Web 2.0
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Sunday, December 12th, 2010So how does the mess with Julian Assange and Wikileaks apply to what high school English teachers are doing every day? A few obvious connections here. First, many of the works we teach examine the role of free speech in society. I’m thinking of 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World. Journalism teachers could also [...]
I Hate Twitter. There. I Said It.
Saturday, December 4th, 2010I am generally enthusiastic about web applications. I have been an advocate for blogs, wikis, podcasts, digital stories, and more, both on this blog and in my academic work. You would think that I would be advising new English teachers to start writing in 140 characters–to embrace the Twitter revolution. Only thing is, I hate [...]
Cecil Green Library, Day One
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010I’m in my hotel room, waiting for morning to begin. I woke up at 5:00 am and now have three hours to kill before the library opens. I’ve been using the time to try a couple of tools–Google Walking Directions and Google Public Transit. These are pretty cool features that I have not used before. [...]
How to Remote Print with Dropbox
Sunday, October 17th, 2010My wife’s school has generously given all faculty members laptops–and not so generously made it all but impossible to change settings, download software, or–gasp–install a new program. In a move that defies logic, the school has decided that the ONLY place the laptop should print is at school, on school printers. So, teachers cannot install [...]
It’s Life, Jim, But Not As We Knew It: Odeo Goes Corporate
Friday, October 8th, 2010The one-time consumer-driven media site Odeo has gone corporate. Used to be that users could record and publish podcasts at the site, even export them to iTunes. Then Odeo disappeared for a long, long time. All of the podcast episodes my class recorded and syndicated through iTunes were suddenly gone. Poof. No explanation except a [...]
RSS Slowing; Bloglines Gone
Monday, September 13th, 2010Learned today that Bloglines, the long-time web-based RSS aggregator, is calling it quits. This is further evidence, perhaps, that RSS itself is dead, or at least dying, as many web watchers have observed recently. MG SIegler of Techcrunch, for instance, makes this point: So while Venture Chronicles writes that consumer RSS lived from 1999-2010, I [...]
So, Would You Buy This MCTE T-Shirt?
Friday, July 30th, 2010After sounding off about Ning a couple of posts ago, I have had a few days of more sober reflection. And instead of searching for a new home for the MCTE network, I have decided to absorb the cost of a plus plan. There are a few benefits for doing so: Ning allows for domain [...]
Ning Blows
Saturday, July 24th, 2010I like free stuff. Blame it on my Dutch heritage if you like (just don’t say anything about the World Cup) or my philosophy about the way the web should work. When I can’t get the stuff I want for free, I get a little cranky. That’s why I have titled this post “Ning Blows,” [...]
Facebook Fatigue Setting In
Thursday, July 1st, 2010Let’s face it: when it comes to social networking, Facebook is the only game in town. MySpace and other early networks are a speck in its rear view mirror. Everyone is on Facebook: your friends, your ex-girlfriend, your mom and dad, the people you went to high school with and never want to see again, [...]