First college-level journalism course focused on Twitter @ DePaul University

This article was brought to my attention by librarian Matt Stuczynski. DePaul University's new journalism class is called: "Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets." Looks like Twitter is here to stay for awhile. Read more at the Wall St. Journal blog Speakeasy.

Obama's Speech to Students

The text of the President's Speech is now available for previewing.

What strikes you about it?

Here's a WORDLE of the top 25 words he will use.

Ans (thanks to JudyG) a link to to a WORDLE of Bush's 1991 speech to students.

At first, I thought "maybe" should not appears so often in either speech, but then I realized that "maybe" was not being used in a tentative sense, but rather as a way to highlight opportunities and possibilities. As we start a new school year, let's hope that there are students and teachers who are further inspired to support each other, to engage in lively, civic debate, and to pursue their dreams and passions.

WikiTrust: Orange Alert Comes to Wikipedia

WikiTrust, developed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, color-codes the information on a Wikipedia page using algorithms that evaluate the reliability of the author and the information itself.

The algorithms do this by examining how well-received the author's contributions have been within the community. It looks at how quickly a user's edits are revised or reverted and considers the reputation of those people who interact with the author.

A white background, shows that a piece of text has been viewed by many editors who did not change it and that it was written by a reliable author. Shades of orange signify doubt, dubious authorship, or ongoing controversy.

New Collaborative Writing Tool

MixedInk Demo from MixedInk on Vimeo.

Glad I didn't buy a Kindle yet....

The new LCD displays will be in color which will be a true game changer because charts/graphics/photos will be more legible

Color ebooks are expected to be on the market in about 6 months.

Read more here.

Sales of these devices will boom when more textbooks are included. Are textbook publishers hanging by a thread and trying to stop the release of digitized textbooks? Will the ebook innovators leave everyone in the dust?

Engaging the New Influencers: A Worthwhile Read

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We're Pleased to Announce a New Librarian

Matthew J Stuczynski, a new member of the library faculty as been on staff with New Trier for the past 15 years. He is not only a veteran Spanish/German teacher but also a Technology Staff Developer. He is a member of the Northern Illinois Computing Educators (NICE) Board and brings a wealth of technology expertise to our library department.