Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thing 20
Students would be interested in listening to podcasts if it was relevant to their work and engaging. One example might be the Podcast Club (http://education.podcast.com/show/34346/Podcast-Club/), which creates history podcasts. Another is a site related to snowboarding (http://snowboarding.podcast.com/episode/20980713/29973/), which could be used in physical education, physics, or anatomy classes. Music podcasts abound.
I think students would enjoy making podcasts for several reasons: hearing their own voices broadcast, playing with the technology, and (incidentally) actually demonstrating their knowledge through another medium.
I enjoy NPR broadcasts. Yes, I know this sounds like a broken record, but that's life. Fact is, I haven't had time to do all the exploring I might for podcast sites. It's on my list. After working out, but before root canal.
I think students would enjoy making podcasts for several reasons: hearing their own voices broadcast, playing with the technology, and (incidentally) actually demonstrating their knowledge through another medium.
I enjoy NPR broadcasts. Yes, I know this sounds like a broken record, but that's life. Fact is, I haven't had time to do all the exploring I might for podcast sites. It's on my list. After working out, but before root canal.
Okay, I lied. So sue me.
If you happen to glance to your left, you'll see a facebook badge for Sandy Shores. In actuality, that's me, sort of. Being the paranoid nutball I am, I tend to use aliases on pages like "My Face", or give different parts of birthdates, or generally screw up the demographics on everything. Except this. Of course I wouldn't lie to 23Things, would I? Of course not. Sure.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thing 19
I've listened to podcasts before, especially those from NPR. I particularly like "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me", which I've reviewed on this blog. As a fan of audio books, podcasts are a natural. I can shift time to listen to programs at my convenience rather than when they're broadcast. I listened to Grammar Girl's podcast about posting blog comments, and heard a podcast from a school librarian putting forward some mysteries. Both were informative and helpful.
One of the difficulties I see with this is having students, especially young ones, maintain their attention during the podcast. Certainly, it could be used by a kindergarten teacher, for instance, to turn one of their story books into a podcast. That way they could listen from home. Students could present reports via podcast, which could then be used in different classrooms studying the same topic. At a higher level, students would presumably have a longer attention span (or at least be able to fake it better), so discussions could be captured and rebroadcast. This might be helpful when a test is looming.
Students would probably prefer vodcasts. When I was a student (lo, those many years ago), I always enjoyed slides or movies over just talk. They keep the participants focused. With podcasts, it would be too easy for them to just "half-listen" while doing something else, the much mis-named "multitasking".
Students could be made aware of podcasts by posting them on class blogs, making them feeds, or including them on a wiki. Students could compile their own list of podcasts, as part of a group projects on their wiki. Use of "Science Friday" from NPR could supplement specific topics presented in class. "Wait, Wait..." could be used during either Current Events-type class or ELA focus on humor. Social Studies classes could benefit from the many presentations on "Morning Edition" or BBC World News. Can you tell I'm a regular listener of NPR? "This American Life" could be used as a jumping-off point for journalism classes or writing memoirs. The possibilities are wonderful!
One of the difficulties I see with this is having students, especially young ones, maintain their attention during the podcast. Certainly, it could be used by a kindergarten teacher, for instance, to turn one of their story books into a podcast. That way they could listen from home. Students could present reports via podcast, which could then be used in different classrooms studying the same topic. At a higher level, students would presumably have a longer attention span (or at least be able to fake it better), so discussions could be captured and rebroadcast. This might be helpful when a test is looming.
Students would probably prefer vodcasts. When I was a student (lo, those many years ago), I always enjoyed slides or movies over just talk. They keep the participants focused. With podcasts, it would be too easy for them to just "half-listen" while doing something else, the much mis-named "multitasking".
Students could be made aware of podcasts by posting them on class blogs, making them feeds, or including them on a wiki. Students could compile their own list of podcasts, as part of a group projects on their wiki. Use of "Science Friday" from NPR could supplement specific topics presented in class. "Wait, Wait..." could be used during either Current Events-type class or ELA focus on humor. Social Studies classes could benefit from the many presentations on "Morning Edition" or BBC World News. Can you tell I'm a regular listener of NPR? "This American Life" could be used as a jumping-off point for journalism classes or writing memoirs. The possibilities are wonderful!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Thing 17
A wiki is a more focused instrument than a blog is. The wiki typically provides info on a particular topic of interest, whereas a blog might have that topic, but will also have other interests of the blogger.
I think a blog would be more useful for journaling activities, and reflection assignments. A wiki would be more collaborative, much as group projects are now. An assignment on planets could be put together by students as young as 3rd or 4th grade. Social studies assignments could use a wiki. The advantage is that it wouldn't necessarily be limited to in-class time, but could be a homework assignment to which each participant could contribute at their convenience.
The main problem I encountered with the wiki was getting it to look the way I wanted it to. Perhaps this could be solved in a group collaboration by each person contributing their info and then putting it together in a more stylish fashion at the end of the project.
I think a blog would be more useful for journaling activities, and reflection assignments. A wiki would be more collaborative, much as group projects are now. An assignment on planets could be put together by students as young as 3rd or 4th grade. Social studies assignments could use a wiki. The advantage is that it wouldn't necessarily be limited to in-class time, but could be a homework assignment to which each participant could contribute at their convenience.
The main problem I encountered with the wiki was getting it to look the way I wanted it to. Perhaps this could be solved in a group collaboration by each person contributing their info and then putting it together in a more stylish fashion at the end of the project.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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