The summer is the best time to learn a new software application or technology, and two options with many tutorials are Lynda.com and Adobe TV.

Lynda.com. I had the opportunity to try out Lynda.com recently due to a promotion through Adobe for a 30 day free trial.  Lynda has tutorials in all software applications and technologies (CSS, programming languages).  With any large selection, there is a mix of quality in the tutorials.  I wasn’t disappointed by the quality of the tutorials, but each trainer had a different approach, and it requires finding your preference of training.  The monthly subscription to view all content is $25.  The cost is clearly worth the price if you are determined to learn the content.

Adobe TV devotes its training to Adobe products, but it’s free and very good.  I have been going through the Flex in a Week series.  The training is high quality, though the videos don’t seem to be organized correctly–the next video is often not the one mentioned at the end of the previous video.  Also, it seems the trainers in Adobe videos, when accessing external data, always connect to a ColdFusion server, which always annoys me.  I have no idea how to use ColdFusion and would benefit from a server solution like PHP/MySQL.  I did locate some additional tutorials on using PHP and Flex.

**I initially viewed these tutorials in Adobe Media Player, but though the Media Player has potential.  It’s clunky and not the best UI for viewing a series of videos.  I became so frustrated with the Media Player, I searched for Adobe videos and found Adobe TV.

I’m as tired of PowerPoint Presentations as the next person.  But then again, it’s important to get your message somehow.

I finally had time to dig into an online tool called Prezi (www.prezi.com) and found it a refreshing and compelling approach to the presentation software idea. The user interface is easy to learn and it took me about 30 minutes to figure out the majority of the tools to create a presentation.

The main control tool that allows you to write, format, create frames and paths, and view the show is shown below.  It appears in the top left hand corner.

Understanding the workflow:

1. Imagine a large piece of white butcher paper.  You can type and add pictures all over it.  Think of a brainstorming session where you put all your ideas down in any order.  You don’t have to know the overall picture from the start, just get down ideas and visuals.

Here’s a sample below:

2.  Click on the white butcher paper and add text, images, grouping main ideas and topics.

3.  Click on an item and you can move, enlarge, or rotate the object to your requirements (using tool below)

4.  Add frames around blocks of content (text, images).

5. Finally, create a path from first item to next and so on.  This creates the “slide order” or the path which the presentation will take.

Key concepts you will need to understand: frames and paths.  Frames group content together into one location.  Paths are used to connect pieces of content or frames of content.

Here’s my first Prezi presentation for an in-service I conducted.

1. Google Documents (http://docs.google.com)
Free online word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software.  Great for collaboration and sharing for teachers or students.
2. Quizlet (http://www.quizlet.com)
Excellent online vocabulary testing software; powerful and useful.
3. Google Earth (http://earth.google.com)
Great supplement to any subject, connecting content to geography and mapping.  Advanced features allow for interesting mash-ups.
4. Voicethread (http://www.voicethread.com)
Easy online video creation tool.  Create documentary style slideshows, allowing commenting, sharing, and multimedia.  Check out 100 ways to use voicethread in education.
5. SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com)
Create online surveys easily and export data in an easy to use format.
6. Google Sites (http://sites.google.com)
Probably the easiest way for students to create their own websites in any content area.  No code necessary.
7.  Ted Talks (http://www.ted.com)
Awesome talks on all subjects by experts in their respective fields.  Check out Math Class Needs a Makeover and Bring on the Learning Revolution.
8. Common Craft videos (http://www.commoncraft.com/)
Fun, engaging videos about a variety of topics; short and good for kids.  Watch the one for blogs, wikis, and World Wide Web.
9. RIA Animate
Animated lectures. Drive and the Power of Time
10. Diigo (http://www.diigo.com)
Great social bookmarking website.  Save and share the best websites easily.
11. Moodle (http://www.moodle.org)
My personal favorite. Teachers have been creating hybrid online courses to provide online interactivity with their students through forums, online quizzes, submission of digital work, surveys, etc.  This one you will need assistance getting started with, offered through the district or Lincoln HS. (Email if you are interested in getting started.)
12. Google Reader (http://reader.google.com)
Read the web through RSS feeds (no need to visit multiple website when the stories archive automatically into your reader.

I’m not encouraged by the trend of mobile device makers to turn every conceivable function into an app, a smaller bite-sized version of something. Give me a bowl of ice cream, and leave the bon bons in the freezer. Apps for the most minimalist functions. I want robust, powerful tools, not five tiny tools of limited functionality required for a larger purpose. Apps are for the brain dead. Give me the power of a heavy weight program that can get work done. I want to install it locally on my computer and own it forever. The movement to the browser (through Web 2.0) and the mobile device is a step back in terms of software development. The tasks that we had perfected have returned to the days of the 80s: limited UIs, functionality, and usage. Without a warning, an online service (i.e. Lala, Ning) folds. Apps on my IPod Touch will eventually be made obsolete in two years.

I love the openness and freedom of the personal computing space (found via a laptop or desktop computer with software installed locally on a computer). I feel handcuffed by many online web tools and IPhone apps limited by bandwidth and tiny screens.  I dare you to try getting a document or video in and out of an IPod Touch or a cell phone and move it from one computer to another. Every little tool costs a dollar here and a dollar there. How often did people pay for software in the PC environment? Most software, outside of professional level programs like Office or Adobe, and Windows, was shareware or freeware.   You could install what you wanted and use it how you wanted.

I have to pay an additional fee ($15) to use the MLB app EVERY YEAR (even after I’ve paid $100 for the streaming service) and advertisements fill the limited real estate of small screens on most of the free apps, driving me to delete them. I’ve had an IPod Touch for two years, and I have only bought a handful of apps and have no more than three screens of apps.  Once I buy an app, it’s soon to become out-of-date if I buy a future IPod Touch. The IPad wants me to pay two or three times the amount for apps, even though I would have to dish out $500 to get it.

As a cost-conscious user, I think we should all take a five year break for the day when mobile phones become more CPU capable and break free of all the restrictions and experience the freedom we have enjoyed in the personal computing space for years.  I can live with the fear of malware and viruses for the ability to use any software in an open environment without being nicked and dimed for everything. I love my IPod Touch, but my joy is tempered by how awesome it could be if it had the freedom of my simple $1000 laptop.

I have to say goodbye to music discovery service, Lala, as it shuts its doors today as a result of Apple’s buyout. I don’t know if I first learned of it through my students at the high school. I often see them spending time with the Lala service in the background of their browsers, streaming music online. What made Lala superior to other online music services (Pandora, Last.fm, Groveshark) is the ability to discover new music with a single option: the ability to listen to every song once all the way through. No limited 30 second previews.

I wish all music services allowed the freedom to explore and discover new bands and music. It always reminded me of the listening booths you see in a Borders where you can sample entire albums. But it makes much more sense in your own home on your computer. If the music industry is paying attention, I have bought more music and been more engaged in finding new favorite bands/singers as a result of Lala. And I’m confident that my students become more avid music aficionados as a result of Lala.

Apple bought it out and shut it down, and hopefully they will offer something comparable in its place. But there is no guarantee. The way Apple controls distribution of content through ITunes, I’d be surprised if we see a valuable service like Lala. Spotify is a similar service in Europe, but we haven’t benefited–it has been promised in the United States, but no signs yet of it here.

Lala is one of many online services that I discover through observing students in the computer labs. We should be aware of our students’ activities when they think we are not watching because sometimes they will make us aware of tools and services that might help or benefit our instructional practices.