DV for Teachers

Photo Friday’s Monitor Calibration Tool Makes Easy-on-the-Eyes Monitor Tweaks – calibrate – Lifehacker.

Bryan Williams’s Survival Guide to the IRB

I’m editing this to try a different embed/object set up.

50 Best Blogs for Education Leaders | Online Universities.

An exhaustive list, nicely categorized, of blogs with valuable resources for policy makers, teachers, professors, grad students, educational technologists and anyone with a serious interest in where education is going.

Whether you want to be a teacher, principal or even an educational policy-maker, learning all you can about the field and how to be a more powerful leader while you’re still in college is essential. These blogs will fill you in on the latest news, provide inspiration, and ensure that you are up-to-date with the latest educational technologies so you can be the best education leader you can be.

I’m working on resources for a Social Networking Workshop this weekend for Georgia State’s College of Education Alumni Club. I came across a great blog post that covers a lot of detail about LinkedIn, the focus of my talk. Kalinago English is Karenne Sylvester’s blog about teaching English around the world – she’s from the Caribbean and is now based in Stuttgart. Her post about LinkedIn for EFL teachers covers the ground so well for teachers, I’m going to base my talk on it with her permission. In addition, here’s her very good LinkedIn profile, too. Think of her profile and her blog as excellent examples of what social networking is for: an open and generous demonstration of expertise. It’s an invitation to you as well. If you invite the world, they might actually come—and then the sky’s the limit.

Thanks, Karenne!

Other great resources after the jump.

Alrighty, back at work at Georgia State, and a first working post. With so many people wigging out about Apple’s purported tablet computer, here’s a savvy weigh-in from yesterday’s Inside Higher Ed:

Before the integration of the iSlate and iTunesU it was never possible to bring all the course and learning materials to one device. Course readings and video delivered through the browser were often difficult to navigate, and the reading experience was relatively poor. But with the iSlate and iTunesU it will be possible to download all the course related materials, hosting them locally for easy viewing and reading. At the same time, the browser experience in the iSlate will keep what is good about a Web based learning system – the ability to interact and communicate. Combining both the reading/viewing experience not browser based, with the collaboration/communication experience browser based will converge these activities into one device.

via Blog U.: iSlate / iTunesU / Higher Ed – Technology and Learning – Inside Higher Ed.

If you’re looking for effective software, of all kinds, to use to run and teach in classroom, The Freewares of 2009 has a lot to offer you. It’s a month-by-month listing of the author’s favorite free software. Each item has a thoughtful comment about using the software, often with first-hand reporting. A very valuable year-end list.

Via My Apple Menu.

My view as I left the the station this cloudy, damp morning.

I don’t think I’m an idiot, and I don’t think you’re one either. If you put anything from your school up on the web, though, you likely need to meet accessibility requirements, and here’s An Idiot’s Guide To Accessible Website Design from Web Design Ledger.

Their list is here: The 10 best educational websites – Times Online. More after the jump.

I’m at altitude, on my way to a weekend away with Ellen to Boulder. Got a free pass for in-flight wifi, so I’m going to post some of the too-many open tabs I’ve been meaning to close among my browsers. Yes, browsers—I use both Firefox and Camino most of the time, and once in a while I use Safari. This post is about a great add-on that makes the web more usable, by controlling all that animated distracting hateful nasty Flash. It’s great when you want to watch a video, but all the ******* ads that I see lurching around the screens when I walk through the labs makes me pity all the folks who don’t know that it’s an option. As the developer, Wolf Rentzch says, “The web is so much better without Flash.” He’s right.

So, with that, read about and (on your Mac, anyway) install ClickToFlash. From the website:

Ever wanted to get rid of the scourge of the web that is Adobe Flash, but still retain the ability to view Flash whenever you want? With ClickToFlash, you can! Using ClickToFlash, all of those icky Flash bits that have infected most webpages on the internets are replaced with a nice, smooth gradient and the word “Flash” set in a nice, pleasing font. When you want to view the Flash, just click on it!

The advantages of ClickToFlash are numerous. Since Flash isn’t loaded until you specifically ask for it, your CPU usage will stay at normal levels when browsing the web. This has tons of benefits: web browsing stays speedy, your Mac laptop won’t get as hot, and your Mac’s fan won’t come on as often. In fact, we guarantee* that ClickToFlash will quintuple your battery life and that it will protect those precious parts of your body on which you rest your laptop! (* note: not actually guaranteed)

Although similar to Flashblock for Firefox and Camino, ClickToFlash offers features over and above what Flashblock offers, and it offers them for Safari. Best among them, ClickToFlash supports viewing all those ADORABLE meowing cat videos, annoying dog videos, and hilarious rickrolls from YouTube without using Flash at all! That’s because YouTube also offers H.264 videos, which are used when viewing YouTube on the iPhone. With ClickToFlash, you get access to those same, higher quality videos.

Come join us! The web is so much better without Flash.