Technology in the Education Arena

Spending my time trying to get better and catch up on my feeds in Bloglines.  Was about a month behind so I had a lot of posts to read.  One of my favorite blogs to read is Around the Corner by Miguel Guhlin.  He posts frequently, so I was really behind on his.  I really enjoy Miguel’s thoughts, his tips, and his postings of Web 2.0 tools.  Found a lot of good information and thought I would post on some of the information not only for others but for my reference as well.

Miguel noted a site containing free open source software for kids at: http://junauza.blogspot.com/2007/12/freeopen-source-educational-software.html.  One of the schools I work at has a planetarium, so these two sites I found interesting:  Free open source planetarium for your computer.  Set your coordinates and go.  Site at http://www.stellarium.org.  Also, free space simulations allowing you to explore the universe in three dimensions.  Celestia doesn’t confine you to the surface of the earth.  You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galazy.  Site at http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

Free PostIt Notes Generator available at http://notes.mastervb.net/

Since I have been promoting Google Docs at my school district and I have been invited to present with Beth Knittle at a MassCUE SIG on Google Tools, I found the following post interesting where he links to three blogs that discuss using Goodle in Education: Google Docs in the Classroom by Tom Barnett, Google Docs in Schools by Art Gelwicks, and Google Docs in Schools by Tonia Johnson.

The Power of One on YouTube — A Video Worth Watching and Thinking About

Miguel pointed out some helpful information on Twitter: HeyJude Blog has posted a Twitter Guide written by Caroline Middlebrook; from Educause Learning Initiative, 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter; and Twitter Collaboration Stories for using Twitter in the Classroom.

Free Software for Educators.  I have been looking at SnagIt and Camtasia and now as an educator you can download both software products for free.  They are not the latest versions but you can't complain when it is for free.  

Owners of Camtasia Studio, TechSmith, are offering the full version of Version 3.1.3 for free dowload.  Great educational tool.  This offer is only valid a little longer. 

Download Camtasia 3.1.

Get the serial # for Camtasia 3.1.3 

SnagIt Pro is now giving away retail editions of SnagIt screen capture software for free. Follow these steps to download SnagIt for Free: Download the demo version of SnagIt 7.2.5 at ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe Request a SnagIt 7 Software keyI have already downloaded both software programs and have spent some time playing with SnagIt.

Thank you Miguel for blogging.