I got the edublogs "voting is open" email yesterday for the 2010 edublogs awards and thought to myself, time to support my peers and share some votes around. Its great to see Dean groom is recognised as is Doug Johnson (Life time achievements award), Cool cat teacher - Vicki Davis, Larry Ferlazzo, The Ed TEch talks boys, Kim Cofino, Chris and so many more. I also have 2 nominations for educational Origami wiki -  Best Educational  Wiki and educational Origami Blog -  individual blog Tagged under Shameless Self Promotion

In this installment we have a number of interesting sites to look at including some brilliant resources for building applications for Apple iOS 1. Developing apps for iOS - http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/developing-apps-for-ios-sd/id395631522 This is a series of 23 podcasts that cover the basics of developing applications for iOS the operating system for the iPad, iPhone etc. They are a free download/subscribe from iTunes. Nice. 2. MammalsRus - http://mammalsrus.com/index.html The name isn’t the best and does make it sound like a shoe or toy store, but its a nice clean straight forward site that is a good reference for science and biology. A good selection of video are posted/linked to the site too. I would also recommend my favourite camera site  - http://africam.com for live video of waterholes etc. 3. NuVu Studio - Innovation Center for Young MInds - http://nuvustudio.org/ This is a site to watch, its a joint project between MIT and Harvard, students work on a theme or as they describe it a specific studio and work in small teams with access to professors, experts, practitioners etc. Each of the studios is about 2 weeks long and has a review process and exhibition. worth looking into and would be great fun to play in. This reminds me a lot of the excellent work done by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis in the Flat classroom project- http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/ and the exciting flat classroom conference next year in Beijing - http://www.flatclassroomconference.com/ 4.Real time collaboration tools - text editing - http://open-tube.com/real-time-collaborative-text-editing-software this is an interesting post which details a series of collaborative text editing tools. Some like etherpad I have seen before but other are quite new to me. Here is the ones reviewed here: Etherpad - Browser  based Doing text - browser based SynchroEdit - Browser based Collabedit - Browser based and finally I would like to end with a quote from American educator Derek Bok If you think that education is expensive, try ignorance.

On this on the wire update we are looking at a couple of videos that worth watching. Here is the first: 1. Next is Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvad4B0lCdk in the same vein as the famous almost cult (well in educational circles) video Shift happens this is an excellent video with a catchy sound track too. 2.The commoncraft Show - project based learning explained - http://www.commoncraft.com/project-based-learning-explained-custom-video-project-bie This is a great overview to PBL or project based learning. This video was commissioned by the Buck Institute, a leader in PBL. Also by the commoncraft show are: Social media and the workplace - http://www.commoncraft.com/social-media-workplace-video Augmented reality in plain english - http://www.commoncraft.com/augmented-reality-video 3. Hans Rosling - 200 years in 4 minutes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo This is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Health vs wealth. this video looks at the last 200 years of statistics in a brilliant and awe inspiring animation. 4. RSA Animate - Changing education paradigms - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U This is a brilliant video based on a Sir Ken Robinson talk given to the RSA. And finally Infowhelm and Information Fluency - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ECAVxbfsfc About 1/2 an hour of video that will change your world.

I enjoyed the edublog awards ceremony on elluminate the other afternoon (well it was afternoon for me). The ceremony lacked formality, lacked rehearsed speeches but was filled with passion for education, passion for teaching and learning and passion for life. I was nominated in two categories, an honor I am immensely proud of. I did not place in either, but that was not a suprize for me as the people who won it were outstanding. In the best individual blog award, the winner was Richard from Free technology for teachers, with Larry Ferlazzo’s websites of the day also placing. These are both stunning bloggers who I follow and have contributed to my teaching and my students learning. http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ The other category I was nominated in was the best educational wiki - the winner is a very worthy global project - http://greetingsfromtheworld.wikispaces.com/ an outstanding effort and well deserved. I was very pleased to see the lad s from the ed tech crew get some of the recognition they deserved. I love their work. http://www.edtechcrew.net/ Educational podcast 2nd runner up. It was also very pleasing to see classroom 2.0 recognised for its ongoing efforts - http://www.classroom20.com/ Thanks Sue and the team at edublogs. Great effort

Twitter is one of those polarising tools. I love twitter, for me its a brilliant way to communicate, ask questions and get answers. The number of times I have been stuck and asked my PLN (Personal Learning Network) for support is huge. But its more than that, its a way of sharing, I use twitter in synch with Delicious (but not for much longer apparently) to publish my bookmarks and share these with anyone who is interested. I also use it to publicise blog or wiki updates. I also find it invaluable for staying in contact with my friend and colleagues. Whether the communication is one way - reading their updates or two way as we chat back and forth, its a powerful tool. Its also a very popular one too. Here is an infographic about Twitter and its amazing when you look at some of the number involved in this. Have a look at these two videos from the commoncraft show if you would like some more information - http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter and http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter-search . Also here is a starter sheet on using Twitter - http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Starter+Sheets.

Well its more than just knowing stuff. For me education is holistic and encompassing. It is about learning in all aspects of life. I have to admit that I struggle with the concept of academic schools, where the other equally important parts of a person life are ignored - culture, sport and service. I find it very pleasing to see that some school are adopting and recognising the value of a holistic approach. They run programs that to bring into the school community the other aspects of life that are equally critical to the education of your young people, and I believe will have huge benefits going forward for us all. My childrens school has a program it calls the "Shine Challenge" SHINE stands for Strength and Heart In New Endeavours. Depending on the age of the child they have a number of challenges to complete through out the year and these are not one off 10 minute tricks, rather they are enduring and committing. For the shine challenge the students choose from a number of categories: Academic excellence Physical activity and the outdoors Service to school and community Excellence in the arts Living the Gospel Values They are required to complete atleast one challenge (out of 9 or 10 for my 9 year old) in each section. Other local school are adopting similar programs. Another school has the PEAKS Challenge. PEAKS stands for Participation, Environment, Action, Knowledge and Skills - again the students are expected to select and complete a series of challenges with atleast one from each section. So what are the challenges? Improve swimming swim atleast 400m Cycle challenge cycle 60Km in a 4 week period or run 20Km in the same time frame Explore the outdoors  - complete with your family at least 2 tramps (hikes) participate in a multisport event like tryathlon join surf life saving, cubs, scout, or girl guide for a year complete a technology challenge join a walking bus be a reporter give of your time visit an elderly relative atleast 4 times a term give to families in need give of your time through service - within the local church or community be involved in a musical or play join a choir visit an art exhibition and review it The list of options is endless, and while this require some extra work for the teachers who administer it and the buy in of the community and parents, the benefits outweight the time cost immensely. These two examples are of primary age projects, but this is a concept that has been successfully applied to the secondary environment for many years. I refer to the International baccalaureate program where at the core of the diploma are Creativity, Action, Service, Philosophy and personal challenge. All IB students MUST undertake and complete the following to gain their Diploma: CAS - Creativity, Action & Service - As the name suggests CAS requires the students to undertake Action and service beyond what they already do - i.e. the student who has always played hockey must extend beyond this into other areas. The Community service trips I have the pleasure of being involved with in Nepal and India fit within the CAS umbrella Theory of Knowledge - Indepth discussions and debate about what is knowledge, ethics, values, opinions and accuracy. Students present arguments consider issues and challenge there assumptions and beliefs. the Extended Essay - a 2 year research assignment presented as a 4000 word essay as part of the culmination of the  diploma program. This is what education should be about, so WHAT IS EDUCATION? Well its more than learning facts and reciting the answer the examiner seeks, Education is holistic and involves all parts of the students life. It reaches beyond the boundaries of the classroom, the district or country. It involves challenge, commitment and personal sacrifice. Sometimes its not comfortable and it can even be unpleasant, but then so is life.

In this update we have a range of sites that are well worth visiting. Stuff for science, Mathematics, IWB’s, Global Project and video resources. 1. Body Browser - http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/ This is an iteresting site, that used HTML 5 and WebGL to allow the visitor to manipulate and explore a human body. Other than the limitation of a very current browser, this has huge potential for the sciences, PE and health 2. National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html -  interactive activities great for IWB’s this is a library of interactive activities that cover a range of mathematics disciplines and age groups. Well worth visiting. 3. The model United nations - THIMUN - Singapore - http://thimunsingapore.org/ This is a global project which see students from round the planet involved and collaborating in a model United nations. This is a great project and well worth looking at. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who visited THIMUN in 2002, stated: "The fact that THIMUN exists to uphold the values of the United Nations among the young is particularly important, since it is from the young that we should draw our energy and inspiration as we strive to make the United Nations effective and responsive to the needs of the people worldwide." 4. Snag Learning Films - http://learning.snagfilms.com/ this is a useful site with a wide range of videos for various ages. searchable by subject and grade. For those of us who love TED talks - this is a very useful spreadsheet https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?utm_campaign=ted&hl=en&utm_medium=on.ted.com-twitter&utm_source=blog.ted.com&key=0AsKzpC8gYBmTcGpHbFlILThBSzhmZkRhNm8yYllsWGc&utm_content=site-basic#gid=0 and finally the institute for the future - http://www.iftf.org/ this is packed full of interesting and stimulating material that could be sued for a range of subjects. However the one that leaps out at me is the wikileaks and the power of the internet - http://www.iftf.org/node/3676 its topical and a great stimulus article for the ITGS curriculum and perhaps even paper 2. Here is one last image that I liked source: http://www.cafepress.com/+concept_development_yellow_tshirt,151142970

This on the wire update is looking at the iPad. One of the project I am currently working on is a book about the use of the iPad and the iphone and touch in the classrooms. There are an amazing number of applications available for the iPad with particular application to the classroom. So here are some of my favourites 1. Pages - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id361309726?mt=8 this is a powerful and well featured word processor. Its not a fully featured word processor as many of the high end functions like indexing etc are not present. Having said that for the student user this is a great tool - an addition to this is "templates for Pages" which gives you 24 further templates to add to 16 that are already in pages. 2. Keynote - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keynote/id361285480?mt=8 This is another useful tool as it allows you to create and present from your iPad. you will need a dongle to connect to a projector. It like Pages has a number of templates (12) that you can use to develop the presentation. Its easy to useand has a large number of features, but just like pages this is a limited version and misses many of the higher end functions of keynote for mac. 3. Goodreader - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8 the more I use this tool the more i like it, creating folders, renaming files, sending stuff, uploading stuff organising materials. Yes for me this is a stunning application. 4. iThoughts HD - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ithoughtshd-mindmapping/id369020033?mt=8 Got to love it - its a great mind mapping tool that exports in so many flavours, is ease to use and yeah its a good product. 5. BBC News - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bbc-news/id364147881?mt=8 There are so many news sites available to us, but the BBC site is a quality product and in a rare stand for news agencies is pretty much neutral in its reporting. Nice applications (particularly in landscape) easy to navigate and customise. 6. AudioNote - Notepad and voice recorder - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audionote-notepad-voice-recorder/id369820957?mt=8 this is my favourite tool in a meeting lecture or keynote. It allows you to take notes, draw diagrams and record the audio at the same time. The play back allows you to click on the notes and it jumps the audio to the same point. 7. Adobe Photoshop Express - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop-express/id331975235?mt=8 This ia free image editing tool that is brilliant. Simple to use, a nice set of common features like crop, rotate, flip, straigthten and some nice effects for colour, filters borders. 8. Comic Strip - CS - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/comicstrip-cs/id392197108?mt=8 Nice clean single page 1-5 pane comics. Good bubbles and captions, some nice stickers and saves as an image. Over all good product 9. Dictionary.Com- http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dictionary-com-dictionary/id308750436?mt=8 Good useful reference and resource.

In this update I have a great instructional video for the ipad and Mathematics, Digital Citizenship, free stock images and some interesting research on internet use. 1. ipad’s Hidden Keyboard Functions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPDLDG-UD5c - this is a great little instructional video which will show you how to get special charactors and hidden keys on the iPad. If you have  an ipad this is worth watching. Also worth looking at  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBr2k1vLojA - connecting stuff to your iPad using the USB connector. 2. R - Project http://www.r-project.org/ - this is some serious open source statistics and analysis software that does a mean visualisation. The recent facebook post  - Visualising friendship was created using this . Very cool and I love the fact that its FOSS - Free or open source. 3. Childnet Safer Internet Day - http://www.childnet-int.org/safety/sid.aspx - This is a UK organization planning and facilitating Safer Internet Day on the 8th of Feb. They have a couple of age specific sets of resources that are useful - Primary - http://www.childnet-int.org/safety/sid_pri.aspx Secondary - http://www.childnet-int.org/safety/sid_sec.aspx 4. Free Stock images - http://www.freeimages.co.uk/ - Some good material here, they require you to cite the sources, that’s not to big an ask really. And finally this is a review from PEW internet Project Generation 2010 - http://www.pewinternet.org - This one looks at the use of the internet against the age groupings of the users - http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Generations_and_Tech10_final.pdf The results are interesting. There are no major surprizes except perhaps that the use of the internet is quite widely spread across all age groups though some things are more the domain of the young. Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Overview.aspx

Merry Christmas. I hope you are all having a great time with your family and enjoying the festive season. I am. I have a video to share with you, its been doing the rounds, but I thought I would save it for a special day, the most appropriate day. Please enjoy the digital story of the nativity. A clever and thoroughly web 2.0 version of the christmas story. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA Enjoy, share and have fun. - Andrew