Blurts

This a report on data collecting 2007-2008 attempting to identify trends in K-12 online education. Approximately 75% of schools make some online experiences available to students.

The launch of Wolfram Alpha has both interested and confused many. 

Here is an interview with Stephen Wolfram conducted by Leo Laporte. It is the last half hour of this podcast so move to approximately that location unless you want to listen to the entire TWIT program (the program is approx two hours long if that helps)

I write a commercial textbook so I have mixed feelings about those who criticize textbooks and the textbook industry. No need to get into this debate here, but as is often the case the issues are complex and most people are only partly informed. Anyway, I am also intrigued by the notion that quality projects can emerge out of bits of knowledge and enthusiasm scattered about the crowd. What I question is the commitment of individuals to make a time commitment to a project without compensation. So, when I hear that someone is attempting to organize a wiki book for the general good I try to bring this matter to the attention of others. Perhaps in a year or so, we will revisit this site and find an interesting educational resource. Perhaps in a year we will visit this site and find that it was just another idealistic project that never materialized.

BTW – I use the tag “book” on this site and my main blog to identify topics of this general nature.

CoolIris – a plugin that provides a unique interface for exploring images on the web and on your computer has been updated. I had forgotten how interesting their approach is, but now I remember.

All of Me may be the ultimate web vanity machine. Explore yourself online – we found content back before 1980 (early traditional publications) – not sure what happened in the time frame 2002-2004. You can save your timeline.

Serious applications – do a timeline on something like “NASA”, etc.

If you are a Flock user, version 2.5 offers a way to integrate Twitter as a sidebar.

MacWorld analysis