ICTeD Services

Pixelate for Privacy

Since starting this blog, I've added a number of images to make blogposts either more interesting or more informative. When taking photos of students, I always try to get shots that are from behind or group shots, so as to obscure facial features and preserve anonymity. But occasionally I have an image that I want to publish, but is just too identifiable. I've been looking for a way to pixelate easily, without buying Photoshop [ the basic image editors I use, iPhoto and Graphic Converter don't have a pixelate function]. So the search for an online image editor was on!. First stop was Mashable's list of 20 Great Online Photo Editors. Then I selected FotoFlexer, which has pixelate as one of its many effects and enhancements. It worked well too [many annoying banners announcing that I had won prizes, or had friend requests, or inviting me to play online poker. but someone has to fund it, I suppose]. Using it with students could be an issue as they would probably click on all of these! However, it did the job I wanted,
You can pixelate the whole image, a focal area [circle] or painted area.
Here's my first attempt from the animation session for teachers that I ran earlier in the year.

Wordle, Education & Joel Klein

Recently I was lucky enough to be invited to be a panel member on the Ed Tech Crew Podcast #72 [Christmas Special] discussing Web 2.0 apps. One segment was called "What's the most useless Web 2.0 app that you have used this year?" Nothing much was really found, as it was felt that market forces meant that useless Web 2.0 apps either didn't get past the drawing board or didn't last long in the marketplace. It was also discussed that often classroom uses for some Web 2.0 apps took a while to develop. It seems that Wordle is one such Web 2.0 app!. If you haven't used it, what it does is this... You type / paste in either a block of text, or enter a URL to a blog or website or a de.licio.us account and bingo a word cloud is created, with the most repeated words in the biggest text.
This is what this blog looks like in Wordle.

Maybe I use the word great too much!

Now what follows next are the thoughts and ideas of others, I haven't used Wordle in the classroom yet, but I can see its potential.
Here are some links to other educators that have used Wordle with there students.
http://jacquisharp.blogspot.com/2008/06/wordle-word-clouds.html
http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2008/10/top-20-uses-for-wordle.html
http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2008/12/10/a-wordle-a-day/

I've also heard that you can use Wordle to analyse speeches, interviews etc. So here's an example, recently the Rudd Government in Australia invited Joel Klein, New York City's schools chancellor to discuss his ideas about education reform.  For background on this go to http://www.abc.net.au/rn/edpod/stories/2008/2398285.htm. However, there is a great critique of his ideas on the NYC Public School Parents Blog http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2008/11/warning-to-australians-dont-let-your.html [as well links to an interview Klein did in Australia with Kerry O'Brien]
Let's see what happened when I put in the transcript in Wordle.

Interesting, I would have liked to have seen words here like engagement, collaboration, social skills, authentic, holistic, communication, thinking, creativity, enjoyment, sustainable etc..
But who do the words belong too? O'Brien? or Klein?
Well here's the break up
1. Kerry O'Brien

2. Joel Klein

Interesting, here Klein's word cloud is very positive, an interesting comparision to the blog of the NYC Public School parents.
There will be much more to follow in the debate on Australia's education reform debate!

See also Emily Chang's blogpost on Barack Obama's inauguration and the tag cloud of his speech,
http://emilychang.com/go/weblog/comments/my-first-citizen-social-media-inauguration/

See also Nirvana Rose Watkins' blogpost  http://soulcradler.edublogs.org/2008/10/12/ways-to-use-wordle/

Setting up Professional Learning Networks & Google Maps

It's been nearly one month since I've written for my blog! My home broadband is now flying, [by Australian standards, anyway], with the arrival on my ADSL2 switch / router, which took a long, long time to arrive. I've also taken up a new job since I wrote last. I resigned from my full time government teaching job [after 33 years] and after a short "retirement" went back into the workforce with two jobs. Job one was essentially my own job back again, as a primary / elementary school ICT coordinator, [but three days per week] and  job two was an exciting new job with one of Victoria's ICT Professional Development Teacher Associations, running its professional learning office. VITTA [Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association], is Victoria's biggest ICT PD organisation, but it really wants to expand its professional learning activities for primary / elementary schools. After settling into this new job, the first task was setting up a number of Professional Learning Networks throughout the state. Read more about these here. I intend to use Web 2.0 tools as much as possible to assist with their management. These PLNs are to run all over Victoria, and be run by key leaders in various rural and regional centres.

See where they are located in detail using Google Maps [My Maps > VITTA PLNs].