The first Morse Code message - May, 24 1844

170 years ago the first Morse code message was sent on an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore.

The following is a Morse Code  message: 

.... . .-.. .-.. --- / . ...- . .-. -.-- -... --- -.. -.--

(Guess what I wrote!)

The history of Telegraphy:
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/telegraph.htm

The first Morse code message:
http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=551

Samuel Morse:
http://www.samuelmorse.net/

The history of Morse Code

Try to write your own Morse code message with the Morse code translator!

http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html

"This mode of instantaneous communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power"

 Morse,  1838

"Of all the marvelous achievements of modern science the electric telegraph is transcendentally the greatest 

and most serviceable to mankind … 

The whole earth will be belted with the electric current, 

palpitating with human thoughts and emotions … 

How potent a power, then, is the telegraphic destined to become in the civilization of the world! 

This binds together by a vital cord all the nations of the earth. 

It is impossible that old prejudices and hostilities should longer exist, while such an instrument has been created for an exchange of thought between all the nations of the earth."

Charles F. Briggs and Augustus Maverick, "The Story of the Telegraph", 1858

How communication has changed in time

Let's see how communication changed through the ages. Have a look at the following infographics.
Click on the images or on the  links below each image to enlarge:

http://dailyinfographic.com/the-evolution-of-communication-infographic/communication

http://blog.voxox.com/blog/bid/302283/Infographic-The-Evolution-of-Communication

http://techow.net/2012/04/02/how-communication-has-evolved-over-the-ages-infographic/

Also technology in school has changed over time!

http://elearninginfographics.com/timeline-of-educational-technology-in-schools-infographic/

http://elearninginfographics.com/classroom-technology-evolution-infographic/

Watch the following two videos about how technology 

is changing in education.

Students' task

After reading all the information and watching the videos about the communication evolution, write a report about your impressions. 

• Has the way children study changed for the better?
• Do you use technology in your school?
• Do you think studying with computers, iPads or mobiles can be more productive?
• Do you enjoy using new digital tools? Why?
• What are the pros and cons about using technology in the classroom?

Of course you can't use paper and pen for your report...

Choose one of these tools and have fun!

https://www.blendspace.com/ (to collect your web resources)

https://www.thinglink.com/ (if you want to add any links to an image)

http://popplet.com/ (for your mindmaps)

http://piktochart.com/ (to make your own infographic)

http://www.storyjumper.com/ (to create your e-book)

For teachers - Educanon to create interactive videos

 

I love using videos in my classes and with the following tool I can even create my own interactive videos! 

With Educanon you can choose a video from the web (YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube videos) and embed anything you like. You can  transform what is traditionally passive content into an active experience for students.

http://www.educanon.com/

You can:

(1) Build. You can add questions, lesson information, paste a video or a url directly INTO any video.

(2) Assign. You can create your class(es) and assign lessons.

(3) Monitor. You can watch student progress in real-time, question-by-question.

The following simple example I made for you is in preview mode (I didn't create my own class). In the actual student lesson, students cannot fast-forward or skip parts. Moreover, when they are asked to answer some questions, they can write in a blank space that you cannot see in the preview mode.

Watch my example: 

An invitation to visit Britain:

http://www.educanon.com/public/10011/23475

I think Educanon it's perfect to create your own video lessons in flipped and blended learning environments.Try it!

For teachers - Infographics and interactive posters

Posters can easily draw student's attention but they should not be just wall decoration. They should be used to study in deep some topics or to visually organize concepts.
Posters should easily be seen, so you need colours and images. Now you can create you own poster in a few minutes or you can even make it interactive!

This time I tried Piktochart. 
http://piktochart.com/ 

It is very useful to create interactive posters. I already tried Thinglink and Glogster. 

(An example with Thinglink at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/02/welcome-activities-this-is-our-school.html

An example with Glogster at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/01/for-teachers-some-digital-tools.html)

You can save your work as an image (.png or .jpeg) or copy the url if you want to use it as an interactive poster. In this case you have to add links, videos, etc. to your project!

The following is an example of a project saved as an image. I've created it to advertise the study tour I am organizing for my students:

This one, instead, is an interactive poster showing our English class activities, with videos and links:

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1198513-journey-of-love

Have fun with your posters! 

For teachers - a different kind of lesson

Don't know how to make your lesson more interesting?

If you want to take a more "digital" and interactive lesson you can use Blendspace or Thinglink.

I've tried both. They're really easy to use.


Blendspace
blendspace.com 

With Blendspace you can create  lessons with digital contents very quickly. You have a grid and you choose an interactive link for each box. You can also upload material from your pc.

this is my example:
http://blnds.co/1cII4wL

Thinglink
thinglink.com

With this tool you choose an image and then add many links (videos, music, images, etc.) to it to make it interactive.

My example:
http://www.thinglink.com/scene/481523444043743233

Bye for now!

I'll keep on surfing the Net 
through digital tools...

For teachers - free tools for mindmapping

This time I tried some free tools for  

schemes and mindmapping  

(sometimes you can use just a given number of free maps, then you are asked to upgrade).

As usual I've created some simple examples for you, just to give you the idea and make your choice easier.

Why should a teacher use mindmapping?

• A visual map gets students attention and focus
• Mind mapping enables teachers to organize, summarize and  manipulate ideas and concepts very easily
• It allows to present information in a visually attracting and comprehensive way
• Its organizational structure helps students understand effectively
• It promotes inquiry and problem solving
• It promotes active note taking

The first tool I tried is Popplet.

It combines presentations , mindmapping and online bulletins. You can  integrate text, images, video, and Google maps.

http://popplet.com/
My example: http://popplet.com/app/#/1559358

Then I tried Spiderscribe. 

It allows you to  easily visualize your ideas by connecting various pieces of information together. It also combines elements like text, images, files, calendar events and geographic locations.

http://www.spiderscribe.net/
My example: http://www.spiderscribe.net/app/?ac420a5aeab2f33f7cb411eeebec5938

This is Spicynodes.

It allows you to create visually attractive nodes for your blog or websites. Nodes are visually displayed pieces of information that helps visitors easily navigate the content of your site so that they find what they are looking for.You have to click on the nodes to open them.

http://www.spicynodes.org/
My example: http://www.spicynodes.org/a/199c482ed6e8fe4de02ad4db20039e4c

I also tried Text2mindmap.
It converts texts into mind maps.

https://www.text2mindmap.com/ 
My example:
https://www.text2mindmap.com/k7XZDE?controller=frontpage&method=index&map=k7XZDE


This is Slatebox.

It allows you the freedom to create as many nodes and maps as possible. You can upload  images from the app itself. 

Slatebox:
http://slatebox.com/
Actually I didn't manage to save a link so I uploaded the .png file of my example for you.

The last tool I tried for you is Mindomo.

It has several features such as including a clipart library, importing images from Google images or Flickr , and using video straight from YouTube. If you want to use the free version you can just import images from the library.

http://www.mindomo.com/
My example: http://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/0c71d1cf14034f07aaff536e11b2d5ab

I hope to be helpful! BFN and have fun with your mindmaps!