Virtual Teacher Newsletter No. 146 - 2B or not 2B June 16th 2007
THE FREE ONLINE FORTNIGHTLY IT TEACHERS' NEWSLETTER
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CONTENTS
1. Welcome
2. Mind Candy
3. WWWinfo ABS
4. New Printables - 2B
5. Technical Stuff - Leopard OS
6. Web Site Focus - TED
7. Cathy's Forum 160,000 New Pentium 4s
8. Great Sites
9. Readers' Requests/Comments
10 Next Issue
11. Code of 'Netizens'
12. Tips
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1. WELCOME EVERYONE. TED is a most amazing site with
great videos to inspire and promote discussion. The site covers
so many topics presenting the best and brightest. Ideas are
presented on video and a great for classroom use. Don't miss
out on the wonderful resource.
Column 8 SMH today had an amusing story, Paul Tasker writes..
..teachers, formerly known as student teachers or prac. teachers
are now known as pre-service teachers. Secondly…..the subject
the student is specialising in…is referred to as their specialism
and the study of that specialism is referred to as specialismology.
Just wanted you all to be kept up to date with the new
terminology.
Please enjoy the newsletter.
ciao Cathy
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2. MIND CANDY
A Silly Poem
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B?
Spike Milligan
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I liked the fact that this word is "recursively decapitatable":
testate - valid will
estate - land, property
state - condition, nation
tate - common in crosswords, normally defined as an art gallery in London
ate - past tense eat
te - Tellurium
e - base of the natural logarithm
P. Laurance
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When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something
is possible, he is almost certainly right, but when he states that
something is impossible, he I very probably wrong.
Arthur C. Clarke
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The real history of progress is the unfolding of endless layers
of surprise. What constitutes a surprise can, in itself, be rather
surprising, too.
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Trying to second guess tomorrow's surprises requires thinking
around corners, or what might be called knight's move thinking;
it's a question of jumping three steps forward, this part often no
more than straight-line extrapolation from what already exists
and then, crucially, one step to the side.
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above quotes from:- A Brief History of Tomorrow Jonathan Margolis 2000
Bloomsbury Publishing NY
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3. WWWinfo ABS
Australian population updated for every addition
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument
get ready to celebrate the 21,000,000th person sooner than you thought.
The ABS has upgraded it's prediction for our population to hit 21,000,000
from early in 2008 to Friday June 29th 2007, so it's soon - get ready to celebrate.
Play the animation, use the mouse to hover over the statistics.
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/ca0b3137794a766bca256f6c0078cb0b!OpenDocument
ABS Schools site
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/Education%20Resources
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4. NEW PRINTABLES
A Silly Poem
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B?
Spike Milligan
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5. TECHNICAL STUFF
You must take a look at these great short video clips of the
soon to be release Leopard OS. Amazing
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/
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Take a look at this site, some great educational ideas, the
walkthroughs are most interesting.
http://www.wacom.com.au/community/procorner/
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6. WEBSITE FOCUS - TED
This is an amazing site,
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.
It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together
people from those three worlds.
On TED you will find, free knowledge and inspiration from the
world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious
souls to engage with ideas and each other.
Topics covered in video represent the best from theTED
conferences and include - A greener future, Technology history
and destiny, What makes us happy, Is there a God? and other
great big questions human beings seem to ask. The videos
are engaging and thought provoking.
You've got to see this Photosynth demo powered by
seadragon - fantastic - glimpse of the future.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/129
Using this technology immensely rich models of every
part of the earth can be made.
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/
How does Technology evolve? Like we did? - Kevin Kelly
Great video to motivate students to discuss and
evaluate technology.
It covers such topics as - Organic Hackers - like
the solar powered seaslug
Comparing Biological evolution with technological evolution.
Maybe a bit tongue in cheek - but an intriguing model.
The seventh kingdom of evolution
Technology is accelerating evolution - accelerating the way
in which we search for ideas. An Infinite game is played to
keep playing. A finite game is played to win.
Technology is bringing us choices possibilities, freedoms
Every person her has an assignment and your assignment
is to find out what your assignment is. Technology is an
essential part in our journey in to finding out who we are.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/19
Cool Tools - Kevin Kelly
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/
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7. CATHY'S FORUM
The Iemma Government has just purchased 160,000
Pentium 4 computers from Lenovo, a Chinese Company.
This is a great deal for NSW Schools - we'll all have lots more
computers. This 'warehouse' clearance sale from China is just
the thing for improving technology in our schools. The Pentium 4
processor is about 6 years old, and was retired on July 26, 2006,
replaced by the Intel Core 2 line. Lucky for us we got in early and
grabbed this bargain, by the time these computers are put out to
pasture on the splendid 4 year plan they will be 10 years out of
date. There is another Chinese company called, Ozibigsucker
selling abacus driven core processor computers at bargain
basement prices, I hope Iemma is quick to jump on this one too.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-school-computers-use-chips-off-the-old-block/2007/06/09/1181089387145.html
What do you think? Does it Matter? It sure does.
Send in your thoughts.
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8. GREAT SITES
HOT SITES
Mathematically Sane
Promoting rational reform in Mathematics Education.
There are at least 2 sides to every issue including the
so called Maths Wars.
http://www.MathematicallySane.com
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http://www.poemhunter.com
Great site find your favourite poem here. Download an e-book of
your favourite poet. Find poems about a certain theme,
you know what a time consuming thing this can be
a piece of cake here.
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9. READERS COMMENTS/REQUESTS
Hi Cathy
I don't know if you are able to pass on the message below
about wasting paper and other resources through VT but
I thought I'd forward this to you. Anything we can all do
to make a difference for our planet adds up. Think
global, act local!
Sharon Holmes
Middle School teacher @ Le Fevre High School in South Australia
Think B4U Print
1 ream of paper = 6% of a tree and 5.4kg CO2 in the atmosphere
3 sheets of A4 paper = 1 litre of water
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10. NEXT ISSUE - I'll be looking at all the videos on TED.
Which ones do you think are the best. ciao Cathy
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11. Code of the 'Netizens'
This Newsletter is not free, despite the misleading advertising
above. The Fee is now due. Each week you must help one
colleague on the Internet who has less knowledge than you.
Help that person even if you have to visit their classroom or
do a little research and get back to them. Trust me, this will
help a lot of people get their computer classrooms running better.
OK I'm trusting you!!!
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12. TIPS
1. Double click on highlighted URLS to open in browser.
2. Send in your Questions, Questions will be published with
Answers, send in your Answers, if you have expertise to share.
3. Nominate a brilliant site for review and inclusion in this
newsletter.
4. Nominate a fantastic school site for review and inclusion in
this newsletter.
5. Make contact with other schools using fantastic programs.
6. Prepare and innovative article for this newsletter.
7. Tell 2 colleagues about this newsletter.
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The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor,
Cathy Brown. All other small print clauses apply. Such as:
Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. If it doesn't
work for you send me an email.
Editor: cathy brown mailto:cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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