15 year old building websites

So I just found this Kid ( I shouldent say that) He is a 15-year-old web developer. He has made other websites. That are pretty amzing.

I found him because of a site he just made called I-tunes Instant. iTunes Instant is basically a search engine for iTunes, which the creator said he made because, “Search within iTunes.app is extremely slow and cluster, I’ve never used it. So I use Apple’s Search API instead, and develop[ed] this app in less than three hours that will make your life better.” A quick test of the app reveals that it does work pretty well — a search for relatively obscure jams returned relatively accurate results in near real time. (However, it doesn’t quite work when searching for both artist and song.)

He writes on his blog titled “The Teen’s Point of View” http://blog.stephenou.com. He said it only took him about 3 hrs to make the websit. This is one smart kid. He has got alot for him.

So go on over & search for music & apps alot faster! http://labs.stephenou.com/itunes#

Ban Social Media

This blog was suppose to be up along time ago. Lately My one & only laptop that has less then 200GB has been full. So I have had to clean up stuff & find useful sites to move my files to. Hopefully I can get a mac computer again & get me some more hardrive space.

If you have been following my twitter or Facebook status you might have seen that I have had surgery. I wrote a blog post @ the hospital a few hrs after I was out of surgery but it didn't post:( I even saved it to a word document but it would not even let me send it as a e-mail attachment. Copy and past epic fail to!

Last week a NJ Middle school principal thought It would be a genius idea to get all of the students that attend his school off from sites like facebook,myspace twitter etc. he is wasn't just talking about at SCHOOL he was talking about for there FULL middle school yrs!

A e-mail was sent out to parents to take on a voluntarily ban to get the students off such sites. Read the full e-mail here http://wcbstv.com/technology/facebook.social.networking.2.1662565.html

"Please do the following: sit down with your child (and they are just children still) and tell them that they are not allowed to be a member of any social networking site. Today!

There is absolutely no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! Let me repeat that – there is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! None.

Wow! that is some pretty heavy stuff! I can explain several reasons why students would want to be on such sites like that.

What could possibly invoke such a response from a man who holds such a responsible position? His intentions seem to be pure, as he thinks social networking sites such as Facebook are making kids’ lives harder due to cyber-bullying. But is banning kids from these sites the way to fix the problem?

Surely a better solution would be to encourage children to be more respectful to each other, and punish bullying more severely in whatever form it manifests itself.

Not only does he have a problem with social networking sites. He wants parents to check there text messages which im all for but to take cell phones away from kids and check them whenever sounds like to me you have a trust issue with your kids. Right now I believe we should be focused on educating the students rather then pulling the plug.

Below is my take on the e-mail when I got it last week.


I get the bullying part the principal is trying to stop but baning it is the not the right answer.

My take on f8

I thought this blog got posted along time ago. I ment for it to be up yesterday but I wrote it right online and didn't bother saving it onto word or anything.

I watched the f8 developers conference and was very pleases on what I saw. Just a few days later I have seen some people starting to say how facebook is taking over the web and knowing all of there personal info. If its personal why are you posting it were everybody can see it?? These same people are on and share special moments of there lives threw facebook. They feel that facebook should not have the right to that data to facebook advertise setin products to them. There has been this small group of people since the internet first came out that it would take over are lives (which in a sence it has) but that it would destroy human kind and there would be no jobs (considering were the job market is maybe there right>) though it has brought lots of new jobs with it.

5 or 8 yrs ago if I was in high-school I would never been able to text me parents and let them know what is going on. I would never be able to post pictures as fast I do to share them with my friends and relatives. and just a few yrs ago ads were just ads..now there engaged in my interest so there no longer ads there more of a source I look to when it gets my attetnion. Which is now pretty much all of the time.

I would love to write more and be able to edit but I just dont have the time @ the moment. Have to finish up this wondering research paper.

Below is my 5 min rant on the f8 conference.

Van Meter- New learning in school

Long time no blogging. I have been busy with the "school work" that is suppose to help me in the "read world". Aside from that the title of this pretty much tells you alot of what I Want to address today.

DROPOUT RATES

The No, 1 reason contributing to student dropout rates is a lack of engagement. The billion-dollar question for our education system is: How do we motivate and stimulate students to take a more proactive role in their academic success?

Awhile back I held a technology seminar. (See my last blog post)It went over better then what I planed:) Got to hear from a school called Van Meter. You might heard them in the news. Let me fill you in if you haven't.

This school is a K-12 school & in 2009 recently rolled out 1:1 Computer Program. Every student has their own Laptop and carries it with them from classroom to classroom while using it to engage each other as well as kids across the globe. Yes, I mean from New Jersey to Singapore.... This is only ONE thing that has help make this school great. What has gotten Iowa and other educators attention is the way they are teaching the students. SAY what? STUDENTS!

Van Meter School has realized and took action that today students learn in a whole new way. Instead of the normal way of students going to school getting a boring assignment and then forgot about it later on in life this school is changing that.

You know that old saying “it’s never too late.” Doesn’t apply here. If we don’t change the way we are Educating our students and our teachers...it will be TOO LATE.

Here is there Statement:
The rate of change at Van Meter is accelerating exponentially with our focus being to empower students to THINK, LEAD, and SERVE.

WOW say what? I thought most schools are like that. Well they might say they are but ask the students or start listing to what the students post on there blogs, Facebook, & twitter pages you might think otherwise.

Today’s students are currently engaged, all day, every day—posting tweets, talking to friends on facebook, and texting.

To date, a significant chasm has existed between students’ interactive, stimulating experiences with social media and the reality of their “low-tech” classrooms.


Now that is what I call preparing them for a future of successes. Teaching them to

* collaborate
* connect
* compare
* contrast
* create
* communicate

These are all the skill sets of the Entrepreneur. John Carver and Van Meter Schools are changing the face of Education and impacting the world as we know it…in a very positive way.

WELCOME THESE SCHOOLS:)

More to come---

Technology in Education

Before I start to write I would like to say that my blogging has been down. I have been busy with school and family matters.

Super news I wanted to share. This Saturday March 6th Im hosting a "technology in education" event. Here is all the details!!! Keep up to date on my twitter account @grantmead

Hope to see ya there:)

When: March 6th
Where: Downtown Burlington Iowa
Time: 10am-noon
NO COST

Presenters

Kelly Nelson
Junior High Language Arts Teacher that has a 1:1 Program at her school.
Blog: http://goallouttoday.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------
Bradley Laborman
IWC Professor in Mt.Pleasant IA
twitter: @bradmantv
Website: http://www.bradman.tv
-------------------------------------------------
William Brackett
Technology Director for BCSD
twitter: @willbrackett
--------------------------------
Karl Hehr
Technology director at South Hamilton CSD
Website: http://www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us/
twitter: @karlhehr

Topics
* Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers- Kelly Nelson
* Creating the 21st-Century Classroom
* Reasons For Bringing Technology Into Schools- Kelly Nelson
* Social Networking in Schools- Bradley Laborman
* Computer Technology In Schools- Will Brackett
* 1:1 Computer Program- Karl Hehr

Ipad use from a 18 year.

Ok I was really looking at all of the news blogs and twitter days leading up to the release of the ipad. As I kept hearing people call it the islate. I thought to myself this device is going to cost alot of money. Then I heard it would be running the iphone software a day before its release.

Well here we are today with nothing more then a huge iphone. I thought to myself maby my school or others could use it to put text books on. I thought yes this would be a great thing. But here are some big limitions that would keep school administrators from doing this.

1. While you could put all textbooks on it and save money. What if the student drops the book,water gets spilled on it, or the studnet dosent keep the battery charged?

2. There is no handwritting pen to be people to hand write on it. Yes there is a nice keyboard but I can get that on my mac book that is about the same size.

3. The iphone and itouch have wonderful gameing featues. The ipad does not have this that much and also lacks flash.

4. To hook the ipad up to a school network would prove challening. Considering since its running the iphone software not mac os.


So while yea some schools are gong to use the ipad to put text books on. In reality its just not the right device for stidemts to get everything they need in high school or college. Mac books can do just about that and a kindly you can put your books on.