Lots to Browse, Lots to Learn

OpenCourseWare Consortium is a comprehensive database of free online courses from colleges like Yale, Stanford, and MIT. You can take courses on just about any topic from literature to music to kitchen science. There are hundreds of courses to explore. Great resource for supplemental materials or to challenge students to see what college courses are like.

World Series

Social media offers a variety of ways to keep up with the World Series. You can follow on Twitter, Facebook, on your iPhone... Cnet News offers a round-up of tools here.

Spanish-Language Browser

This might be worth a look for some students. Flock has introduced a Spanish-language browser in partnership with Univision Interactive Media, the largest Spanish-language media company in the US. You can read ReadWriteWeb's take on it here.

Cell Phones: "Remote Control for Life"

There is a discussion in the Ning about cell phones and other disruptive technology in schools. This study adds some interesting statistics on how ubiquitous and invaluable cell phones have become for many people. Global market research firm Synovate surveyed more than 8,000 cell phone owners across 11 markets to learn more about how people are using these devices. Among the findings:

• Three quarters of respondents never leave home without their phones, and 36 percent of people across the world go as far as to say they ‘cannot live without’ their cell phone.
• 23 percent of respondents own more than two mobile phones. Americans are among the most likely to own at least two at 33 percent, along with the French (34 percent). Brits and Americans were the most likely to own a smartphone at 21 and 20 percent, respectively.
• 17 percent of respondents use e-mail on their mobile on a regular basis, led by 26 percent in the U.S. and 25 percent in the U.K.
• Similarly, 17 percent use Internet browsing, topped by the U.K. at 31 percent and the U.S. at 26 percent.
• 11 percent say they social network regularly via mobile, again led by the U.K. (17 percent) and the U.S. (15 percent).
• 62 percent use the camera regularly, led by 76 percent in the U.K., 71 percent in France and 68 percent in the U.S
• Text messaging has changed the way people manage their relationships. The survey showed that 31 percent of people have lied about their whereabouts via text, one in five has set up a first date and 12 percent have broken up with someone.

View news release ››

YouTube Tools

These two tools let you show just the "good parts" of YouTube videos:

• TubeChop
• Splicd

Word Games

I love word games. My favorite is Babble, a Boggle-like challenge. Here are a few others:

• MustPopWords
• DeepLeep
• WordTwist

I haven't tried any of these, but Dictionary.com just announced the five winners of their Word Play contest.

Know any others I can add to my collection?

Who Are Those People?!

Flickr now allows you to identify the people in your photos, add names to others' photos and more. According to the Flickr Blog:

People in Photos lets you add a member to a photo, find photos of people you know, and manage which photos you’re in.....

You can set your preferences for who can add you to photos and who can add people to photos you’ve shared. You can even determine on a photo-by-photo basis if you’d like to be featured — after all, everyone has a bad hair day now and then. If you do remove yourself from a photo, only you will be able to add yourself back in. If you decide that People in Photos isn’t your thing, you can remove yourself entirely.

History Resources

History Day is coming soon! Here is a list of 100YouTube Channels for History Buffs. I found this on Online College Blog. It often has great lists of useful sites. Worth adding to your RSS reader.