Information Literacy

Here's a brief article about helping learners to develop the basic skills to be both technology proficient and info-savvy while reading and researching online.

*FYI: You can usually click on the blog post title to get to any link I have in the text body.

Reading stories for adults website

Here's a great website with dozens of stories. It's suitable for adult high ELL and developing L1 readers. Various exercises are provided with the story on screen. Take a minute to check it out. Click here.

Why I use Mozilla Firefox

I'll give you four simple reasons why I use Mozilla Firefox (MF) as my web browser, both at work and at home, versus Internet Explorer (IE) or Google Chrome (GC).

1. Speed: MF is just plain faster, in my experience. Websites are increasingly becoming 'busier' and including more multi-media (animation, video, audio, ads, etc.) and MF loads pages completely, faster.
2. Bookmarks toolbar: Although GC and IE now both have versions of this, I find MF's the easiest to use. It's a simple line that runs across the browser window and contains the titles of the websites you choose, usually the ones you regularly visit. No more clicking on the Bookmarks or Favorites menu and then scrolling through a list with your mouse. One click and you're at your favorite websites.
3. Text size-Increase and Decrease: Hold down the Ctrl key and the plus(+) or minus(-) key to increase and decrease text and, in most cases, image size on any webpage. Both IE and GC have a similar feature, but neither work as consistently and smoothly as MF.
   
4. Safety: MF is proven to be much safer web browser than IE. It catches viruses, malware and unwanted third party add-ons much better than IE.
   

But, you don't need to take my word for it. Just do a web search and you will find similar statements and reports all over the web. Or you can read here or here or here.

Tech Resources Page

In case you didn't know, there's a tech resources page for Hubbs Center teachers. Click here to go there --you'll have to enter the Hubbs website password. There's lots of good websites, helpful manuals and tutorials for using technology (COWs, video camera, ceiling LCD projector, etc.) and a tech FAQ. Check it out.

The Internet and Our Brains

Here's an article from The Sun Magazine I recently sent to my colleagues. It's actually an interview, but the interviewee, Nicolas Carr, is extremely articulate and covers a wide range of topics on how the internet is shaping culture, our brains and behavior. Well worth the read.

eSchoolNews

eSchoolNews is a great, free publication for educators, particularly in regard to news and information on the intersection of technology and education. You can sign up for a free subscription here. A link for an online version or pdf of the monthly publication is emailed to you when you subscribe.

Welcome.

Welcome to my blog. My intention is to make this site useful for teachers and staff the Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning, as well as the teaching world at large. I welcome your input, comments, links, thoughts and suggestions. You can leave a comment on any post or email me on my profile page. Just click on my picture, in the right side column.

Right off the bat, I'm going to direct you to a website (also linked at the bottom of this page): www.ted.com TED is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It is a conference held every year in California that gathers together emerging and well known people from across many fields. Each person speaks and/or gives a presentation that is 20 minutes long or less, on a topic. The website is continually being updated with recent and older talks. I highly suggest this talk, for example, on the the need for a sea change in education in the area of developing creativity. Enjoy and please share this site with others.