Podcasting for Teachers and Other Educators

What Does a Learning Community Look Like?

2010-10-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

FredMail and the 21st Century

2008-09-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

FredMail was first used on the Internet in the early 1990's. It consisted of simple email with messages sent to teachers in classrooms all around the world. The main benefit was reading the original writings from children around the world. The technology for blogs seems to have evolved from classroom resources like FredMail. It's still all about reading and writing and motivating children to do such as this. See FredMail

I was a media specialist when I first started using FredMail. I met the originator Al Rogers at an ISTE conference in Arizona. Since I had been using FredMail and was a BIG fan of Internet [no one else at my school was], I thought meeting Al Rogers was like meeting Tom Hanks!

Goals for FredMail and the Global Classroom were listed their website with the following :
# Demonstrate how people and information resources on the Internet can be used as a classroom tool for research and as a medium for interactive collaborative learning.
# Teach students how to become active learners and information managers.
# Develop an online system training and support for teachers, so they can use technology in an effective and appropriate manner in their classrooms.
# Demonstrate the most current technologies in both conductivity and network tools and their use in a classroom.
# Encourage business, government, school, higher education, and community partnerships for ongoing collaboration.

Note: 20th Century skills weren't much different from 21st century skills, it seems to me.

Rock You--- a new way to show your photos

2008-09-19T15:32:00.001-07:00

Think of the ways you can use Rock You to motivate personal narratives!

The link to Rock You will display a few photos from recent trip to Brazil. It's easy and dynamic way to communicate a photo journal.

Wordl and Word Clouds

2008-09-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

I have just begun investigating Classroom 2.0, a teacher resource that links to countless digital resources. More on this later--

I also see much potential with use for wordls...or word clouds. See earlier post describing the word cloud displayed in Brazil while singing with the NC Baptist Singers.

Create your own word cloud through http://www.wordle.net/

I created a personal word cloud based on an old proverb--http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/159311/Cross_in_my_pocket

21st Century Learning

2008-07-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

Articles related to Web 2.0, active reading through blogs or eBooks, and other digital information tools are high priority topics for most educators these days. I've always considered myself a futurist. My friends would interject here and say, not so, but I do follow trends. I may not adopt new trends as soon as they appear, but I am aware of predictions for the future in education.

This video is for teachers, principals, parents, preachers, and anyone else who has an inkling of interest in how to prepare young people for workplaces of this century. The video provides many interesting facts related to 21st Century learning. I'm not certain of their sources, nor can I guarantee all the information is accurate. Most does seem to be supported by the literature in ICT and trends in digital literacy. It's worth about five minutes to view!

eBooks

2008-06-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Podcasts deliver a variety of information---the number of topics, and level of quality, is limitless. Many websites offer eBooks in the format of a podcast and pushed to your desktop through RSS aggregator [such as iTunes]. Like other resources in 21st century, we can engage in more than one activity at any given moment. Now this is perfect for audio books, but when using eBooks for reading, you must still focus on the written page. There is no reason not to subscribe to services that provide a "book of the week" or, notices for the most popular book accessed for the week. One of the best quality resources I've viewed recently is Classic Bookshelf website at http://www.classicbookshelf.com/

The unique feature about this resource is the ability to change screen color, font style, color, and margins to accommodate your computer monitor, reader, software, and personal eye preference. When reviewing this website I was able to revisit many of the classics from my youth and childhood. Talk about hitting the "back button" in time, reading these golden books of the past was like hitting the back button in my literary life.

The International Children's Digital Library is a dynamic eBook resource that uses the "fisheye" reader rather than the more familiar scrolling readers. The fisheye reader is reported to reduce eye fatigue. ICDL collection is large with a global selection for children's literature.

The Music of Opportunity

2008-03-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

One of the beauties of podcasting is the ability to spontaneously share information and ideas that affirm, enlighten, and inspire. These experiences can be realized through reading or listening to great books, essays, music or voices of our heores. Video podcasts impact what we hear, see, and feel.

By combining spontaneity and inspiration of video, hear about the life of Patrick Hughes and his father.

Jing it!

2008-03-28T13:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a tool that captures the screen image and allows the user to add a voice comment. It is easy to download, easy to create simple files, and best of all, it's free!

See http://www.screencast.com/users/CarolBrown/folders/Jing/media/c9b3f301-1ede-4f0a-aaba-7b4e8c615464

Voice Thread Versatility

2008-03-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Working with podcasts is like working with Playdough...the more you knead it the more ideas pop-up. It seems endless the ideas for use of podcasting in social networking. But it's not really new. We've been using email (or keypal) projects for years. I remember how I used to exchange Christmas customs with children in Great Britain with my inner city kids at Franklin Elementary in Little Rock. It was thrilling for them and for us. What is innovative about podcasting is the sound and warmth of the human voice flowing from the speakers on your computer. It's like the person was right on the other side of the screen. For most podcasts, that warm voice is hiding behind a media player box with volumn control and tool bar across the top of the screen, but with tools such as VoiceTread and Garageband, images, graphics, and streaming video add a face to the message in the voice. One really innovative took with Voice Thread is "video doodling". The user can upload a video and insert voice thread comments to clarify, elaborate, or critique the streaming video. The Video Doodle offers the world an option for sending comments---not in a blog window, but with another voice or video clip with their feedback on your video. Not only that, but a draw tool let the person sending the comment to draw marks on a still image from the video clip. Think about what this will mean for strategies before the team heads out to the 50 yard line. Some things just can't be taught with reading a textbook!

There is also www.ed.voicethread.com which is protected community for the VoiceTread tool. Students and teachers may present their work for their world to see. No one can access or post comments unless a member of the community. The local teacher/specialist has control over who is part of the community.

Before podcasts were blogs

2008-03-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

GoodReads is a social networking wiki to share book titles and reviews of current reading.
or as
Library Thing indexes millions of books and the reviews that members have posted along with their books. Lists can be displayed with book jacket images or as lists similar to social bookmarks.

Voki

2008-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here's my graduate assistant, Carol Ann. Her family is from SecondLife, NC. She is very dedicated to education. Hear her voice at
http://www.voki.com/php/viewmessage/?chsm=04bc7623cbca3eb9254b6889455a347f&mId=42791

There are other Voki messages at:
http://www.voki.com/mywebsite.php

Check it out!!

Voice Threads

2008-03-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

One of things I'm learning about podcasts is that the sound of the human voice is much warmer than viewing words on a screen or reading words on paper. One neat tool is VoiceThreads. You can upload any photo that has been saved as a digital image--Walmart, CVS, any drugstore can convert old photos to digtal format. After the photo is uploaded, then you tell your story about the photo. This is a personal tool but also a teaching tool that brings you closer to your students. Book talks, scientific processes, steps to mathematical procedures, etc. can all be displayed along with your voice with natural inflection and emotion.

For more about voice threads go to http://www.voicethread.com/

You can go directly to the tutorial at http://voicethread.com/#home.b409.i3113

Wait about a minute until the icon of a man's ahead appears to the left of the screen. This gives the podcast time to download. After the sound is downloaded listen to the excellent explanation for how to use voice threads.

Fearless in Tennessee

2008-03-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to forward things off the internet frequently, but here's something I thought you'd like to see.

Fearless in Tennessee

For those of you who can attend, please remember the following Holy Week services:

Maundy Thursday Service with Tenebrae (extinguishing of candles) -- Thursday at 6:30 pm at Oakmont

Good Friday Stations of the Cross -- Friday at 12:15 pm at St. Peter's Catholic Church (joint services between our two congregations)

Easter Vigil (like a Christmas Eve Service, but on Easter Eve) -- Saturday at 7:30 pm at Peace Presbyterian Church (joint services between our two congregations)

Easter -- The Resurrection of the Lord! -- Sunday at 9:40 and 11:00 am at Oakmont

What I'm learning about Podcasts

2008-03-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Learning about Podcasts.

Podcast by phone

2008-03-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog on podcasting. I'm going to tell the story of how I learned about podcasting for K12 schools. The first part of the story will be familiar with anyone who has worked with podcasts, but as time goes by I hope to add new information that will be helpful to you as you read this blog.

To podcast by telephone you should try G Cast resource. All that is needed is a phone.

See and hear my personal Podcasting Site http://www.gcast.com/user/CarolBrown/podcast/main

Welcome to podcasting at ECU

2008-03-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

The purpose for this blog is to tell the story of how I learned about podcasting and uses for podcasts in K12 schools. The first part will be familiar to everyone who has learned anything about podcasting, but as time goes by I hope to add to my knowledge base and share with the readers of this blog.