iPhone 5 - Are You Upgrading?

Apple - iPhone 5 - The thinnest, lightest, fastest iPhone ever.:


Really like the new iSight Camera with panoramic picture capabilities and the A6 processor chip.  LTE wireless is something I need to learn more about too since Apple claims that it will provide for download speeds faster than most typical wireless connections.

Another cool feature is that now people can Facetime call over their wireless connection without hacking their phone since a wireless connection is no longer required.

What does everyone think; will you upgrade soon if you already have the iPhone 4S?

More news and reviews are available here http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/new-iphone-5-release-date-news-and-rumours-721534

Video Comparison of the iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 5
 

Friends, Likes, Share, +1, Embed, Comments, & Now Pins

Technology and the Internet have allowed us to stay so connected that information is literally at our fingertips at all times.  However, trying to manage all of these connections and what we have shared about ourselves online can take a lot of time, knowledge, skill, and patience.  

What social media tools are the best, important, or worth our time?  I don't claim to have the answer to this dilemma but for now; I'm doing everything I can to stay up to date with most all of them since I teach digital media and computer classes to high school students who are using these services regularly for daily communication and interaction.  They also use them to get their news or information so if you aren't connected in these ways, communicating with them effectively might be difficult.  In case you did not know, teenagers consider email and web sites old-hat.  If the local newspaper, in our case the Sierra Sun, wants the younger generation to read their paper, they better Tweet or Facebook it.  Moving from print to a web site no longer makes an organization modern or tech savvy.

I just recently was 'invited' to Pinterest and signed up for my account.  Now I am asking students who already have been 'pinning' media for sometime now, how exactly I should be using this new social media tool.  If you have some good advice, please share below by commenting.  

When should I Tweet it, Facebook it, Pin it, blog it, Google +1 it, or just add it to my flickr or Picasa albums?  Please HELP!

My new Pinterest page is http://pinterest.com/truckeeteacher/  

Thanks

Wolverine Pride: Nevada Twilight Meet: Running at Night!

Students in my new Digital Journalism class are starting to publish their first article posts to our high school blog, the 'Wolverine Pride'.
Wolverine Pride: Nevada Twilight Meet: Running at NigPublish Postht!

President Obama's Speech & Vision for Four More Years

Last night our President delivered a speech at the National Democratic Convention.  In it, he outlined his vision for our country and what his plan is for the next four years if he is to be reelected.

Watch the speech and please comment below with your thoughts regarding his speech and vision.  What should democracy look like?  How can we be great citizens of this nation?

Safety Tips for Blogging

It is always fun starting a new class and getting my students fired up to WRITE by turning them into bloggers.  However, this excitement is also counterbalanced with fear since it is a big responsibility as an educator to make sure students blog safely and create media that is positive and beneficial to their lives.  What should they write about?  What pictures are OK to share?  Can they or should they upload video that contains footage of other students?  Do they need permission forms signed by other students and their parents that they feature in one of their posts?

These are many of the questions that I ask each time I start teaching a new group of students to be citizen journalists by blogging.  Unfortunately, the answers to these questions are never black and white but there are some great resources available for students, parents, and teachers to access to help navigate this new writing medium.  Hopefully, as long as some simple rules of safety are followed student bloggers will have a positive experience sharing their news with others and add another asset to their digital portfolios that will go with them throughout life.

Here is one online resource with some basic safety rules for young bloggers.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/blogging.aspx