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Articles from April 2007

The Next Two Weeks -Friday, April 27, 2007
By David Black :: 206 Views :: 0 Comments ::

Looks for some more sporadic and infrequent posting to the blog the next two weeks. I have a number of travel and family events that will be needing my attention in addition to my regular teaching duties. Thank you for your understanding.

Civility and Tech Support -Monday, April 23, 2007
By David Black :: 351 Views :: 1 Comments ::

:: Technology, Education, Faith

This editorial from Christian Computing Magazine really spoke to me. How often do we (myself included, unfortunately) become exasperated with technical support, expecting and demanding all our issues to be solved, only to become impatient and even hostile when they are not resolved in a timely manner? Do we remember that there is a fellow human on the other end of the phone -- someone whose day we can make or break by our own attitude? And if they see that the call is coming from a Lutheran school or church and we have this attitude of overbearing entitlement, what does that say to them about Lutheranism and Christianity?

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Charts and Google Spreadsheets -Saturday, April 21, 2007
By David Black :: 346 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Technology, Software, Internet, Education

Google Documents and Spreadsheets now has charting available in its Internet-based program. This makes the free tool more interesting for the average educational user. The key question for schools continues to be how to many user IDs and passwords for students if they wish to take advantage of this free service. I would hope that at some point Google would help provide some acceptable solutions to this question for the education market.

Friday Links List -Friday, April 20, 2007
By David Black :: 285 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Technology, Internet

Here is a Friday links list of articles, technology information, and education connections that I have come across the past couple of days:

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Not Again -Wednesday, April 18, 2007
By Dan Czaplewski :: 366 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Current Events, Devotional, Faith

The events at Virginia Tech seem strangely familiar. Columbine, the Texas University tower and others come to mind. We want to say "not again!"

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Wikipedia is Good at This -Tuesday, April 17, 2007
By David Black :: 332 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Internet, Current Events

The shooting rampage at Virginia Tech yesterday was tragic, shocking, and saddening. Our prayers and Christian sympathy go out to all those affected to anyone who has suffered in any way as a result.

One thing I noticed about this tragedy, as I did with other recent events such as Hurricane Katrina, is that users quickly created a Wikipedia article on the event -- an article that was updated nearly every minute at its peak (click here for a current look at the article and here for the history listing of the article).

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Numbers as Web Text -Monday, April 16, 2007
By David Black :: 331 Views :: 1 Comments ::

:: Internet, Education

I've written before about Jakob Nielsen and the fascinating work he does with Internet usability. He published another thought-provoking article on the web today -- one which affects the future of education generally, and writing skills specifically.

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I'm a Good Person, but I Did a Bad Thing -Thursday, April 12, 2007
By Dan Czaplewski :: 487 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Current Events, Devotional, Faith

The strange morality tale of Don Imus and the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. Spirituality without religion or faith.

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Try This -Wednesday, April 11, 2007
By David Black :: 237 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Technology, Internet

This was submitted by a LutheranTech reader:

Go to Google.com

Click on "Maps"

Click on "Get Directions"

Type "Chicago" in the first box (the from box)

Type "London" in the second box (the to box)

Hit "Get Directions"

Check out step #20

Enjoy!

Doubting Thomas -Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By Dan Czaplewski :: 677 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Devotional, Faith

Sunday, April 15, is the 2nd Sunday of Easter and the Gospel readign is John 20:19-31.

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Views on Wikipedia and Citizendium -Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By David Black :: 358 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Technology, Internet, Education

Here is an interesting post from the learning.now blog on Wikipedia and its new challenger, Citizendium. You may recall that Citizendium that is an attempt to create a Wikipedia-like reference source that is overseen by known experts and where anonymous posting is prohibited. Volunteers knowns as "constables" who monitor the content, thereby adding another layer of supervision to the entire project.

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Urgent Windows Security Update -Thursday, April 05, 2007
By David Black :: 287 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Security

Click here for information on an urgent Windows security update. You will want to make sure your home and school machines are protected with this patch.

8th Grade and 3rd Grade Collaboration -Tuesday, April 03, 2007
By David Black :: 323 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Technology, Internet, Education

We had a great start to the school day today with our 8th and 3rd graders. As some of you may recall, I've had the 8th grade create a wiki on U.S. History this year, giving them the opportunity for reinforcement of the content and standards as well as providing a forum for practical collaboration.

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Easter Visitors -Tuesday, April 03, 2007
By Dan Czaplewski :: 419 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Devotional, Faith

Will you go to Church this Sunday? Will you be able to find a parking place or a seat? How do you feel about that?

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Monday Links List -Monday, April 02, 2007
By David Black :: 269 Views :: 0 Comments ::

:: Links

Here is a Monday links list for educators and those connected with technology in some way:

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