Never memorize what you can look up in books
- Albert Einstein
I'm always hesitant to use quotes that I can't pinpoint a source for. You never know where they could have been cooked up, but I like this one enough that I'll use it anyway.
I first heard about it listening to BOL (Buzz Out Loud) and found one reputable resource that uses it (Library of Congress). Still no real information on where it comes from.
However, I think that it is great. If Einstein were around now, he'd likely change that to "Never memorize what you can Google." :)
Dan
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Report: 6 Out Of 10 Americans Cannot Locate Payless Shoes On A Mall Map
Report: 6 Out Of 10 Americans Cannot Locate Payless Shoes On A Mall Map
This is just tragic. How will future shoppers help the American economy slog forward? It is a shame that more schools aren't focusing on these essential skills. If we don't educate students on skills like finding Payless on a mall map, how will they learn to do this themselves.
Some say that we are just protecting them from buying cheap shoes. I mean, if we not only allow them to go there, but show them how to find it, aren't we guilty when those $10 specials fall apart at inopportune times? I say, of course not. We need to show them how to responsibly use these maps. Point out that they can get higher quality discount shoes for just slightly more at DW or super discounts on name brand shoes at TJ Maxx.
So, don't protect students from reality, prepare them for it. :)
Dan
This is just tragic. How will future shoppers help the American economy slog forward? It is a shame that more schools aren't focusing on these essential skills. If we don't educate students on skills like finding Payless on a mall map, how will they learn to do this themselves.
Some say that we are just protecting them from buying cheap shoes. I mean, if we not only allow them to go there, but show them how to find it, aren't we guilty when those $10 specials fall apart at inopportune times? I say, of course not. We need to show them how to responsibly use these maps. Point out that they can get higher quality discount shoes for just slightly more at DW or super discounts on name brand shoes at TJ Maxx.
So, don't protect students from reality, prepare them for it. :)
Dan
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia
Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia
This is a neat collection of memorabilia from the Hard Rock Cafe collection. I think that it's neat that it's online like this. However, I am completely underwhelmed with the "Zoom" navigation.
Don't get me wrong, the navigation is smooth and the picture quality is great. The download time on the image wasn't bad, but this is missing the mark. This is little more than a fancy image map. For Silverlight to promote this as some kind of design advantage over Flash is really quite wrong. I've seen this same thing done in Flash before.
Raskin talking about a zooming interface quite a bit and wrote about it extensively in his book, The Humane Interface. If this is what we are shooting for, this example misses the mark. The zoom interface is more than just zooming in on a picture. The zoom interface is more like zooming in on layers. If they really wanted to do something interesting here, they would have had the information accessible on the actual picture instead of on a sidebar.
We often hear about worlds within worlds and this is what the zooming interface would do for navigation. So, unless you are going to take me in that direction, don't talk to me about Zoom navigation.
Dan
This is a neat collection of memorabilia from the Hard Rock Cafe collection. I think that it's neat that it's online like this. However, I am completely underwhelmed with the "Zoom" navigation.
Don't get me wrong, the navigation is smooth and the picture quality is great. The download time on the image wasn't bad, but this is missing the mark. This is little more than a fancy image map. For Silverlight to promote this as some kind of design advantage over Flash is really quite wrong. I've seen this same thing done in Flash before.
Raskin talking about a zooming interface quite a bit and wrote about it extensively in his book, The Humane Interface. If this is what we are shooting for, this example misses the mark. The zoom interface is more than just zooming in on a picture. The zoom interface is more like zooming in on layers. If they really wanted to do something interesting here, they would have had the information accessible on the actual picture instead of on a sidebar.
We often hear about worlds within worlds and this is what the zooming interface would do for navigation. So, unless you are going to take me in that direction, don't talk to me about Zoom navigation.
Dan
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Video: Twitter in Plain English | Common Craft - Explanations In Plain English
Video: Twitter in Plain English | Common Craft - Explanations In Plain English
Common Craft is at it again. Here is their video on Twitter.
Dan
Common Craft is at it again. Here is their video on Twitter.
Dan
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Learning technology teacher development blog for ELT: Advertisement Project
Learning technology teacher development blog for ELT: Advertisement Project: "Nik Peachey"
Cool idea and site referral from Nik Peachey. Having students create advertisements that will be watched and judged by the public is great.
I see the downsides of this too: making students corporate agents, filtering through nasty comments, and less than optimal outcomes. However, I really do think that the authenticity of this activity blows away the negative criticisms. You students become advertisers. Not pretend, not psuedo, REAL advertisers (without the expense accounts and 3 martini lunches).
Great idea Nik.
Dan
Cool idea and site referral from Nik Peachey. Having students create advertisements that will be watched and judged by the public is great.
I see the downsides of this too: making students corporate agents, filtering through nasty comments, and less than optimal outcomes. However, I really do think that the authenticity of this activity blows away the negative criticisms. You students become advertisers. Not pretend, not psuedo, REAL advertisers (without the expense accounts and 3 martini lunches).
Great idea Nik.
Dan
Saturday, March 1, 2008
YouTube - 21 Accents
YouTube - 21 Accents
Fun video. While native speakers of English have no problem hearing most of the distinctions she makes in the video, non-native speakers often don't have an ear for most of those distinctions. It might be fun to show this to your students and ask them various questions about the quality of the accents (which is the most American? British?)
I'm going to use this with my pronunciation class.
Dan
Fun video. While native speakers of English have no problem hearing most of the distinctions she makes in the video, non-native speakers often don't have an ear for most of those distinctions. It might be fun to show this to your students and ask them various questions about the quality of the accents (which is the most American? British?)
I'm going to use this with my pronunciation class.
Dan
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