Well I just wanted to say welcome back, not to you, but rather to me. Its been five months since I last posted and I am hoping to get back into a routine with posting more often. I have a couple of new websites to use, but I just wanted to give a shout out to all those who are supporting The Tech Ninja Blog. We know that we will not get famous blogging about education, but we are just trying to get information that we feel is important out there. That is one of the hardest things in todays age. Like Jay mention in his post there is so much more information out there and it gets more and more visually appealing, yet, so much gets missed. So maybe we post to facebook too much, or on twitter, but we are just trying to help you. If we are being annoying let us know.
Don’t forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now subscribe to our YouTube channel
Monday, October 28, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Just an Observation
I noticed that the way I view information has been evolving right before my eyes. We all know that when the internet first started out that it changed the way we viewed information. I remember as a kid looking through the volumes of Encyclopedias that Mom and Dad purchased from the Encyclopedia salesman. I thought it was awesome to see the amount of information in those books. When websites first appeared it seemed to be pretty much the same information that was in the books only difference was it had a digital format and could be searched for more efficiently. Later websites got more visually attractive with interesting animations and cool graphics. Today information seems almost alive. Some sites are interactive, linked, and constantly changing. For example if you wanted to learn about tornados a search might lead you to a site that offers a vast range of information that would include text, sound, video, interactive activities, and opportunities to collaborate with Scientist, Storm chasers, and Meteorologist. My encyclopedia could never do this. I am still amazed by the evolution of information and the impact that it has had on society. I hope that every Teacher, Student, Administrator, or anyone who wants to learn understands how powerful this new form of information is. I never dreamed that I would be able to write an article that could be read around the world...yet here it is. Just an observation:)
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Technology For Technology's Sake
 |
| Having a new shiny sword does not make you a Ninja |
Hello fellow Ninjas, in this post I would like to briefly discuss some points about using technology in the classroom. Technology should be first and foremost in the hands of the students. It should also be used as part of daily instruction. Technology should not be used solely as a reward or for "free time" without any ties to curriculum or instruction. The best way to use technology in the classroom is to relate it to a project, let students use combinations of applications to CREATE a product or artifact that will demonstrate their understanding of a concept.
I was talking with a colleague the other day and she brought up a very good point about using Technology for Technology's sake. We agreed that this was one of the least effective practices that can go on in a classroom. Ultimately if the activities you plan for your students do not engage them to explore, evaluate, problem solve, collaborate, and CREATE you are probably just using Technology for Technology's sake. Just sayin.
Don’t forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now subscribe to our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzFJ-VbCBBNKqu5sWH8KDg.
Pic from http://c4kca.org/getcomputer.html
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Math Chimp Ninja Style
\
Image from openclipart.org
Drawn by mediobit
The website Math Chimp
http://www.mathchimp.com/ is different from
other math websites. It does not have
its own content, but rather it is a directory of high quality resources and
others sites. Some sites that it
includes in KhanAcademy.org, CoolMathGames.com and MatheBook.net. It’s set up where it lets you search by grade
level and then subject area. This is a
great website to use for math review at the end of the year. It also lets you tell your students what
area you want them to focus on.
Don’t
forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now
subscribe to our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzFJ-VbCBBNKqu5sWH8KDg.
FOT Explania.com
Have you ever
wondered how the heart works? Well explainia.com can help you figure it out.
http://www.explania.com/en
is a collection of animated video
explanations. A Belgium based company, a majority of the videos are aimed
towards adults. They have many channels
focused on a variety of topics. One
note, while most of the videos are academic in nature, have they have been
moving to having channels from companies about their products.
Don’t
forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now
subscribe to our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzFJ-VbCBBNKqu5sWH8KDg.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Google Fun for Google Ninjas
Image by Simon
www.flickr.com
We have spend a lot of time helping you get ready to become
a Google Ninja, you are now ready and its time to really have some fun and
impress your less Ninjaish friends. Now
with many of these you have to Google the phrase and then click I’m Feeling
Lucky Button (or just click the first link, it does the same thing)
Google “do a barrel
roll” and go back to those days playing Starfox
Google
“Zerg Rush” –Now I was never a big
Starcraft fan, but still fun.
Google
“gravity” and click I’m feeling Lucky- I
just hope you don’t break Google.
Google
“tilt” and click I’m feeling Lucky- is
my chair lopsided?
Google
“the Loneliest Number” and the calculator indicates that the result is 1. Ok, slightly corny.
Google
“Elmer Fudd” and click I’m feeling. Also works with Klingon and Pig Latin.
Google
“elgoog” and click I’m feeling.
I
know the biggest worry of you day has to do with the seven degrees of Kevin
Bacon. To make your day less stressful
just Google the name of the celebrity you are interested followed by “bacon
number”
Go
to Google translate at http://translate.google.com/
and copy and paste
in pv zk bschk zk
kkkkkkk (you can paste it in as many
times as you want). The live your dreams
of rocking the beatbox.
pv zk bschk zk
kkkkkkk beatbox
Don’t
forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now
subscribe to our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzFJ-VbCBBNKqu5sWH8KDg.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
This Weeks Tech Rumors- Ninja Style April 28th- May 4th
Image by Hector Gomez
openclipart.org
The UK’s New Copyright law
The Enterprise Regulatory and Reform Act was enacted on May
2, 2013 which allows photos that are published to the Internet can be used by
anyone if the owner of the photo cannot be found after a “diligent” search or
explicitly stated in the photo’s metadata.
Why is this important for a Tech Ninja, first it looses copyright laws
in that will allow more works to be used in projects for schools and education,
second it harms artists and photographers who post their work to the
internet. I believe the real test will
be the definition of what a diligent search is.
Xbox TV or Xbox Mini
This article is just what the
author thinks Microsoft might do with the Xbox going forward. It makes logical sense with his points, but I
don’t think that Microsoft wants to cannibalize themselves. Why is this important to a Tech Ninja,
because with increased completion for turning living rooms smart will lead to
better products and options.
Facebook Loses Millions of Users
I am over Facebook as a social network (but not a social
news site) and it turns out I am not the only one. In the last 6 months 9 million Facebook users
in the US and
2 million Facebook users in UK left. Why is this important for Tech Ninja? Its important because it shows how fickle
consumers can be with technology and how companies have to be careful with how
they monetize their product. When I log
onto Facebook all I see is pictures of random with funny sayings. I get very few updates of what friends and
family are doing anymore and that’s why I signed up in the first place, not to
see recipes or what game you are playing.
Google Fiber Increase Completion
In Kansas
City very few people have signed up for Google Fiber’s offering
one-gigabit Internet connections—nearly 100 times faster than the U.S.
average—for $70 per month, or $120 with television service, a Nexus 7 tablet
remote, two terabytes of DVR storage, plus another a terabyte of cloud
storage. Yet their overall Internet speed increased because the companies
already established increased their offerings to consumers. Why is this important to a Tech Ninja? Increased completion brings more choices as I
stated earlier. The US is far behind in
internet speed compared to other developed countries with no real reason why we
are so slow compared to other parts of the world.
I will be
the first to say that I do not do much with Google Voice, I mainly just give
out that number if I don’t want to give out my main number when signing up for
services. I also cut the cord on my home
phone about two years ago, but haven’t found an option that I want to use to
replace it, with this I just might. Why
is this important for a Tech Ninja? With
Obihai ($40) and a Google Voice you have free home phone. Only caveat if Google decides to charge for
Google Voice, they haven’t yet, but always could.
Force
Electric Feedback – Getting shocked while playing games, the next big thing?
What’s
going to be the next new thing with gaming?
First it was playing at home, then playing on the go, then moving while
playing. Next getting shock? I don’t know how appealing that sounds, but
it will bring a new intensity to games.
They are developing 4DX movies that use smells and water vapor to immerse
you into the movie, why not physical feedback.
Why is this important for a tech ninja?
This is important because this is just showing another way for you
interact with your tech.
Don’t
forget that besides from just following the blog you can like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thetechninjablog/111528315703424, follow us on Twitter @Tech_Ninja_Blog and now
subscribe to our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzFJ-VbCBBNKqu5sWH8KDg.
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