Sylvan Technology Leadership Blog

http://ck12.org/index.html

Flexbook is a tool that CK-12 is using to allow users the ablity to develop their own online textbooks.The Flexbook system allows an individual to author their own textbook taking pieces from other books in the system, or complelely from scratch.

As an example, the state of Virginia has released their first open-source textbook for public review.  You can get the specifics of their first attempt here:

http://www.gcn.com/Articles/2009/03/04/Flexbook-beta.aspx

Governor Schwarzenegger initiative to develop online textbooks for high schools in California has focused the light on this important topic and Flexbook might be something you will hear more of in the future.

CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide.

You can get more information about Flexbook from their web site and you can watch a short video here:

http://dabbleboard.com/

I’m always looking for tools that lend themelves to classroom use, espeically classrooms where all the students have laptops. Dabbleboard is an electronic white board applicaiton that lends itself to collaborative online work. The kind of work a classroom full of students on laptops may be engaged in with their teacher.

SnagIt is a Windows screen capture utility for capuring anything on your computer screen.

You can get a registration code number here: http://www.techsmith.com/Covermount/covermount.asp?ID=8

And you can download the software here: ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/enu/725/

More information about SnagIt can be found here: http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp

http://www.littlebits.cc/v1.html

Some great hands on resources for teaching about electronics and systems.  … …kind of like  “electronic” Legos. Give it a look below:

littleBits intro from ayah bdeir on Vimeo.

http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

Hey! We can’t all sustain ourselves in front of the flat screen for ever! The National Park Service has designated, June 20-21 (Father’s Day Weekend), July 18-19, and August 15-16 as Fee-Free Weekends! Go visit a National Park and recharge your “green” batteries…for free!

http://jaycut.com/

Of all the Web browser based applications that have sprung up over the last couple of year, very few have been dedicated to editing video. This is probably due to the challenges of working with large video files. JayCut has been working toward developing a web app that allows users to edit their video directly in the web browser. This applications may be worth keeping an eye on as they continue to develop their product in the future.

http://www.totlol.com/index.php

YouTube has been quitley adding to their API which now allows people to develop web sites that utilize video resources originating out of  YouTube. This site is an example that targets small children and parents.  Expect to see more examples of this type of YouTube implementation that continues to refine the collections of resources on YouTube for distribution to select audiences.

http://www.hobnox.com/index.en.html

Digital synthesizer instruments for creating your own music. All done in Flash so there is nothing to dowload and install.  This application works right in your web browser window.

http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

Not sure if this is also available to K-12 educators, but if any of you have children heading off to college, this may be of some use!