I'm Technically Speaking

Not only did I do a little house cleaning today, I also did some technology resource "cleaning". I have been extremely busy with the schools institutional report and the upcoming accreditation visit, getting ready for the new semester, and just with life in general. That said I have neglected my resources that I subscribe to in my Google Reader. I am embarrassed to say that I had neglected it long enough that I had over 1000 unread feeds! Once you get to that point the reader stops counting the unread emails and just tells you that you have 1000+ unread. Oh, boy! That was not a good thing to find. I usually try to make a good attempt to go through all of the titles of the feed titles at least. This was beyond anything I have let it get to and I did what I could to just get through what I could and mark the rest as read. I did find some good resources from my cleaning and will have to post some of those new finds. Second cleaning that I accomplished was from my emails. As ...

My 2nd webinar for SimpleK12 will be in September. Here is the promo:

We have new technology toys....I mean devices to use this year. We were able to purchase the Mimio Teach, Capture and Pad. I had pulled them all out of the boxes, but today I plugged the Mimio Teach in and gave it a try. I LOVE this tool! The Mimio Teach is a small bar that will magnetically attach itself to an existing whiteboard. It also comes with additional magnets that could be attached to a wall or other surface. I really like the portability of the device. Our previous board is just that....a board on wheels. It is huge and not easily moved. This bar will allow us to move it from room to room or even take it on the road. The Teach "bar" comes with the stylus pen and a usb connector. The usb connector is great and takes away the extra cord that our other board has. Another big difference is the ease of calibration. The Mimio Pad (pictured below) is another one of our purchases. I had previously used this device while presenting at a conference last year. I mainly ...

With the purchase of the iPad (and $100 gift card with Mac purchase) I have been on the hunt for apps. I have found some good free ones and will have to report on some of those. However, today's exploration is on a $.99 one by the name of WifiClicker. This little gem enables you to control your PowerPoint, Keynote, Open Office or PDF by wifi remote using your iPhone or iPod Touch. I tried it first using my iPad. Once it was purchased and the additional software added to my computer. The app asks for IP address and port information. Which I was stumped by and had just about given up and counted this as a loss of $.99. However, in the attempt to get rid of the software on my computer I found the folder I needed. Within the application's folder there was a "file" that looked similar to the above picture. Once it is clicked it opens a window that states that if you click it will start the server. Upon clicking that button the information that you will need to co...

I have wanted an Apple MacBook for about a year or so now. Every time I go to a conference I am surrounded by Macs. In fact the first technology conference that I attended I went with pen and paper. Seriously! I have not been given my school laptop yet and I did not want to take the spilled-on/sticky home laptop. In fact that is probably the first of my mac want-ings. So, just this month we bit the financial lip and purchased my first MacBook Pro. And while we were at it we also ordered the iPad 2. I am now Apple equipped! As a professor in education and the instructor of the Instructional Media and Technology course, I felt the need to know these products. It seems like most schools that our students will be going into for their future teaching positions have Macs and iPads. I have really felt like a fish out of water when it came to these. Along side this was also the frustration of many conferences giving technology strategies that focus on the Mac. Also dealing with a work co...