In working on a presentation for this week, I came across EarthSwoop, a site which uses the Google Earth Plugin to visit a group of sites via Google Earth through a regular web browser. While there are not many tours available as of yet, the one which caught my attention is the tour of the Olympic venues in Beijing. Because the tour is connected to the full Google Earth capabilities, the tool may be used to provide a larger geographic context for Beijing, China, and the Olympics in general. Check it out!

Today in an email newsletter I received information about Knol, an initiative from Google designed to produce user-created encyclopedic content that is more authoritative than Wikipedia. As you probably know, Wikipedia is controversial among educators and librarians since anyone can create or edit an article on this site, raising questions about the validity and the accuracy of their articles. However, Wikipedia articles may also be corrected quickly through this method, leading to an accuracy level that rivals traditional encyclopedic sources.

Here is a list of sites which I have found recently which may be of interest to technology specialists and educators:

Here are my NECC notes from a session entitled Virtual Opportunities: Interactive Strategies for Online Instruction. This was a panel discussion highlighting best practices for teaching and learning online. This session had particular relevance for me since I've started teaching online courses through Concordia University Wisconsin and the MTM Project. This is a growing area in the field of education -- one which opens the doors for all kinds of new learning, and all kinds of new skills to facilitate this learning. Here are the notes:

Here are my notes from NECC from the Gail Lovely presentation entitled Web 2.0 Meets Grade 2.0. I must say that Gail is one of my favorite presenters. Her manner is exceptional as she shares practical ideas for early learners. But what I appreciate most about her is that she readily shares her philosophy about what makes a good activity for these learners, giving me insights into the education of age groups which I didn't study in my preparation for teaching. Here are the notes:

Yesterday I made the 16 hour drive from NECC in San Antonio back home. There was plenty of time during the day to reflect upon our country and the blessings of our Lord through the country in which we live. While these reflections don't necessarily have anything to do with technology and education, I do feel compelled to share them nonetheless:

Here are some unedited notes from a session at NECC about strategies for online discussion. I personally found this session very helpful in thinking about instruction strategies for a new era with new tools. Here are those notes:

This really isn't the best timing, but I'm having difficulty with the battery on my laptop, so any NECC updates today will rely on my ability to move close to a power supply during the various sessions.

In the meantime, here are some resources from the conference from yesterday:

Here are my blogging notes from NECC for David Warlick's presentation, Our Students, Our World. Please excuse misspellings, typos, etc. as this is being published as soon as possible.

Here are my quick notes from a presentation on improving PowerPoint presentations at NECC in San Antonio. I'm copying these to the post as is, so there might be mistakes in the spelling, grammar, etc. Enjoy!

Regular readers of LutheranTech know that the focus of this blog tends to be on technology, education, and ministry. But there are times when larger ministry issues are on my mind, spurring thoughts that I believe might have value for the larger group of Lutheran educators. Clearly there is a great deal of angst in our country over rising gas prices and the entire economic picture. Lutheran schools, especially those who are almost entirely tuition based in their funding, are feeling the pinch as they seek to maintain enrollment targets and meet budget strictures. However, it is during unsettling times such as these that opportunities for ministry and service often emerge, and Lutheran schools, churches, and related ministries are uniquely prepared to respond to those who are unsettled by life in 2008 and looking for a firm foundation in uncertain times.

Here are some links which may be of interest to teachers in Lutheran schools that I've uncovered this past week:

• Google is opening their popular Gmail email service to testers in trying out new features. Some of these features may eventually be permanently incorporated in Google Apps, which may be used by schools. Full article.

I've started playing with a service called Diigo, which appears to be a combination of several social networking ideas, such as Ning and del.icio.us, with steroids added. The site is much faster to render than the other previously listed services in my tests, which is remarkable given the richness of the features found in Diigo. As a result, I'm finding it to be fairly overwhelming. There are so many interesting tools and uses that it is difficult sorting through the utility for education, professional development, and ministry in a focused way.

Over the past week I've compiled a short list of potential professional development resources for teachers in my building. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, I thought that the list might be worth sharing. Each of these books, sites, and activities relate to education and technology in some way. I've encouraged each teacher to be proactive as far as their own learning this summer as part of the process of restoring energy and passion for future service.

My friend Alan in California has started to blog. His blog, while not having a long list of posts as of yet, does provide some insights into the work of a technology specialist and the struggle that persists in pushing educational and technological change in our Lutheran schools.

OK....the title is a cheap play on words from the title of a popular Christian book, but it really is appropriate for this post.

Friday was our last day of school for the 2007-2008 term. As a result, my thoughts are turning to more creative and futuristic themes -- themes which get shoved aside when the school year gets busy. One of these thoughts is working through a more intentional analysis of our current church/school website and working on improving this essential ministry tool.

The next online meeting with Dr. Perry Bresemann, Technology Director for Lutheran Schools, will be on Thursday, May 22.  We will gather at the same site: http://breeze.muth.us/techleaders  at 8:30 pm Eastern.  You are welcome to join us and to invite others to attend.  Please remember if you have a headset (microphone and speakers) you will be able to talk to the group members.

Perhaps you have seen this video which is making the rounds in education circles. It is a powerful video in speaking to the changes in education that are essential to best serve our students in preparing them for THEIR future.