorite parts of movies since the original release of Beauty and the Beast and movies after such as Aladdin and The Lion King was the amazing detail of the animation.  The detail of every background image made you truly feel like you were part of the world.  Now add 3D to that!  WOW!  The characters jumped off the screen, and the scenery was amazing.  It truly was like seeing the movie for the first time again.  I found myself saying wow many times during the show.  My kids also found it fun, and they also have seen the movie many times before.  It was fun to watch them try to reach out and grab something that they thought was in front of them.  In addition to the movie we watched, there were several previews for upcoming 3D movies including the re-release of Star Wars, The Phantom Menace in February and the new Disney summer movie "Brave".  I think you can count me in for another 3D showing very soon!  I would love to hear some thoughts and feelings you have towards the 3D phenomenon! 

I Have a Dream!

Here is a video of Martin Luther King Jr. famous "I Have a Dream" speech.  This is so powerful.  I can listen to this over and over!  Enjoy!

Downloading YouTube Videos

Happy Friday!

YouTube can be a great resource, but we all have run into a bad connection where YouTube videos stop and buffer in the middle of playback. A simple solution to this issue is to save a copy of the video to your computer. There are several ways to do this. The easiest ways are to use websites that will download the video directly to your computer by copying the link from the YouTube site. The three sites below will do this. Each site will download the videos from your computer, but each uses a different file format. Each site has easy to use instructions.

KeepVid

Keep Tube

Save You Tube

Please feel free to share other options!

How do you share and learn?

With today's social web, it is so easy to share and connect with so many great resources.  I have spent the past year building a decent network with whom I have learned so much.  Here are a few places I have used to build this network...

Twitter - No, its not just a place to let everyone know what you had for breakfast.  There are so many wonderful educators using this tool to discuss the future of education.  I love it!

Diigo - I have used Diigo for years as an online bookmarking site, but it has been built into a nice social site as well.  It is a great way to share sites with many friends!

Symbaloo - I have used this to share sites with students.  Its a great way to setup a page of bookmarks.  It also is a great way to find groups of specific sites shared from others.

Scoop.it - I blogged about Scoop.it a couple weeks ago.  I love this site.  You can create a page full of sites centered around a specific topic.  People can follow your topic, comment, and suggest more sites.

Facebook - I tend to use Facebook to connect with friends and family, but it can also be used for professional resources as well.  Facebook has truly pushed the boom of social networking!

These are a few sites that I use.  There are so many great places to share and network, and I would love to hear what you all use.  Please comment with suggestions!

Weebly

Weebly is a free online website builder. I use Weebly in my web design class. It is a great way to allow students the ability to design polished focused websites with truly rich and dynamic content. The Weebly tools include basic functions to higher level multimedia design. They also have features to add custom HTML, and each site can have a blog page as well. Weebly is also geared towards education. Teachers can sign up for an educator account so they can create student usernames and control privacy settings on each student website. It truly is a safe alternative to teach the process of web design, and my students love it. All content is hosted on Weebly servers as well, do there is no overhead for the technology staff. Give it a try!

Mind Mapping with Bubbl

There are a lot of brainstorming tools on the web.  I like the ease of use of Bubbl.  Bubbl is a great way to organize your thoughts for a project, paper, discussion, or any other brainstorming activity.  One feature I truly like is students or teachers can go directly to the site and begin using the tool immediately.  You do not have to create an account.  If you would like to save your work, you will need to sign up via an email address.  Its easy to get started, and fun to use!  Give it a try!

Here is a snapshot of a quick brainstorm I created using Bubbl...

Go Steelers!

I know this is my technology blog, but it's also January in Pittsburgh so that means it's playoff time! The Steelers play the Broncos today at 4:30pm. I found a fun video created by @pghsportsnation.  With his permission, I have posted it here:

That is technology right! Sure it's is! It's also time for some football! Go Steelers!

My Favorite and Most Useful iPhone Apps

My iPhone is always at my side.  Here are a bunch of apps that make my phone a powerful technology tool for me to use and fun too!


Twitter - It's one of my favorite Apps and mostly because of the ability to tweet from anywhere. Twitter is such a powerful tool, so you have to be connected all the time! (Free)

Shazam - If you haven't tried this app check it out. It can listen to a song on the radio (or anywhere) and get you title, artist, lyrics, and even connect you to iTunes to purchase! (Free)

Words with Friends - Yes I'm hooked! It's scrabble against all your friends! Very Fun! (Free version and Paid Version)

Dropbox - Dropbox is your free online cloud storage for your desktop or laptop. With this app you can view your files from your iPhone or iPad. (Free)

Evernote - I just started using Evernote, and I love the capabilities! It's a great media storage app for your IOS device! (Free)

Geocaching - If you geocache, you will love this App. It's pricy for the full version, but well worth the price. You can find caches on the go, plus view hints and descriptions! (Free and Paid Version)

AniMoto - The desktop version is more loaded, but you can make cool quick movies with your photos and videos directly from your phone. (Free)

Scoop.it - This App is new, but powerful. You can curate and view your topic from your mobile!

Blogger - Since this app is helping me furfill my resolution this year, I have to include it! You don't have all the capabilities you get from a browser, but you can begin ideas on your Phobe and polish them on your computer.  Great connection! (Free)

Google Maps - I use this constantly to find my way! Great app that is included on all IOS devices!

These are just a few I love to use.  I would love to hear about some others too.  Please leave me a comment with some other fun and useful apps!

Typing Web

I have been using this site with a group of students.  It is a great self-paced keyboarding tutor.  The site is packed with beginner, intermediate, and advanced lessons, typing tests, and plenty of games to play.  The tool also tracks your problem areas and develops lessons specific to keys you are having trouble with as you move through the lessons.  The best part is the cost!  It's free!  All you need is an email to get setup, and you can be off and running with the typing tutor.  You can follow the Typing Web Twitter feed (@TypingWeb) to learn about future add-ons and ideas.

Great Educational Games for Kids - ABCYA

ABCYA is a great site with plenty of educational games for students PreK-5th Grade.  I have used the site for years, and it seems to improve every time my students use the site.  The games are organized by grade level, and they range from thinking games to math to creativity and more.  They have recently launched a bunch of iPhone/iPod/iPad games as well.  Its a great site to use with an entire class or to give as some fun center time.  You can follow ABCYA on twitter (@abcyagames).

Free Technology for Teachers

Free Technology for Teachers

This is a great resource!  Richard Byrne, the blog author, is a classroom teacher with a passion for technology.  He posts great resources that are free and easy to use within a classroom.  I have been reading this blog for years, and it is a place I look in any searching for new and innovative tools.  You can also follow the blog on Facebook and Twitter to get the content delivered directly to you! Check it out.

You Matter!

If you have not had the pleasure of listening to Angela Maiers, please take a look at this...

Her positive message is addicting and powerful!

Enjoy!

365 Challenge (well 363 but who is counting)!

Happy New Year!  I may be a couple days late into the new year, but I am going to add this to my resolutions for 2012.  I love blogs, but I have never dedicated enough time to blogging.  My goal this year is to do something everyday.  Some will be short and others will be longer, but my goal is to build this into something bigger and share resources and ideas.  I would love your support to keep me going, so please comment and share ideas as well!