PeaceMaker - Serious Gaming for the Classroom

As I drove to work this morning, I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition and a story by Steve Inskeep caught my ear. He was interviewing former Israeli Army Captain Asi Burak who is a member of a team from ImpactGames. His team (which is comprised mostly of Carnegie Mellon University graduates) has developed a game called PeaceMaker. In this simulation. the player becomes the leader on either the Israeli or the Palestinian side of the conflict. Their goal is to establish peace in the region.

In my opinion, anyone who spends 15 min. playing the game will soon learn why this conflict has continued for decades with no end in site.

What a powerful example of e-learning!

Listen to the NPR story here!

Visit the PeaceMaker site!

Amanda's Story

This is a "must see" video clip for all educators. In this video, Amanda, who is what we might call a "low functioning" autistic person, is shown going through her repetitive, autistic actions. It appears that she is shut-off from the rest of the world and that she is completely unresponsive to her environment. As you watch the video you will learn that Amanda is anything but unresponsive. In fact, she is more in-touch with her surroundings than most of us. She will share with you, in her own way, what is going on in her mind.

This story grabbed my attention for a number of reasons. Perhaps the greatest of these was that Amanda may have never found a voice that the rest of us could understand without the help of technology.

Embed a Podcast or RSS Feed with Grazr

If you would like to feature a podcast or other RSS feed on your website or blog, take a look at Grazr. All you need to do is copy the RSS feed link into the online Grazr tool, select the options you want and then paste the html code that Grazr provides in your blog or web page.

The finished result will look something like the example below and since it is an RSS feed, the content will automatically update as your source provides new content.

Best of all, it is a free service. Thank you Grazr!

Check it out at http://grazr.com/config.html

Spelling Time

Spelling Time is a free-online spelling tool that you or your students may use to practice grade-level spelling words up to 5th grade.

The site is extremely interactive and allows teachers to track individual student progress.

Through a mix of spelling practice and game environments, students are led through a weekly set of words with a test at the end of the week.

Check them out at http://www.spellingtime.com/

Check Out Gliffy!

Gliffy Graphic Organizer (It's free!)

Since Gliffy runs in your web browser, there is no need to download any additional software to use it. By leveraging new web technologies, Gliffy brings you a familiar desktop application feel in a web browser. Features such as copy,paste and undo are all a part of this advanced web application.


Gliffy has two ways to make document sharing simple. Collaboration enables others to see and edit your work by simply entering their email address. Publishing creates a read-only image of your diagram that you can easily embed in a wiki, blog, or other type of web software.

Check it out at http://www.gliffy.com

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Start the new year off right with Pageflakes! Organize your Internet!

Welcome to 2007!

Like many people this time of year, my new year resolutions and plans are firmly in place, along with my intentions to keep them in place, at least 'till February! In addition to organizing my plans for the new year I figured it was also a good time to organize my Internet world as well. Pageflakes makes the process of getting the Internet organized easy!

Pageflakes can be your personalized startpage on the Internet. Your address book, local weather information, to-do-list, news, blogs and much more – all on one page that you can access from anywhere.

With Pageflakes, everything you need is on one page! Check your email, start Web searches, get weather information and so on. You can also use Pageflakes to keep up with your favorite blogs and news feeds. And best of all, it's free!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT PAGEFLAKES AND CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT!