Instructify

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Scholastic may be out to sell books, but it has some pretty neat writing resources on its website that just might inspire the next generation of novelists. In particular, the Scholastic site has an area called “Writing with Writers” that might be of interest to teachers and students because it pulls back the veil on the writing process. With featured authors such as Jane Yolen, Virginia Hamilton, and Jack Prelutsky, Writing With Writers brings viewers into the world of composing and then urges young writers to do the same.

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

The recent oil spill in the gulf reminds me of one of my dad’s favorite sayings: “Invest in your space program. Eventually we’re gonna need to get the heck out of here.” Well, since 1998 the governments of Russia, the United States, Japan, and several European nations have made a huge combined investment in the International Space Station. I had to admit, it’s been a while since I checked in on its progress, but the ISS has gone from something that looked like a big flashlight to a structure larger that a Boeing 767!

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BY KEVIN HODGSON

If you can spare five minutes, you can learn all about technology and the classroom. This is the idea behind Mark Barnes’ Learn It In 5 website, and I have to say the site does what it says. I watched a short video tutorial about using Twitter in the classroom (others focus on using YouTube, podcasting, wikis and more) and found it to be useful, simple in its explanation. and a perfect entry point for curious teachers.

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BY KEVIN HODGSON

I am a big fan of Google Docs for collaborative writing, for storing my documents in the cloud, and for sharing documents, slide shows, spreadsheets, drawings and more. Having documents available through any internet connection is really convenient for me. If you are someone who wonders what Google Docs is all about, Google has just launched a Google Docs Demo Site that allows you to create a document, spreadsheet or drawing without registering for an account (you will need a Google Account to save Google Docs long-term, though).

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

There is a common theme you can trace throughout the whole of human history — engineers and the study of engineering is paramount to a well-functioning society, and often times engineering the only testament left long after that society is gone. Whether it’s the pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon in Greece, or the shipwrights of the British Empire, all of these feats come down to engineering.

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

Let’s get straight to the point — I don’t like eggs. They’re practically the only food I flat out refused to eat in any form. But my disdain for them can’t cloud a potential educational resource like The Good Egg Project and what it brings to the table. The Good Egg Project takes the everyday breakfast item and wraps it in an informative website that lauds the many virtues of eggs. From explaining how they get from a farm to your plate to videos showing egg farms across the country, the site pretty much covers all aspects of everything you could want to know about eggs.

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

When you decide to make a web page, the first question (assuming you have already settled on the subject matter) is what is the site going to look like? I’m not talking about tweaking the CSS, but rather the overall big picture, the starting point where you paint with broad strokes. Often times you use a whiteboard, or a piece of paper, or a tablet if you’re on the high-tech end of things. But what if you have the drawing or artistic talents equal to a rock? How can you lay out your ideas in a manner that can be understood?

If the previous sentence describes you, then you should consider using Balsamiq’s mockup tools to lay things out visually before you get into the nuts and bolts of coding. (more…)

BY KEVIN HODGSON

I know I’m lucky when it comes to school districts blocking YouTube. Mine doesn’t, and as a result, a number of teachers in my building are able to use videos from the site as part of our teaching. But I have to admit that while I do make sure anything I use is appropriate, I hate all of the side links to other videos and content. From a design standpoint, a YouTube page is a mess. From a teaching standpoint, I want my students focused on the video. There are an increasing number of programs that help reduce the clutter on a video page, but I happen to like Quiet Tube. It’s simple to use: you drag the Quiet Tube tab to your browser and then anytime you have a video that has extraneous material, just click on the Quiet Tube tab, and your browser will bring you to a page with mostly white space (or a black background, if you prefer) and your video. No distractions. (more…)

BY BILL FERRIS

A game called Karma Tycoon causes a little cognitive dissonance for me — accumulating good karma seems contrary to to the word tycoon, which I associate with greed. Nevertheless, there are worse qualities than having a competitive desire to make a difference in society.

I’ve never played games like Roller Coaster Tycoon, but I’ll assume Karma Tycoon is based on the same principles — you acquire good karma by building and maintaining homeless shelters, performing arts centers, and other facilities designed to make a positive impact in a community. You can apply for grants and loans to bankroll your philanthropy, and the more people you help, the better your karma score.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Everyone knows nuclear weapons are deadly. Ground Zero makes the destruction hit home, semi-literally.

This Google Maps mashup lets you see what would happen to your hometown (or another location of your choosing) if it was hit by various nuclear weapons. Pick your poison, which ranges from Fat Man and Little Boy to the Soviet Tsar Bomba, which caused the largest explosion ever. You can even look at the impact of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, proving that man is still no match for nature. (more…)

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

Okay, when I first saw this website (and got a look at its name), I was thinking to myself, “wait…what?” But after taking the time to explore The Country Dog Gentlemen Travel to Extraordinary Worlds, I saw it offers a nice exploration of art history through the use of technology.

In a nutshell, the site looks at famous works of art and the artists who created them through the lens of two really surreal-looking dogs. After you explore the artwork, there is an interactive area where you can create your own artworks based on the famous piece you just explored. It’s easy to navigate and would be appropriate for younger students to self explore.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Empressr‘s greatest strength is that it lets you put together a decent-looking slide show presentation in a matter of minutes. The controls feel very intuitive if you’ve ever used PowerPoint, and even if you haven’t, just playing around with it for a few minutes should be enough to figure things out.

Add charts, pictures, tables and text to any slide, just like you can in Microsoft’s venerable presentation software. Changing sizes and colors is a snap, too. I really like the Arrange controls, which change the front-to-back order of objects on screen. That is, if you added a square shape that’s sitting smack-dab in the middle of your budget chart, just click the square and hit the “Back” button to send that square to the bottom of the pile. You now have a nifty background instead of an obstruction.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Want to start next fall’s science class with a bang? You won’t find many bangs bigger than a supernova. NASA wants to bring those colossal explosions to your classrooms via the safety of a DVD through their Journey to the Stars DVD giveaway.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Here’s a great example of a creative class project that you and your students can do. Some students in Japan used sticky notes to create a stop-motion version of Mario, the shorter, chubbier Mario brother, stomping goombas and collecting coins throughout their school. Watch the video and try to top this with your next group assignment.

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BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

When you talk about free anti-virus software, it’s always important to keep two things in mind. First, free anti-virus software never is going to protect you as well as a paid version. It’s why they cost money. Second, free anti-virus software is a much preferred option to no anti-virus software at all. Those two caveats recognized, Avast’s free anti-virus software is one of the best options available out there. Long preferred by users who want basic protection without the resource hogging that most anti-virus suites invariably entail, Avast covers all the basics and runs smoothly in the background.

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