Merlot in Second Life

A demonstration of MERLOT's new campus in Second Life built by Sify Technologies Limited. Go to the campus here:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/clive/81/174/55

Statistics

Thunder:

"Just reading the latest article on the Microsoft Schools blog, that details the following:

8.5 metres: The minimum cell space allocation for each prisoner to avoid torture or degrading treatment, as recommended by the Council of Europe “European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”.

4 metres: The teaching space allocation for a secondary school pupil, according to BB98 (the non-statutory guidance used for school design), based on a 1,000 pupil school. The space allocation extends to a lavish 6m2 in total if you include all teaching, meeting, social and staff space (like the staffroom!)"

TheEngTeacher: Tooble.tv: 5 High School Students Stick It to the Man with Online Video Downloader

TheEngTeacher: Tooble.tv: 5 High School Students Stick It to the Man with Online Video Downloader:

"This post is part of our ReadWriteStart channel, which is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark.

So, Sony BMG doesn't want you to embed that AC/DC concert footage in your blog or grab the audio from that footage as an MP3? They'd probably have a fit if if you stored that footage as an MP4 on your computer and distributed it wherever you liked or - worse yet - remixed it to your heart's content.

Thanks to Tooble.tv, a fascinating tool that plays footsie with all kinds of copyright law, you can do all of the above and more. Only high school students would have the audacity (or sheer naivete) to pull off a stunt like this.

That's right: Tooble was developed by five high school students in Wallingford, Connecticut. We applaud their ingenuity and hope for their continued success, but we are rightfully concerned about the potential uses and the future of this product."

It's quite economical / economic to recycle

It's quite economical / economic to recycle:

"Which adjective is correct in the title? Many adjectives end in either '-ic' or '-ical'. This guide to these adjectives also discusses some of the most common adjectives that end in both '-ic' and '-ical' and the differences in usage."

Colloquial Pair Phrases

Colloquial Pair Phrases:

"Here is an advanced level quiz focusing on colloquial pair phrases such as 'by and large', 'ins and outs', 'bits and bobs' etc. common to English. If you can get a perfect score on this quiz, your English is probably fluent!"

TeachersFirst: The web resource by teachers, for teachers

TeachersFirst: The web resource by teachers, for teachers:

"TeachersFirst is a rich collection of lessons, units, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format. We offer our own professional and classroom-ready content along with thousands of reviewed web resources, including practical ideas for classroom use and safe classroom use of Web 2.0. Busy teachers, parents, and students can find resources using our subject/grade level search, keyword search, or extensive menus."

Microblogging in the Classroom « From Mr. “A” to Mr. “Z”

Microblogging in the Classroom « From Mr. “A” to Mr. “Z”:

"I believe microblogging tools can be powerful tools to share ideas and content with students. I also believe they give us a new method for assessing student learning. Sharing your thoughts in 140 characters requires communication with precision and clarity. I have talked with one teacher who has used a microblogging tool in his classroom, and he shared that the benefits far outweighed the detriments. I really want to use many of the tools I have learned about, but it sometimes seems an uphill battle to use them as many people fear the negative repercussions of implementing these tools in a middle school classroom. I can see why many teachers simply give up when it comes to using new tech. It seems so much easier to simply maintain the status quo. Anyone out there have any similar experiences?"

Practica inglés en tu tiempo libre | Educa con TIC

Practica inglés en tu tiempo libre | Educa con TIC:

"Para poder mejorar en un idioma es necesario practicar de un modo continuo el mismo, bien sea leyendo, estudiando, realizando ejercicios, escuchando... Independientemente del nivel de estudios que hayamos alcanzado, la competencia comunicativa dentro de un idioma no sólo debe adquirirse, sino que es necesario mantenerla con práctica."

CTU in Second Life Summer 2009

Five Tips for Helping Students Become Better Bloggers | BlogWalker

Five Tips for Helping Students Become Better Bloggers | BlogWalker:

"#1. Provide students with examples. Chances are blogging has not yet been presented to them as its own genre. In order for them to become thoughtful, effective bloggers, they’ll need to see samples from other student bloggers. For elementary age bloggers, I recommend they spend some time reading student work posted to Brian Crosby’s class blog and Mark Ahlness’s class blog. Be sure to checkout Mark’s strategy of having blog reading as part of his SSR program.

#2. Include reflection and self-evaluation as part of the blogging process. I really like the templates for reflecting on posts and reflecting on comments posted by the Rotorua East Lakes Learning Community. While I think students should certainly be allotted a number of “me too” or “that’s cool” comments, they should also be held accountable for a minimum number of self-selected “best” posts or comments."