Iconico Online Dynamic CSS Editor

Edit in your browser & capture the code. This CSS Editor allows you to edit an entire CSS file at once with a dynamic preview shown as you work. The preview will show the exact line you're editing, and it will update as you type. Works on modern versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox (Mac and PC), Safari, Mozilla.

Podscope: Search Engine for the Spoken Word!

"Podscope is the first search engine that actually allows you to search for spoken words within any audio or video file. We’re starting with podcasts and will be adding all types of multimedia in coming months."

podcast411 - podcast directory and information

This is a crazy looking site -- homepage is covered with so much stuff it's a bit confusing to sort out. But dig deeper and you'll find kewl stuff, such as:

• A Spoken-word search engine (search for words in podcasts!)
• Tutorials about podcasting
• MANY podcasts -- categorized by subject for easy searching
• Also categorized for Podcast Listeners or Podcasters or News Media, etc. OR another listing by date of podcast
• A huge list of links to other sites focussed on podcasts, podcasting & vlogs.

The Edublog Awards 2005 Shortlist

A good place to find a list of the best of Educational Blogs!

PowerGramo: The FREE Recorder for Skype

"PowerGramo is a powerful realtime recording solution for Skype. You can record and replay any Skype call easily and simply.
- Record incoming calls, outgoing calls or both
- Save your recorded calls securely
- Share your calls with friends
- Get started in less than 3 minutes!
- Totally free for download"

How to create a podcast

"...a pretty tight 18 minute recording of creating a podcast from scratch using Blogger and Feedburner."

Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning

"The purpose of this handbook is fourfold. Firstly, ...it seeks to encourage the enhancement of the student experience of learning, through the development of problem and Enquiry-based Learning. Secondly, it aims to share success stories while painting a realistic picture of the processes involved... It does this by discussing progress with initiatives and exploring difficulties, barriers, “mistakes,” improvements, alongside the strategies used to tackle these real emerging challenges. Thirdly, by drawing on many contributions from Ireland, it places Irish problem and enquiry-based practice in the international context. ...Finally, this handbook aims to strengthen collegiality and help develop a collective approach to tackling common educational issues across Ireland and beyond."

Find the right RSS reader for you

"RSS [Really Simple Syndication] satisfies a need for content producers and consumers to exchange information of common interest. Typically, these publications have been blogs, but additional content types are emerging. In this column, I describe how you can select an RSS reader that’s suitable for you and show you how to make the best of this new revolution."

Game Studies: Online Journal

"Game Studies is a crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research, web-published several times a year. Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games.

Our mission - To explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming."

The Creative Generalist

The link above is to an article I found very inspiring, so I want to share it with other educators. Consider it my solstice gift to you.

I work in Adult Upgrading, where I've always called myself a "generalist". Working with adults who return to upgrade their academics, then complete secondary education, requires a kind of one-room-schoolhouse approach on the part of the educators. The learners are at all levels and enrolled in a wide range of subjects. Our task is to provide guidance for them -- to help them develop their own program and then to proceed with success. My belief has always been that I'm not there to teach them so much as to guide them into learning how to learn. As guide, I strive to maintain the overview for them, the bigger picture, and to help them determine how their expanding knowledge and opportunity can blossom within the context of their own lives and world.

In recent times, it seems a trend within education is to specialize; the word "generalist" and the concept of how a generalist works in the context of education has become unclear to many, has even lost favour. As this article says, "Specialization has a firm grasp on all of us....Niche interest has taken over--whether we like it or not....Specialization has taken hold of not only our schools but also of...." // "And for the most part, specialization is a positive thing because we are, in many cases, charting new and exciting territory."

In spite of, or rather in the context of, the above trend, reading this article reauthenticated and rekindled my belief in the merits of the generalist approach. You need to read it to understand why the author (and I too) believe that "Generalists hold the key to our increasingly specialized world."

Just for fun...Some old fashioned winter activities

In the spirit of the season, this post has nothing to do with my usual themes. Here are some fun things to do on your computer during the holidays.

Make a snowflake.

Make a snowperson.

Watch It's a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds.

And now for something completely different:

Drive somebody crazy.

See how much caffeine it would take...

Freevlog: Create a QuickTime .mov from Windows Movie Maker

"Use this tutorial to make QuickTime .mov files from Windows Movie Maker using Avid Free DV or if you have QuickTime Pro, you can use a similar process with the same settings!"

Freevlog: VIDEOBLOGGING Tutorials

This site has a bunch of great tutorials! You have the choice of text tutorial, an online video tutorial, or a downloadable video. TIP: While you're there, subscribe RSS to their tutorials so you always hear about their new offerings.

• A step-by-step guide to setting up a videoblog for free.
  
  
• Making a video:
  • Using iMovie (Mac)
  • Using Movie Maker (PC)
  
  
• Compressing your video for the web, using:
  • iMovie
  • Final Cut Pro
  • Windows Movie Maker
  • Avid Free DV (edit Quicktime)
  
  
• Setting up a Blogger blog (to host your videoblogging)
  
  
• Making a screen capture from your video
  
  
• Accessing free online storage for your videos:
  • Internet Archive
  • Our Media
  
  
• Publishing/posting your video to your blog
  

Serious Play

"What might it mean to create and sustain an educational gaming culture drawing upon the powerful tools of the current culture of commercial gaming, both on-line and off-line? What if we began a game-design project by asking not how we can include extrinsic educational components which we then force players to complete in order to advance in the game but by asking how we can devise educative components that immerse students in the least pedantic, the most demanding, and the most engaging forms of intelligent participation in fields and forms of human endeavour? We might then be better positioned to understand just how educational serious play can be."

One Minute Tips ~ Podcast Technologies for Busy People

"...a collection of Podcasted technology tips, interviews, quickstarts and videos for people who don't have time to read manuals cover to cover. We will find and Podcast these "gems" three times a week."

HTML Tutorials

EchoEcho.com: A HUGE collection of tutorials! They are set up so that you can use it as a FREE course; each section has a quiz at the end so you can check your own skills as you go.

"You can use this tutorial either as a complete introduction or as an A-Z reference to HTML. The pages are packed with: Easy to understand explanations, massive examples, tips, smart workarounds and useful quick references."

Putting mathematics on the Web with MathML

Putting mathematics on the Web with MathML: W3C's site with all the facts and how-tos.

"This note explains how to include MathML in Web pages in a way that makes it possible to be viewed on a large number of browsers. It also shows how to configure browsers to make them able to display MathML."

Graph Paper: Generate & Print

Specify the type of paper, size of grid, measuring units, and the generate and print your graph paper. "Save yourself money and a trip to the store! Print graph paper free from your computer. This site is perfect for science and math homework, craft projects and other graph paper needs. All graph paper files are optimized PDF documents requiring Adobe Reader for viewing."

Math Words

Explore the ORIGINS of math words and terms.

Math Cartoons

Spice up your Math course homepage with a little math humor. :)

Marratech-Free

"Talk – See – Share. Cut the chat for a real meeting experience. Marratech-Free® is for computer users looking to move beyond basic chat and messaging. It creates a fully interactive meeting environment on your computer. Meet up with friends and enjoy real-time video with exceptional quality voice plus an interactive whiteboard. Up to five people can meet, talk, see each other and share documents or pictures and make notes. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux and is entirely free. All you need is broadband high speed Internet, a headset and web cam."

Tools for (Learning) Games

Created by Marc Prensky, a list of sites that support the building and development of games for learning.

CSS Templates

The site also has a CSS How-To section.

PDFCreator

A free application that "easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application."