So I bought a tablet.  A 16 GB Toshiba Thrive, to be precise.

Some would find this purchase to be somewhat odd.  Indeed it is, somewhat.  Those who know me have heard my rants about needing a “real” keyboard.  My typing skills are not the best by any means but I seem to be able to do it faster and with fewer mistakes if I can get a tactile response that’s more than the whole device vibrating.

It’s why my last computer purchase was a tablet PC – and mind you, I don’t regret that purchase.  That computer does almost everything I intended for it to do.  I enjoyed the challenge it gave me to install and configure Linux on a computer with a touch screen, and for times that I need to use Windows (they do occur) I have to say Win 7 is the nicest version of that OS that I’ve ever seen.

But here I am, now owning a tablet.  I use it for the following things:

Netflix

It has a 10.1″ screen, which is large enough for anything I don’t intend to use at more than an arm’s length away.  To that end I’ll often go through a Dirty Jobs (or other show) marathon while grading student work on my main computer.

Audible

I love Audible for many of the same reasons I love podcasts.  I spend a decent amount of time commuting, and good audio content keeps my mind active.  My mind also tends to wander when trying to read nonfiction, so it’s a good way for me to digest that information if I have someone reading it to me.  The only downside is that since I refuse to pay for a 3G tablet I have to download the books before I head to the car, but that’s not hard to do.

Schoolwork

The first school day after I purchased my tablet I decided to see if I could leave my main computer at home.  As it turns out SchoolMax (our content management system for grades, attendance, and other student records) works just fine with any Android browser, as does Edmodo.  Edmodo even has an app for that, which I recommend.  For an intense “grade everything and grade it all now” session I still prefer a more powerful computer, but for what I normally do it works quite well.

Reading

Google Books, the Kindle App, and more are available for most tablets.  My tablet weighs about the same as some books I’ve read and much less than others.  One of the biggest selling points I can see for schools switching to a 1:1 ratio is the replacement of dead tree textbooks with digital equivalents.  Are there more reasons? Of course!  But the biggest complaint I hear about moving to a 1:1 ratio is the cost.  Tablets are cheaper than most computers, and the more $50+ textbooks they replace, the better.

Beyond that, there are several apps that make browsing online content very convenient.  I particularly like Feedly, though there are others with the same functionality.  It has the ability to sink up with my Google Reader feeds and display them in an almost magazine style format that allows me to skim through content without the usual feeling of being overwhelmed.

Games

I fully admit it, I’m a gamer.  Puzzle games, adventure games, MMORPGs, I like most categories.  There are a wide variety of games available for whatever tablet OS you care to use.  My favorite, currently, is Robo Defense.  It’s one of the few apps I have that wasn’t free, and it was totally worth it.

Next up, I’ll make a post about the things I don’t like about tablets.

No, I have not gone into the business of selling recreational pharmaceuticals.  One way or another, a malicious entity got access to both my MySQL database as well as FTP access to my server.  The links have been removed, the files restored, and (with luck), this will not happen again.

Should you encounter anything wonky or suspicious, please let me know by mailing theartguy [at] gmail.com.

(For the curious, I actually used this post by another victim to help fix my problem.)

Reaching A High Score Presentation [ 29:25 ] Download (370)

Last year I rewrote my curriculum to make it into a game, and doing so helped my students master the content.  This is my presentation on what I did, as given at this year’s Powering Up With Technology Conference.

PUWT Conference

Presentation (Hosted on Google Docs)

Class page

Apologies for the poor audio quality, I was projecting (using my “teacher voice”) to the participants and that tended to overwhelm my mic every time I was next to the computer.

Due to reasons beyond my control, I won’t be anywhere near the internet for most of this Thursday.  In fact, I won’t even be in the same state.

Naturally, the first thing I thought of was the first grade kids I had been planning to teach!

Now, most of them are able to log in on their own, but most is not the same thing as all. I could have them do an online lesson, but instead I pulled out a project I had my students do a few years ago back when I didn’t have a computer lab to call my own.

With some construction paper, a little glue, and some markers/crayons/colored pencils, we’ll be making our own laptops.  The point of the lesson will be to talk about how computers are used to communicate with others online.  The end result will be a neat toy laptop to call their own.

You can do the lesson too, if you want.  the .pdf file with the instructions is here, and the printable keyboard template (2/page) is here.

Vivitar DVR 620 Review [ 5:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (262)

I have a new toy, and since it records video I thought it would be better to talk about it using a video.

So here’s the deal:

I’m in a market for a Tablet PC.  I’m sure part of the reason is because my wife keeps flaunting the iPad she’s walking around with, but I’ve wanted a computer with a touchscreen much longer than the iPad’s existed, so there’s more to it than that.  Here’s what I’m looking for.

• Under $600.  I’m trying to stay within a budget here.  I have some disposable income, but not a lot.
• A touchscreen.  (Kind of obvious there, huh?)  The larger the better.  Multi-touch is a plus, but not a necessity.
• A REAL keyboard.  I’m OK with a smaller keyboard, but those keys need to move, dagnabit.  Typing on a virtual keyboard slows me down and annoys me to no end.  This rules out most of the tablets on the market, because “you can connect a keyboard with Bluetooth” Means I’m now carrying around a tablet and a keyboard.  At that rate, I might as well buy myself a netbook tablet PC for the same price so I can install Linux on it.  Speaking of which…
• An open operating system.  This is another complaint I have with iOS.  I wouldn’t mind that every app in their store requires Apple’s seal of approval if they were more consistent with who gets through the floodgates, but there you go.  A PC can dual boot Linux, which is about as open as it gets.  (Android isn’t too shabby either though, I have to admit.)
• Not Lenovo or Sony.  I have grievances with both of those companies that I will not address in this particular post.

So I’ve been shopping around for several days now, including but not limited to a salesman and I seeing if an Android tablet could fit in one of those iPad cases that comes with a built in keyboard (it couldn’t).  What I’ve ended up with is this.  It matches every criteria I’ve set for myself. Problem is, I’ve no idea if there’s something better out there.  I’ve been looking, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been searching all the right places.

So here’s where you come in, my wonderful PLN – Based on what I’m looking for, should I get the computer in the picture?  Is there something better?  Should I just hold off?  I could kind of use some additional opinions here before I make a $500+ dollar decision.

*In this case, these “rules” are not unlike the “Pirate Code” from a popular movie series.  They’re guidelines, meant to be followed when it’s convenient for you.  For the most part, they’ve been convenient for me.

With the advent of Google+ there are a lot of people thinking (and not thinking) about how to properly use a social network.  The typical behavior when a new network is discovered is to dive in headfirst and find every person you’ve ever known that’s currently using the service.

This is completely normal.  It’s akin to showing up at your class reunion and scanning the room for familiar faces.  You don’t want to be the awkward person that’s all by yourself, after all.

What’s not such a good idea is what brings me to my first rule:

1. Don’t follow everyone!

While the top image is relevant to this rule, the bottom one is even more telling.  Mr. Dembo‘s a very smart person with a lot of Web 2.0 savvy and a job that centers around community building.  He could theoretically surf social networks in his office and honestly say that’s part of his job description. If he says something is too much, it’s too much.

If you want a social network to be social and not just a noise machine, there is a definite limit to how many people you can follow and still have a conversation.  On Twitter (the social network I’ve spent the most time on, historically), my personal limit is somewhere between 50-100 people depending on how active they are and how much time I have to read posts.  Your own mileage may vary, but when I see someone following over 100 people I begin to seriously doubt that they could be following any of the conversations.

Of course you can still use your network as a megaphone to broadcast things, but that just requires more people to follow you – not the other way around.

2. Have more followers than you follow!

Minecraft creator Notch is doing things right, at least by my standards.  The mystery person… not so much.

A good social network is an asynchronous one.  With the exception of a newly created account, you should always have more people interested in what you have to say vs. the other way around.  Following a grossly disproportionate number more than you have following you – particularly when it’s over 100% or 100 followers more – makes it seem like you’re playing the numbers game.

What’s the numbers game?  That’s when you’ve decided to treat your social network like a game and your follower count like a high score.  A “cheap” way to get that number up is to break Rule # 1 and follow everyone you can.  A percentage of those will follow you back out of gratitude.  You then unfollow everyone and repeat the process until you’re happy with how many people are following you.

(Except they’re not really following you, because if they follow everyone who follows them then they will quickly have all meaningful conversation drowned out by noise and spam.)

If you see someone like the censored picture above, chances are they’ve no interest in what you have to say.  Following them is a waste of your time and a reinforcement of their negative behavior.  I tend to block people like that.

3. Block people!

The above account was also following 18,514 people at the time I took the screenshot.  It started following me while I was writing this post, and I blocked it before I took that screenshot.

There seem to be a lot of people who feel the “block” feature on a social network is meant for accounts that are vile, profane, or promote illegal activities.

It is.

It’s also useful for helping to police social networks.  Any network that’s reached a “critical mass” of users is far too large to be adequately regulated by that network’s paid staff.  They have to crowd-source that responsibility to their user base.

There’s a reason why Twitter has a “Report Spam” option.  It acts the same as the “Block” option, except that if enough people report that account the staff will look into it to see if it should be shut down.

Don’t be content to allow spammers to follow you.  Report/block them, and you’ll end up helping to make that social network a better place – one click at a time.

4. Follow interesting people!

(Which of these two accounts do you think might be more interesting?  I know which one I’d pick.)

OK, enough about not following – let’s talk about who to follow – me!

Just kidding.

Who you follow is totally subjective and depends on only one person: you.  Life is too short for you to spend all your time scrolling past posts that don’t hold your attention.  Every person you follow should be interesting to you.  Frequent posts about mundane activities (I’m going to bed! I’m getting  sandwich! I’m studying!) might be interesting to you if you are particularly close to that person, but if you’re not, they’re noise.

Follow people who frequently post things that make you sit up and take notice.

5. Post things that are interesting to you.

Yes, I finally caved in and posted a screencap of my own posts.  Relevant, I guess….

Chances are that if you want to actively participate in a social network, you want to find people who have interests similar to your own.  If you post things that you think are interesting, the (non-spammer) people who follow you will most likely be interested in the same things.  It’ll take a while for the network to build up, but it will build up.

And you won’t have to agonize over what to post next or whether or not something will make you lose followers, because they’re already following you for being you.

Hopefully, being you comes naturally.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I don’t assume that all these rules apply to everyone.  They’re my rules that I’m trying to follow myself.  That said, I’ve found them to be very helpful to me.

If you’re testing the waters of social networking – or you feel like you’re drowning in the deep end – perhaps some of these might work for you as well.

(And should you decide I’m interesting, perhaps you might want to follow me on Twitter or Google+.  Only if you want to, of course.)

• Take more photos.
• Clean my apartment more thoroughly than ever before.  (Vampires shouldn’t sparkle, but that kitchen counter WILL, so help me…)
• Write that children’s book that’s been in my head for 4 years.
• Write that other book that’s been in my head for 2 years.
• Get a working draft of that board game design I’ve been toying with.
• Make more shirts.
• Lose more weight.
• Make fewer lists of things I intend to do.

*Assuming I don’t get sidetracked by 50 million other things like I always do.

Academic Aesthetic 177: 404 VOICE NOT FOUND [ 25:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (748)

This episode of Academic Aesthetic is brought to you by antibiotics and  cough drops.  You see, early last week a combination of lots of talking (occupational hazard of teaching), and post nasal drip caused by a sinus infection made me lose my voice.  It’s better now, but can only talk so long before my agonized squeaks become a source of amusement for all around me.

So submitted for your approval is an interview of me done by Dr. Kavita Mittapalli, someone whose name I most likely just mispronounced horribly so I won’t try to say it again.

The good Doctor visited one of my 1st grade classes last week, before the whole AWOL voice incident, and recorded a conversation with me afterwards.  I rambled on, and then made the bad decision of requesting a copy of the interview.

And I still haven’t learned, as I’m now making another bad decision and playing it for you.  Enjoy.

It’s that time of the year again, when I devote two days to education and technology … er, more so than usual, at least.

As usual, my conference was full of fun, excitement, and learning – so much so that I forgot to take proper notes!  I did not, however, forget to post on Twitter up through the end of Tuesday’s keynote, so rather than reinvent the wheel I thought I’d copy/paste the highlights here.

The keynote itself was presented by Chris Lehmann (Website) (Twitter), principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA.

-=-=-=-=-=-

theartguy Aaron Smith

• Up at 4:30 / Whose bright idea was this? / Oh yeah, it was mine. #haiku #mset11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• At the conference / No one at Registration / Opens at seven. #haiku #mset11

gwynethjones gwynethjones
by theartguy

• Excited about the #MSET11 conference today! I’ll be in room 336 & the Digital Sandbox all day & come by & say hi! YAY!

theartguy Aaron Smith

• @gwynethjones My coffee’s finished! / Waiting for that caffeine rush / And Registration #haiku #mset11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• Dilemma! @gwynethjones and @thetechtiger are both presenting a Session 1! What do I do?!

theartguy Aaron Smith

• @gwynethjones It’s not personal / I just thought I’d use #haiku / Because it’s awesome. #mset11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• All good Lutherans / Come early to an event / And get a back seat #haiku #MSET11 #Keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• And yes that means I’m sitting in the back next to a power outlet for my laptop. #MSET11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• Listening to @chrislehmann at the #MSET11 Keynote. I like what he’s saying so far.

thetechtiger Selena Ward
by theartguy

• lousy data = lousy decisions #MSET11 keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “We don’t know everything we need to know about education” Said RE: 7 students not graduating. #Mset11 keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “Deliver pizza, not instruction” “We need to reclaim the language.” “We TEACH.” #MSET11 keynote

thetechtiger Selena Ward
by theartguy

• http://twitgoo.com/2390kj deliver instruction? #MSET11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “Don’t ban cell phones. Why deny them the tools if you can’t afford the tools?” #MSET11 keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “They’re going to use them anyway.” “[So teach them how to use them!]” #MSET11 Keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “What are our own personal slide rules?” What are we teaching that is now outdated? #MSET11 (Depressed that he said HTML is outdated.)

theartguy Aaron Smith

• del.icio.us: ENGINEERING.com | Games & Puzzles http://bit.ly/gUTpSW

theartguy Aaron Smith

• del.icio.us: Computers For Learning – Home Page http://1.usa.gov/fG8K6n

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “Classrooms should never be defined as 4 walls & a floor.” #MSET11 keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• Question for @chrislehmann In drama you don’t break the 4th wall. In teaching should we even HAVE them? #MSET

theartguy Aaron Smith

• Totally amused how @chrislehmann says the word “Awesome.” Definitely shows the level of enthusiasm expected for the word. #MSET11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “If you get 30 copies of the same thing you didn’t give a project you gave a recipe. Let them own it.” #MSET11

theartguy Aaron Smith

• “When was the last time you took your kids to a pencil lab?” Tech should be everywhere. #MSET11 keynote

theartguy Aaron Smith

• #MSET11 Keynoter @chrislehmann is using some slides from Library of Congress’ Flickr account. I’m amused.

theartguy Aaron Smith

• I think the former English teacher just invented a new word with “Probmematize Everything” #MSET11 keynote

thetechtiger Selena Ward
by theartguy

• declarationofeducation.com #teaching #MSET11 Please join the movement.

theartguy Aaron Smith

• It occurs to me that I’ve seen no fewer than 3 #MSET keynoters advocate for cell phones in school but so many schools still ban them.

-=-=-=-=-=-

And then I went to see 2 presentations by Selena Ward, but I’ll save that for my next post.