Episode 109 – Fancy water

109

Tony, Dave and Patrick are back after the Chinese New Year delayed the podcast and it is a great one. They talk about the future of photography in school, an educator’s workspace and about a new type of communication app that is free to use. Check out the talking points below.

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The future of photography in schools – DSLR vs Smartphones
a. Link: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/shootout-redux-smartphone-camera-vs-tricked-out-dslr-one-year-later/ by Lee Hutchinson of Ars Technica
b. Instead of teaching good photography with complex DSLR, should we teach basic smartphone shooting and then touching it up in Photoshop/LightRoom?
c. http://lifehacker.com/5815742/basics-of-photography-the-complete-guide

An educator’s workspace
a. Link: http://lifehacker.com/take-a-moment-and-assess-your-workspace-for-productivit-1754626706 by Alan Henry of LifeHacker
b. What does yours look like?
c. How often do you revamp change it?
d. Tony’s rule: If you don’t use it at least once a month don’t put it on your desk
e. Kneeling chair: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Ergonomically-Designed-Casters-Memory/dp/B002L15NSK f. Sit stand desk:http://www.thehumansolution.com/height-adjustable-sit-stand-desk.html g. Gina Tapani’s workspace: http://lifehacker.com/5932887/im-gina-trapani-and-this-is-how-i-work

New app aims to improve teacher parent-teacher communication on eSchool News
a. Link: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/02/10/new-app-aims-to-improve-parent-teacher-communication/
b. This is a press release not a story
c. Bloomz: https://www.bloomz.net/
d. Bloomz Overview video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkiTA_acE8E
e. Closed social network and communication system for schools
f. Calendars, easy communication, scheduling of conferences, reminders, etc.
g. Is there a problem? Is this the best solution?

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What’s in a desk?


I was perusing Lifehacker today when I saw this post/video about desks and how some very creative people relate to them.  Check out the video yourself and see if you are one of these people? Do you need a desk, a workspace where you feel at “home”? I know I do. I try to circulate during the class and engage my students, but when all is quiet there is no place I’d rather be than my desk area pictured below.

After school I pack up my laptop and go home every day to do more work at home, but I greatly prefer my desk at school. I guess when I’m there I know I got to work, I’ve got a focus. What about you Babble Nation? Are you a desk person, or can you just head to Starbucks with your laptop, a cup of Joe, and some ideas?  We hear at IT Babble love those comments and ideas, so post away!