Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Vatican City

Sistine Chapel Ceiling Jing

European Claims to N. America in 17th Century

2009-10-30_2126

Four Score Podcast

Rick's Studio

RickDerman's webcam recorded Video - October 25, 2009, 11:38 AM

Use of Web Albums Combined with Google Earth for the Classroom

I frequently use iPhoto on my laptop combined with a projector to show students in my American History and Fine Art classes images relevant to the lesson plan of the day. It is not infrequent, particularly in my American History classes to jump back and forth between an image of an event – like Magellan’s ships – and a map – like the Straits of Magellan – to illustrate an historical point. In my Art classes I might discuss architecture – like that of Pompeii – and show painted depictions of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. In both instances, having images embedded in Google Earth can give a sense to the students of to where it is that I am referring.

If we are planning on going on a class trip to, say, the Fitzmaurice Ruins or Montezuma’s Castle, embedded photos in Google Earth can help the students understand where the ruins are and their relationship to each other.

Kestrel High School students go on many wilderness trips. When we plan our school yearbook, we can use Picasa and Google Earth to supplement the yearbook sections on wilderness trips by showing – instead of a just a collage of images – where exactly the images were taken.

Social Networking Sites

Back in the late eighties/early nineties I produced a kids show at a television station in New York City and hired as the writer a very creative young woman who had done some terrific things for Nickelodeon. And she’d pound out weekly scripts on the electric typewriter in her cubicle. I kept telling her how much easier her life would be if she would only type her scripts on a computer. But she steadfastly refused. Long story short and nearly twenty years later: she’s trying to get me to sign up for LinkedIn.

Since all that I know about this SNS is the little that my former colleague has told me (popular among professionals in the television industry), and the Boyd-Ellison journal article, I have taken on to research this site.

What was the target audience for this social networking site?

The target audience are business and professional people. Currently, there are approximately 150 industries networking within the site. Of the 45 million members, half are outside of the United States.

How long was the site in existence?

The site was conceived in the fall of 2002, and launched in May of 2003 with 300 members.

Why was it popular? What was its demise?

LinkedIn’s popularity appears to be due to making connections with colleagues that people have lost touch with and establishing networks; very much like networks people create when job hunting.

Is/was there another competitor in the same market that was more popular?

There are other sites competing for the same market that LinkedIn goes after. However, it appears that there is no other site currently as successful. One such site is Visible Path a business network that tracks the contacts members make during the course of business. Another site attempting to be competitive is Fast Pitch! which helps small businesses promote their products.

Would you ever consider creating an account and using it? Explain your reason using a personal experience as an example.

I may consider creating an account on LinkedIn, if I can manufacture another half-hour in the day. I guess everyone creates a priority list of chores and responsibilities. I feel like I am so far behind the 8-ball already with personal correspondence, that if I begin forming contacts and communicating with long-lost colleagues, necessary responsibilities – like coursework and lesson plans – will fall by the wayside. If I every get up to date and have a portion of free time on my hands, I’ll sign up for LinkedIn.

engagement trumps topic

Steve Hargadon makes a great point, that: topic or content is not as important as engagement or involvement in a social network site; spoken like a true marketer, or advertising executive, or circus barker. The idea always is to have the public pay the quarter and get them into the tent even if the dancing orangutan isn’t really dancing or an orangutan. And once you have a mass of people wandering around inside the tent, maybe they’ll figure out a way to make their own amusement.

That kind of reminds me of the practice range on Oakland Golf Course across the street from my childhood home. In the spring and summer, all the kids from the neighborhood played baseball on the range after school, and in the fall we played football. The groundskeepers would chase us away on a regular basis. Thinking about it, though – in Steve Hargadon terms - how foolish those golf course workers were. Because if they had only sold advertising and put up billboards for Rawlings gloves, Schwinn bicycles, Chunky and Snickers candy bars around the range, it wouldn’t have mattered if people shagged balls, played baseball or football, the golf course would have made money from whatever was played upon the grass.

Here's the link to the wiki that I have set up for my high school classes that I had described in my previous posting: http://dermanskestrelclasses.wikispaces.com/

Wiki's for my Classes

Wiki’s for my Classes

I’m doing this a little bit backwards, in that I am writing this blog before I create the wiki(s). The other day I decided to give my American History class a one-period online research assignment. I took the students to the computer lab and passed out four different research questions among the 16 students:

• Describe the physical attributes of the Spanish Galleon: size, weight, number of guns, masts, quarters for crew, etc. How was food prepared? Where did people sleep? How did they go to the bathroom? How did they keep clean?

• Describe the physical attributes of the Mayflower: size, weight, guns, masts, quarters for crew, quarters for passengers. How was food prepared? Where did people sleep? How did they go to the bathroom? How did they keep clean?

• Research the history of Roanoke Colony. Why did people decide to settle in that location? What happened there.

• What instruments did people use to navigate the oceans in the 1500’s and 1600’s and exactly how did those instruments work?

As I observed the students in the computer lab I realized, for one thing, how limited their research skills were. A number of them were frustrated with their results. What a great wiki project! And experiment.

It will be interesting to see if the students get involved and dive into the project. It will also be interesting to see how built out the wiki’s become given the individual research the students have already done.

Perhaps I’m being overly ambitious at this point – not having created a wiki yet – but I would like to create one for my fine art class. The other day, during a break, a few of the students and I began to talk about tattoo designs that we were thinking about getting. I think that a great project would be having the students design fantasy tattoos for themselves. Then using Photoshop, the students can size the design and see what they would look like on different parts of their bodies. And this whole process can be posted on the wiki.