Five Minute Rule

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

One of the most common questions I’m asked in class is, “should I save this to my USB drive?”  I have never answered the question with anything other than an affirmative.

It boils down to the value of my time.  The last USB drive I bought cost $20 and it holds 2GB of data.  A typed page is about 2k if left in ASCII format.  A typed page uses about 0.00002 dollars worth (two thousandths of a penny) of space on my USB drive.

If my time is worth a few dollars an hour, it makes sense to save everything I take time to create.  I draw the line at five minutes.  If recreating something takes more than five minutes, I save it on my USB drive.  If it takes less than five minutes, it might not be worth getting the USB drive out of my pocket, plugging it into the computer, waiting for the security software to load, typing my password and navigating the folders to find the file.

Otherwise, it gets saved.

Posted in edtech, efficiency | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

I Don’t Have Time

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Things I have heard other people say:

I don’t have time to learn Google’s search operators (+, -, site, filetype, etc).  I can always find what I’m looking for in fifteen or twenty minutes.

I don’t have time to create folders for each of my projects and give my files meaningful names.  I can always find the file I am looking for in fifteen or twenty minutes.

I don’t have time to learn how to insert my digital pictures into my weekly newsletters for my students’ parents.  I prefer to get my pictures developed and then tape them to my newsletters before I photocopy them.  Wal-Mart has one-hour development and I can drive there in fifteen or twenty minutes.

I don’t have time to setup a del.icio.us account.  I can remember all the URLs that I need to visit.  If I run across something interesting, I email the URL to myself.  When I need it, I can usually dig through my email and find it in fifteen or twenty minutes.

I don’t have time to setup a flickr account.  If I want my family to see the digital pictures I have taken, I can email them to everyone.  We all have unlimited email space and it only takes fifteen or twenty minutes to send a set of pictures to everyone I know.

I certainly don’t have time for a full night of sleep.  I’m up too late trying to get everything done.

Posted in edtech, efficiency | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Yahoo Mapmixer

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Here is a new tool from Yahoo that lets you add any graphic as an overlay on a normal Yahoo map. A slider tool lets you make the graphic transparent so the underlying map can be seen.

Mapmixer gives anyone the ability to easily place a graphic (I tried GIF, JPG and PNG) over the web 2.0 version of Yahoo’s interactive maps. The process takes four steps:

1 – Choose the city or location for your overlay.
2 – Upload your graphic.
3 – Adjust the size and position of your uploaded graphic so it fits the map.
4 – Tag and publish your Mapmixer.

This site has a lot of potential for educational projects.

To appreciate the above map a little more, check out the full screen version.

Posted in edtech | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Know your limits

Posted on September 23, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Today a couple of the neighbor kids were playing in our house.  One of them asked to use a computer to feed his Webkinz.  This particular little guy just started kindergarten.  I was interested in seeing what he could do on his own.

I pointed him to our second grader’s computer.  He double-clicked “e” on the desktop.  The computer went to some Barbie page.  Without flinching, he opened the favorites and found the Webkinz icon in the listing.  A few seconds later he was logged in with his username and password.

He fed his “pet” and asked if it was ok to play his favorite Webkinz game.  I asked him what his favorite game was.  He pointed to the link at the bottom of the page.  I asked him the name of the game. 

Without missing a beat he looked at me and said, “I don’t know.  I can’t read.”

Posted in leisure | Tagged | 4 Comments

Animoto

Posted on September 22, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Here is a free, web-based, easy to use movie creator that doesn’t have a lot of options.  The emphasis is on ease of use.

Give Animoto a few of your pictures.  Select a song from the techno-pop list available on the site and Animoto will put in the effects and transitions for your very own movie.

Your kids (if they are very young) and your parents (if they are older) may think it is cool.  The lack of a creative component doesn’t make it useful for many educational purposes, but if you don’t know how to create a movie and have a few pictures… it’s pretty easy to use.

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