"Word Cloud" Generator

Here is a new program called Wordle which generates “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. I created the one above by entering the URL of this blog and tweaking the color, font and layout. I am thinking of ways to use it in class and would love to here what others have to say.

Useful Web Application

The Clustermap application is great for blogs and wikis. It gives students (and you) an idea of who out there is viewing your website. I refer to it when I warn the kids to use only first names on the blog so "Samir from Islamabad" can't hack into their personal information. I'm sure that there are others out there but this is the one I and a few others use.

Nettleton's Work Station

Here it is! I used an easy-pro cart. It's a little small and there are a lot of wires. I have to move it out of the way when I'm not using it. This projector might be a little smaller than the one I'll be getting so I may have to change it a bit. I'll have to use a separate cart when I get the document camera. I have not ever posted to a blog before but this was pretty easy to figure out!

I ran the ethernet cable above my drop ceiling to a station centrally located in my room. I had Drew make me a shelf for a desk that I had to give me two levels of storage. An extension cord is duck taped to the floor from the front of the room to a power strip in front of this station. Ta daaa!

Syracuse a la carte!

Here it is! Not glamorous, I know, but it works. I teach in three different classrooms, so I get to move my setup around. I have a longer VGA cord (about 5m) that I use to put my projector on a student desk or on my cart, and just point it at the screen. I put my laptop on the front desk. I've ordered another set of speakers so I don't have so much to move, and to get a little better sound quality. The other picture shows how I usually have to set up the projector. I have 23 students, so I run out of desks doing it this way, but its the only way that I can get it to work.

Wiech's Technology Palace

Here it is folks the desk that makes technology possible. I have a lot of room to the left of my desk which is where I expect to place my document camera. The desk allows me to centralize my technology while the remote mouse gives me freedom to move about the room. My speakers, not as nice as Chad's, produce more than enough sound and definitely enhance any visuals or videos that I use in class.

DeVoe Workstation

Well here is my setup that I've had for the past 3 years. I'm a little nervous about my room being redesigned for next year because I love this. The picture was taken from a student's view at my "L" shaped tables. The projector sits in front of my laptop and projects to the white side wall. I have a hole in my table that allows for a cable plug into my stereo system for audio. I never have to worry about cords or students sticking their hands in the projector stream and no extra money was required for a screen or mounting bracket. Next year I plan to project onto a whiteboard. Anyone have luck with that?

So much technology!