Sean Sharp’s ITRT Blog

It’s Time to Reboot America. | Rebooting America

This came via dana boyd’s blog and I’ve started reading the introduction. What I think about in terms of this book (which can be downloaded here as a pdf file) is that it is our students that will continue to have the chance to change the way our representative government works. Change is slow and churning at times I know, but it seems to me that the essays in this book address a wide range of issues that involve our connectedness in ways not too often expressed. It’s worth a look over, I think.

How did I get here? I came via Twitter actually. A tweet from Miguel Guhlin on online polling tools. Then I thought of how many of us are planning or already doing Professional Development activities for teachers and then considered the fact that understanding what teachers want to do and learn is one approach to doing good Professional Development. So I thought about doing online surveys to gauge interest on specific ideas. So, here you go: some tools for taking online polls and surveys.

I would probably use these ahead of the Professional Development workshop to help see what it is that people want and need to learn. I really don’t like to waste people’s time or give them things that they’ve already had before. These tools can help to get around those two issues. Hopefully they’ll help you. As they say,

Share and Enjoy!

Share More! Wiki » Online Polling Tools?

How do collect data via a survey or poll?

Conducting surveys and polls is great. When I need to conduct a survey, I try to use tools that give me control of the survey data (e.g. UCCASS or Moodle’s built-in survey feature). However, sometimes that level of security just is not needed.

The hardest part about surveys is not collecting the data. Rather, it is designing the surveys and then analyzing the data. Although it would be too much to hope for to simplify both ends of the process—the design of the survey and data analysis—what if the latter could be made easier?

Here are 10 alternative online poll/survey sites you can take advantage of, all at no-cost:

* Poll Daddy – http://www.polldaddy.com/
* Cool Web Toys – http://www.coolwebtoys.com/
* Vizu.com – http://vizu.com/
* Blogflux – http://www.blogflux.com/
* Quimble – http://quimble.com/
* SurveyMonkey – http://www.surveymonkey.com/
* Zoomerang – http://info.zoomerang.com/
* Survey Gizmo – http://www.surveygizmo.com/
* Ballot-Box – http://www.ballot-box.net/
* Easy Poll – http://www.easy-poll.com/

Nine Company Blogs That Are Fun For Anyone to Read – ReadWriteWeb

Some companies just blog about updates to their own technology and thats good for existing users to see. Others are fun to read whether youre a user or not. Here are some of the company blogs we recommend reading for a good time.

This came through my RSS reader (Google Reader) and I thought it was worth posting. The question went through my head: in education how often do we read or consider company blogs? These are fun blogs to read, rather than some dry post on a quarterly financial report. Some of these are worth checking out I think.

via: practical theory

Why Gen Y Is Going to Change the Web – ReadWriteWeb

Gen Y is taking over. The generation of young adults that’s composed of the children of Boomers, Generation Jones, and even some Gen X’ers, is the biggest generation since the Baby Boomers and three times the size of Gen X. As the Boomers fade into retirement and Gen Y takes root in the workplace, we’re going to see some big changes ahead, not just at work, but on the web as a whole.

This is quite a good little article about the future of the workplace. As educators we are teaching these students and this is something we need to think about.  I think I’ll share this with my different groups of teachers next year. Good stuff!

Official Google Reader Blog: Reader and ARIA: A new way to read

This via my Google Reader today: Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA). Basically it’s a screen reader for Google Reader, which allows vision-impaired folks to have their RSS reading spoken to them aloud via the computer. I haven’t tried it yet, but will do so once the install is complete. Follow the directions!

Assisstive  Technology is something that I’m just starting to explore . . . . .more soon!

The Web’s best free stuff

This came via my del.icio.us account yesterday. Some good stuff is here–today I tried the online word processor  known as “Buzzword.” Simple and user friendly. Good collaboration tool! Enjoy . . . .

The Tech Savvy Educator » Blog Archive » Four Simple Truths – It’s Not About The Technology

This is a great post about (again) Web 2.0 issues. I’m not sure I emphasized this enough in my presentation at the Library Media Specialists conference last week. It isn’t about the technology, but about what our students are already doing in their lives. In this case, they are leading, and we are playing catch-up. The movie at the end is quite telling and very good–something faculty and staff should all watch.

Steve Hargadon: Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education

I believe that the read/write Web, or what we are calling Web 2.0, will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press. I believe that we cannot even begin to imagine the changes that are going to take place as the two-way nature of the Internet begins to flower, and that even those of us who have spent time imagining this future will be astounded by what happens.

This is an excellent article for those interested in Web 2.0 issues and ideas. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with his thoughts about how transformative Web 2.0 is and/or will be, the ideas are great to think about and consider. Thanks Steve!