Thing 5-Getting started with RSS

I owe my sons an apology because today while I was going through my Google Reader and skimming my subscriptions I saw an article that caught my eye is entitled Wii in education?(http://www.techlearning.com/editorblogs.aspx?id=15708) Yes, it is true that all of the moms and dads that said video games are not good for you now must rethink what they have been trying to get across to their children. The partnership with Wii will help teachers incorporate the Wii Music software into their lesson plans. The program will be placed in 51 cities nationwide giving teachers and student 60+ instruments and tutorial exercise to expand their knowledge in the music field. I just wonder how long it will take before we start seeing other fields of study incorporating video games into the curriculum. The future is open to many expanding frontiers using the new technology that is on the horizon.

Being the journalist that I am a story about journalism always catches my eye and this particular one did just that: What do we call this new form of journalism and media? Very interesting. Changes in technology may advance how we deliver as in via email instead on your front lawn, read-we may skim more that reading every word or every article or write- in journalism short more straight to the point but the only true changes in my opinion is the piece of technology. Technology is changing at such a fast rate that by the time you purchase a piece of equipment like a digital camera or new computer it is already out of date because six months later they release a new version. The same is true with software for instance recently my computer lab was updated with new MAC computers, and software before they moved the old and place the new stuff I had a notification that the new Creative Suite 4 was available. It is sad that humans can't keep up with the enormous changes in technology. A journalist will always report the news as they see it they might just use a different method of delivering it to their readers.

How many times have you found something on the Internet at home that would indeed be useful in your classroom only to find that when you tried to pull it up it was blocked by the district? It isn't block because it is inappropriate but because it has a word that is linked to the blocked list. The site is being blocked not because of content but because the word "photography." I was happy to find the article titled Lightspeed Systems Enhances Total Traffic Control Software to Enable Educators to Use Approved YouTube Videos for Instruction. This article speaks about easy-to-use software that provides network protection features to keep our students and keep the network security safe. The company Lightspeed Systems Inc. has developed features such as content filtering, spam management, bandwidth management, antivirus protection, extensive reporting capabilities, email archiving, and mobile filtering with the newest feature called the Educational Video Library. This features "enables teachers and students to play approved YouTube videos through a portal on the local network. All of YouTube's video functions operate normally, but the other community information and links that are usually displayed on the YouTube Web site along with a video, such as promoted videos and user comments, are removed. Network administrators designate teachers and staff who may submit and/or approve videos for sharing." I believe this type of new control would open new learning opportunities for students not in a bad way but a way in which educators can reach students somewhat in their own world of technology. Students know how to use YouTube, download music from the web, surf the web, and the list goes own so shouldn't educators also know how to use these elements to engage students.