Educational Origami

This is a very interesting article published in the New Zealand Computerworld.
Essentially the article reads as follows The New South Wales Education departments has:

 downgraded allvista operating systems to Windows XP
use open office instead of Microsoft Office

The selection of Open Office instead of MS office is interesting as Sun, who make open office’s big brother Star [...]

I have been working on another rubric which I would like to share with you.
This is one for using skype (or a similar audio or audio/visual tools) to look at teleconferencing.
The rubric has 2 aspects
1. Applying - this is looking at the planning and communications aspects of the conference call
2. Evaluating - this is the [...]

 http://blogs.ushmm.org/WorldIsWitness/
This is a powerful blog - one worth visiting subscribing to and supporting.
If we look beyond the safety of our comfortable lives there is a frightening world out there. A world where violence, persecution, brutality, hunger, war and ignorance are commonplace. Sites like this and mediastorm give us insights into this world,  they show a [...]

http://theopendisc.com/programs/
Miguel blogged about his today, and its come at a perfect time. Next week myself, 2 other teachers and 28 students are heading to Nepal for a community service and adventure trip. We have been given several laptops to donate to the Umbrella Orphanage in Kathmandu (watch the video). The laptops only come with [...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo
This is a nice find, I spotted on Miguel’s diigo.
Its an interesting video on convergence of digital media, citizen journalism, blogs etc. In a Cartoon/animation style its 4 minutes long and is well worth watching.

It raises some interesting questions about privacy, freedom of information etc. From this prespective it has worth as a conversation and discussion starter [...]

My current bed time reading is Tapscott and Williams Wikinomics. Its a book I am enjoying and finding enlightening. I’d recommend it.
One particular comment in the book struck a chord with me last night
“If an army marching in lockstep to tightly arranged military music is a metaphor for yesterday’s workplace, the workplace of the future [...]

Derek Wenmoth twittered about the top 100 tools page. This is a page I visited last year and enjoyed - a good selection of tools and nicely laid out with a ranking system.
So It was worth a visit to see whats on offer this year. The page is full of really “neat toys” and I [...]

HeyMilly posted a good post on Social sites and schools - http://ruthere.edublogs.org/2008/04/01/keeping-your-distance/
Its a nice post.
This is a discussion that is happening in schools through out NZ and right round the world.
I don’t believe in white listing sites, having strict restricted lists that limit access to only approved and checked sites (it reminds me too much [...]

I have long been a subscriber to Techlearning the ezine on technology and learning. Many of the writers are people whom I respect and admire as they strive to integrate ICT, manage districts or change perceptions on a national and often global scale - Miguel, Sheryl etc.
Well, I have just had a 5 page article [...]

Teacher TV has released a series of videos on antarctica. The videos for  Primary and  Secondary school students look at Geography and science teachers visiting Antarctic and the future of Antarctica itself.
These are professionally produced resources and well worth looking at.

Geo Teachers in the Freezer - http://www.teachers.tv/video/25270 
Sci Teachers in the Freezer - http://www.teachers.tv/video/25266
The future in [...]