Meet Me in the Middle

Student Examples of Sin

2011-11-16T07:02:00.001-08:00

This an example of using Posterous to host videos of student work!

Lutz Integrate - Livebinders - Collect resources and share them easily

2011-04-04T18:39:00.001-07:00

Live Binders is a web tool that allows you to create an online binder with tabs and sub tabs. You can use this to share and annotate images, websites, google docs and more. This would be a good site to create an online portfolio for students and professionals.

This is a Binder about iPads that shows how LiveBinders can be used to share information through topics and sub topics.

http://livebinders.com/media/get/MTgyNTQ0

Live Binders

http://livebinders.com/

Lutz Integrate - Kid Zui The Internet for Kids

2011-03-29T18:16:00.001-07:00

This is a web browser made just for kids and can set parents minds at ease when their children are on the internet! The site allows kids to search for kid appropriate videos on yourtube, play kid appropriate games and lets them search and look at websites for kids! Parents can sign up and track the amount of time the child is on the computer and password protect them from getting off the browser and going somewhere else. I have tried this out on my daughter and she seemed to really like it, the interface is easy to navigate and there is a lot to choose from. I am intersted to see how this could be used in a classsroom setting for yound students, if I get the chance to try it I will share later!

Parents Choices...

Kid Zui

http://www.kidzui.com/

Lutz Integrate - App - Splashtop Remote, see your computer screen on your iPad

2011-03-24T17:56:00.001-07:00

This iPad app allows you to see and interact with you computer via your ipad. The app cost five dollars, and seems to be worth the small fee. I tried a bunch of different programs on my computer and they all seemed to work well. Teachers you can manipulate your computer and presentations without being at the front of the class! You can try this app free for 5 minutes before you have to buy it.

Splashtop Remote

http://www.splashtop.com/remote

Lutz Mac Utility - Caffeine Utility - Stop your mac from going to sleep!

2011-03-19T17:41:00.001-07:00

Caffeine is an app for Macs that will stop your machine from going to sleep, dimming the screen, or starting screen savers. This is a great app to have for presentations or use a Mac for teaching. It is quick and simple to install and easy use. Its one of the apps that is a must! Click below to check it out and download it!

Caffeine

http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/

Lutz App - Cardio Trainer - Android Fitness Activity App

2011-03-19T17:35:00.001-07:00

If you have an andorid phone and you are looking for a fitness app, Cardio Traier is the app for you. I have used this for the last half of a year, and honestly it is one of the reasons I stuck wit the android platform and not the iPhone. This app will tarck your walk/run and give you statistic like mile per hour, calories burned, and actually show a map of your walk/run. You can also save and share the work out via Facebook and Twitter. If you like to listen to music, there is a player embedded in cardio Trainer as well. I use the free version and I love it...so search Cardio Trainer in the Andorid market or click the link below.

Cardio Trainer

http://www.worksmartlabs.com/cardiotrainer/about.php

Lutz Integrate - Prezi - Change the way you present and impress your colleagues and boss!

2011-03-16T18:02:00.001-07:00

I spent most of the day working on a Prezi, which is an online and offline presentation tool that blows up traditional presentations by living a 3d environment. With Prezi you can Zoom around a set path and focus on key words and objects impressively and cleanly. Prezi allows you to create text, shapes, frames, set color themes and embed pictures an videos into your presentation. A better way to explain Prezi is to show you, check out my 60 in 60 presentation from PETE&C and see how a prezi works. I have also posted a teacher link below as well.

Shakespeare Prezi

https://prezi.com/secure/c30a5342c92f99f52b368c34aff0e82497f5b2e8/

Prezi definitely has a bit of a larning curve, but if you watch the tutorials and practice a bit you can start to make really dynamic presentations and also share them on wikis and blogs or download to show them offline. I have also used prezi to make videos using screenshots and explain the steps for guided notes. There a lot of great things you can do with prezi! So check it out!

Prezi

http://prezi.com/

Lutz Integrate - Live Scribe Pen - Pen that records audio, writing and drawing and links to your computer!

2011-03-15T19:26:00.001-07:00

Live Scribe Pen
This pen allows you to hear, write and draw your notes and then upload them to your computer. I find myself getting distracted in meetings when I have my computer in front of me, by using this pen and paper, I can write and record my notes and then revisit the notes and audio later. The pen will record just your writing if you choose and make sure you ask permission if you would like to record the audio of a lecture or meeting!

To use the pen you have to use a notebook made for the pen or you can print off your own sheets. This allows the pen to know what page you are on and organize your notes on the desktop version. I am just starting to explore other uses for this pen, as I figure them out I will share them with you! Check out my Pencast below and see how the pen works! You notice the colored text is what I record while I was recording audio.

Lutz Integrate Live Scribe Pen!
brought to you by Livescribe

Live Scribe Pen
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/

Lutz Integrate - Handbrake - Convert video to use with your mobile devices including DVDs

2011-03-13T19:40:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted to convert your DVDs and have them in iTunes or another media house? There is a free program called Handbrake that will let you do just that! You can use Handbrake to grab DVD’s to be played on your computer, phone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV and any other mobile device you may have. Simply down load and install Handbrake onto your computer, insert your DVD and select the type of device you be playing the movie on.

You can also take computer video files and convert them to different format to be played on different devices as well. This program goes deeper than the other video conversions sites I have shared in the past. It is easy to use and best of all its free!

Handbrake
http://handbrake.fr/

Lutz Integrate - Evernote - Quick and easy note taking tool that syncs to all devices

2011-03-12T18:50:00.001-08:00

First I want to say thanks to everyone that has been visiting my blog, I hit 1000 page views in a short few weeks! That is motivation for me to keep sharing the tools I love to use! I am still trying to figure out the best way to share, I really appreciate you taking the time to check out this blog! Please comment if you find the resources useful and if there are any questions you may have!

Evernote is an awesome note taking tool that allows you to create text notes, audio notes, video notes and save many different file types. If you add a picture to evernote it will actually search the text in the picture as well! I personally use evernote everyday to take down to do lists, meeting notes, and attach PDFs I receive for easy access. The best part is I have access to everything I post on evernote on every device I own, multiple computers, smart phones and other mobile devices. I also have access to it through the web, so its easy to find any resource through search and share it via e-mail or by whole notebook.

If you are disorganized like me, then this is the tool for you. If you decided to check it out, you will not be disappointed. You are allowed 50mb of upload to the site a month and if you create large files you can upgrade for a nominal fee and have 500mb of upload space.

So check out Evernote!

http://www.evernote.com/

Lutz Integrate - Typewith.me - Collaborative Document site that does not require a log in

2011-03-10T18:26:00.001-08:00

Have you ever tried to create a collaborative document in google docs but everyone doesn't have a google docs account. It can be a pain to get everyone to sign up for google docs. You can easily create a collaborative document using www.typewith.me with out the log in hassle. I have shared a typewith.me doc below, please check it out and add a little note!

http://typewith.me/blutz01

You will notice the site I created has my one url, you can do this by going to the site and simply adding a sirname at the end and it will ask you if you would like to create the site. click the box and you will be on your new document! This is an etherpad site, there are a bunch of different sites that do the same thing. I like typewith.me, but feel free to try some of the other sites if you would like.

EtherPad Like Site
Cynapse    http://www.cynapse.com/syncin
ietherpad    http://ietherpad.com/
Meeting Words    http://meetingwords.com/
Pirate Pad    http://piratepad.net/
Primary Pad    http://primarypad.com/
Sync In    http://sync.in/
Titan Pad    http://titanpad.com/

Lutz Integrate - Firefox add-on Video DownloadHelper - allows you to download videos and music files from any web site!

2011-03-08T18:37:00.001-08:00

Video DownloadHelper

Download videos easily with the firefox addon, when there is a video you are able to download to your computer the

button will turn into...

which tells you that you can click on the arrow and download the video onto you computer like this...

it then asks you where to save the video and then presto, you have the video saved on your computer to play when ever you would like. **Please look at the copyright information and Fair Use policy of the video you are downloading!**

How do you download the Video DownloadHelper Addon?

First open Firefox, click on Tools and then Addons, then make sure you click on the "Get Add-ons tab to the left. Now follow the directions in the pictures below.

Now the little Video DownloadHelper icon will appear in your tool bar and you are ready to download!

Lutz Integrate - Quizlet - Create online flashcards to study and reinforce concepts with ease!

2011-03-07T18:33:00.001-08:00

Quizlet is an awesome resource for students and teachers that allows you to create your own flashcards and study them online in many different ways. You can play games to learn, study the cards, or print off physical note cards to study to name a few. You can also search a ton of already created flash cards, so teachers can even find cards made for entire text books.

Teachers can create flash cards for lesson and students can study them at home or in school. There are also apps that connect quizlet to smart phones, ipads, iphones and itouches! More on that to come!

Here are some Examples: The Flash Cards, Review Learning and then the Scatter Game!

Study these flash cards | Study english flash cards

QUIZLET
http://quizlet.com/

Lutz Integrate - Posterous - quick and easy way to create a blog, and autopost everywhere!

2011-03-06T19:27:00.001-08:00

Posterous is a blogging site that allows you to post out to social netoworking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, and a ton of other sites in one simple click. It is also easy to post from your phone or any other mobile device, you can even send a post via e-mail. As you can see posterous is the tool I use to send out this blog. It allows me to spread the word to many different people and the social networking sites they like best.

Teachers, you can use Posterous to share your daily work with students and their parents. It is an easy way to post web sites, collaborative documents, videos and other great educational resources quickly and easily. So check out Posterous and see how easy it is to become a blogger!

POSTEROUS

http://posterous.com/

Lutz Integrate - Free Rice - Donate rice to third world countires by answering vocab questions and various other topics

2011-03-05T20:34:00.001-08:00

Free rice is addictive so watch out! Simply select a category and start answer questions, for every correct answer you donate 10 grains of rice to a third world country. Challenge friends and yourself to see what level you can reach, it gets pretty tough! Here is a list of subjects you can test your knowledge on.

Teachers this is a great site to get your students on if you have a few minutes of down time, or for that students that gets done early. I had a student go home and earn over 3000 grains of rice in one night. Some teachers actually give extra credit for playing free rice at home. Check it out, I promise you will not be disappointed!

FREE RICE

http://www.freerice.com/

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Activity Analysis

2011-03-03T16:35:00.001-08:00

This post is geared more towards educators, but I had to share!

Thanks to Virginia Glatzer for sharing this on the CFF listserv, this is a link to a pdf that links activities to Blooms Taxonomy. This could be very useful for teachers, to get ideas for all levels of Blooms and to connect with their students.

blooms-activity-analysis.pdf View this on Posterous

This is a great tool to validate 21st century learning skills into the classroom!

Thanks to...

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/

As well for creating this!

What is Blooms Taxonomy?

Click here...

Lutz Integrate - Jeopardy Labs - Create an online Jeopardy game with ease for the classroom or for fun!

2011-03-02T19:19:00.001-08:00

Jeopardy Labs

http://jeopardylabs.com/

Jeopardy Labs is an easy way to create a jeopardy game for test review, fun with friends or for any other reason you would want to create a game. Simply go to jeopardy Labs, click start building, add your title and the subtitles for sections and add your questions. Once you are done, make sure to bookmark your url for playing and for editing so you can get back to it and then you are ready to play Jeopardy! You can also download your created game so you don't have to rely on the internet. I have teachers that use this for test review and then share the link with tehir students so they can review for the test at home as well. If you are havig a party you can create one to play with friends. All in all this is a great tool for assessment!

Here are some pics...

Hope you find this useful!

Lutz Integrate - Dropitto.me - Allow students, colleagues or friends to send files directly to your Dropbox account

2011-03-01T21:51:00.001-08:00

Sites used:

See the full gallery on Posterous

www.dropbox.com

www.dropitto.me

Now that you have a dropbox account to back up data you can now use www.dropitto.me to allow students, colleagues or friends to share large files (up to 75mb) with you. Simply create a dropitto.me account, and connect it to your dropbox account. Don't worry it's password protected.

So it looks something like this.

My Drop URL http://dropitto.me/blutz01

You see above you need a password to get to add content to the dropbox

What my drop looks like...

Click browse, add desired file and press upload. Within a minute or two the file will show up in your dropbox folder named DROPitTOme!

Lutz Integrate - Dropitto.me - Allow students, colleagues or friends to send files directly to your Dropbox account

2011-03-01T17:51:00.001-08:00

Sites used:

See the full gallery on Posterous

www.dropbox.com

www.dropitto.me

So it looks something like this.

My Drop URL http://dropitto.me/blutz01

You see above you need a password to get to add content to the dropbox

What my drop looks like...

Click browse, add desired file and press upload. Within a minute or two the file will show up in your dropbox folder named DROPitTOme!

Is Your Data Backed Up? If Not, Check This Out!

2011-02-28T17:00:00.001-08:00

DROP BOX

Drop Box (2GB for Free)

Teachers:

The biggest mistakes my teachers make is not backing up all the great lessons and flipcharts they create. I have found a really easy way to backup your data so you have access to it on your school computer, home computer & the web! Below you will see one strategy I suggest on backing up your data!

Everyone Else:

Using dropbox to save really important files, and save without having to put them on a flash drive and have mutilple files and versions!

How to get started:

Ok, all you have to do it create a droop box account and download drop box on every computer you would like to access your data on. Then simply save your work in the drop box folder and it will automatically upload to drop box servers and to any other computer you have drop box downloaded on, it is that easy. So when your computer crashes and you lose everything, anything that was saved in your "drop box" is still available and Backed Up!

Click here to create an account and help me earn some extra storage space!

Video about Dropbox

Wait there's more...

Tomorrow I will show you how to have people send content to your drop box!

Download Videos from Youtube onto Your Computer

2011-02-27T17:42:00.001-08:00

Youtube is blocked in my school dirstrct, but there us some good content that has educational relevance on Youtube. So as long as you make sure you watch the whole video before you show it, you can use a web tools called Zamzar to download the video so it is found locally on your computer. Then you can easily show it on a flipchart, smart notebook, power point or through any video player. I made a video a few years back, so that is emebeded below and I also took a screen shot and annotated it. Please post a comment if you have questions!

Zamzar can also be used to convert file formats, of many different files...

ZAMZAR

http://www.zamzar.com/

Whats the purpose of this blog?

2011-02-24T18:34:00.001-08:00

I had a teacher ask me today, what exactly am I sending out on facebook. So I thought I would give a little background and rationale for my staring up this blog.

Background:

I am an Instructional Technology Integration Speacilaist in the School District of Philadelphia. Bottom line I work with administrators, teachers and students to inetgrate technology into their schools and classrooms. I also present at various conferences and would like to keep in touch with those participants. So, I need a platform to share out great tools, ideas, and converging technologies with everyone and this Posterous blog will allow me to that forum.

Purpose:

My goal is to post something almost everyday that is informative, short and to the point. Posterous allows me to post directly to the blog, but then share the posting via many different avenues like Tiwtter, Facebook, and my older blog. By posting to Posterous I can share with my administrators, teachers, students, presentation participants and anyone else who is interested. Other times I have tried to blog, I was always worried that I would make gramatical mistakes and the post had to be perfect, my new take is that there are going to be mistakes, but as long as you get the point and see what I have to share, I am not going to worry about the little things. So, I am sure there are mistakes in this quickly written post, but the bottom line is did you get the point?...Good!

So, I thank you for checking out my blog and hope what I have to offer might intrigue you, and get you coming back for more!

Brandon

P.S. - Site to check out today!

Have you ever seen Glogster? Create a visual blog, a project, a report or a cool page to embed in a wiki! So check it out!

Teacher & Students: http://edu.glogster.com/

Everyone Else: http://www.glogster.com/

POSTEROUS BLOG

2011-02-22T12:17:00.001-08:00

This is it...Finally going to blog using Posterous, which will connect to Facebook, Twitter, my blogger account. These posts will be quick, simple and to the point! I will be sharing ideas, web tools, and a possible retry of my 365. Stay tuned!

Check out this site for easy web site organization and sharing!

http://www.pearltrees.com

Here are my pearltress....http://www.pearltrees.com/blutz01/15744211/

Brandon

PETE&C Experience

2010-02-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

I just got home a little over 24 hours ago from the PETE&C conference (Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference). It was a great experience as usual, I got to see a lot of good friends and a lot of new ones! I was lucky enough to present 3 times and also helped out with some others and I spent some time volunteering in the Social Networking Lounge.

My presentations went well, I know I still need some work, but all in all it was great! I presented my own proposal this year with the 60in60 and they had to turn people away from the session 20 minutes before it was supposed to start. I asked for an interactive white board and the rooms they were in were pretty small. I felt bad there were a lot of people who wanted to see it and had to just look at the wiki. I guess you live and learn, but I was happy with the presentation and have ideas to make it better for next year! I found out later on that I was featured in the DEN blog, (http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/pennsylvania/2010/02/22/60-in-60-with-brandon-lutz-den-star-at-petec-2010/). I have to say thank you to Tracey McGrath for her support as co-presenter and all my friends that created videos for the presentation. I used Prezi to present with and I can say I will use this to present from now on!

Next, I co-presented the follow me project with Civil War Sallie and it was great to showcase the project and promote the creation of other projects. We had a lot of he projects with us and we also had a new project launch, Patriot Pete who will travel to places that follow the theme of patriotism. It is truly amazing to see projects that are owned by single students who have a passion! Many other ideas were formulated due to this presentation, I am exited to see the birth of Kindness Kangaroo and Math Monkey...stay tuned!

There is much more to talk about, and I definitely want to share all the great resources I was turned onto, but that is for another day! For now, I am happy to be home and with the family I really missed!

My Goals for 2010: Goal 1 & 2

2010-01-03T18:50:00.000-08:00

Every New Years, I end up setting goals for myself. May it be personal or professional I am a goal setter, sometimes I meet my goals and other times they fall to the way side. This year starting a new decade I find it more important to truly look at where I am coming from and where I would like to go. I think sometimes I set too many goals and I get overwhelmed, so here are two goals I really want to keep.

Goal 1: Enjoy my family & friends
I want to make sure that I don't let life get in the way of truly enjoying my family and friends! I cannot believe Will is already 9 months and Jori is in Kindergarten. Finding the balance between family, work, projects, conferences, my PLN, and other passions can be tedious. The key for me is going to be to prioritize and not do so much that I can't enjoy anything. I am actually presenting at Educon 2.2 with @thespian70, @tcmgrath, and @lorisheldon on this very topic. It has been something I have been interested in talking about for a very long time. So here is family & friends and enjoying the time I have with them!

Goal 2: Blog, Blog, Blog
First and fore most blogging is something I have always wanted to do, but I end up failing at it. My excuses always seem to be I don't feel like I am a very good writer, but what is the best way to become a better writer...WRITE! I also have some other motivation in that my wife, Michelle Lutz @mrsblutz01 on twitter has started her own blog and is writing her second entry next to me. I also, have started doing the 365 pictures in a year challenge, in a way that is a blog within in itself. My other focus of this blog will be to share technology integration tips with the teachers I coach and others who would like to read my blog.

So here on January 3rd 2010, I am starting Goal 1 and 2 by posting a blog. Hopefully it will continue!

WolframAlpha

2009-06-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

I heard about this site on NPR, a search engine based on Computational Data. Ask questions about all kinds of things and get the data on them. I put in my name and it told me its rank (33rd), how many people are given my name in a year (11,342), Average age (18), and other info.

You can calculate all kind any mathematical equation and even figure out your Body Mass Index by putting in your age, height and weight. You can put in any date and get a lot of information about that date and it also tells you how long ago it was and the importance of that date. There are a ton of things you can check out on Wolfram Alapha. I think it could be used as a valuable classroom tool, check it out and see what you and your students think!

http://www.wolframalpha.com

Centralizing My Digital Footprint

2009-03-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like sometimes my digital footprint get away from me, I have user names and passwords for close to 100 different web 2.0 sites and I am involved in 25 different wikis and groups. Balancing real life and life in the cyber world can be tedious and hard to balance. When I get onto my computer I check professional and personal e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, all my different wikis and I could lose hours and not be sure what I just did. I try to streamline my time, but something always sucks me in. In order to keep myself and others who follow me focused, I just created a new wiki. Where I can centralize what I do professionally and personally into one place when it comes to the integration of technology into teaching and every day life.

As for my blog I thought about getting rid of it totally and sharing through the portal. But then I decided that all the post I have before this one remind me of how far I have come and where I have the potential to go. This blog might not be updated every day and be the most well written or grammatically correct, but it comes from the heart and hopefully people will read because they care about my journey and the journey of teacher who integrate technology and push the envelope when it comes to engaging and educating students of all ages and creeds!

Here is my new Blutz01 Portal and all the projects I am involved in!

http://blutz01.wikispaces.com/

Thanks for reading, I hope to have more posts soon!

Brandon

Change... is always a good thing...right?

2008-12-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

OK, I know I haven't blogged in a while, but that is all going to change. A week ago, I was hired as a Classrooms For the Future Coach for 30 teachers in three schools in the School District of Philadelphia. So updating this blog and its focus will change with my new job. I will use this blog to share ideas of integrating technology into the classroom, provide great examples of utilization of technology in the classroom, web 2.0 tools to try and a lot more. The focus of this blog will be my teachers and hopefully will be a good resource for others. I will probably repeat a lot of great resources that we have seen in the past, to remind and to share with new teachers coming into the 21st century thoughts of teaching!

Are we ready? I am excited to start this new journey, spreading my passion of the use of technology in our classrooms to better motivate and engage our students.

Let the fun begin!

Reflection on First PTEC Professional Development

2008-05-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

I tried using Gcast to create a Podcast reflection on the Professional Development that Tracey McGrath and myself presented. Here is the podcast of my thoughts.

Subscribe Free Add to my Page

2008-02-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

Technology Teacher Leader Blog

One of my many duties as an instructional technology teacher is a position titled Technology Teacher Leader (TTL). Going to PETE&C and seeing the many ideas and best practices made me take a look at my title of TTL. As Technology Teacher Leader, at this point, I pretty much troubleshoot computer problems, help with professional developments, assist with the technology we have in the school and install new equipment we receive. Am I leading teachers in the use of technology in my school? No. I am too caught up making sure the technology is up and running, and I have had issues with teachers not using the technology once it's working.

After this realization, I have decide to take a step back and change my priorities to my teachers and helping them become comfortable with the technology in their classroom. If I give them the tools to be comfortable with the computers, then my job will become less about computer problems and more about computer integration in every day learning.

My Plan

Provide professional developments before/after school on multiple topics
Use my TTL periods to visit teachers that want to integrate technology into the classroom
Share Professional Developments with other TTL's...collaborate!
Find a way to get a technician in house for at least one day a week.

Split technician cost with 4 others schools
Write grant for technician

I am trying to do my part to change the world, and I need to start with my own teachers and collaborating with others in my position. Together we can get the word out and share resources. We have all this knowledge: lets share it and change education!

2008-01-02T04:58:00.000-08:00

May be the end, but its just the beginning!

This has been a year of awakening for me, one in which I will look at fondly. Looking back I am not quite sure where the year went. This year I was accepted as a Keystone Technology Integrator, went to the Keystone summit, received my masters in Instructional Technology, started a professional blog, started Morpheus' wiki and blog, joined a great educational network (Thank you Twitter!), and began to create a professional identity.

Now the work begins, I have started all these things, but how do I maintain and keep up with everything else going on in my world? I have mentioned this before, and for starters, Google calendar look out! I am going to plan out my weeks and days, so I can be more efficient. One of the key things is feeling good about myself, I feel as if sometimes I am in over my head, so I need to build my confidence and empower myself to feel as if I can do anything I put my mind to!

Goals for this year:
1. Read more! Stay on top of RSS feeds and some old fashioned books. I caught myself reading online and not siting down with a good book.
2. Blog more! I need to set a schedule to blog and create some podcasts! I actually would like to podcast my blogs at some point.
3. Puxatany Bill/Phil? A new stuffed animal to go abroad...stay tuned!

Most importantly as the 2007 year ends and 2008 begins, I wanted to thank everyone who has inspired me this year, and helped me grow. Without the "Network"; professional, personal or family, none of what any of us does would be possible. I have learned to not let the "tech" part of my life overrun and overwhelm. Family and friends matter most and I'm thankful for the time spent with everyone this year and every year.

Have a great 2008!

Wii Remote - Simply Amazing

2007-12-13T18:10:00.001-08:00

Through twitter the link below was passed on and I found it to be amazing. Not much I need to say the links say it all, I will be trying this with my students and I will report back once we attempt to make the interactive board!

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/

http://blog.loaz.com/timwang/index.php/2007/12/11/multi_touch_whiteboard_under_100_dollars

Cutting the Fat!

2007-11-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

I feel like in the last three weeks I have fallen off the social network cliff. I have not been on twitter as much and just feel overwhelmed with everything I am doing. I feel as if I am spread too thin, and I don't know where to start or how to maintain all the sites I have created in the last 3-4 months. So I have decided to cut the Fat! I am getting rid of my myspace page and some other pages that I just don't have time for. I want to concentrate on a few sites that I can stay on top of, including this blog and do well on them. This still leaves me with a lot of sites to keep track of, but I need to prioritize and not get so hung up on all the new sites. I have split my sites up into three categories, (1) Personal: Sites I maintain with little outside help, (2) Collaborative: Sites I have created that others help with or ones I help with, (3) Student Centered: where students are the primary users and contributors of the site and I just tweak a little here or there. I listed the sites I have and still want to keep maintaining on google docs. The question is do you include sites like operator11, ustream, podomatic or just use them as tools to help maintain these sites. I have to make sure I understand tools, and use them to make these sites the best they can be. Thanks fir listening to my rant, I look for a renewed Brandon Lutz, who is getting back to the basics and cutting that Fat!

The Sites I am staying with!

Brandon

Morpheus TV

2007-10-22T13:39:00.001-07:00

Paper Thin TV's...What's Next?

2007-09-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation with my Professor about the idea of a computer being on a piece of plastic paper. So I did some research and found a technology called OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes). This technology is quite expensive but Sony and Kodak are already using it in digital cameras. The TV companies already have prototypes for very thin TVs and cell phones. Can you imagine a 1/4 inch thick 80in TV, it would be a lot easier to move around and steal.

My question, is how can this change education? What if students were given a small 8x10 OLED that they could view their textbooks and Internet via a wireless network? Think of all the money that is spent on textbooks and paper in any given school, this could revolutionize education! When ever I talk about students using online text books, I always get resistance stating its hard to read on a computer screen. Students read online (digital natives) all the time, maybe its the adults (digital immigrants) that have the problems with it. When I think about it, I do most of my reading online, I would love to have a sheet 1/4in thick with me to read different blogs and surf the web. Oh, the possibilities!

Check out OLED link to see about the technology.

Sources:
Freudenrich, Ph.d., Craig. "How OLEDs Work." How Stuff Works. 21 Sept. 2007 .

Morpheus is off!!!!!!

2007-09-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about the fact that the furry little guy is on his way to another school! It's weird, all the power of his success is now out of my hands and in the hands of all the great teachers that have signed up. I did not get to do as much as I expected with him. My students pretty much met him and now he is off. I found that the beginning of the school year was a tough time to introduce him, but you live and learn, below is a picture of me with Morpheus before he left us.

So what's next? It will be interesting to see the ideas that everyone comes up with to utilize Morpheus in classrooms and schools. I can't wait to see all the content that will be created on the wiki and the blog posts. I am hoping that Morpheus will be used to integrate technology and children will come to understand Web 2.0 and its various uses through Morpheus' visits. In addition I am hopeful Morpheus will be able to travel abroad. I have a contact in Africa and I know Morpheus would love to visit. Keep checking Morpheus' site to see where he is going. I would also like to set up some Skype video conferences between myself and Morpheus' host school to keep tabs on him.

On another note, I looked at all my comments and I wanted to say thank you to everyone that gave me your insight. The key thing I have come to realize is that I need to do what I do and not worry about trying to compete with everyone else out there creating and doing great things. I just need to embrace their ideas and take all your insights to shape my journey through all the great technologies! My niche will come. Morpheus may be my mark on the world for now and I can handle that!

E-mail: morpheus.fortuna@gmail.com
Wiki: http://morpheusfortuna.wikispaces.com/
Blog: http://followmorpheusfortuna.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10955037@N08

My Classroom Wiki

2007-09-10T13:57:00.002-07:00

Today was the first day with students and I started out showing them my classroom wiki. I plan on using this wiki as the main focus of all my lessons this year. I enjoyed being able to write my classroom rules with all my class's input. My main focus was to let them know, they are going to help me to create the content on this wiki. For my kick off class, I pretty much had a list of things we wanted to talk about, class rules, grading policy, Internet Safety, Morpheus to name a few and then I had links to different pages on the site. lot of the pages were blank, and as the classes saw the site we changed it and added the content they wanted.

I tried to explain to them how a wiki works, and the only way I could explain it was by having them draw a picture together. I started with one person and told the class they could only draw one line. Which ended up being a line equals not taking the pencil off the paper. Some of the pictures came out pretty well. Here are the three best ones...you might have to click on them to see them a little better.

These pictures were drawn by 30 students...I found it pretty interesting. I asked them how they could have made it better and they stated that they should have decided what to draw before they started. I explained that most wikis have a topic, like ours that it is about technology.

So one of my main issues is how to get my students to access the wiki and ass content on their own. The majority of my students are not 13, so with out parent permission they can not create their own wikispaces user name and password. I had the idea to create a generic ID the students can use in class to add content. Or I thought they can create content and then e-mail it to me and I will post it. I am still sorting that one out, but I feel like the site is going to become a pretty powerful teaching tool and a resource for students outside my classroom.

Web 2.0 in my Classroom Part 1

2007-08-27T18:39:00.001-07:00

As I am getting prepared for the first day of school with my students, Web 2.0 is constantly on my mind. I have thought a lot about going paperless in my classroom and utilizing Web 2.0, via google Docs, Blogs, wiki's, twitter, skype, podcasting, vcasts and more. A few questions have entered my mind in how I am going to truly utilize all these tools and get over certain barriers that I have seen we all encounter. For example, youtube is blocked in my district, but teacher tube is not. I decided if I need to show a video off youtube, I will grab the video using a fire fox add-on, using video download. Then I will take that video I want to present to my kids and post it on my class wiki if they want to watch it at home. I figured I will post all my videos via teachertube.

As for video in general there are some many cool appropriate videos out there about all kinds of things. I am hoping to enhance my teaching with these videos that will hopefully grab students' attention, and truly help them wrap their heads around all the information that they have to learn in a school year.

I would love for my students to create virtual portfolios, but there are some things that I think students need pencil and paper for. This year I am giving my students technology vocabulary. If I have them look up the words online, they will simply copy and paste the answers and never truly internalize the words. For this I think it is important for them to use pencil and paper. Hence, why I am going to have them bring a notebook and pencil to every class. I know that this defeats the purpose of truly utilizing the technology, but as a learner I needed to write things down to learn them. So my students will have online portfolios, but they will have a written journal that I will grade as well.

As for virtual portfolios, I help all my students that are 13 or older get Gmail accounts. I want to teach them how to use Google docs and other resource to create their portfolios. They can save their other items via the school network and server. My goal it to create a CD or DVD they can take with them to high school to showcase their work. In Philadelphia students apply to get into the better high schools and I want them to have those resource to help them get into those better schools. So the key is to have the students start their portfolios in 6th grade so they have them when they enter 8th grade and are applying for high schools.

Skype: I am excited about using Skype in the classroom, I am hoping schools that have Morpheus will skype with some of my classes so they can see him and interact with other students from all over the state. I would also like to setup meetings with other interesting people that my students can meet and ask questions too.

Questions I have for you...
Are there any good free sites that let students create portfolios online?

Getting deeper into it

2007-08-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today I changed the name of my blog to Edtechnability, the same name as my wiki. I feel myself trying to gain an online identity, I read a lot of blogs by a lot of different people I have met or been introduced to virtually or in person over the last two months. Looking back, I feel I have changed a lot, but how do I express that to others, and share my thoughts and ideas? Utilizing Web 2.0 I have created my wiki, blog, one podcast, and other things specially for my student and staff web site. I think to myself, why does anyone want to know what I am doing, and am I wasting my time expressing myself on this blog and on my wiki. I guess the reason I feel this way, is that I don't get comments on my blog, and it makes me think I am being to shallow in my thoughts and ideas. I need to dig deeper and share truly new and exciting things that people will find interesting, and in return find me interesting, in which will allow me to cerate an online identity.

My Problem:
I love everything about technology and I feel as if I only float over the cool things and then I move onto something else. I feel as if I am a "jack of all trades, and a master of none". How can my passion be everything? I can't just settle on one thing, I have to want to know everything. I look at my job and realize why I might be this way. I teach K-8 Instructional technology, a full job in itself. I am also in charge of all the technology in my building which grows every year, I think we are up to 150 computers. On top of that I am also the main resource for teaching my teachers about technology and providing them in-services in integrating technology into their classrooms. I don't care who you are, even if you spend 12 hours a day, there is no way to do each of these jobs to my own expectations. I get totally overwhelmed, I do the best job I can do, but I feel as if I can do better. The question is how?

I got off on a tangent, but I think my online identity will come, I just need to let it come to me. I know a lot about technology, but the key to me has been the network, using resources like twitter where I can see into the lives of people doing the same thing as me, but that are truly embracing and sharing what they do. By reading blogs, and keeping up with the new technologies out there. Then I need to get used to sharing what I am doing and the ideas I have. I had a conversation with my Professor Dr. Swan from Chestnut Hill College, and he explained probably something he read in a book about technology being like getting onto a train. People will get on the train but all at different times, and the people who got on ahead of you will stay ahead of you, but you the key thing is that you got on the train and a lot of people will be getting on the train after you.

The Key:
I am on the train, I am going forward and I am going to share what I do, and how I do it for all to see. I might falter along the way, but that is how you learn. Web 2.0 is here and our students are using it, the question is are you? If your not maybe you should, in-order to understand who we are teaching.

Morpheus Fortuna

2007-08-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

I have been talking about the idea of creating a stuffed animal that would go to different schools and spend a week there. I went to build-a-bear and wanted to get a ground hog, but I couldn’t find one. So I got a turtle and decided it would be a bog turtle, since the bog turtle is endangered and indigenous to Pennsylvania. So I went through the process of building the turtle. I actually had to put a heart and do a silly ritual, then I picked out clothes and everything. I then decided to call the turtle Morpheus Fortuna, and with that, Morpheus was born.

I created an e-mail address, wiki site, a blog and a flickr site for Morpheus all in his own name. These sites will be used by the different schools that Morpheus visits. Who knows what other sites or things the teachers that have Morpheus will use or do. The possibilities are endless and every classroom that gets Morpheus will be able to follow him and get a peek into different schools and lessons taught and the way they use web 2.0.

I decided to do my “beta” testing with fellow Keystones, since I know that they will utilize web 2.0 tools. I hope to get more people to sign up, right now I only have one person signed up. I decided I will give it a couple weeks with the Keystones and then I will open it up to other teachers through out the U.S.A and the world.

I am excited about this idea and hope that others will be able to learn through Morpheus. I am currently on vacation in Rehobeth DE and Morpheus is here with me. Hopefully, Morpheus will be able to participate in a variety of acitivities which I can showcase through his blog and wiki. Check back soon to see everything that Morpheus is up to and to sign up so that Morpheus can visit you!

Tag...I'm It

2007-08-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

Looks like I have been tagged, I will really be reaching to find 8 people to tag, but I will see what I can come up with. I have major writing block for this blog, maybe its the kick in the pants I need to get things flowing.

Anyway, here are the rules:

Post these rules before you give your facts
List 8 random facts about yourself
At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them
Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged

1. I have three year old daughter named Jori.
2. I was an All American in High School swimming.
3. I played the Tuba all through Middle and High school, now I try to play the guitar, not well.
4. I taught special education and computers my first two years in Leavenworth Kansas.
5. I am a Bicentennial baby.
6. I hold swimming records in schools around the state of Pennsylvania (I hold Upper Merion's 200 Free Pool Record and 200 Medley Relay Pool Record)
7. I am a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan, I first remember watching games when I was four.
8. I love reality TV, I watch Big Brother and just got turned onto "I wanna be a super hero".

Tags coming!

Opening new doors

2007-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

My mind is so full of stuff I want to do...I can't do anything! So I decided to get it all out on this blog and I will post what I am up to. I did podcast in my car, to organize my ideas, but the audio was awful. It was good way to get things out and re-visit them later.

What am I doing?

I am currently working on my final portfolio for my Instructional technology Certification for Pennsylvania. I have to have my interview in late 2007. I decided I am going to use my website www.mrlutz.com as the portfolio. In it I hope to have a ton of stuff for Students, Teachers and Parents, and also showcase all my projects and cool things I have done with technology. I love the front of the site, but I think I am going to have to redo it. There are so many thing that need to change, the fact is I think I am going to rebuild the whole website from the ground up. Off to inspiration I go to plan to the site I will share what I have once I get it done.

Also any ideas how to have a vote and post top ranked sites via a web page...just a thought for anyone out there...

Brandon