One of my contacts in Grouply shared this video card maker with the group. I decided to test it and found it really interesting. You can record and customize a message for different occasions. A problem I see is that it generates a link only and not an embedding code. I decided to post it to my posterous blog (which is connected other blogs) and see how it works. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Merry Christmas to you all and may 2010 be a happy and successful year.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Season Greetings with Tokbox
TokBox - Free Video Chat and Video Messaging
Gone are the days we sent real Christmas cards. I used to send many. I guess I just got too busy or too addicted to the web. Besides that, we also have to save the Amazon, don't we? I am in favor of lesser and lesser paper and more interaction. So, this is my message for the holidays. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
How to do almost anything with Posterous (Using Posterous for Quoting)
How to do almost anything with Posterous
By Martin Bryant on August 13, 2009
Online sharing and blogging service Posterous has been getting a lot of attention recently. The development team is adding features regularly and it’s fast becoming the best way to share content with all your different social services while also keeping it all in one place too. The best bit is you can do it all via email.
With so many ways to use Posterous it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Here we’ll take you through everything you need to know about it and suggest a range of ways you can use it to make your online life easier.
The basics
via thenextweb.com
I have been using posterous for a while and I am really amazed by how simple and useful it is. I have just discovered this blog post written by Martin Bryant talking about how many ways you can use this blog host and decided to quote it using the posterous bookmarking feature. I hope it is useful.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
McKinsey: What Matters: Using technology to improve workforce collaboration
Knowledge workers fuel innovation and growth, yet the nature of knowledge work remains poorly understood—as do the ways to improve its effectiveness. The heart of what knowledge workers do on the job is collaborate, which in the broadest terms means they interact to solve problems, serve customers, engage with partners, and nurture new ideas. Technology and workflow processes support knowledge worker success and are increasingly sources of comparative differentiation. Those able to use new technologies to reshape how they work are finding significant productivity gains. This article shares our research on how technology can improve the quality and output of knowledge workers.An interesting article on the changes caused by the widespread use of technology. Using a posterous bookmark.
Stupeflix for videos
Watch the Teacher Stuff channel on Stupeflix.tv.
I am always amazed by the power of communities of practice. An e-friend of ours (Gilmar) posted a querry on our virtual community ( Learning With Computers ) asking for hints on video maker site. Some members (Ana Maria and Bob Palmer) suggested Stupeflix. I tested it and loved it. I created a channel called teacher stuff and seached the tag teaching on flickr and twitter and this was what I got. Nice, isn't it?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Posting Everywhere
One thing I like about posterous is its integration with other websites such as twitter, facebook, you tube, and other blog hosts (it is called autopost). This feature allows bloggers to post to lots of places. Being a tech freak I am, it makes me happy to see that I get to be a ubiquitous entity, a dream of most bloggers.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
EVO 2010 Sessions
EVO 2010 sessions begin next January. It is a great opportunity for learning about teaching with teachers from all over the world. The sessions are held online and are free of charge. It is a great chance for those who have never experienced e-learning first hand to see how fast one can learn using the web. Besides that, it is also a chance for sharing what you know about language learning and teaching. For a list of sessions to choose from check here
Friday, December 04, 2009
A new videoblogging tool
Vacations are a great thing, aren't they. Well, after working really hard correcting tests and and filling out forms, it is good to find some free time to explore the web. Check out this new video blogging tool I have come across. It is called Wink Ball. It looks promising. What do you think?
I know I could look and sound better. Everything for the sake of testing and playing.
Something interesting
The BBC is working o na documentary provisorily called "The Digital Revolution." I took a pick at some of the material and it looks really promising. There are interviews with ordinary people talking about what the web represents for them. The page also features interviews with iconic figure of the web 2.0 world. It is really worth checking and bookmarking to follow updates.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
The spirit of learning
<br><div style='font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; width: 100%;'>By joseaokc | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon</div>One thing that amazes me is our capacity to learn and also our barriers to do so. Many of us cannot learn for many reasons. The one I want to focus on briefly here, is the one related to time. Above is an image of a comic strip made in toondoo . I had already subscribed for an account and had never had the chance or time to learn how to use it. Today, training a colleague in the use of ICT, we manage to explore it together. Then, I thanked her for helping me learn how to use it. So, I kept myself wondering about how many times we learn something in order to teach other. I also thought about how good it is to learn things together.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Posting compositions to blogs
After sometime using the internet to help my students learn English, there are some things I have noticed that make me move to the blended learning path. One of the things that I saw was that as students use computers to write classroom assignments, they enhance their skills in computer usage. Before blogging in English, they do not know much about how to write a paragraph or even what to indent a paragraph is. Besides that, I have also realized that many of them continue using small letters for some words that should be capitalized. Many would say that the latter mistake is not related to computer use but to the way feedback on written work has been given, however, I think using a word processor makes the mistakes more visible. Finally, I have also realized that having students posting compositions on blogs make them more aware of readership and, as a consequence, they make an extra effort to improve their writing.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
| Jose Antonio da Silva requested to add you as a connection on LinkedIn: Arjun, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Jose Antonio
DID YOU KNOW you can conduct a more credible and powerful reference check using LinkedIn? © 2009, LinkedIn Corporation |
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Some days in the life of an educator
I just love seeing the creativity of my students at its best. I always ask them to draw to illustrate our blogs. Today my colleague Silvia Caldas showed me Vuvox. I decided to try to learn more about it and created this presentation to honor my students.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Social Networks and The Green Revolution
The events unfolding after the Iranian election called the world's attention to the power of social media. Everything started with an election that is said to have been rigged. The opposition to the Iranian government protested and protestants took the streets and traditional media was censored. What followed next was a flood of news from social networks. Iranians used twitter , facebook , and youtube to post videos and text updates about the protests and the violence that the government forces used to deal with it.
Some international news commentators said some Iranians did not even know that their posts or videos were being read and watched all over the word. So, for many of them it represented the discovery of a new way of voicing their protests, of informing the outside world of what is happening in their country. The power of uncensored, unfiltered information is just huge and it is sometimes difficult to understand why some educators still resist using social media to connect their students.
Some international news commentators said some Iranians did not even know that their posts or videos were being read and watched all over the word. So, for many of them it represented the discovery of a new way of voicing their protests, of informing the outside world of what is happening in their country. The power of uncensored, unfiltered information is just huge and it is sometimes difficult to understand why some educators still resist using social media to connect their students.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Where I am, where I am not
This is where I am now. It is where I spent most of my time when I am at home. I have chosen the mosaic to represent the chaotic nature of online presence. I know I am here but not always here. I am here and also at many other parallel universes. I guess the missing and the visible pieces represent these many possibilities of being at many places at one time.
I live by myself, so I guess I spend a lot of time in contact with people that are physically so distant. Sometimes connected to this people online, sometimes planning lesson for people I will see only tomorrow or the day after. It is funny to think of the many ways we are connected to people.
I live by myself, so I guess I spend a lot of time in contact with people that are physically so distant. Sometimes connected to this people online, sometimes planning lesson for people I will see only tomorrow or the day after. It is funny to think of the many ways we are connected to people.
Monday, June 15, 2009
RSS: My Customized news
http://www.netvibes.com/#General" title="Jose Antonio's Webspace (912)" width="537" height="227" style="border: none;" usemap="#map_c3ztbqs2" />
remember that a text book I used to teach English some years ago predicted the advent of customized newspapers. Thinking about RSS and how it has changed my life, I realized that RSS is just that: customized news. I am really a big fan of RSS because it allows me to visit all my favorite websites in one single page. Before using in (I use Netvibes more often than Google Reader), I remember that sometimes I forgot to visit some of my favorite websites. Now, I can always with just a click be updated on my customized news.
José Antônio
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Blogging in the classroom : A window of opportunity
As all my readers know, I have been blogging for sometime. However, I would like to point out that I really do not know everything about blogging. As my dear friend Carla Arena said "There is no recipe on how to blog."
My first impressions when I discovered blogging were as if a window, better a large door, had oppened in front of my eyes. I saw and still see blogging as a great opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with my students. Better still, I see it as an opportunity for them to have conversations among themselves and with people outside the classroom walls.
Bloging in class has allowed me to see how gifted my students are in many areas. It opened my eyes to see and discover things about them that I would not have discovered otherwise. And I am sure it gave them opportunities to make discoveries and to get skills that are useful for them in the present and that will certainly be very helpful in their future.
Bloging in class has allowed me to see how gifted my students are in many areas. It opened my eyes to see and discover things about them that I would not have discovered otherwise. And I am sure it gave them opportunities to make discoveries and to get skills that are useful for them in the present and that will certainly be very helpful in their future.
The picture I chose also shows, in my opinion, that blogging is also challenging. There are lots of possibilities, but sometimes they are not so easy to visualize. We have to open the door and walk the blogging path with our students. It is a big challenge to keep the conversation going. We teachers have to teach our students how to comment, we have to talk about the importance of replying to comments, and so on.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The energy of a good class
I was just thinking about the feelings or the sensation you have when you are giving a good class. I think the idea of flow explains this feeling. According to Csíkszentmihály “Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity” Being in class with your students is like dancing to a contagious rhythm . So connecting flow, music, the sensation I have during and after a good class, I decided to share this song that for me, at least, translates the sensation of flow.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Social Bookmarking: Food for Thought
- How can online social bookmarking help you?
I have been using social bookmarking for some time now. It has been helping me to deal with information overload. What I cannot read at the moment, I can always save for later. It has also helped me focus and prepare presentations I have done in teaching conferences. With social bookmarking, I always have access to what other people have bookmarked on a given suject.
- What are the advantages of having bookmarking as a social activity?
The advantages are many. One of them is having your favorites accesseble anywhere, anytime. So, social bookmarking gives you mobility. Besides that, you also draw on the power of the collective to find resources, to discover new things, and to be updated on any topic you might be interested in.
- How could Diigo be used in your classroom?
In classroom, I could create a Diigo group on a subject of common interest for students and have them share there favorites. Once favorites are shared, I could ask them to review the shared websites writing comments.
- What were your main difficulties to get started with socital bookmarking?
At the beginning, I had some problems understanding how to download the bookmarking toolbar. It also took me sometime to realize that I needed to download the toolbar in other computers if I wanted to continue bookmarking from somewhere else.
- Did you find any interesting resources shared by your peers? Please, add the link to it.
I really liked the link of a blog post shared by Carla called 6 reasons why people aren't commenting on your blog I liked it because it is really instructive to all of us bloggers. I really don't think that getting comments should be the main reason for blogging, but it is always good to know what kind of tone makes a pleasant blog.
Kindest regards
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Power of Sharing
http://kwout.com/quote/x2znpmv7
I have been using Diigo for a while. It has been helping me a lot in my attempts to discover and learn. Using social bookmarking has lots of advantages. One of the advantages of having bookmarking as a social activity is the possibility of sharing valuable resources I find online with friends. Before Diigo, whenever I found something interesting on the web I had to keep if for myself only (first because it could only be accessible from my home PC and second because I could not tell anyone about my favorites). Besides being able to share what I discover, I have the luck of having access to what my friends bookmard as they surf the web. Social bookmarking really draws on the powers of the collective and it is definetely fascinating.
I have been using Diigo for a while. It has been helping me a lot in my attempts to discover and learn. Using social bookmarking has lots of advantages. One of the advantages of having bookmarking as a social activity is the possibility of sharing valuable resources I find online with friends. Before Diigo, whenever I found something interesting on the web I had to keep if for myself only (first because it could only be accessible from my home PC and second because I could not tell anyone about my favorites). Besides being able to share what I discover, I have the luck of having access to what my friends bookmard as they surf the web. Social bookmarking really draws on the powers of the collective and it is definetely fascinating.
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