At Lewis Elementary, our 5th grade students are deep into their European Explorers social studies unit. Each is researching and writing a report on a European explorer, and also a modern day explorer. We are using Flickr to post their explorer portraits and reports.

Our technology/music teacher, Tony Jamesbarry, is also having them use Google Maps to create a map that will highlight the routes and voyages of their particular explorer. In addition we are creating a master map of all the explorer reports. The master map will include a thumbnail image of the explorer along with a link to the Flickr page with the image and report.

For this project we are using MapBuilder…

a Web2.0 service that is used to build custom Google and Yahoo maps without any knowledge of the Google/Yahoo Maps API and JavaScript. MapBuilder provides a decent visual interface for the map building process with geocoding features. Also MapBuilder lets users tag locations on their maps, and then publish the map either on MapBuilder.net or their own website…

As the description notes, the interface allows you to click and add points to a Google Map. The interface also allows you to add descriptions and images to your map points. Once your map is finished you have a number of options on how it can be displayed, including grabbing the HTML source and using that source code on your site. MapBuilder is a great tool for teachers looking to utilize Google and Yahoo maps in their instruction.

Technorati Tags: google maps, Map Builder

Paul Nelson: K-12 Linux Terminal Server Project:

Tim Wilson interviews Paul Nelson… Paul is a leader in the k-12 Linux movement and an all around great guy…

Technorati Tags: linux, Paul Nelson

Clockr - It’s Flickr Time:



A clock using numeral images from Flickr…

Via… Lifehacker

Technorati Tags: clockr

tickr for flickr

Tickr is a Mac OS X application that provides a moving ticker of images from Flickr. These can include a ticker of images from a specific user, from a tag, or from search string. The ticker can be positioned on the left, right or bottom of your monitor. Image size can be adjusted, along with opacity. Images can float above other applications, behind, or as normal application. A very nice integration of Flickr on the Mac.

By way of FlickrNation

Technorati Tags: flickr, Tickr

Wikipedia Vs School Board Web Site:

So because one or a few people have control of the board website, and everyone has control of Wikipedia, it seems as though Wikipedia becomes more accurate than the actual board website.

Quentin D’Souza has a very interesting post about the relative accuracy of his school district’s web site compared to the Wikipedia entry for his school district. He notes that the Wikipedia entry is more precise and up to date. This got me thinking about my school district’s web site and how it might benefit from a more up to date Wikipedia entry. His post might get me staying up late working on Wikipedia…

Technorati Tags: Quentin D’Souza, wikipedia

The BBC has a new site called The Feed Factory . It is an introduction to the RSS feeds that are available from bbc.co.uk. It also includes a very good introduction to RSS for those new to the technology, and for experienced users, it takes you to a directory which organizes their RSS feeds by category. In addition any page on the BBC that has an RSS feed also has the familiar orange RSS icon along with a link to the the feed.

By way of… Micropersuasion

Technorati Tags: BBC, RSS

The image on the left is a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from a site that my students and I created in 1997. At the time I was teaching a mixed age K,1,2 classroom at Buckman Elementary in Portland. A very fine young man named Jackson created this image. If you follow the link to the Dr. King Timeline page , you will find other fine images that capture the life and times of Dr. King.

Happy King Day!

Technorati Tags: Dr. King