Bud the Teacher

Connected

Jennifer Jones tweeted a link to this video this morning, and I think it's a fine example of what a connected organization, in this case Abilene Christian University, and connected teaching and learning,  can look like. 

We're getting to a stage in the learning game where we should be thinking about ways to help students create connections to each other and to their learning.  Handing students and teacher a device that connects students and serves as a platform for the teaching and learning in a system just makes sense, even though it's not always a socially or culturally or politically accepted idea.  That needs to change.  Soon.  I feel like the political climate for 1:1 (or even 1:3, or 1:10) continues to improve - but we're still in a transitional place between analog and digital instruction. 
    I can't say that the iPhone is THE device - I couldn't imagine writing anything of substance on the iPhone or any other tool without a reasonable keyboard - but I understand why they featured it, as I do think it's a game-changer, in terms of its functionality and ease of use.  Of course, there are plenty of other game-changers coming to the table at the moment.

Worth Watching. And Thinking About.

    I tweeted this.  Then Dean posted it.  And he's right to do so  - I'm forgetting to blog in the wake of Twitter.  And that's a bad thing - worthy of a podcast in the near future.  Will's having the same trouble, it seems, as are others in my network(s).  Things are getting ever-more complicated.  And that's a good thing. 
    Anyway - I think this video is of interest to many - both because of the way it was made - which I like very much - as well as the accompanying post on the statistics behind its creation.  What a great model for transparency in creation - as well as a good piece for conversation.  Enjoy. 

All A-Twitter

    A few folks have already noticed the cute Twitter box that's now on the lower left sidebar of my blog.  An even rarer few might have noticed that it only works intermittently -- seems that Twitter's quite popular at the moment, and is not completely functional due to apparent server drain on its resources.
    I'm going to try to Twitter for a while.  I am torn about it's usefulness -- seems like both a handy way to keep track of people that you're interested in, but it also seems like a procrastination station. 
     We'll see.  In case you're curious, here's my Twitter profile.  Come along for the ride.
    If you want to live vicariously through the Twittering of others, then you might want to check out Twittervision.  Now that's got potential.  Thanks to Dave for the link.