RJ Stangherlin

Keystone Technology Integrator and STAR Discovery Educator

This site is for Mrs. Stangherlin's classes at Salisbury High School.

What’s in a VoiceThread?

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

Actually, quite a lot of conversations around media.  VoiceThread is a powerful, all-in-one place to talk about and share your images, documents, and videos.  You can create, comment 5 different ways, and share with your friends.

You can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation.  VoiceThreads can be embedded on websites (like the VoiceThread at the beginning of this post) and exported to MP3 players or DVDs as archival movies.  With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world.  The best part: it’s free, fun, fast, and there’s no software to download. Isn’t it time for you to begin to create, comment, and share?

VoiceThread
social media
web 2.0
Turbo Tagger

Digital Literacy and Web 2.0: Tech Tips

Back to school just isn’t what it used to be, and the tools we gather for the start of a new year change faster than the the speed of light. As a way to welcome you back, I put several of my favorites in Wordle, a new tool compliments of my learning curve with Randy Ziegenfuss.  What makes Wordle fun is its ease of use: so simple, so fast, and so (much) fun.  My goal is to send you some tech tips each week, a roundup of cool tools I’ve found through my PPLNs (Professional Personal Learning Networks).  I love what I learn from my Twitterverse, Plurk, and a host of social media that is quickly becoming a wonderful way to learn globally, instantly.  So, each week watch for my Tech Tips, and I’ll try to vary the way I deliver them.  I’ll even ask you to contribute and share your favorite finds as well.  So, until next time, feel free to add your Web 2.0 finds using the Comment option.  And WELCOME BACK.

Firefox 3.0

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

First real day off from school (department meeting/curriculum writing yesterday) and I’m sitting on my back porch, looking at a wide-angle vista of the farm, mentally designing the new barn for my llamas, the fencing, all the steps that need to be taken before my girls come home. My laptop sits on the table next to morning coffee and I find something that actually can distract me from thinking about my future venture: Firefox 3.0, unveiled yesterday. For the last half hour, I’ve been busy browsing and downloading the best of the extensions and plug-ins, and believe me, there are so many useful ones, so I took quite a few of them.  Call it a sense of entitlement or a learning curve (or both), but I am already having fun and simplifying my online life with the newest Firefox offerings. The downside: no Blinklist integrated extension, so someone out there who understands code, please create one.

Why do I life Firefox (over Safari or IE in any version)? Because it is simply the best browser out there, compatible with all the different blog formats that I use (Safari is not), and it comes with the extensions necessary for ease of online survival. If you haven’t tried it, now would be a great time to upgrade to the 3.0 version, an international brower that speaks your language.

Vimeo + Video Hosting + Sharing = IP Videos Coming Soon

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

Whenever I really need to find something tech-based fast, I go to my students.  Thank you, ALEX HORN, for suggesting Vimeo.  I tried the video hosting/sharing site, and I love it.  Of its many features, the one that will help me most is its ability to host a long video in unbroken segments (unlike YouTube, StudentTube, TeacherTube, or Curriki which will host a long video but not provide embeddable code).  SO, the VERY GOOD NEWS is that I will be posting all the IP presentations--stage presentations, film productions, and the two nontraditional presentations on Vimeo.  The VERY BAD NEWS: it will take some time since my travel schedule takes me into the third week in July.  But, I will post the videos as I finish them.  Keep checking this website to find your video.  And have a happy, healthy, safe summer.

Technorati Tags: vimeo, video hosting, video sharing, video streaming, video sites

Caching Up: FBLA WINS!

Cross-posted on Changing Connections

The next few blogs constitute a series of “catching up,” getting back to really important postings that just slipped away from me during the crush of a very busy school year. Here’s the first, and it is both good news and bad news, bittersweet.

FBLA, under the guidance of the inimitable Frank Lane, posted their best-ever record. The bad news: Mr. Lane is relinquishing his post as coach of the FBLA team, going out on his students’ best-ever season. We will miss him at the helm of FBLA and we will miss him at SHS.  I learned today that Mr. Lane has accepted a position at Parkland.  We are happy for him but he filled a space that is truly hard to fill, both in the classroom and in our hearts.  We will miss you, Mr. Lane.

Here’s what the students accomplished:

Shannon Safi and Megan Walsh: Digital Video Production--6th Place

Nick Fisher: Introduction to Technology Concepts--5th Place

Willian Kennington and Dennis Peterson: Desktop Publishing--did not place in the top ten.

John Soler , John Gardus, AJ Safi: Global Business--2nd Place and qualified for National Competition

Megan Cassel, Courtney Loomis, Matt Cialkowski: Management and Decision Making--3rd Place and qualified for National Competition.

Two teams qualified for Nationals, and that is a major accomplishment for our students, their teacher, Mr. Lane, and our school. We are so proud of you.

IP 2008 Photos and Video: Finished

Cross-posted on changingconnections

Another year of IP has come to an end, 6 stage presentations and 3 video productions later.  Miss Brinson and I would like to extend a special thank you to the students who created spectacular examples of 21st century learning, and to the parents, extended family, friends, staff and administration who supported our students throughout the year.  Video postings of the 9 presentations are forthcoming.

What If RFK Was Not Assassinated? Could One Man Adapt a Country to a Changing Time? [Stage Presentation]
Abby Zovko, Colin Ackerman, Emily Miller, Jessica Gates, Drew DePoy, Tony Abraham

What If Nixon Defeated Kennedy in the First Televised 1960 Debate?  Could Conservatism Define the 1960s? [Video Production]
Victoria Ravenelle, Matt Mattuiz, Sean McDermott, Alex Weir, Kaylyn Syvret

A Revolutionary Decade: The 1960s.  Was Peace Attainable Without Transgression? [Stage Presentation]
Jennifer Picht, Melanie Surajbali, Amanda Wirth, Bailee Johnson, Deaven Freed, Jennifer Picht, Gabby Snyder, Sarah Holzer

What If a UN Loss in Korea Led to a Greater Conflict?  Could the Circumstances Lead to an Apocalyptic Nuclear Holocaust? [Video Production]
Garred Greenberg, Colton Furbur, Kevin Connors, Aaron Benner

What If the Constitution Had Not Been Ratified?  How Much Can One Document Change the Future? [Stage Presentation]
Matthew Croft, Ethan Vokes, Kayla Mjaatvedt, Avery Markle, Casey Feinberg, Michael Russo. 

The following behind-the-scenes-photos were taken during weekend practice.  The dress rehearsal photos were too dark to publish, so I made a slide show of what I had.  If anyone has photos from this group, please forward them to me and I’ll make a second slide show for this group.

What if the Thirteen Colonies Never Received Aid from France During the American Revolution?  Can a Monarchy Inspire a Democracy? [Stage Presentation]
Chris Yeisley, Tyler Nolan, Jennifer Singley, Kayla Springer, Anna Novak, Drew Eisenhauer, Cyrus Sholevar

What If Prohibition Had Been Enforced?  Would Sober Living Sweep the Nation? [Video Production]
Ashley Gibiser, Samantha Foulke, Rebekah Jerista, Nolan McGilloway, Jeff Yorgey

What If Nixon Wasn’t a Crook?  Can One Man’s Honesty Change a Nation? [Stage Presentation]
Mirielle Elchaar, Nicole Bartholomew, Lauren Kolowitz, Morgan Anastasio

What If Thomas Jefferson Had Deemed the Louisiana Purchase Unconstitutional?  Could the United States Survive with Internal Boundaries? [Stage Presentation]
Scott Gardus, Rachel Hoats, Donte McCrary-McClain, Matthew Heyer, Melinda Lehman, Paige Marze, Brianna Dee

The Me Decade: A 1970s IP Documentary:  Jade Letlow and Sam Heddleson

Civil Rights: A What If Slide Show: Julia Bruchak

Students and Teachers Learning Together: DENs New Kind of Webinar

Cross posted on Pennsylvania’s Discovery Educator Network Blog and Changing Connections.

Steve Dembo been planning this event for ages and he’s thrilled that on Wednesday, April 9, at 11:00 AM EST, it will finally happen.  On my wish list for ages was a event that would bring students and teachers together to learn collaboratively. Leave it to DEN to make wishes come true.  So, I am really thrilled to remind you that in two days, teachers and students across America can tap into the power of Discovery and participate in America’s Army and the Rise of Video Games Webinar through Discovery Connect. If you are looking for a webinar that you and your students will really love, then you want to join us.  Steve says you won’t want to miss this one--and let’s face it: our DEN SuperSTARS (who are in Pennsylvania as I type) always deliver the goods.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.  (The rest of this blog is shamelessly copied from Steve’s original post.)

According to Dembo, the Discovery Channel featured a mini-series entitled Rise of the Video Games. America’s Army, a computer game developed by the U.S. Army was featured prominently because of its ultra-realism and how it was being used for training purposes.

This webinar will feature some of the creative geniuses BEHIND the computer game. They will discuss how they created the game, how they took real Soldiers and real Army locations and put them into the game, and how Soldiers are using game technology to train. They will also answer questions students have about the development process or what courses (or schoolwork) are needed to become a game developer.

While all age levels are invited to participate, this webinar is recommended primarily for middle school and secondary school students.  .

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS IS?

Mrs. Meholic sent me a provocative email.  I am passing it along via my blog..  Amazing technology from Japan...but can you guess what this is?  [Interestingly, the original images have a file code that needed conversion with ZamZar and resizing with ShrinkPictures before they could be uploaded to our Salisbury21 blog.]

Look closely and guess what they could be…

Are they pens with cameras? 

Any wild guesses? No clue yet?
Ladies and gentlemen… congratulations!
You’ve just looked into the future… yep that’s right!

You’ve just seen something that will replace your PC in the near future.
Here is how it works:

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with bluetooth technology…
This is the forthcoming computer you can carry within your pockets…
This “pen sort of instrument” produces both the monitor as well as the keyboard on any flat surfaces from where you can carry out functions you would normally do on your desktop computer.  As uncanny as it looks, you would actually be able to project on any flat surface and type on a similar flat surface--without a physical keyboard.  That’s what I’d call a conflation of virtual and real.  Are you wondering yet just how far away this technology is from the market?  Can anyone say, “Good-bye laptops!”
Although I am definitely a fan of emerging technologies, I am not sure I am quite ready for this new gadget.  I’d be happy just to figure out how to use all the options of the (relatively) new iPhone.  But then I remember David Warlick’s webinar and my favorite quotation from it: “Standing still in a time of change is like doing nothing at all.” Interesting times in which we live…

The Economist is hosting a debate around a interesting proposition that Randy Ziegenfuss blogged about this week.  You can cast your vote here and you can add a comment here or here.  What do you think about the technology-in-education debate?