Category: General

The eighth podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Visualizing Chemistry: 3D and the Secret Life of Molecules

The theme for this podcast: how visualization and computational tools can make chemistry more accessible for a broader audience, and increase everyone’s understanding of the subject at the same time.

As always, the resources for this podcast are listed below. If you have questions about the tools used in the podcast, by all means please post them in the comments — I’ll be happy to answer them.

Visualizing Chemistry: 3D and the Secret Life of Molecules

Substitution to Augmentation — Visualizing Molecules

Avogadro MathMol — Library of 3-D Molecular Structures DrugBank RCSB — Protein Data Bank

Modification to Redefinition — Computing Molecules:

Alan Shusterman — Reed Organic Chemistry Online Shusterman, G.P. and Shusterman, A.J. “Teaching Chemistry with Electron Density Models.” Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 74, No.7 1997 GAMESS MacMolPlt

Sustaining Redefinition — Exploring Molecules:

National Computational Science Institute — Computational Chemistry for Chemistry Educators

This week’s podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Reading Math — I: Visualization as Virtual Interpreter

This podcast focuses on the use of visualization tools as a way to provide everyone access to mathematics as a language they can “read” and apply, even if they have not taken advanced courses in the subject.

The resources for this podcast are listed below. If you have examples of uses of visualization tools in math that you would like to share, by all means please do so via the comments.

Reading Math — I: Visualization as Virtual Interpreter

Math Literacy and Technology

National Science Foundation — Math: What’s the Problem? Crowe, D. and Zand H. Computers and undergraduate mathematics I: setting the scene. Computers & Education 35 (2000) Crowe, D. and Zand H. Computers and undergraduate mathematics 2: on the desktop. Computers & Education 37 (2001)

Substitution to Augmentation — Interactive Demo

Wolfram Mathematica Player Wolfram Demonstrations Project Wolfram Demonstrations Project — Relationship of Sine and Cosine to the Unit Circle, by Noel Patson

Augmentation to Modification — Interactive Exploration

MacRumors: Guides — Grapher Y. Barois — Grapher How-To Google Translate Apple Discussions — Forum: Using Mac OS X Leopard

Modification to Redefinition — Data Analysis and Exploration

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) — Sunspot Numbers

Sustaining Redefinition — Pure and Applied Mathematical Exploration

Wolfram Demonstrations Project — Riemann Sums: A Simple Illustration, by Phil Ramsden Wolfram Demonstrations Project — Rational Harmonics, by Stephen Wolfram

A new podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Collaboration and Peer Instruction: Google Docs and Forms

This podcast concludes the “Google Docs Trilogy,” discussing uses of the Forms module to enhance collaboration, and to change the dynamics of classroom discussion. Coming next week: technology and “reading math.”

As usual, resources for this podcast are listed below; please let me know what you think via the comments.

Collaboration and Peer Instruction: Google Docs and Forms

Collaboration and the Flow of Data

GLOBE at Night

Peer Instruction and ConcepTests

Eric Mazur, From Questions to Concepts: Interactive Teaching in Physics. Project Galileo McConnell, D.A., Steer, D.N, and Owens, K.D. “Assessment and Active Learning Strategies for Introductory Geology Courses.” Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, n. 2, March 2003. Lasry, N. “Clickers or Flashcards: Is There Really a Difference?” The Physics Teacher, Vol. 46, April 2008.

This week’s podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Synthesizing Information: Google Docs and Mashups

In this podcast, I outline how to use the Google Docs spreadsheet module to create mashups, and what the advantages of this approach are for data integration and visualization.

The resources for this podcast are listed below; all feedback on these resources and the podcast is welcome.

Synthesizing Information: Google Docs and Mashups

Mashup Resources

Tufte, Edward R. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information – Second Edition. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press, 2001. ProgrammableWeb &mdash Web 2.0 Mashups Directory BBC News Map OUseful.Info, the blog&hellip

Data and Image Sources

ISO 3166 Country Code Lists United Nations Statistics Division UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics Millennium Development Goals Indicators Flickr

My podcast series, As We May Teach, is currently featured in the “Highlights” section on iTunes U, together with the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute and PRI/BBC/RockhopperTV’s Survival:

Needless to say, I’m really happy about this — it’s an honor to have my work featured in this company.

The next podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Networked Collaboration 101: Exploring Google Docs

This podcast takes a first look at Google Docs as a platform for collaboration, showing how it can be used for both discussion and the creation of projects that can be shared via the Web.

Resources for this podcast are listed below; suggestions for other associated resources, as well as comments on the podcast are always welcome.

Networked Collaboration 101: Exploring Google Docs

Google Docs American Folklife Center, Library of Congress — “Now What a Time”: Blues, Gospel, and the Fort Valley Music Festivals, 1938-1943 Delta Blues Museum — Uncensored History of the Blues Tufte, Edward R. The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press, 2003. YouTube Dizzy Gillespie — A Night In Tunisia Dizzy Gillespie — Salt Peanuts

A new podcast in the As We May Teach… series is now online:

Three Easy Pieces: Putting Google Earth to Work

This podcast continues the exploration of Google Earth begun in the previous podcast in the context of three educational projects, ranging from economics data visualization, through literary analysis, to environmental citizen science.

The resources for this podcast are listed below; suggestions for other associated resources are always welcome — please post them in the comments.

Three Easy Pieces: Putting Google Earth to Work

Data in Place

USDA — Natural Resources Conservation Service — 2003 Annual National Resources Inventory Apple iWork — Pages GIMP

Stories in a Landscape

Google Lit Trips Centro Virtual Cervantes — Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quijote de la Mancha Don Quijote de la Mancha — Ruta de Don Quijote Project Gutenberg — Miguel de Cervantes. The History of Don Quixote. Trans. John Ormsby. Volume 1; Volume 2 Antonio Caselles-Moncho, Francisco Parra-Luna, and Rafael Pla-López. The Kinematics of the Quixote and the Identity of the “Place in La Mancha”: A Systemic Approach.

Visualizing Citizen Science

Maine Audubon – Maine Amphibian Monitoring Program

I am happy to announce that, as part of a joint project with the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), I have started a new weekly podcast series. These podcasts will look at several models for the use of educational technologies, and how to apply them in teaching via hands-on examples. The iTunes U podcasts can be found at:

As We May Teach: Educational Technology, From Theory Into Practice

The first two podcasts in the series are now online. The first, TPCK and SAMR — Models for Enhancing Technology Integration, presents the two theoretical frameworks that will guide much of the rest of the series. The second, Power in Simplicity: Virtual Thumbtacks on Virtual Maps, shows how ideas from these models can be applied to educational uses of Google Earth-generated cartography. All of the podcasts have associated online and offline resources — the ones that accompany the first two podcasts are listed below. Each weekly podcast will be accompanied by a blog post here, containing resources, as well as an opportunity for people to ask questions and provide feedback via the comments.

While the specific software and examples have been selected to be particularly useful to Maine educators, I hope these podcasts prove useful to educators in other places. If you have any thoughts about the podcasts, post them in the comments — I really would like to hear from you.

TPCK and SAMR – Models for Enhancing Technology Integration
The TPCK Model: TPCK – Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge AACTE (Eds.) The Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Educators. New York:Routledge, 2008.	The SAMR Model: Ruben R. Puentedura. Transformation, Technology, and Education. (2006)
PK Examples: John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.) How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (1999) Education Resources Information Center	CK Examples: Science Daily Institute of Historical Research – Reviews in History
PCK Examples: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics – Lessons and Resources Center for Applied Linguistics – CALdigests	TK Examples: Apple iLife Support EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative – 7 Things You Should Know About…
TPK Examples: The Sloan Consortium – Effective Practices Education & Information Technology Library	TCK Examples: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics – MicroObservatory VisualComplexity
SAMR Examples: William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Flickr Shakespeare Group Many Eyes UpStage Macbeth in Second Life	TK+SAMR Examples: GeoGebra NetLogo
TPCK+SAMR Examples: Prof. Wyn Kelley: MIT OpenCourseWare – 21L.003 Introduction to Fiction Prof. Oded Meyer: Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative – Introduction to Statistics Prof. Edward L. Ayers: Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia – The Rise and Fall of the Slave South Prof. Jon Beasley-Murray: University of British Columbia – Murder, Madness, and Mayhem: Latin American Literature in Translation

Power in Simplicity: Virtual Thumbtacks on Virtual Maps
PK: MacEachren, Alan. How Maps Work. New York: Guilford Press, 1995.	PCK: Monmonier, Mark. Mapping It Out. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
TK: Making Maps: DIY Cartography	TPK: ESRI GIS Education Community
TCK: Moretti, Franco. Graphs, Maps, Trees. London: Verso, 2007.	TPCK: Stuart Sinton, Diana and Jennifer Lund. Understanding Place. Redlands: ESRI Press, 2006.
SAMR: Google Earth Google Earth Community

At this year’s Educause Conference, Cyprien Lomas, Wayne Brent and I presented a workshop on strategic planning and innovation in educational technology. The materials from that workshop can be found below:

• Agenda
• The Presession Survey Results
• The Horizon Report
• The Horizon Report – Metatrends
• The Horizon Report – Metatrends (table)
• Where Do You Find theNext…?
• Delicious: the Power of Folksonomies
• Mashups and Geotagging
• A Toolkit for Decision Making and Design: TPCK + SAMR
• The Horizon Process
• Informing Decision Making I: the Delphi Method
• Strategic Planning
• Dashboards
• Informing Decision Making II: Prediction Markets

Wordle is a new free visualization tool that generates “word clouds” for any text provided. While the most immediately obvious use for the tool is to generate visualizations of tag clouds (such as those for del.icio.us), I’ve had quite a bit of fun seeing what happens when you supply Wordle with literary texts — here’s one example:

That particular image corresponds to the top 100 words in Macbeth, after removing stage directions and regularizing spelling. Analyzing the patterns that emerge will be left as an exercise for the reader…

With thanks to Alan Levine and Bryan Alexander, whose respective blog posts steered me to Wordle.