Tags: office

I don’t know why I’ve never heard of this before, Kingsoft Office Suite: Free Office 2013, Professional Office Suite looks like it could be very handy for schools running Windows, but that isn’t even the best part. The requirements listed on the website show that it supports iOS 5, which means all of those iPad 1s that are out there can use it. Unfortunately, the App Store lists iOS 6 as an requirement, so I’m going to have to wait until I get home to try it.

Via: Kingsoft Office 2013: The best free Microsoft Office alternative? – CNET

“Well, better get unconventional.” — Dr. Ballard

Is there anything like Drafts for iOS for Android?

Is subversion the only way?

Doug Johnson writes about the decisions one must make when deciding what to do when your vision doesn’t align with your organization’s goals.

Writing vs Speaking

John August brings us a TED talk by John McWhorter titled Txtng is killing language. JK!!!. Mr. August discusses the various differences between writing, speaking, and elaborates on Mr. McWhorter’s take on texting.

McDonald’s Theory

Finally, Don Bell uses what he calls the McDonald’s Theory to jump start the decision process with groups.

Prince George’s considers copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work

One of the main cornerstones of education is sharing. What one teacher
or student creates is freely shared with others, for the benefits of the
system. Unfortunately, Prince George is currently review a policy that
would assign all work completed by teachers and students to the
district. From what I understand about copyright, teacher work could
conceivably fall under work for hire, which means the school district
could assert this ownership. But should they? For students the legality
is a bit murky. Since the students do not work for the district, it
would be a stretch to believe that the district could assert copyright.

Why “Bosses” are Poor Leaders

Bosses are a dime a dozen. Leaders can be one in a million.

Reminds me of another quote I’ve read:

You do things for your boss because you have to, you do things for a
leader because you want to.

Coursera forced to call off a MOOC amid complaints about the course

As MOOCs grow in popularity, there will be growing pains, and here is a
story with 40,000 of them.

Among the comments on blogs and Twitter: “Wowzers, 40,000 students
signed up for #foemooc considering google spreadsheets limit of 50
simultaneous editors … not a good choice!”

Next week I will be attending my 15th (I think) Ohio eTech Technology
Conference (OETC). Over the years I’ve learned a few things. Ignore
the vendor presentations, flip through the vendor hall quickly for free
swag, talk to the students that are presenting, attend teacher
presentations, network and discuss with others. My goal is to learn one
new thing, and I usually succeed. That being said, does the time
allotment make learning that “one new thing” worth it? Of all the items
I mentioned above, the free swag from vendors is the only thing I can’t
do virtually.

By the time there is a presentation on a topic I’m interested, I’ve
already researched the topic, visited websites, watched videos. Once the
conference rolls around, I will attend presentations, take notes, ask
questions, and hopefully I’ll come away with some insight or piece of
information that I didn’t get online. More often than not this doesn’t
happen (thankfully, the number of bullet point presentations has gone
down immensely!).

This year a hot topic is Blended Learning, the combination of
face-to-face instruction with online instruction. A relatively new term,
Blended Learning is continuing the flipped classroom model, which
really took off with the Salman Khan and the Khan Academy. The irony
of Blended Learning being the main topic of the first day of OETC is
the fact that most of what OETC is could be delivered online. Looking
through the Schedule searching for blended learning didn’t bring
up any sessions that actually demonstrate blended learning. And by
demonstrate, I mean that they don’t give resources for a participant to
use before the session so they can come into the session informed and
ready. Instead, these sessions will more than likely be a lecture.

There is a chance for something amazing to happen this year. On Tuesday
the first Un-conference will take place, OETCx. Ohio eTech is
supplying several rooms for a totally different take on what a
conference could be. I’m excited and will be a total hypocrite for what
I said above. I will be doing an ignite style session, the OETCx
Encienda where I will have 5 mins and 20 slides to tell a story. I’m
also on a panel called the OETCx App Smackdown. I’m excited to be a
part of OETCx and to have the chance to push forward what conferences
could be like.

? Source ?

EduCon 2.5 took place this past weekend in Philadelphia. I was
extremely lucky and grateful for a chance to attend last year, and
attend isn’t quite the right word to use. A better word would be
experience.

What is EduCon?
EduCon is both a conversation and a conference.

It is an innovation conference where we can come together, both in
person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session
will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very
practical to the big dreams.

Videos of Educon sessions

All of the sessions are available to watch on Youtube!. Try not to
be overwhelmed by the number of videos, just take one a day/week/month.
A great resource for an edchat in your school district and a glimpse
into how learning takes place in other schools.

Why Preaching to the #educhoir Really DOES Matter

I’ve written about the echo chamber before and the perils therein,
but Bill Ferriter writes how sometimes you need the echo chamber.

The simple truth is that being a change agent can be a REALLY lonely
experience.

Hashtag visualization of Educon 2.5

Jonathan Becker has put together a visualization of all the
tweets with the [hashtag #educon][]. It drags my
machine down to a crawl, but it is still useful. 🙂

5 technology skills every student needs before they leave high school

Jeremy Kaiser writes about 5 technology skills every student needs
before they leave high school. Technology moves fast, but even this
article which is almost 2 years old holds relevance today. What is
missing is the mobile component, which in 2011 wouldn’t be as obvious as
it is today. All of his skills can be done with the most basic of hand
held devices today, but in your classrooms, how many of these skills are
being used?

Why AppleTV & iPad beats Interactive Whiteboard?.every time

Why AppleTV & iPad beats Interactive Whiteboard?.every time. Pretty
much sums up my thoughts on the subject. 🙂 Along the same lines is an
article from Information Week on Why Tablets Will Kill Smart Boards In
Classrooms.

DAY-O

Running OS X and want to make that menu clock more useful? Check
out Day-O. It replaces the menu bar clock that still shows the date
and time, but when you click on it, Day-O gives you a monthly calendar.
Quite handy when you want to look for a date quickly.