The Islands are Moving

Thanks to all of the loyal reader(s) who have followed this blog over the last 9 months or so.

It has served its purpose in this space, primarily as a supplemental resource for getting started with the new Mac Book Pros that Hamilton teachers received last May.

I have decided however to take this thing to a bigger audience and move its current and future content to its new home as part of the Discovery Educator Blog Network.

The new Islands of Geektopia now reside here.

What is really great about publishing on the Discovery Educator Network is that whenever I update my blog, it goes to the top of the list of most recent pages.

Microsoft Office '08

The Mac Office '08 site I blogged about in May seems to have gone hooves up! Here is another one with some cool free video tutorials.

Beginners Microsoft Office for 2008 for Mac Tutorials

More from Atomic Learning

Death by Power Point

This guy is hilarious.....and so truthful.

Warning: one word in here isn't quite appropriate to show to a class. Watch on your own and enjoy.

Let this guy put you at ease with Tech Ease

The University of South Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse has assembled an easy to use, yet extremely informative site that helps teachers understand technology better.

Everything is covered from the Internet to email, hardware issues, software issues, and even practical ways of implementing more technology into a curriculum.

Help comes in a number of formats as well. There is simple question and answer but also some nifty video and print tutorials.

Tech Ease promises "quick answers to real classroom technology questions" and delivers.

Putting Folders on Your Dock

The dock is one of my favorite features of Mac OS X. Unfortunately, it is much too easy to inadvertently remove shortcuts. Returning them though doesn't take too much effort. Here is a quick video to show you the process.

Getting Elmo to Play Nicely can be a Trick

A few teachers are noting some troubles with hooking up their new laptops to their Elmo document cameras.

The trickiest task is actually finding and selecting the right Elmo software. I have struggled with this in the past. Unlike other drivers that I have used where a generic piece of software covers a whole range of products, Elmos are very picky and need one exact version.

Here is a link to the Elmo download page where you can select your appropriate model's software as well as an updated user's manual.

Elmo download archive

Once you download the file, drag the "Elmo Utility Software (VHM)" folder into Applications. You will find the "Image Mate for Presentation (VHM)" program inside. Double click it and you SHOULD, big word there, should be in business.

Hamilton's Newest Stars

Congratulations to Bridget Miles and Sarah Geukes, both from Bentheim Elementary for becoming Discovery Education Network's newest STAR Educators. They now have access to loads of online resources for classroom and professional development use.

They are also now eligible for great off-site learning opportunities like the upcoming Discovery Regional Institute coming to the Chicago area on September 20-21.

Just fill out the application form and share something you have done with your new laptop or with Discovery in the past. Don't get hung on the term "event" either. Sharing at lunch so that 3 other people hear you will qualify.

It also seems like one of the biggest hurdles people are finding is that there really is no catch. Your yearly commitment to stay active is simply sharing twice with colleagues. Most of us already do this anyway. Discovery will not hunt you down. I promise. Jeff Corwin and the Ice Road Truckers aren't going to roll into Hamilton and force you to do anything.

We all know this is a really busy time of the year. If you want to wait and catch your breath in June feel free. You really don't have anything to lose, except maybe missing out on some great opportunities and some sweet gear.