Category Archives: TeacherHax

An Open Letter to the US Copyright Office in Defense of Jailbreaking

Dear Copyright Office—   I would like to register my support for the practice of jailbreaking of smartphones, tablets, and game systems on the principle that these devices are fully-functional computers and should not have their functionality crippled to promote … Continue reading

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Did You Know? A Screenshot is Worth a Thousand Words

There are lots of situations where a screenshot of your computer can communicate much more than words. From giving students detailed directions to helping your tech support people (ahem) solve issues you’re experiencing, screenshots can make it easier for people … Continue reading

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Google Plus Puts the Social in Learning with Google Apps for Education

With the news that Google Apps for Education will be integrated with Google+ in a few days, it’s time to start thinking about how social media and collaboration can be a reality for schools.

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LMS Disruption– Free Web 2.0 Tools Can Co-Exist with the Centralized LMS

[Question from a colleague] It appears that OpenClass has the same mission as Canvas –  OpenClass: “disrupt technology for education”, Canvas:  “disrupting the Learning Management System (LMS) market.” Does this new partnership introduce any concerns about Canvas’ future. Blackboard has … Continue reading

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Secure Your Social Identity Across All Sites with NameChk.com

If you are trying to create a branded online identity, it helps to have a consistent username across all of the major sites. With NameChk.com, you can search once and see if your favorite username is available on 159 different … Continue reading

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Switch from Teaching Word Processing to Teaching Web Processing

If you’re like me, one of the first computer skills you were taught in school is how to use a word processor. We all mastered the art of formatting words for the printed page because we were still using computers … Continue reading

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Take Dramatic 3D Screenshots of Websites with Firefox's Tilt Plugin

If you do a lot of presentations or tutorials about technology, you probably have to take screenshots of websites to illustrate your ideas. I really like to add a “wow” factor to my presentations whenever I can do it gracefully, … Continue reading

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Make a "Hard to Guess but Easy to Remember" Password for Greater Cloud Security

In my last post, I recommended using a password manager like LastPass to help you create strong, unique passwords for all of the different sites you use. If you don’t like the idea of storing passwords in the cloud, the next … Continue reading

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Good Security Practices Keep You Safe(r) from Hackers when Using Cloud Tools

Friends and colleagues have been expressing doubt about entrusting their data to “The Cloud”, especially in light of the recent high profile attacks on the CIA, the Senate, and Sony (among many others).  As educators are increasingly adopting cloud-based tool … Continue reading

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Free Tools, the Distorted Web, Privacy, and Your Students' Critical Thinking Skills

Until I saw this TED talk, I didn’t care much that free Web 2.0 tools like Google and Facebook were collecting massive dossiers of information about my online habits. I thought they were just using it to serve me more … Continue reading

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