Mobile Internet Devices or MIDs, the next thing

Ok, so I'm stating the obvious. Mobile Internet Devices rock, and we are going to see more of these in our schools. What are MIDs? Well, you could argue that new phones that browse the web are MIDs. That would be true of Apple's iPhone, Nokia's N seriers, and LGs Viewty. However it would not be true of regular phones that just happen to browse the net on some crappy java based browser.

MIDs deliver a full web experience. They deliver properly formated pages and include extensions like Adobe Flash. They usually include connectivity like a web cam, mic and headphone jacks. They keep you intouch with all that is Web 2.0 but on the go.

In some respects my aging Palm LifeDrive was an attempt at an MID. However, it was ultametly crippled by a poor browser that locked it out of running flash or formatting the web properly.

I woke up to this idea in schools when I asked a student to put away his iPod touch. He commented back that he was checking his marks. When checked, he was indeed viewing his online marks. What's more, he had used the underpowered device to login to the class site and post a discussion board comment earlier instead waiting to use one of the inclass full PCs I have for that purpose. Hmmm, I thought, I'd better pay attention to this.

Since then, i've noticed that three other students in that class of only 24 have ipod touches. That number will increase I'm sure. Right now we have poor wifi and it only works in my class and a few other spots. However, this summer we're rolling out public accessible Internet across the school. What will that mean for posting assignments? Shared calendars? Communicating with students in general? Might have to re-think that podcast thing.

Our district demands that all students purchase a TI-83 or better. I wonder if it would be better to demand a purchase of an iPod? I'm sure the students would be game!

VoiceThread .. instant embedded audio comments

Our class has been getting into online discussions with our Moodle course site, but I want to move it beyond basic text chat.

Enter VoiceThread. This is a very easy to use audio/video comment collector on an image or slideshow you create. Well, it's more than that, but this is how I wish to use it. As you can see from the previous blog, you first upload an image, then as students or anyone to comment on it.

First time in, students will be asked to create a user account, but it is done right on the embedded object and they are not diverted to another website. Very cool. Then they just start recording voice or video, or typing if that's all they could do.

All my grade 11 students understood how to use it, but some of their voices were not recorded. I've asked voicethread about it. We'll see what they say. Still, it's worth checking out! Each way to ask for comments on your blog or where ever.

Supersize McDonald's Clown

OK ... this is cool

Alright I'm still not "sold" on Zoho. However this one thing is too cool. Go there sign in and then click on Zoho Creator. Just watch the starting video. AAAHHHH too cool.

Now, without any purchase of a server or software, you can create online databases that are accessible in other websites or blogs. (OK, if you've never done this the hard way, then you won't get this but trust me, this is very cool.)

Another amazing thing is that you can embed any zoho document anywhere else on the web. I'm just looking in to this, but I love the first results I've had with placing the documents into Moodle. Now, different students could be collaborating on a zoho document, but we can all see their progress on our classes moodle site. This could be big !

Zoho ... another online office with lots of features.

I can't say I'm going to use Zoho (zoho.com), but it is worth checking out. If you have not yet bought in to google with gmail, googledocs, and googlecalendar, I would definitelycheck it out.

What is it? Well, it' s basically all the software you might use on your machine, but online. So you can create spreadsheets, word processing files, presentations, and much more. Why this stands out as perhaps better than google is all of the unique extras you can do. From online invoicing, databases, meetings, detailed planning, to complete project management software this online office offers much more than what I've found before.

If you are considering keeping and sharing your documents online, I'd look at this start up. No doubt it will be bought by one of the giants, but cool anyway.