Second Life

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon on Second Life. It was fun to open up the program and experiment with my avatar. After walking around Orientation Island I was able to teleport my avatar to other sites. On Education Island I found that many academic institutions have set up sites designed for registered users. It disconcerting to discover that some of these sites are locked to casual viewers. Out of curiosity I visited several islands to see if there was anything of interest. This adventure produced mixed results- some of the sites were private, restricted, and/ or reserved for mature audiences. After a two hour excursion I decided to log out and do my homework. My trip to Second Life was entertaining.

Survey Monkey

Recently I started collaborating with a student who is completing work on her doctoral thesis. She was in a quandry and requested my assistance in the creation of an online survey. My advisor suggested that I experiment with a software program called Survey Monkey. This program is an intuitive tool that is user-friendly, customizable, and fun to use. Currently I'm in the process of structuring, formatting, and entering the survey data. Upon completion of this task I will place the survey on a server for online access. By keeping the survey clean, simple, and easy to use we should be able to receive at least a 90% response rate.

Recently I read a newspaper article in the Waterloo Courier that described a pilot program being implemented by the school district. Here is a link to the story: http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/09/21/news/metro/10623959.txt
According to the article "Officials propose installing 129 Promethean Activboards in district classrooms, libraries and administrative buildings at a total cost of $883,660. That cost would include equipment, installation and training".
In my opinion this proposal represents a giant step towards integrating interactive technology into schools serving a disadvantaged student population. Kudos to the Waterloo School District for taking an initial step in bridging the "digital divide".

Wow!

Despite having extensive experience with educational technology I felt like a kid in the candy store when I enrolled in the Emerging Tech class. At first I was overwhelmed by the number of social networking sites that are available for online users. After exploring sites like Blogger, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Classroom 2.0 I've come to realize their potential use for like minded individuals. For instance, by performing a keyword search I can find a number of sites &/ or people who share my interests. This feature has provided me with access to a number of valuable assets related to my vocation and hobby. Wow!

Music software

I'm amazed by the variety of audio and music production software tools available. Inexpensive
programs such as Propellerhead Reason, Peak Bias, Apple Logic Express, and Sony Acid have enabled fledgling music producers to create professional sounding materials. Many of these user friendly tools have multiple audio tracks, virtual multi-channel mixers, user definable controllers, MIDI control, and a myriad of sound effect capabilities. Professional software tools such as Apple Logic Studio, Avid/ Digidesign Pro Tools, Cakewalk Sonar 8, Steinberg Cubase, and Ableton Live are used by recording engineers to create materials for musicians and film producers. All of the aforementioned audio software programs are powerful tools that have been used to optimize and edit professional sound recordings.

Dave's Blog

Tommy Bolin was an self taught guitar player from Sioux City, Iowa who helped transform the jazz rock idiom. He was Influenced by diverse performers such as Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Drawing upon these influences Tommy Bolin developed a style of music that has been emulated by a host of influential musicians including Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, and Steve Vai. In his short prolific career Tommy Bolin performed with Zephyr, Energy, the James Gang, Billy Cobham, Alphonse Mouzon, Moxy, and Deep Purple. Tragically, Bolin died of a drug overdose on December 4, 1976.