The Little Blue Room

I’m not far from feeling the same way as Charles Cooper (@coopydoop) in the linked article. Many features of MS Word were created to give users an EZ mode, so to speak. With built-in letter and research paper formatting settings, and quick-macro citation editing, MS Word has been a go-to for educators and students for years … decades even. 

However, I think we need to move away from EZ mode creation and move towards EZ collaboration. I believe Google products are one way to do this. Now, I’m a huge iFan, but even there, I am seeing less and less often a reason for sticking with Microsoft Office basics. Even my database use, for which I really like Access, can be done with other products. 

Also, I can’t tell you the number of students I have to help convert documents when papers are due, because they have five other types of word processing programs at home that won’t convert easily into .doc format, or at least, they’ve never been taught to do so. I think if we let students know that Microsoft is not the only option, and we work with resources that more economically allow for transferring and collaborating, they may not fall into the Microsoft rut as they head off to college and enter the workforce. But that’s just my 2 cents. 

With resources like Google Docs and Open Office available for FREE, not to mention the number of other presentation and project creation options available, why are we still leaning on Microsoft Office for student content creation?

Even if you were on the right side of the Force, you had to appreciate the sheer power the Death Star from Star Wars. I mean, come on, it destroyed a freaking planet in under 60 seconds. That is an impressive output of a green laser. Just how awesome was the main star ship Darth Vader and his evil minions tooled around in? Take a look at the infographic below for more facts and figures about the ship “that’s no moon!”

 The University of Florida announced this past week that it was dropping its computer science department, which will allow it to save about $1.7 million.  The school is eliminating all funding for teaching assistants in computer science, cutting the graduate and research programs entirely, and moving the tattered remnants into other departments.

Can anyone give me a logical explanation of what in the WORLD they are thinking over there at UF? 

The conference is the 4TVirtualCon: Teachers teaching teachers about technology. Wish I’d heard about this conference sooner! It looks to be very interesting! Definitely going to check it out. The site says, “The Virtual Conference will be held May 19th through May 22nd. It is a 24/7 conference and is free and open to any educator.” FREE! No reason not to attend! 

Check out the schedule!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — More jobless Americans are finding work these days, but they are mainly lucky fellas.

The “mancession” has morphed into the “hecovery,” leaving women workers largely in the dust. The share of adult women who are employed is lower than it was two years ago, while men have seen an upturn.

A surprising number of the gadgets and technologies we have today are on the verge of extinction. Laptop Mag’s Avram Piltch walks us through more than a dozen, knowing that his newborn son will be about as familiar with them as today’s teens are with Betamax.