Cheaper eBook reader challenges Kindle

Do you enjoy reading ebooks? Ebooks (short for electronic book) are becoming a part of higher education, many people are starting to see a shift to e-books on campus. Now you can purchase a COOL-ER for much cheaper then Kindle. Interead's Cooler, costs just $249, which is $240 less than the Kindle DX!

New Report Finds Effectiveness in Online Learning

Inside Higher Ed reports on a study done by the Department of Education that supports the notion that online learning has advantages to face-to-face learning. Story includes link to the final report.

YouTube EDU and TeacherTube Brings Free Education to the Masses

YouTube has released a new sub-site called YouTube EDU aggregating thousands of free lectures from over a hundred universities across the country, including MIT, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and many more.


Another online community that provides the sharing of instructional videos is called TeacherTube. Their goal is to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

New Media, New Literacies, New Opportunities for Learning

In a recent article in AAUP's Academe Online, Jason Ohler articulated differences in the media literacies between traditional learning opportunities, and new opportunities. "New Media Literacies" specifically looks at the shift from read-only technologies, to what Ohler calls write-possible technogies. Ohler suggests we build learning opportunities based on students literacies, not only those literacies that might be identified as traditional classroom opportunties.

Evernote

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.

Slideshare: The best way to get your slides out there on the web

SlideShare is the world's largest community for sharing presentations.

- Individuals & organizations upload presentations to share their ideas, connect with others.
- Anyone can find presentations on topics that interest them. They can tag, download, or embed presentations into their own blogs & websites.

SlideShare is the best way to get your slides out there on the web, so your ideas can be found and shared by a wide audience. Are you a teacher looking to share your lesson plans?

Some of the things you can do on SlideShare

- Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
- Share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share privately.
- Synch audio to your slides.
- Market your own event on slideshare.
- Join groups to connect with SlideShare members who share your interests
- Download the original file

A few useful links:

* A new plug-in for PPT to directly upload to SlideShare (haven’t used it yet)
* SlideShare application for Facebook
* SlideShare publishes a blog
* You can now upload Apple Keynote files to SlideShare
* The most viewed presentation all-time has over 800,000 views

Radio Brings Great Learning to Portable Electronic Devices

I've long thought that This American Life (by WBEZ Public Radio in Chicago) provides an incredible opportunity for students to better understand how different issues affect real people. On face value, Economics, Business, Psychology, Sociology, Education, Science, Literature, Poetry...all are represented in one of the best radio shows ever created. All current shows, and most of the past shows (if not all) are available from their archives.

Note: I've heard the host of This American Life, Ira Glass, is a fan of RadioLab (from WNYC in New York). I figured if my favorite radio host likes something, I should check it out. These two shows have got to be the best information/education shows on radio. Check out RadioLab's show on the evolution of reproduction...very funny and very informative.

'Twitterature': Tweeting Classics on the Web

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Learn how two University of Chicago sophomores, have written a new book titled Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less.

'Twitterature': Tweeting Classics on the Web

This Magic Moment...

ThisMoment, currently in Beta, is a new website that allows users to gather "presentations" about specific events. Links, videos, Google maps, comments, and other things are all linked together on a single page providing a multi-faceted perspective on a given moment in time. Could be an excellent opportunity for web presentations by students, especially if linked together. See a quick page I made on the USA vs. Honduras World Cup qualifying match.

The Best Format to Read a Book

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ann Kirschner experiments with Reading Dickens Four Different Ways, ranging from old-fashioned print to new technologies: paperback, audiobook, Kindle, and iphone. This article gives a glimpse into format options for reading traditional texts that future generations of ECC students may prefer or come expect.

Amazon Kindle Library Project

Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library recently attempted an interesting pilot project combining technology with an innovative new library service. Their plan was to fill faculty requests for interlibrary loan materials by lending Amazon Kindles with an e-book version of the requested item. Unfortunately, the pilot has been discontinued due to lack of written agreement with Amazon. Taking a look at such initiatives from other libraries can inspire new ways of thinking about how we can harness emerging technologies to improve library service for ECC faculty and students.

Fulcrum

"Give me a lever and fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."
-Archimedes