Bonne année – Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2012

View more presentations from Sally Smith

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and some good technology adventures next year!

Top Posts

The last review of posts is here. My top posts for this quarter are:

1.So, what can I do with QR codes. That became an instant hit and has demolished the pecking order on my blog which was steady for quite some time! People are like me. They had seen QR codes, they weren’t quite sure what they were and what they could do with them. I wrote several posts around them so that I and others could find out about QR codes. This has remained an enormous favourite.
2.Me TV -Ubuntu 10.04 This came in at number one as soon as I wrote it and held that position for months. The QR Code post has done the same thing. Will it hold on to number one for as long at the Me TV post? People want to know how to set up TV on Linux and it’s a matter of getting the right software. My Me TV posts are always popular.
3.Use iPad as a second screenThis has been constantly popular as well. The iPad is now ubiquitous and people want to know how to get the best use out of it and how to connect it to other equipment and use it in a range of ways.
4. Live TV on Linux Mint As I said. People want to be able to use their TV tuners on Linux. I run mine from a stick. I had wiped Windows from my new computer by using Linux Mint and had a dream picture, a good OS and TV working in 2 mins by using Me TV. Windows Media centre had been very unco-operative.
5. Free Diary for Macbook I used to use the Clover Diary but it stopped working and was no longer available. The other free diary I found has been my best friend on my Macbook and I use it to organise everything at work. It is straight forward, reliable and really has plenty of space for the sorts of notes I wish to make. I love is ease of use.

The other post which rates a mention because I am tracking it is Group Presentations are Fun. I only wrote the post last week and it is already in the top 20.

Try Storify

I went onto Storify last night to see how it works. It links social media sites so you can build a narrative of your own and publish it. It seems to be designed for tablets but there are already a number of classroom applications for it that I can think of.It works well on a computer. News services are certainly showing how effective it can be and then you have to browse the stories already available to see what possibilities there are. It is a good way to connect social media generated content with your own imagination. I did the obvious and used what I had to create a New Year story. I can access my social media accounts or search on a topic or theme to get relevant items for my story. It is amazingly quick to build a story. I used the text from a slide presentation I had just made. When you use the work of others Storify notifies them that you have done that. I used my Twitter account to log in so that was sent out as a notification on Twitter. I can see students could use it to make themed assignments with their own writing included. I could see them using it as a gathering point for ideas for big assignments and I could see them using it to develop their own pieces in another language they are learning or as a way of managing things like the Maths directed study. As a teacher I would have to ensure I could be clear about what is original and what is borrowed content. It would be a useful way for students to use all the social media sites they know so well to good advantage. I believe in anything which will put a good spin on what we have now moved into. Social media is not going to go away. It is now a part of our world and our lives and it is a significant part… as newspapers became, as television became , as transport became. I was quite happy with my first story because now I know I can create a different sort of narrative when I want to and I could even use it to create a lesson. All the information and media would be there. Storify will probably become the big news of 2012.

Ready for the New Year?

My New Year desktop comes from aeli9 at Deviant Art. Ninja Crunch has some other nice desktops for you. The best one stop shop for a techie New Year is here at The Holiday Spot. It has everything you would want for New Year – how to say it in many languages, e-cards, wallpapers, decoration ideas and a great flash New Year calendar which you can run on you desktop. It is so cheerful and well made. The site has so many goodies and ideas for New Year. I love sites like this.

Random Resolution Generator

Not sure what to decide for your New Year’s resolutions? Try this random resolution generator. It actually has positive and kind resolutions: the sort you would want to keep! I found it quite enjoyable running through the resolutions on offer and it made me realise that you can resolve to do simple acts which will improve your own life and the life of others’ in a helpful, gentle way. Resolutions are often about deprivation rather than enhancement. These resolutions are about embellishing life so I think I might look at them all and pick my 5 favourites. I actually feel like I want to accomplish these resolutions! Is there an app for that?

New Year’s Resolution Ideas has achievable resolutions too at the click of a button.