Saturday, February 12, 2011

Horizons Reaport 2011

The 2011 Horizons Report is out. Each year, the Horizon Report introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use within the next five years.

It is 40 pages. Read and share the report -- or the 6-page summary-- with friends and discuss these technology trends.

  • Electronic books, mobiles:  Time-to-Adoption: <1 year
  • Augmented reality, game-based learningTime-to-Adoption: 2-3 years
  • Gesture-based computing, learning analyticsTime-to-Adoption: 4-5 years
The report is produced by the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE.

Slideshare presentation of Horizons Report:

Who to share with?  School leadership, library and technology teams, science teachers and students.  Share the link, but also print a few copies to hand to colleagues, students, board members, book and computer clubs. This report focuses on higher education trends, so consider developing your organization's own set of trends.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

QR resources

QR resources compiled by Erik Scherer

QR Code Readers – The following websites represent a number of places online where one can find and download applications that process QR codes.

Beetagg – www.beetagg.com
Kaywa Reader – www.reader.kaywa.com/
Neo Reader – www.neoreader.com
QuickMark – www.quickmark.com.tw
ScanLife – www.scanlife.com/atlantis/


QR Code Generators – The following websites have generators the create QR codes with many types of functions (e.g., sending text messages, providing contact details, linking to websites). NOTE: Many of the sites above that offer readers also provide QR code generators.

Xzing Project – http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/
Maestro – http://www.sparqcode.com/static/maestro
Inigma – http://www.i-nigma.com/CreateBarcodes.html
QR Stuff – www.qrstuff.com
Google’s Chart Wizard - http://code.google.com/apis/chart/docs/chart_wizard.html - The application is not as user-friendly as other sites but it does allow the user to import QR codes easily into websites and email.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Words Around the World

Here are good K12 websites about word (and phrase) origins (especially the * ones):
(compiled by Lesley Farmer)

IPL guide to word and phrase origins http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48468
LibrarySpot Etymology Dictionaries http://www.libraryspot.com/dictionaries/etymologydictionaries.htm
Language sites http://www.verbivore.com/rllink.htm
Evolution of Human Languages (check out interactive maps) http://ehl.santafe.edu/intro1.htm
* Evolution of languages http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/language/
History of English http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/
English-Word Info (includes quizzes) http://wordinfo.info/
World Wide Words (International English with a British viewpoint) http://www.worldwidewords.org/
* Visual graphical dictionary http://www.visuwords.com/
* Word Origins (Fun with Words) http://www.fun-with-words.com/etymology.html
Word Origins http://www.worldwidewords.org/
* Etymologic (the toughest word game on the Web) http://www.etymologic.com/
* Origin of Words and Names (by language and topic) http://www.krysstal.com/wordname.html
Indo-European Etymology Dictionary http://www.indo-european.nl/
French website on etymology (includes European languages) http://www.lexilogos.com/etymologie.htm
Phrase Finder http://www.phrases.org.uk/index.html
Etymologically Speaking http://www.westegg.com/etymology/
Phrase Finder http://www.phrases.org.uk/index.html
Expressions and Sayings http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayindex.htm
Double-tongued English (fringe and new words) http://www.doubletongued.org/
Way with Words http://www.waywordradio.org/
Behind the Name http://www.behindthename.com/
Name Meanings http://www.name-meanings.com/index.php
Baby Name Wizard http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager.html/lnv0105.html
Baby Name Worlds (has pregnancy info) http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/
Behind the SurName http://surnames.behindthename.com/
Last Name Meanings http://www.last-names.net/
Internet Surname Database http://www.surnamedb.com/
* Soda vs Pop http://popvssoda.com/
* Etymology’s View if the World http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-37310.html
* Native Names map http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/04/departments/native-names-interactive
* Atlas of True Names http://www.kalimedia.com/Atlas_of_True_Names.html
Country Name Etymologies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies
Country name etymologies http://www.fact-index.com/l/li/list_of_country_name_etymologies.html
* Spice Pages http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/
* Periodic Table in different languages http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/multidict.php
Spanish etymology http://etimologias.dechile.net/
Spanish idioms http://www.elcastellano.org/palabra.php
Italian etymology http://www.etimo.it/
French etymology http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/
Dutch etymology http://www.etymologie.nl/
Swedish etymology http://runeberg.org/svetym/index.htm
German etymology http://www.koeblergerhard.de/derwbhin.html
German website on etymology http://www.etymologie.info/~e/
Russian etymology http://etymolog.ruslang.ru/
Indo-European Etymological Dictionary http://www.indo-european.nl/%5Cindex2.html
Chinese Character Etymology http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-etymology.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E5%9C%8B
Kanji Network http://www.kanjinetworks.com/
* Chinese Etymology: Color http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/03/07/the-colors-of-language-chinese-etymologies/
Several etymological dictionaries (unusual languages) http://www.freeweb.hu/etymological/
* Language Construction Kit http://www.zompist.com/kit.html

Friday, January 7, 2011

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Technology

In the December 29, 2010, edition of The New York Times, journalist Sam Grobart writes about getting the most out of "your gadgets and computers, your software and sites."

He claims that despite the tech industry's attempts to make adjusting such devices is difficult, it really isn't.

He goes on write about "10 things to do to improve your technological life" which "are easy and (mostly) free."
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