ETBS.2009.03.26

This week we're joined by Sharon Peters and John Schinker and learn more about their upcoming trip to Africa with Teachers Without Borders - Canada. It was a great show with a lively discussion on a number of topics, and the audio from the post-show is also attached. Thanks to all who joined us!

Chat:

 20:52:18  JohnS ->  Hi, everyone.
 20:52:34  sheila ->  Hi John!
 20:53:16  JohnS ->  I feel all out of sorts. I'm hardly ever here on Thursday.
 20:53:36  sheila ->  Doesn't feel like Sunday?
 20:53:38  matt montagne ->  Hey y'all
 20:54:01  sheila ->  Hey Matt!
 20:54:06  JohnS ->  No. I'm usually prepared on Sundays... :-)
 20:54:06  matt montagne ->  hey sheila and js
 20:54:14  JohnS ->  Hi Matt.
 20:55:41  sheila ->  Matt - We are learning about acid rain in class. For a review we are creating a visual. Decided to make them into placemats and we are going to distribute them to local eateries for Earth day.
 20:56:03  matt montagne ->  good for u sheila...what a great project!
 20:56:04  sheila ->  Kids are psyched!
 20:56:13  matt montagne ->  I bet they r
 20:56:29  sheila ->  We are weighing the pros and cons of laminating them.
 20:56:43  matt montagne ->  well, that is a good discussion for certain
 20:56:53  matt montagne ->  I'm wondering if u can laminate w/recycled materials???
 20:57:13  sheila ->  Hmm?
 20:57:17  JohnS ->  First, flatten out the water bottles...
 20:57:23  sheila ->  :)
 20:57:27  sheila ->  Love it!
 20:57:49  sheila ->  I'm going to tell them that John! But some will try it!
 20:57:55  sheila ->  BEt
 20:58:01  JohnS ->  might need a rolling pin
 21:01:18  JohnS ->  Hmm... did Doug do a reboot?
 21:01:31  matt montagne ->  ds on
 21:02:43  matt montagne ->  he is back
 21:03:22  matt montagne ->  hey dan
 21:03:52  Dan ->  hi
 21:04:21  sharonp ->  Hi folks
 21:04:29  sharonp ->  I guess we are not streaming yet?
 21:04:34  matt montagne ->  hey sharon
 21:04:37  matt montagne ->  not yet
 21:04:41  matt montagne ->  ds is getting it going
 21:05:14  matt montagne ->  looking forward to this chat
 21:06:24  Dan ->  is this seedlings?
 21:06:47  sheila ->  No, seedlings was at 7:30 EDT
 21:07:12  sheila ->  This is EdTech Brainstorm
 21:08:17  sheila ->  Sound is good
 21:12:06  Dan ->  That is fabulous
 21:14:05  matt montagne ->  sharon, I'm interested in the concept of the digital learning manipulatives/software on flash drives...that is great...
 21:14:41  sheila ->  What is the connectivity like in most places?
 21:17:05  sheila ->  Ohh, John all good ideas!  I'm taking notes for my Belize trip next year!
 21:18:02  sheila ->  @SharonP -do you have to pay duty on the equipment you bring into the country?
 21:20:06  Dan ->  flashdrives and netbooks would make a great combination
 21:20:42  JohnS ->  Yes. Also working on infrastructure stuff -- server on a stick for thing like web caches, firewalls, moodle, wordpress, etc.
 21:21:09  matt montagne ->  js...do u care about OS??
 21:21:15  matt montagne ->  win XP??
 21:21:35  JohnS ->  potentially. they use MS a lot, though I would prefer linux.
 21:21:56  JohnS ->  http://www.widernet.org/digitallibrary/
 21:22:31  alexr ->  Howdy Folks.
 21:22:47  matt montagne ->  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjmonty/3324986398/  a FOSS Disc that we created...
 21:22:53  Dan ->  is dsl possible sharon?
 21:22:54  sheila ->  Hi there!
 21:23:06  matt montagne ->  hey alexr
 21:23:28  alexr ->  Hi Matt.  How are you?
 21:23:42  alexr ->  Love the photo. 
 21:24:00  matt montagne ->  good alex...how r u?
 21:24:14  matt montagne ->  that has been a helpful little disc to have on hand
 21:25:22  Dan ->  that's what I was referring to
 21:26:00  sheila ->  Entering a culture respectfully  . . .
 21:27:12  alexr ->  A friend of mine spend a year in Nigeria.  They just moved to cell phones and texting.
 21:28:04  alexr ->  Yeah, I meant spent.
 21:30:16  dougsymington ->  welcome back Dan :)
 21:30:33  Dan ->  thankks
 21:33:17  sheila ->  What are some of the other major obstacles in the areas you have visited? besideselectricity and connectivity.
 21:33:53  James Sigler ->  Hi everybody. Just finished Barbie Christmas Carol with the kids
 21:34:07  sheila ->  :)
 21:34:33  Dan ->  ooooo Barbie
 21:34:40  dougsymington ->  sounds like fun
 21:34:57  James Sigler ->  Nice clean movies, good stories
 21:35:08  JohnS ->  Wow, you're REALLY in a different time zone.
 21:35:16  Dan ->  my girl is too young yet
 21:35:25  sheila ->  I've run into monopolies that squash some of the connectivity.
 21:35:49  James Sigler ->  IS broadband mostly over cell and dish?
 21:36:46  Dan ->  satellites have internet capability though slow
 21:37:51  James Sigler ->  Edubuntu is a great distro with good edu Open Source software
 21:38:27  matt montagne ->  http://castillejatech.wikispaces.com/Casti+FOSS+Disc  that lists titles on our FOSS disc
 21:38:28  James Sigler ->  I'm running it on my desktop now
 21:39:09  matt montagne ->  very cool, james...I looked at it a year ago and really liked all the added software
 21:40:02  matt montagne ->  headphones, mics, speakers, Wii mote...
 21:40:03  James Sigler ->  Even better, thin client server comes with it ready to go
 21:40:39  sheila ->  @SharonP - I'd love to get a copy of your list when it's created too! Book list.
 21:40:47  James Sigler ->  I have one
 21:41:55  James Sigler ->  http://penteractive.us/ now sells IR pens to go with the Wiimote so you don't have to make your own
 21:43:43  sheila ->  @JohnS and SharonP - Are you in communication now with the teachers you will be meeting? How much pre-trip work is there?
 21:43:59  JohnS ->  We will be, but not yet.
 21:44:16  JohnS ->  We actually hope to get the SA teachers, at least, into a Moodle beforehand.
 21:44:44  sheila ->  Nice!
 21:45:16  alexr ->  Yeah, but the smartboards are teacher centric.
 21:45:47  alexr ->  Sarcasm aleart. 
 21:45:52  alexr ->  alert.
 21:45:53  James Sigler ->  Linux does have touchscreen apps, but not sure how it would work with Wiiboard
 21:45:59  alexr ->  spelling problems today. 
 21:46:57  alexr ->  Depends on how you use them.  Point conceded, Doug.
 21:46:58  James Sigler ->  The Smartboard interactive software is super, would like to know OS alternative
 21:47:20  sheila ->  keyboarding! Ha!
 21:47:36  matt montagne ->  I was a bit bummed with smarts decision to require a license key for their software this year
 21:47:41  matt montagne ->  that has been a support headache
 21:47:58  JohnS ->  yes, Matt. Very frustrating for us as well.
 21:48:28  JohnS ->  The smart 10 service pack that came out about 2 weeks before school started also caused a lot of problems for us.
 21:48:41  James Sigler ->  I saw you included Alice.  Edusim wil soon be ready for prime time.  http://edusim3d.com/
 21:48:53  sheila ->  citizen to citizen diplomacy!
 21:49:02  matt montagne ->  @js...not sure why they did that, at all...
 21:49:27  JohnS ->  They did the licensing thing b/c lots of schools were using other boards with the Smart software.
 21:49:55  Dan ->  next week's discussion is already set. smartboards yea or nay
 21:50:21  alexr ->  Sounds like ETT.
 21:50:26  matt montagne ->  @js...ahh...again, another policy that makes it more difficult for the people who play by the rules (although I can't say I have a solution)
 21:50:31  alexr ->  A place for educators around the world to collaborate.
 21:51:57  James Sigler ->  Would internet access help replace need for textbooks?
 21:51:58  JohnS ->  http://twbcanada.ning.com/
 21:52:42  Dan ->  so sharon does that mean that theoretically you could update the Net in a box each year?
 21:52:56  sharonp ->  Any time
 21:53:26  sharonp ->  http://www.safaricom.co.ke/index.php?id=597
 21:53:50  alexr ->  You can use twitter via text, right? 
 21:53:56  JohnS ->  @Dan also strongly considering this: http://www.httrack.com/
 21:53:56  alexr ->  Or is that US centric?
 21:54:17  JohnS ->  not sure twitter via SMS works outside NA
 21:54:51  sheila ->  This has been very helpful for me.
 21:55:49  Dan ->  Great idea!
 21:56:13  Dan ->  What about a satellite phone?
 21:56:15  sheila ->  I've run a teacher program for 19 years and can now add a technology dimension. You have given me several ideas.
 21:56:22  alexr ->  That's the problem with being too big!
 21:56:34  alexr ->  We love Canadians!
 21:56:41  alexr ->  :)
 21:57:14  James Sigler ->  What about adding Wikipedia on CD?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_CD_Selection
 21:57:33  alexr ->  What about the beer?
 21:57:33  JL ->  How is John going to skype in to EdTechWeekly?
 21:57:35  Dan ->  That doesn't mean they work entirely john
 21:58:03  Dan ->  Dfunkt!
 21:58:23  JohnS ->  @JL when are you leaving NA?
 21:58:37  JL ->  aiming for July or August
 21:58:50  Dan ->  It's really a club med
 21:58:54  JL ->  anybody looking to buy a home in lovely Bow, NH?
 21:59:11  JL ->  Matt, any plans for Earthcast rehearsals?
 21:59:20  matt montagne ->  knock on wood, JL, our house in Milwaukee sells tomorrow
 21:59:29  matt montagne ->  @JL...yes, this Sunday
 21:59:42  JL ->  great
 21:59:45  Dan ->  Give them canadian beer...they won't care about connectivity
 21:59:47  matt montagne ->  @JL...u around this weekend??
 22:00:14  JohnS ->  We have better beer than the Canadian stuff, but getting it through Customs might be a problem.
 22:00:17  JL ->  yep - will plan to be around for earthrehearsals
 22:00:19  matt montagne ->  @JL...perhaps would like to do setup of earthbridges.net for earthcast as well...eg, embed player, chat piece, etc
 22:00:21  JohnS ->  It's the 640 oz cans they have a problem with.
 22:00:27  JL ->  can do
 22:00:41  matt montagne ->  cool...
 22:00:47  Dan ->  \John your beer is like water
 22:01:11  JohnS ->  1.083 today.
 22:01:18  JL ->  those sound like fighting words Dan - who's up for a post-show drink-off?
 22:01:38  Dan ->  Thank you for the invite I'll book my flight
 22:02:23  Dan ->  Sharon, John I really appreciate the wonderful things you are doing abroad
 22:02:39  sharonp ->  thanks Dan!
 22:03:21  Dan ->  You both embody the nobility of the profession
 22:03:39  James Sigler ->  Will you deliver?
 22:03:40  JL ->  took the words out of my mouth John
 22:04:33  sheila ->  I can check on it from time to time  . . . I'm about 1 hour away!
 22:04:52  Dan ->  Got to get the kids to bed thanks for the great experience....I'll be sure to return.
 22:05:02  matt montagne ->  nite all
 22:05:07  JohnS ->  we put Dan's kids to sleep?
 22:05:09  JL ->  nite Matt
 22:05:10  James Sigler ->  Yeah, Jeff!
 22:05:14  JL ->  what time Sunday?
 22:05:21  sheila ->  1 pm?
 22:05:27  Dan ->  If only
 22:05:32  JL ->  roger that
 22:05:49  JL ->  skype me ahead of time if you want to start tweaking EB.net
 22:08:51  matt montagne ->  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjmonty/2947980852/in/photostream/  mini projector
 22:08:54  matt montagne ->  $299
 22:08:58  matt montagne ->  USD
 22:10:20  James Sigler ->  Much easier to integrate tech into classroom if the computers are in the classroom
 22:11:44  sheila ->  Going to head out. Thanks so much! This has been helpful. Would love to follow up to find out what you ended up bringing/doing on the upcoming trip.
 22:11:46  James Sigler ->  so with small projector, you could use 1:4 computer:student ratio working in groups
 22:12:28  matt montagne ->  @james...potentially, yes...interesting...
 22:14:02  James Sigler ->  XO laptop changed the paradigm of 1:1. Actually doable
 22:14:25  James Sigler ->  I have grade cards to finish
 22:14:32  James Sigler ->  night
 22:14:49  JohnS ->  Good night. Thanks, James
 22:24:25  JL ->  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_area
 22:24:36  alexr ->  My network admin got married out there last spring.
 22:27:41  alexr ->  Great to hang guys!
 22:27:50  alexr ->  Night.