Sphero...it's a remote controlled glowing ball. It rolls. It makes cute sounds. It changes color. Why would you spend $125 on such a captivating piece of hardware? Aside from allowing the user to focus on hand-to-eye coordination, spatial orientation, and remote control through finger swipe, Sphero is a gateway gadget that accomplishes two great tasks: One, it gets my daughter interested in the mechanics of remote control objects. Two, it teachers her some basic programming, problem solving, and robotics control. Numerous apps allow for many different ways to pilot Sphero. As you can see from the photo, it's easy enough to be piloted by a five old. Equipped with a Sphero and an app-equipped iPod Touch, my daughter conquers a furniture-laden landscape, maneuvering around chairs, couches, and the occasional pile of toys. The user can string together some basic commands that make Sphero perform different tasks. This might entail driving in a square, changing color, or performing other maneuvers. Whatever the task, it introduces the concept of simple programming; a great starting point for blossoming geeks!
After suggesting Weebly to friends and colleagues as a means of creating a quick and dirty website, this is the first time I've used it myself. For the most part, it's a great way to create a web presence on the cheap, quickly and efficiently. The web tools are adequate, and there are enough design templates to make your site look relatively pleasing to the eye. The free version works fine if your linking to other web spaces, i.e. shared Google Drive files and presentations or Youtube videos. If you kick in a couple extra bucks a month for the Pro version, you have the option of more storage and bandwidth to share HD movies and media files. But again, I'm doing this on the cheap. So far, it's been easy to link to shared presentations and embed multimedia, which is perfect since this site is more to showcase my work rather than my web design skills. I also like how Weebly automatically scales down your site to fit mobile browsers (on less thing I have to consider). My only gripe is having to use "Weebly" in my web address. I have a domain name and an account with Go Daddy, put to post this mattalman.com, I have pay weebly $50/year for the privilege of ditching their name. Still, I put this site together in only a few hours, and much of that was just trying to decide on the overall UI & design. The drag and drop menu makes it rather easy to set up. You be the judge. Give it a shot and tell me what you think.
Back in the web-space business. Sorry for the hiatus, but I was between web-hosts and juggling a lot, so the website suffered. Hopefully this will be a better fit: instructional technology tips, tutorials, and sample work along with a few posts high-lighting my witty banter. I don't post much, but when I do it's with purpose. Let's hope so, anyway.
|
AuthorTeacher, writer, technology advocate....with over 14 years of teaching experience, I am a go-to person for learning how to incorporate instructional technology in schools across Michigan. I have been a frequent technology consultant and presenter for Bay City Public Schools, the Michigan After School Association, and the Michigan Association of Computer Users and Learners. Like what you see? Leave a comment for drop me a line. ArchivesCategories |