Technology Bits Bytes & Nibbles

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Social Studies Newsletters

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On June 9, 2012 · Add Comment

Glen Wiebe has put together a great list of newsletters for Social Studies and history teachers.

“One of the beauties of the digital age is the ability to connect to so many different people, resources, and teaching materials. One of the problems is that there is often so much stuff out there that you can easily be overwhelmed by it all.

That’s why you need to take advantage of another digital age tool – email newsletters. And yes, I know. Email is “old-fashioned.” It’s not as cool as Skype or texting or some other sort of Web 2.0 communication gadget. But email is still a great way to connect people with content.

And there are lots of social studies related newsletters out there just waiting for you. Here’s just a few:”

http://historytech.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/tip-of-the-week-social-studies-newsletters/

Spartacus Educational website provides a series of free history encyclopaedias

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On May 13, 2012 · Add Comment

The Spartacus Educational website provides a series of free history encyclopaedias. Entries usually include a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is linked to other relevant pages in the encyclopaedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hyper-linked so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper and organization that produced the material.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/

A Treasure Trove of Social Studies Resources

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On April 29, 2012 · Add Comment

Where did Go Social Studies Go come from?

I’ve been a Social Studies teacher at the middle and high school levels for about 10 years. During this time the one thing that I learned that unites students of all backgrounds is that they just never seem to get excited by cracking open one of those 25 pound Social Studies textbooks. (Crazy, I know).

I knew how awesome Social Studies really was and I wanted my students to understand this too. So, out of sheer desperation to get my students to engage with the material, I began to surf and scour the libraries for the perfect resources.

Check out the site, CLICK HERE

Tip of the Week – Three social studies iPad apps I just fell in love with

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On April 13, 2012 · Add Comment

by Glen Wiebe

I haven’t a lot of time in the last few weeks to spend searching for great mobile apps. But with a hat tip to Jaime H. and through a conversation with a couple of great teachers in Illinois, I did run across three that I really like. I think you will too.

Check out Glen’s recommendations, CLICK HERE

Panoramic Virtual Tour Smithsonain National Museum of Natural History

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On December 18, 2011 · Add Comment

The comprehensive virtual tour allows the visitor to take a virtual, self-guided, room-by-room walking tour of the whole museum. The visitor can navigate from room to room either by using a floor map or by following blue arrow links connecting the rooms. Camera icons indicate hotspots where the visitor can get a close-up on a particular object or exhibit panel.

This presentation of individual panoramas provides the visitor a list of links to panoramic images of the individual rooms within the museum. These rooms are the same ones available in the comprehensive virtual tour.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/#

Best resource for the consititution from Larry Ferlazzo’s

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On September 4, 2011 · Add Comment

by Larry Ferlazzo, Websites of the Day

The Constitution Center has to be everybody’s first stop. It has a ton of resources. They are particularly known for their Interactive Constitution and lots of other online interactives and games.
Here are collections of the online lessons I used in my United States History classes last year on the Bill of Rights and on the Constitution.
The Constitution For Kids has three “levels” of explanations about the U.S. Constitution. An English Language Learner — from high Beginning to Advanced — can choose which one he/she finds most accessible.
The History Channel has many multimedia features related to the Constitution.
How Stuff Works has many videos related to the Constitution.
Here’s an interactive “learning object” from the Wisconsin Online Resource Center on Amendments To The Constitution.
The Henry Ford Museum has a short Constitution I.Q. test that would be accessible to English Language Learners after they have studied about the United States government.
Here’s a bilingual (English/Spanish) glossary for the Constitution.
Quiz Tree has some interactive quizzes on the Constitution.
Celebrate The Constitution comes from Scholastic.
Here’s an interactive on the Bill of Rights.
Resources for Teaching the Constitution is a great feature at The New York Times Learning Network.
The Weekly Reader has a nice interactive that provides audio support for the text.
Here’s an infographic on the Constitution.

History Buff: Primary source newspapers, historic panoramas, audio

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On July 19, 2011 · Add Comment

Welcome to HistoryBuff.com, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing FREE primary source material for students, teachers, and historybuffs. This site focuses primarily on HOW news of major, and not so major, events in American history were reported in newspapers of the time. In addition, there is information about the technology used to produce newspapers over the past 400 years. Our latest addition is panoramas of historic sites in America.

About HistoryBuff
Newspaper Collecting
Online Newspaper Archives
Newsletter Archives
Historic Panoramas
Reference Libraries
Primary Source Material
State Facts
Interactive Quizzes
Help By Email

http://www.historybuff.com/

Email has transformed our lives, check out this Infographic history

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On May 30, 2011 · Add Comment

The Evolution Of Email [Infographic]
by Mark O’Neill

Email. We all use it. Whether you use it on a daily basis or only occasionally, it can’t be denied that electronic mail has transformed the way we live our lives. Businesses have been transformed, families have been brought closer together, and the lowly snail mail letter, which can take days to reach its destination, is no longer preferred when an email can reach its sender in seconds.

But email, like everything else in life, has constantly evolved since the first email was sent over ARPANET in 1971. Wow 1971, I didn’t even know what email was in 1971 and certainly had never touched a computer.

Check out the full story and the Infographic, it is pretty interesting. CLICK HERE

Using Angry Birds to teach math, history and science

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On May 19, 2011 · Add Comment

Kelly Tenkely of iLearn Technology blog has a good post about Angry Birds and Math Class

Yesterday instead of dutifully writing a blog post, I was having fun building catapults with kids. I was playing with a transdisciplinary lesson using Angry Birds as my inspiration. Yes, you read correctly-Angry Birds.
It doesn’t seem to matter what age group or demographic that I talk to, kids (and adults) everywhere are fans of Angry Birds. As I was playing around with Angry Birds (yep I’m a fan too), I started thinking about all of the learning that could be happening. I have watched a two year old tell an older sister that “you have to pull down to go up higher”. I have watched as kids master this game through trial and error. Being the teacher that I am, I started dreaming up a transdisciplinary lesson with Angry Birds as the base.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

100 years of History video in 100 seconds

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On May 4, 2011 · Add Comment

The Archive Films collection from Getty Images. http://www.gettyimages.com/footage

iPad Apps of the Week-Notibality, iMovie Tips, Garageband and History

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On April 1, 2011 · 1 Comment

I now have an iPad2 and am in the process of getting things set up. So far, loving it. Screen quality is considerably better, and much lighter. I have the pink “cover” and it is cool, but worry about protection. Anyway, I am excited to have to new version. So on to Apps for this week.

Mac|Life’s weekly App|Life review:”Take note, Apple. This is how it’s done. Apple’s iPad is certainly capable of replacing every notebook you’ll ever need, but let’s be serious — nothing about Apple’s Notes app is going to entice any fence-sitters to ditch their trusty pen and paper. Ginger Labs’ Notability, however, just might.”

iPad 2 launch sale. 80% off! Limited time only! Only 99 cents!

“Notability is the perfect companion for iPad in education.” – EdReach

Notability is a powerful app for typing, organizing and recording your notes on iPad. It improves your productivity in lectures, meetings and interviews when you need to work fast, and also afterward to organize, review, edit and share your notes.

CAPTURE EVERYTHING
Notability provides all of the essentials for taking notes fast — typing, drawing and recording. And so much more.

Quickly type notes and outlines.
Bullet lists and number lists are fast and easy to create.
Each note can include multiple fonts, colors, styles and sizes.
Both the onscreen and external keyboards are well-supported.
You can draw colorful figures and write with your finger or stylus. You can add photos and web clips with the text automatically wrapping around them.
Make audio recordings. Recordings are automatically linked to your notes so you’ll always be sure to get the point. And recording continues even when using other apps on iPad.

REVIEW AND EDIT LATER
Edit notes by adding colors to the text, easily edit a figure, or add a photo or a web clip. Hide the keyboard to see more of your notes.
STAY ORGANIZED & SAFE
The Library makes it easy to organize notes into your subject categories, to sort them, and to find them via search. You can easily share and backup your notes in a variety of formats via email, or upload them to Dropbox, iDisk or a WebDAV server. iTunes File Sharing is a fast way to send notes to your computer for further review and edit.
EDIT NOTES ON A COMPUTER TOO

iMovie & GarageBand

iMovie for iPad Tips and Tricks from Mac

Mac|Life: Unlike the first iPad, you can edit short films with the iPad 2, thanks to iMovie. But editing by touch involves a lot of gestures and without knowing what they are, you could end up being frustrated by the whole process. So we’ve compiled a few tips to help you hit the ground running.

GarageBand for the iPad
GarageBand turns your iPad into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio — so you can make music anywhere you go. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play pianos, organs, guitars, drums, and basses on your iPad. They sound and play like their counterparts, but let you do things you could never do on a real instrument. Enjoy a full range of Smart Instruments that make you sound like a pro — even if you’ve never played a note before. Plug an electric guitar into your iPad and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use the built-in microphone or a guitar to record, or capture any performance. Then mix up to eight tracks to create a song you can share.

Play your iPad like a musical instrument.
Sound like a virtuoso with Smart Instruments.
Create a song anywhere you go.
Share your songs.

History Apps

Manual for the United States of America….$2.99
Whether you need to cram for a History final or just got a new job leading a world superpower, having America’s founding documents close at hand is essential. We combined our free copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence along with several other important references into one easy to use iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch application.
Included:

Declaration of Independence with notes, images, and information about the signers
Articles of Confederation
U.S. Constitution with notes, images, and information about the signers
Federalist Papers
Anti-Federalist Papers
Bios of Supreme Court Justices
Washington’s Farewell Address
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address
Gettysburg Address
United Nations Charter
Censure of Joseph McCarthy
1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
1964 Civil Rights Act
Indian Bill of Rights
2001 Patriot Act
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
How Our Laws Are Made
Opinions from selected landmark Supreme Court cases
List of U.S. Presidents with bios
List of U.S. States
Elected President, Senate, House, State Governors info
US Flag Code and image/measurement guide
Set text size preferences in Settings app

Oregon Trail…99 cents
Westward, Ho! Your favorite pioneering adventure game is back and takes you to an exciting, historical side-scrolling adventure entirely rethought to fit the Touch experience of your iPhone / iPod touch.

REMEMBER AMERICA’S CULTURAL ICONIC GAME
- All of the decision-making and problem-solving fun of the original game.
- Prepare for your departure: Select the members of your party, choose your departure date and purchase supplies.
- Fun and educational! Historical references through real locations and famous characters from the past, plus historic facts perfectly explain the perilous journey of pioneers.

A WILDER EXPERIENCE THAN YOU’VE EVER PLAYED BEFORE
- 8 skill-based mini-games, including 2 accelerometer-based challenges: hunting, fishing, river crossing, rafting, wagon repairing, telegraph, berry picking, and gold panning.
- Random events (disease, bandits, hitchhikers, etc.) faced by real pioneers increases the challenge.
- Side-missions add more excitement to your journey, affecting your westward trek.
- Refreshed with modern, colored graphics in a cartoonish style.

Civilization Revolution…..$6.99
Build. Discover. Conquer. Rule the World!
Lead your civilization from the dawn of man to the modern age and beyond in Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution. Go head to head with history’s greatest leaders as you wage war, conduct diplomacy, discover new technologies, inspire your nation and build the most powerful empire the world has ever known.

For nearly two decades, the Sid Meier’s Civilization® franchise has been the benchmark for strategy gaming. Now the greatest strategy game of all time arrives for the Apple iPhone™ and iPod® touch with Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution™.

LEAD YOUR PEOPLE TO GREATNESS: Choose your victory path: military, cultural, economic or scientific. However you choose to lead your people, there’s a way to win.
CHOOSE YOUR CIV: Choose from 16 Civilizations throughout history (including America, Spain, China, Japan and Germany) to lead to victory.
INTENSE COMBAT: Triple your strength by combining up to three units into one powerful army and destroy your enemies. Level them up through military victories to gain additional strength and new abilities.
TOUCH BASED CONTROLS: Completely new interface designed for gesture-based controls. Zoom in with a pinch, move your units with a drag and scroll across the map with a flick.
ACCESSIBLE TO ALL: Multiple difficulty levels, an integrated tutorial and friendly advisors are all here to help newcomers and seasoned Civ veterans alike.
SAME GAME, SMALLER SCREEN: Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for iPhone and iPod touch has all the same civilizations, gameplay and scenarios from the award winning console game. It’s all of the goodness of Civ right in the palm of your hands.
GLOBAL DOMINATION TO GO: Conquer the world whenever you want, wherever you want, on your time. Save whenever you like, or just use the autosave feature if you get a call.

On this day…FREE
….historical events and birthdays for any day of the year.
On this day…” is a stylish calendar that lets you view historical events, birth and death dates on your iPhone and iPod touch.
FEATURES

Display Events, Birth and Death dates
Quickly select a specific calendar date
Shake your device to reload the current day
Open entries in the Articles Wikipedia App or Safari

History tools that have Google Maps/Earth…really amazing

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On January 21, 2011 · 4 Comments

They all support Google Maps for you to easily find the place you are interested in. They all have Google Earth integrated for you to get the location 3D view and they allow users to upload old photographs of any geographical locations.

HistoryPin

Historypin is a global project created by the social movement We Are What We Do, in partnership with Google. The site works as a digital time machine, allowing people to view and share history online. According to the site creators, its mission is to get families back together to share memories and organize them using the site.

LookBackMaps

LookBackMaps is another (less fun than History Pin, but cool too) way to visually organize, explore and engage in historical photographs through web.

The collection stored on the site was started by mapping the “millions of historical photos available through public libraries and private collections on the web”. However, the creators do need help and do allow users to help them make their collection larger.

SepiaTown

SepiaTown lets you view and share “thousands” of mapped historical images from around the globe.

The site has a huge collection of photos (with carefully cited sources for each one):

maps mashup

The NOW/THEN link switches to Google Street View to compare the historical place with how it looks now. Each photo has notes with some historical and geographic information on it.

Click! A Brief History of Computing from Life Magazine

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On January 18, 2011 · Add Comment

A World of Ones and Zeroes

Computers are now so essential a part of the workings of the world that it’s difficult to imagine a time when they weren’t literally everywhere. But how did these devices, in their almost unimaginable array of shapes and sizes, make their way into the very fabric of our daily lives? Herein, a far-from-exhaustive, rigorously semi-scientific survey of the pivotal technological and cultural moments, the visionaries, and (of course) the machines themselves that transformed computers from novelties into now-ubiquitous necessities. Above: A woman works at an IBM computer in 1955.

CLICK HERE

Resources for Teaching History with Technology

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On January 15, 2011 · Add Comment

Michael Zimmer, Pursuit if Technology Integration Happiness recently posted another installment in his series teaching Social Studies using technology. His previous posts included Geography, Economics, and Government and are all worth checking out.

Check out all the details about the History sites, CLICK HERE, but the list includes:

Remember MacPaint? I used it with my 1st Mac back in 1984!

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On July 24, 2010 · 2 Comments

I was an early adopter of the Macintosh, in fact, I bought one in the fall of 1984, it was a 128k machine. Imagine that and now 360 gig hard drive with 4 gigs of RAM is not big enough…….All the software was used from floppy disks, MacWrite & MacPaint, yup that was all I had, MacWrite and MacPaint. Remember them? MacWrite was a basic word processor by today’s terms, but MacPaint had a huge impact on my interest in using the computer as a creative and artistic tool. My journalism staff completely produced the sshool newspaper and yearbook using them that school year. And, I went on to get an MFA in Graphic Design and have no doubt the Macintosh and MacPaint were an early influence in that process.

It was the predecessor to pretty much all the imaging software we use now, MacPaint introduced the lasso tool and the paint bucket which I still use all the time. The marching ants selection is used in most Adobe software and began with MacPaint.

Apple’s drawing software was the first to let us create images rather than using code to make them. If I had to use code, I would be up a creek without a paddle. I am not a code person, and I don’t want to be! Apple has always understood what regular people (like me) needed in computers, even if at that point most people didn’t even realize they needed a computer. It didn’t take me very long to get hooked. I have have one version or another of Macintosh since 1984. I have never spend my own personal hard earned money on any computer but a Macintosh and still would not purchase anything but a Mac. How about you? Sorry, Windows folks, but in my opinion, Mac is just easier and more stable ant JUST WORKS!!

Recently, Apple donated the original source code for MacPaint to the Computer History Museum (http://www.computerhistory.org/). Apple realized the historical as well as the technical significance of MacPaint. The Computer History Museum has it available for downloaded. They say it is 5,822 lines of Apple Pascal and 3,583 lines of 68000 assembly, which means absolutely nothing to me, but, I am sure all those numbers and lines of code mean something to programmers. I can just accept the MAGIC that it just makes it work!!

If you are interested in the history of MacPaint CLICK HERE to access the Computer History Museum page about MacPaint. To my surprise, it is pretty interesting.

WoW: NBC Learn has launched Finishing the Dream

By Cyndi Danner-Kuhn On June 1, 2010 · Add Comment

NBC Learn has launched Finishing the Dream, a free video series chronicling 60 years of the Civil Rights movement, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the integration of Central High School in Little Rock and the Freedom Riders. See reports as they happened (from the NBC News archives) as well as retrospectives. The clips are grouped into 10 thematic collections, such as political, legal, sociological and personal. An embedded video widget is available and will be updated monthly with new video content.

To access the FREE resources, CLICK HERE

Email has transformed our lives, check out this Infographic history

Using Angry Birds to teach math, history and science

100 years of History video in 100 seconds

Click! A Brief History of Computing from Life Magazine

A World of Ones and Zeroes

Remember MacPaint? I used it with my 1st Mac back in 1984!

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iMovie & GarageBand

iMovie for iPad Tips and Tricks from Mac

History Apps

HistoryPin

LookBackMaps

SepiaTown

A World of Ones and Zeroes

Subscribe Via Email

Categories

Details

Blogroll

Links

Archives

Recent Posts

Celebrate Kansas Voices

KeyBookshop

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Tag Cloud

iPad 2 launch sale. 80% off! Limited time only! Only 99 cents!