Need a cheap screen for your classroom?

Over at instructables Saul has posted his directions for using Tyvek wrapping for a Tyvek Projector Screen. Since this is used for wrapping houses it is very inexpensive and somewhat durable. He used a pipe in one end to keep it taunt. From reading the comments there are ways of purchasing it without the logo or [...]

The Kindle DX is available for pre-order, does anyone care?

Today’s announcement of the Kindle DX, a 9.7″ version of the Kindle is being hailed as some sort of savior of the newspaper industry and a breakthrough for the college textbook market.
At almost $500 I don’t see it as either. The biggest negative about the Kindle will also be the last thing fixed, if it [...]

The $99 mobile Internet Device

Nvidia Plans To Power $99 Mobile Internet Devices
Nvidia has announced that it plans to power $99 mobile internet devices with its Tegra 600 series chips, perhaps as early as this summer.
If they can get an Android version released at $99 that is something that could be a game changer in education. Although I’m a big [...]

HIW (How I Work): The Apple MacBook

I am asked quite often how I can keep up with everything in regards to educational technology, software, and hardware. After some reflection, I realized that it would make a good series of articles, so I’m going to write up How I Work.
First up is probably the most important component of my technology arsenal, my [...]

Happy 35th Birthday Ethernet

May 22, 1973: Enter Ethernet
1973: Bob Metcalfe of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center writes a memo outlining how to connect the think tank’s new personal computers to a shared printer. The memo puts forth the basic properties of — and names — ethernet.

Looking at his diagram, he had the foresight to see networking not [...]

Wiimote interactive whiteboard success

Since I am home this week, I decided to get caught up on some projects. The big one was working on getting an interactive whiteboard setup going with a Nintendo Wiimote and an infrared pen. This morning, I finally got my infrared pen working. What I did was bought a cheap LED flashlight from Walmart [...]

Interactive response systems

photo credit: swpermanAs we investigate ways to use mobile Internet devices in our classrooms, it hit me that they could be used as an interactive student response system (ISRS). Since current ISRSs are around $100 per person, why not invest in a more useful device such as the iPod Touch, Sony PSP, or Nintendo [...]

Your assignment: 20 minutes on your DS before school

Scottish authorities have begun other trials of ‘More Brain Training with Dr Kawashima’ on the Nintendo DS in 16 schools:
A 20-minute burst of the ‘brain training’ exercises on Nintendo’s DS console at the start of the day apparently improves performance in maths tests by as much as 10 per cent, according to a Scottish [...]

Paradox of choice

photo credit: javYliz

In the technology world it seems we’re continually confronted with new products, services, software, hardware, etc. And for those of us who have a tough time focusing on one thing at a time, this dizzying array of choices can easily distract us or keep us from finishing previous tasks.
In The Paradox of [...]

Inventory control

Keeping track of inventory can be a difficult, and it seems like every four months someone is asking about what product to get to use for inventory control. I created a simple database in Filemaker Pro to keep track of our inventory. Why Filemaker Pro?

We already had it.
I didn’t need anything that fancy.
We also had [...]