Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Johnny One Note news...

OLPC Stamp from UruguayJust when I thought I was about ready to break out from being an OLPC Johnny One Note on this blog, I got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago. I had heard about the OLPC stamp out of Uruguay, and ordered a couple without hesitation several weeks ago.

Letter from UruguayThey arrived, delivered via registered mail, in an envelope with several beautiful canceled stamps on it - including the OLPC stamp. From Ebay. How very cool and beautiful.

But yesterday I got a body blow that took the wind out of my XO sails. The jabber server I've been using - and promoting to other educators as a good place for students to collaborate - is going to shut down:
I will be moving soon, and the school.letschange.org server will be going down for at least a few weeks.

This will happen within the next two weeks. If anyone has a server that I can put the jabber server on, that would be great. Otherwise, we'll be down while the server takes the slow boat.

I replied on the Forum:
Oh man, I am so very sorry to hear this! Your jabber server has been absolutely rock solid, and I thank you VERY much for putting it up there and sharing it. It has made some fantastic connections!

I started a wiki a bit ago (xoclassroom.com), in part hoping to connect classrooms via jabber server (yours, primarily) - so I'll be looking for an alternate server for a while... if anybody has a suggestion, please share....
We'll see. Now back to some other notes...

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Sunday, July 27, 2008

Summer Blog To Do List

In the next week (ha!) I hope to post here on these topics:
  1. My kids' summer blogging - and a bit about the past school year, at roomtwelve.com
  2. An update on SSR 2.0 - the tipping point for this long overdue post being Will Richardson's recent post about the NY Times article...
  3. Tech professional development 2.0 - in my head for over a year, this finally has jelled a little. A throw the baby out with the bathwater post.

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

xoclassroom

XO Classroom Presenter demo 2In an attempt to connect classrooms using XO laptops, I've started up a wiki. Please spread the word:
  1. tag any posts, pictures, media havng to do with XO laptops being used in classrooms - with xoclassroom
  2. contribute to the wiki:
    xoclassroom.wikispaces.com/

There is of course a Ning, yet embryonic, and maybe there ought to be more... suggestions appreciated!

Domain: xoclassroom.com

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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Ednet is now Ednet2

A few weeks ago I wrote Another list is gone, almost - bemoaning the impending loss of Ednet, which I consider the grandaddy of all Internet edtech lists. Here's what happened after that post.

It really broke me up.

To the point that I volunteered to take over the list.

I'll spare you the process, but the deed is now done.

Ednet is now Ednet2

At several points along the way I wondered if I had lost my mind. Hadn't I just written about the email list being a thing of the past? In the end I had no choice, for these reasons:
  • I cut my internet teeth on Ednet. I learned so much there, and I felt so grateful for all the advice and guidance offered from the list, and individuals on it. It was a way to pay it back. The feeling of wanting to help was undeniable, and strong.
  • I knew how to do it. I've started and moderated Yahoo!Groups lists for several years. It's not that hard. Plus I figured if it got real active again, there were a few list members I could hit up to take over moderator duties :)
  • Finally, I'm a saver. I think many things increase in value and credibility with time - if you start with a quality product, of course. That's certainly the case with Ednet - quality. You don't just throw something like that away - or allow it to disappear, if you can help it.

So here I sit, loosely holding the reins on this venerable piece of Internet edtech history. I hope it continues to grow and expand in scope. That will be up to its membership. I believe it still has a lot to offer. Below is my first post to the list. Feel free to join!

Hello Ednet Subscribers,

Ednet is now at a new home. You all should have received an email saying you
were on Ednet2. There was a bunch of information in that email, which I'll
try and consolidate here:

- To send a message to the list: ednet2@yahoogroups.com
- Note that replies to Ednet2 messages go to the list, not the poster.
- Unsubscribe: send a blank email to ednet2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Home on the Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ednet2/
- There you can set your email preferences, post, get the rss feed, etc...
- Or send me an email if you want anything changed.

Please feel free to post messages to the list. Here's the Mission Statement
from the original Ednet:

EdNet@UMass is intended as a forum for the exchange of ideas among those
interested in exploring the educational possibilities of this new medium,
and beyond.

EdNet@UMass should serve to:
* link educators with similar or overlapping interests on the "Information
Superhighway".
* introduce students, educators, and interested others to current concerns
and actual work in a number of possible fields, as well as to local and net
sources of information.
* provide informed but informal criticism of, or suggestions for, projects,
proposals, articles, trends, etc.
* to act for all as a community where their educational ideas or questions
will, at least, be taken seriously-- whether in friendly opposition or eager
collaboration.

I think that's a great foundation from which to go forward. - moderator Mark