We’re big mind map people, and MindMeister has our minds a fluttering. It’s a web-based collaborative mind mapping app that makes it easy to import FreeMind and MindJet MindManager maps, collaborate with others, track history, publish and embed maps, and even get Twitter update alerts—all while smoothing out that “publishing hump” much like Skitch and Jing.
A conversation with ourselves about why we use Twitter, what “tweeting” is, and how following and followers create a strange sense of presence and connection we can’t quite explain.
There are more educators using blogs, wikis, and Read/Write Web tools than ever, but the real shift isn’t just about publishing student work—it’s about networks, connection, and ongoing learning beyond individual projects and classrooms.
Andrew Keen at the Britannica blog writes something so diametrically opposed to our own take on things that it’s startling and, frankly, amazing on some level (as well as ironic). We do agree with one thing: this is a critically serious debate about Web 2.0, education, and the future of our information economy.
From the “Sometimes This All Scares Us” Department comes this item about parents Google-testing baby names to make sure their child wouldn’t be born unsearchable. Our kids are going to be so, so unclickable…
Ok, so check it out, dawg… here’s an example of what you can do with the new “My Maps” feature from Google. Go on…go look.
Great article in the New York Times magzine today on the burgeoning use of blogs and wikis by government intelligence agencies to capture and connect information and turn it into knowledge.
We share how we’ve been using Pageflakes in RSS workshops to create topic-specific student portals, and why these dynamic, customizable pages can be powerful tools for teaching content management, RSS, and global awareness.
Dave Cormier just Skyped us with a link to this article that details the patents on learning management systems that were just awarded to Blackboard. By the looks of it, Blackboard now owns learning management systems. The day the patent was awarded, Blackboard sued Desire2Learn for infringement, and although the Moodle board doesn’t seem to … Read more
Mathcasts.org is a wiki collecting student-produced screencasts on math topics, offering teachers imaginative curriculum options and giving students a chance to teach instead of just being tested.