Marco Polo offers resources that all teachers should take the time to examine. Recently, there was some concern that financial difficulties of a company supporting this site would force the site to close. However, the site has survived and continues to offer great resources. Marco Polo is known for a careful review process and for linking lessons to standards at the state level.
We spent Mother’s Day in Minneapolis involved in the Race/Walk for the Cure. I walked. It rained a lot, but was a great day.
Here is Cindy (left) with brother Scott and his wife Denise.
The Race for the Cure raises money for breast cancer research. She is now a nine-year survivor. Appreciate each day.
Cindy and my books have used HyperStudio as an example of a multimedia authoring environment for many years. We don’t think of what we do as promoting specific products, but it might come across that way to others. We see our approach as using the example(s) we anticipate that future teachers are most likely to have available when they move into classrooms. It is in our best interest to use examples that course instructors see as “mainstream.” HyperStudio is the product that is still featured in the just released 4th edition of our book.
If I had the book to redo, I would focus on a different product. At this point, I prefer eZedia. Our local K-12 district is switching over to this software and I really like the upside on this product. It is fairly easy to learn to use, has great high end features, and the company is still in the process of developing the software so I expect new and better things to come. I guess this is my frustration with HyperStudio. When the company was sold — the product (in my opinion) stagnated.
How would I improve either product? My preference would be to move multimedia toward Internet delivery. I would guess this is where eZedia is moving based on their new product eZediaQTI.
I guess everyone has an opinion. At present, this is my opinion on multimedia authoring products.
It is end of the semester for me and time to grade student papers. A recent TechTV feature investigated advanced advances in software for grading essays. The software “learns” the basics of good composition.
Try this online exam based on the U.S. Citizenship Quiz.
Education World describes a recent interview with John Bailey in which various roles for technology in “No Child Left Behind” are outlined. Information of federal grant programs is included.
eSchool News has a recent article describing a case in which a teacher is being considered for dismissal because of inappropriate material on a personal web page (humor content of a sexual nature adapted from a comedy site). To complicate the case, it appears the teacher had created the page some years prior to taking the teaching position.