It was amazing the site we saw down at the National Park. I’ve never seen rock formations like that… it was just so beautiful.

Our first day out we spent hiking around, checking out the big famous locations. It was great. It was also very hot and dry. I about finished or a half-gallon of water all by myself before I realized Derek would probably need some on our long hike back. In the end we both survived, but I think I need some new shoes. These boot I have weigh a ton and give me no traction in sand.

So, we’re trying new things again today.  Saw this on Digg and thought again about how instructors can use free tools to present information.  Or, with this SplashCast site, you could let students create their own presentations and teach the fundimentals of design.  Sure you have to teach the tools, but what’s important is you have them storyboard the presentation and then help them deploy it.  If the application is designed well (and I think SplashCast isn’t too confusing) then the skills learned during upload can hopefully be applied to other applications where you manipulate objects and rearrange them.

The idea is that teachers give students unique opportunities to create something.  Sure you could have them create a paper or a panorama (remember those from grade school?), but sometimes we should use other means to prove knowledge acquisition.

For those that don’t know, Joost is a video P2P platform. It’s not user-submitted content, it’s all big name channels creating the video (e.g. Virgin, MTV, National Geographic). They’re really focused on the 18-35 male demographic, which again makes sense because that group also tends to be the early adopters.

I’m excited to explore the Joost platform because just like iTunes was first developed for the entertainment market and then supplied free instructional video and podcasts, I could see Joost being powerful in the same area.

What I think will be interesting to see is if the education world can make use of the new internet technologies better than original TV. Sure you have PBS, Sesome Street, and NOVA–but those products took years to develop. What can instructional designers do to bring similar educational materials (and hopefully interesting variations) to market in a timespan worthy of acknowledging?

So, I just signed up with Technorati.  What a humbling experience to see your rank as the NOOB on the blog scene.  I feel very far behind the curve… not that I’m looking for fame & fortunce, but knowing that no one knows I exist is a little depressing.  I understand it will take time and that I have a lot to learn about promotion, marketing, and teaching.

2.6 million… that ‘s a big ladder to climb.

I look forward to working with the marketing departments at companies I work at. They’re usually very engaging and intelligent people. Do you use your marketing department’s reseach? Have you ever teamed up to complete a project that affects your students/customers? I’d love to hear your examples.