Ken Robison video: TED Conference

I was up real early this morning and did not want to turn on the TV. I decided instead to turn on the big screen that had some interactivity with it. Well it paid off.  I came across this video of Sir Ken Robinson speaking at a TED conference. He got me to thinking (I know...a rare instance) about what we are doing in our classrooms or lack thereof.

Saving YouTube, Teacher Tube and other website videos.

Don't you know, every time you want to use an online video in your class the Internet slows to a snails pace or the Internet itself is down. No worries, I'm here to help.

The simplest solution is to download the video and have access to it whether the network is up or not. There are many services to help you with this. Some charge and others are free. One great site is keepvid.com. It is pretty simple to use. Just copy the URL (the Internet address) of the web site containing the video and paste it into the URL box at the top of the page at keepvid.com and click the download button to the right. A couple of links will then appear just below. There usually is a couple of choices. You will have to read the details following each link to decide which clip you  want. Choices include a higher and lower quality clips and sometimes a different size option (in pixels).

One note to mention - while this method works on Youtube videos and such it will not work all the time. There are different solutions out there. Other methods can be found by typing in "capture streaming video" in a google search.

As always, if you have questions let me know. TTFN

Text Message Alerts: teachers able to send mass texts to students.

I have heard from several students and a request from a teacher that it would be "cool" if students could receive text messagages about up-coming events in the class like quizzes, tests and assignments. I am here to please...Your wish is my command...I hear and obey.

Enough already. I have a solution for you. Take a look at the following.

Get your own at TextMarks!

By typing in your phone number into the box, you will receive a text explaining how to subscribe to BlueBandit at textmarks.com. This is my textmark so you may not want to subscribe. Go to the site to read more and create your own account. If you need help setting up your account, let me know. You can choose to send out alerts from your phone or website. You can also add it to a web like I did here. Pretty neat stuff.

One final note, you can subscribe to other alters ranging from topics like horoscopes, bible versus, stock quotes... the list just goes on. One could lose their self in a sea of texts although I don't recommend it.

Happy Texting!