Amazon just acquired Shelfari along with used and rare book company Abe Books. Abe Books has been a long-time partner with and 40% investor in LibraryThing, a Shelfari competitor, so the Abe Books acquisition also gives Amazon a 40% stake in LibraryThing. A crowded shelf indeed. Details covered by Publishers Weekly and TechCrunch.
I’ve never been [...]

I don’t even know where to begin with this recent article from New York Magazine, “Testing Horace Mann,” about the fallout (or lack thereof) from offensive student postings on Facebook. It’s at the center of the current technology-related problems schools face. Part of this has to do with new problems the technology makes [...]

School starts in Prince William County next week. Even though I’m not teaching at Woodbridge High this year, I’ll still be helping my former colleagues with their online needs, which means I’ve been spending time thinking about what the students will need this year in their courses and how best to meet those needs. [...]

As I make (and re-make) plans for some extended travel, I’ve found myself thinking about the web presence I’ve built for the Northern Virginia Writing Project that will soon pass into the hands of someone else. However, before I let go, some changes need to happen to better address three goals: simplicity, collaboration, and reality.
Simplicity
I [...]

In the beginning … the dreamers envisioned a virtual realm of true equality to be ushered in by “the Internet.” But it seems people tend to naturally self-select themselves into groups and classes, or at least that’s what some recent writings are implying.
Danah Boyd suggested this online classism a while ago, noting the distinction [...]

This Wednesday (Feb. 28th, 2007), I’ll be talking with Paul Allison and others on TeachersTeachingTeachers.org about various CMS (Community Management System) solutions for schools. Specifically, I’ll be talking about Joomla.
I’ve written some notes on Joomla before, and have been talking to a few teachers in other districts about its potential for the classroom. [...]

I recently figured out how LibraryThing handles “friends,” and it makes the site even cooler. LibraryThing doesn’t call friends “friends” (because maybe they’re not really your “friends”) and doesn’t make the list two-way (so you can follow someone’s library without letting everyone else know whose library you’re following).
Instead, LibraryThing uses a “watch list.” [...]

Last week, my creative writing students pulled out their laptops and headed over to the eStudio that I setup on ELGGSpaces (which is designed specifically with education in mind, and for which I had just spend $99 out-of-pocket to make the space ad-free.) They were going to upload some new drafts, write some blog posts [...]

I had a great time listening in (and adding a few words) to the Skypecast tonight on EdTechTalk.com. (You can read background information and grab podcasts from TeachersTeachingTeachers.org). I was greatful to be invited into the conversation and my head’s still swimming with ideas from tonight’s talk.
The subject for the evening revolved around [...]

Not long ago, I posted an entry in which I supported maintaining the freedom to access and share information, tools, and resources. I still agree with that. I also understand the dangers that some of the information, tools, and resources bring with them. However, I don’t believe that the right response to [...]