Dec 01
melsonProfessional, Social Networking, Technology Google, Google Wave, Tools
I’ve got Google Wave invites to give away to the first eight (8) educators who comment on this post! (Please include your school or how you are involved with education in your comment.)
What is Google Wave? Watch below to get an idea:
While Wave is still very much beta and makes my head spin thinking about it, I am using it everyday and can see to potential for learning. I am even including this in my PIP as a PLN.
Please be patient waiting for your invite. As Goolge states, “Invitations will not be sent immediately. We have a lot of stamps to lick.”
Happy waving!
Popularity: 34% [?]
Jun 12
melsonProfessional, Technology end users, Infrastructure, IT, security
End users — god bless ‘em. You can’t live with ‘em — but without them, you wouldn’t have a job. They’re the reason you have an IT infrastructure; they’re also the single greatest threat to the security of that infrastructure.
Because, in the end, most users have no idea how dangerous their online behavior is.
10 Most Dangerous Things Users Do Online, The Staff of Dark Reading.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Jun 04
melsonOff Topic, Professional Colleges and Universities, education, Massively multiplayer online game, Warcraft, WOW

“Warcraft: Culture, Gender and Identity,” a credit-awarding class being offered at Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota. At the helm of this innovative course is Landon Pirius, Ph.D., also known as Nodnal the Gnome Warrior of Blackwater Raiders-US. No stranger to the convergence of WoW and academia, Dr. Pirius wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Massively Multiplayer Online Virtual Environments: A Potential Locale for Intercultural Training.”
via 15 Minutes of Fame: WoW 101 — yes, WoW for college credit.
Popularity: 5% [?]
May 19
melsonProfessional, Teaching commencement, graduation, teacher
Picture the high school commencement ceremony at your local school district. Picture your entire Pre-K-12 faculty, wearing the robes and colors of their various institutions and degrees, silently lead the graduating seniors into the commencement hall and then staying and listening attentively while all the graduating seniors names were read.
Every teacher should participate in commencement – HOPE Foundation.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Apr 30
melsonOff Topic, Professional, Tech Links, Technology help, Twitter
With all the media attention that Twitter has been getting of late, I am sure many of you have jumped on the bandwagon, but now what?!?
Hop on over to Pistachio and read the latest blog post: Still Don’t Get Twitter? Maybe This Will Help
This very informative posting should give you the necessary tools to jump in. After you get the hang of it, be sure to follow me: @mjelson
Popularity: 100% [?]
Feb 03
melsonProfessional, Teaching teacher salary
Houston Independent School District Plan Could Pay Best Teachers $100,000 a Year. . . full article here.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Aug 28
melsonProfessional agenda, faculty, in-service, opening
Download your copy of the agenda: Opening Day Agenda
Popularity: 5% [?]
Jun 18
melsonProfessional, Technology
A few notes for the end of the year with regard to the computers in your classrooms:
- Be sure you remove all your personal data. You may store it on the network or on your USB drive. The computers in your classroom will be erased over the summer to remove all unauthorized software and all your data will be lost if you do not copy it to another location.
- The computer in you classroom is assigned to the classroom, not the teacher. This means your computer stays in the room even if you are reassigned or moved. This is critical because the computers are tagged for inventory this summer and must remain where they are and their network configuration is dependent on the location as well. (Since all the computers are being erased, it won’t matter which computer you have in September anyway.)
- Please be sure you are turning your computer off each and every day after school. This is important for saving energy as well as protecting the computer from damage due to heat.
If you have any questions, please email me.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Mar 10
melsonProfessional, Teaching, Technology
“All these students are scared…now about using Facebook to talk about schoolwork, when actually it’s no different than any study group working together on homework in a library. That’s the worst part; it’s creating this culture of fear, where if I post a question about physics homework on my friend’s wall (a Facebook bulletin board) and ask if anyone has any ideas how to approach this – and my prof sees this, am I cheating?”
– Kim Neale, student union advocacy coordinator at Toronto’s Ryerson University, who will represent first-year student Chris Avenir in a hearing on charges of academic misconduct for helping run an online chemistry study group via Facebook.
This raises some interesting questions about online groups and academics? Is it cheating? Did the professor over-react? Comments are welcome.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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