Technology Excitement

Yesterday, I made a bold move in my reintegration to life as a mama. I went to a talk at the university. The speaker used an amazing new presentation program, Prezi. Go, check it out, try not to get hooked. I am. It's got me thinking about whole new ways to teach my classes and share information with students. Unlike PowerPoint, students wouldn't be able to just print out a presentation and call it studying. They would have access to loads of information (given that I add it), but would have to interact with the presentation in order to access it. That would already be a triumph.

So, while I should be PhD reading and contemplating, I'm bursting with energy about structuring my class next year around both Prezi and Tiddlyspot. I started working on a tiddlyspot site for work this semester, but can see lots of potential for putting together a site that students would write. Anyone have any tips for integrating technology and teaching without becoming a slave to it (meaning spending hours every week putting together materials)?

Sound and Art for Peace

This video came up on my Google Reader via Presentation Zen, a blog I like to follow. If you look, he also recently posted a hilarious presentation about buying a car. Anyway, this one is an old interview with John Lennon about what else, peace. It's worth a listen and the art is something else, too. In case you're not convinced yet, the film was also nominated for an Oscar (Best Animated Short Film) in 2008. Enjoy!