Educational Yummies

I found a bucket-full-o-yummy educational resources that I can't wait to share. They have prolly already been mentioned here, but they are worth another gander.

The OER Commons (Open Educational Resources) is just a ALL YOU CAN EVER WANNA EAT BUFFET of goodies!!! I am still over there filling up my plate!

The WikiEducator is another lovely buffet of educational goodness.

Citizendium is a cool place that is like the Wikipedia of Good People doing Good Things.

The Index of Perdita Women is another little hot spot.

LitQuotes is another must-have resource for the wee lil English teacher in you!

The Sound of Young America

The Sound of Young America is by far my favorite podcast right now. On this "Public Radio Show About Things That Are Awesome", host Jesse Thorn mixes comedy, music, television and everything fun/interesting into addictive 30 minute segments.

Perfectly self-proclaimed as "Conan O'Brien on the radio" or "Fresh-Air but more fun", I think any Stingy Scholar reader would enjoy this show. Here are some episodes I've particularly enjoyed.

"Faking It" - A discussion with Yuval Taylor on authenticity in music. Lots of talk on Leadbelly and early blues.

"Simon Lovell" - A former conman-turn author reveals the secrets of the hustle and short-con.

"Dan Harmon" - Co-creator of Channel 101 and the new VH1 show Acceptable.tv talks about television as an art-form and the origin of the cult, un-aired pilot "Heat Vision & Jack" (check it out).



"The Human Giant" - Hilarious comic-group discuss the origins of some of their best sketches such as the Illusionators and shittiest boombox

Curriki

Amaral - "Revolucion"

Curriki is a web community of K-12 educators sharing lesson plans and projects in a central location. Although the site materials vary in quality, Curriki has a bit of funding and is pitched by Scott McNealy, former Cisco CEO. Homeschoolers in particular might want to check out this site over the weeks to come.

Open Shakespeare and SLIC

An awesome resource has just been updated for all you Bard lovin' readers!

The Open Knowledge Foundation just released the newest version of Open Shakespeare.



Also, if any of you are interested in exploring Second Life, there is a 24 hour inworld conference being held on Friday, May 25th. The

Second Life International Conference: Best Practices in Teaching, Learning and Research

is FREE FREE FREE...but you do need to sign up (and, if you are new, you should go in a few days ahead of time to learn how to walk and talk).

Museum of Lost Communications

This video introduces PESTER, the latest 1970s technology for busy executives on the go. PESTER (Portable Enhanced System for Telecommunications & Recreation) contained a phone, cassette player, camera and games - a deck of playing cards was held in the pack compartment. The phone connected "wirelessly" at strategic contact points and send recorded message through operators.

The University of Dundee's Museum of Lost Communications has information on PESTER and eight other technological devices from 1900 to 1979. All have several pictures and video demonstrations. Some of the best include the Zenith Radio Hat (1952), the portable video case and ashtray (1979) and some early music piracy in the Acoustograph (1920).

Cozi is a Great Web Calendar

Amy Winehouse - "Back to Black"

I've been using the free Cozi calendar for a week now and I'm very impressed. Here's why:

(1) Easy to Use -Lots of web calendars are far to complicated to figure out. With the Cozi calendar you type in simple English and the program figures out what you mean. Type "Movie tomorrow at 7" - the program uses tomorrow's date. There are also shopping lists ready with all the common items you need.

(2) Easy to Access - Cozi is a software download, but you can access your information online from anywhere. For me, the most important feature is the ability to synch the information with your work Outlook calendar. If you live in the US or Canada, you can also retrieve your events and shopping lists from your mobile phone.

(3) Great Design - The great layout and interface really seals the deal for me. All of the pages are attractive and intuitive. Cozi also makes a great screensaver using the pictures in your PC.

If you've been disappointed by all the other web-calendars or family portals you've come across, try Cozi.

A Groovy Cool FREE Conference

If you are interested in learning about SL and how it is used to teach...come to the 2007 Second Life International Conference: Best Practices in Teaching, Learning and Research.

This is a free event for educators BY educators. You get lots of groovy free things, chances to win prizes, opportunities to hear the best and the brightest educators (LIVE!), and the chance to meet other folks JUST LIKE YOU!

It is a 24 hour conference...so every time zone will have something happening in the virtual world. Be sure to get your account and do all the newbie stuff a few days before the conference starts; you don't want to waste precious conference time learning how to keep your britches on :-)

Also, for those interested, here is a kickin' article about why Second Life is a groovy place for men (and women - too).

Aviation Systems Standards

Just stumbled upon some rather good free online aviation resources. As I continue to study for my PPL from home, I try to find as much as possible from the web which can aid my studies. Some of these study aids I'm happy to pay for, though once in a while you come across some helpful free resources which I'd like to share with any budding aviation enthusiats out there.

I've only had a quick scan through, but the aeronautical chart users guide is a great place to start. They contain introductions and breakdowns of all IFR, VFR & IAP symbols (which is extremely handy!).

The digital terminal procedures guide contains full details and airport diagrams of all major US airports (so for those of you interested in FS, then this is a great add-on).

Unfortunately I have not had the chance to review the whole site, but check out the front page and have a look from there.

Happy surfing and I do hope to contribute more faithfully to this excellent site in the future.

Goodies Galore

I had the awesome opportunity to speak with the Women of the Web tonight for their weekly chat. Of course, I blabbered on about Second Life. These four women (Cheryl Oakes, Jennifer Wagner, Sharon Peters, & Vicki Davis) are just amazing, and host an engaging weekly series for folks using web2.0 tools. So...go there...Tuesdays...9PM EST.



Their wiki is home to such treasures as:

WeTheTeacher
This is really for younger students; but there is a wicked cool jeopardy game maker there. The concept can be adapted and applied to college students, too.

The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly of the Internet
This is a nice wiki focusing on elements of the Internet.

Literary Worlds
This is another 3D environment used to teach literature. AWESOME stuff!

Free NES + Free Books

The Minibosses doing Castlevania III. If you are an old-school Nintendo junkie, put away the power glove and check out this site. vNES lets you play 830 games online. No ROM emulations, downloads or nuttin'.

As for the free books, Fred alerted me to this pretty popular list (at least judging by the number of Diggs) from Fried Beef. We've posted many of these sites before, but that doesn't mean it's not worth revisiting.

What's Going On With Textbook Revolution?

We've received a couple comments/emails asking why the Textbook Revolution site's been down and when it's coming back. Here's the answer from Jason:

"My old webhost managed to destroy my site, and reconstructing it has proven to be far more difficult than I'd hoped. Not to fear, Textbook Revolution will be back in the near future. Thanks for your concern and sorry for the delay in connecting you to the free books."

So not to fear, TBR will be back soon...

In the meanwhile, you might want to check out the free textbook google custom search.

The YouTubes for Data and PDFs - I Don't Get It....

Happy Easter! Enjoy the Peep Show (warning, some might consider this R-rated depending on your sensitivity to marshmallow-on-marshmallow action).

We've seen a lot of buzz about two sites recently. Swivel has generated buzz as the YouTube of Data. Meanwhile, Scribd is heralded as the YouTube of PDFs. I've taken a look at both sites and my reaction is that both are filled with lots of garbage. Sure, there are some good material on the sites, but I really don't understand the appeal. I'd love to hear some different opinions, so comment or email and tell me why I'm wrong.

Fred's Finds: Don't Miss These Great Sites

eMule Poetry Archives - Many don't think of eMule as an academic resource but there are tons of copyright free poems here.

ReadPrint - A nice collection of books, by name and/or by author. Skim the list to see what you might be interested in.

Librivox - The open audiobook site where users submit their home recordings.

World Lecture Hall - This is "old reliable"--been around a while but still useful. It is a directory of online syllabi and courses indicating if they include audio and video.

Digital Book Index - One of the largest resources for finding an ebook.

The Insane Human Slingshot & Useful Government Resources

Just for fun, here's some crazy bungee contraption in action (thanks, Trevor).

The University of Louisville has created a useful library linking to government resources on hot topics. For instance, this is a good place to look if you're researching topics like bioengineered food, dirty bombs, or tobacco and smoking. Above all else, this is a great site for debaters looking for some quick supporting details.

Pitt School of Law's "The Jurist"

If you're interested in the US law but tired of drudging through convoluted legalise, check out the Jurist from the University of Pittsburgh. Now celebrating its ten year anniversary, this site has evolved into a comprehensive review of national and international legal news and commentary, complete with video and downloadable documents (i.e. Guatanamo Bay plea agreements).

TV Links

"Cancion de Adios", a great song from Coti, the young Argentine Andres Calamaro sound-alike.

We've been relaxing at home this long Easter weekend. Well, sort of. Unfortunately, I've been scrambling around attempting to learn how to do multiple regression modeling (if we have any statistics experts in the crowd, I'd love to hear from you). Anyway, the little lady has been very patient as I've been working the whole week. Patient mainly due to the great old Gilmore Girls, Friends and Will & Grace episodes on TV Links - a great page we stumbled across. Unlike torrent sites, you can view the episodes directly in an internet window. Since this is a British site, there are also many excellent British shows such as Black Adder, Brass Eye, Extras, the IT Crowd and Michael Palin's Full Circle. The site also has music videos, cartoons, anime and a ton of movies.

(I know that readers have mixed feelings about sites linking and/or hosting "pirated" material. We're certainly sympathetic to those feelings and always try to highlight free legal materials, but until the industry gets their act together I don't see a problem pointing out excellent sites like these.)

Wicked Cool Information

I was slightly benched from SL due to a nasty bout of Blue Screen, but, fear not faithful readers, I am back in the clenches of my virtual identity.

I have come by some excellent resources, and want to share them with you!!!

First, George Kurtz (SL Butch Dae), sent a nice link to SLED about the bennies of educational gaming. It is well worth a look-see - especially if your colleagues poo-poo the idea of using games in the college classroom. George also posted a link to Parade of Games - a very cool site linking out to free games to use in the classroom.

Speaking of games...the Community College without Borders Project just built a Blue Obelisk Garden and Science Complex for Open Notebook Science on the Second Nature Sim in Second Life. This was built to highlight the cutting-edge open chemistry work of Dr. Jean-Claude Bradley, Associate Professor of Chemistry, at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA.

Up t0 15 people can play the Blue O game to test their knowledge of Lewis Structures. Oh....you sooooo know you wanna!!!

Beth's Top 10 Kick-Arse SL Videos

Right…so…I am benched from Second Life, as my puter decided to blow up. My college gave me another one to use, but, alas, the video card is “not supported by Second Life.” Poo.

So, I actually got some work done, and then decided that I simply missed SL too much. I couldn't look at my pictures because they were lost in the Crash of 2007. I had to rely on some pics from the King of Educational SL Resources, Pathfinder Linden.

Alas, I needed moving images, so, I hopped onto YouTube and decided to find 10 cool videos ABOUT SL (since I can’t go in myself).

Here they are (not in any special order, mind you):

1. I lie. I have a favorite. Kurt Vonnegut, author of my favorite short story ever – Harrison Bergeron – was in SL and here in the Video.

2. U2 on YouTube from SL (say that three times fast) raises awareness about One.org (a charity to end AIDS).

3. Second Life: Get One has a lot of zany images that demonstrate the possibilities of SL.

4. Machinima: Text 100 in Second Life demonstrates how SL can be used in business, and the discussion points can be applied to education, as well. I think it is an advertisement for the company that put it together, but you can go ahead and ignore that part (I did, hehe).

5. Tour of Info Islands is awesome because it really shows the potential of SL for the nerdy-cool folk like me.

6. A wee video about the making of Suzanne Vega’s SL Guitar is pretty wicked, too.

7. Of course, you sooooooo need to hear her sing Tom’s Diner in SL, and the gorgeous Ms. Vega was the first Big Name recording artist to show up and be cool in SL. WOOT WOOT!

8. Okay, I am not a Trekkie, but I do know others who admit their addictions. So, if any of you out there are Treksters, check out this clip.

9. I am a huge fan of Sun MicroSystems for their support of the SL platform. Here is a video of the Sun Pavilion and their first press release in SL. Visionaries.

10. Finally, I sooooo hope this exists in SL because I truly am an addict of the Game Show Network, and – holy pete – I hope the Price is Right is in SL, complete with neutering ads by Bob-the-Boss-Barker.

Ugh, Now I want to GO INWORLD AND FIND BOB!!! Pathetic, I know.

Top 14 MIT OpenCourseWares (#1-5)

The moment you've all been waiting for: the top 5 MIT OCW's:

5. Chinese I (Regular), Spring 2006
Lectures: None
Readings: Free online textbooks and .mp3 files
Study materials: Flash cube study tool, three sample exams

Although there are no lecture videos or notes, this course stands out for the great free textbook and audio pronunciation files. Additionally, through a downloadable study software, you can test yourself. Students might also want to check out Knuckles in China-Land and some of the Chinese language-learning sites we've looked at.



4. Symmetry, Structure, and Tensor Properties of Materials, Fall 2005
Lectures: Video/Audio
Readings: All readings provided
Study Materials: Problem sets

From the MIT site description - "This course covers the derivation of symmetry theory; lattices, point groups, space groups, and their properties; use of symmetry in tensor representation of crystal properties, including anisotropy and representation surfaces; and applications to piezoelectricity and elasticity."





3. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (Spring 2005)
Lectures: Audio (see below), very detailed notes
Readings: Free online textbook and links to other related free readings
Study materials: iCampus, projects, 2 exams with answers

One of the first core courses for undergraduates studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The site uses a free textbook and very detailed lecture notes containing the power point presentation and more than 20 pages of notes per lecture. Additionally, through iCampus, you can listen to audio lectures and you can use a variety of tools to test yourself online (it's a bit tricky to find the lectures, you need to link to iCampus under other resources and sign-up for a free account). The OLS discussion group is more active than most.


2. Aircraft Systems Engineering, Fall 2005
Lectures: Video/Audio, most lecture notes, lecturer bios
Readings: All readings provided
Study Materials: Sample student projects, image gallery

The course was administrated by the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project Manager and a shuttle astronaut. Guest speakers provide the majority of the content, discussing topics such as system design, accident investigation, and the future of NASA's space mission.


1. Introductory Biology, Spring 2005
Lectures: Video
Readings: Have to buy one textbook, but also uses a second online textbook
Study Materials: Problem sets, recitation problems and exams - all with detailed solutions

Biology core material course covering the fundamental principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology. Lots of study materials provided.

Quintira Search Clouds

Oksana mentioned that I haven't been posting music videos in a while, so thought I should get back in the habit of doing it. This duet Alejandro Sanz/Shakira duet's been on the radio a lot the past couple days (and stuck in my head), so here you go!

Catching up on a bunch of great email updates from people. Promise to have them all up over the next few days. Quintura is one of these suggestions that I really like. There are plenty of new search engines out there, but this one has a very intuitive and functional cloud interface. Enter a search term and related, suggested terms appear. Choose appropriate ones to refine your search. A new Quintura for Kids is also available.