Today’s entry in the almost cliched but nevertheless interesting “quotes that sound recent but turn out to be from a long time ago” style: “The continual rise in the cost of a college education has led to a growing educational gap that is likely to be filled by the concept of the college without walls […]
What Alternatives Are There to Slideshare For Embedding a Powerpoint?
October 15, 2013 By 2 Comments
Although there are plenty of competitors these days, Powerpoint is still a preferred tool for creating presentations due to its familiar controls and ease of use. But many are no longer happy to simply create a presentation, show it to an audience and then let it sit on their computer. One solution is to send […]
Do eBooks Do More Harm Than Good?
October 3, 2013 By 1 Comment
This week Wired published a provocative article about ebooks. In the piece, titled “The Abomination of eBooks,” author Art Brodsky points out how the applicable rules for ebooks are fundamentally different than those for print books; in particular ebooks are leased rather than actually bought and owned. Because of this, he argues that it doesn’t make […]
Where Can You Find the Most Insightful Conversations Online?
September 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment
One major goal for teachers and librarians today is to foster “information literacy,” a set of skills that allows us to efficiently communicate what information we need, understand where and how to search, think critically about information and use it strategically to achieve our goals. Information literacy instruction typically involves activities like a discussion of what makes […]
Amazon, Apple, Google? Which Cloud Music Storage Service Is Best?
September 11, 2013 By 1 Comment
Editor’s note: This page was last updated on 9/12/2013. We will continue to update this article as these services change. If there’s something we need to fix or should add, just leave a comment below the post. When you want to listen to digital music, there are two main types of services to choose from. First, […]
Google Adds Etymology, Historical Word Usage to Its Dictionary Definitions
August 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Google recently upgraded its dictionary functionality, adding new features that provide much more information than just a word’s definition. It’s an update that is much more minor than one of Google’s huge algorithm shakeups, but still proves quite useful for searchers looking to learn more about a particular word and its history. The dictionary feature […]
What Is Google Analytics Direct Traffic And Where Does It Really Come From?
August 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
One of the core benefits of Google Analytics is its ability to show you where your website visitors are coming from. How many are arriving from Google? What about from links on Facebook or another online community? These are vital questions that any webmaster needs to be able to answer. Within Analytics, the total number […]
How to Copy Text from a Flash Webpage, CFM, SFM file or other “Uncopyable” Format
August 8, 2013 By 1 Comment
In most cases, if you want to export text from the web it’s as easy as CTRL+C. But what if you come across a filetype online that doesn’t let you do this? One common situation is a website that was created using Adobe Flash. More specifically, you may see a .CFM or .SFM file extension […]
The Shift from Tools to Platforms on the Web
May 16, 2013 By 2 Comments
Several weeks ago, Google announced it would shut down its popular RSS service Google Reader on July 1, leading to a mad scramble for alternatives. Some people remarked on how the replacements could not quite replicate their familiar workflow, forcing them to change their news-seeking routines. Others could not even sign up, as the flood […]
What’s the Business Model of MOOCs Such As Coursera?
March 22, 2013 By 3 Comments
The booming popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2012 has dramatically changed our ideas about the potential of online education. The New York Times called them “the revolution that has higher education gasping” and the Chronicle added that MOOCs question “the future of teaching” and even “the value of a degree.” What exactly […]
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