Over the past week or so in class, we have been discussing podcasts, vodcasts, and related technologies such as Voice Thread.
For me, I have always known about podcasts and what they entailed, but I had never taken the time to explore the many options out there!
Here is the definition of a podcast from Wikipedia:
A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The word is a neologism derived from "broadcast" and "pod" from the success of the iPod, as podcasts are often listened to on portable media players.
My first stop was to check out the educational podcasts located on iTunes. You may find your results a bit limited if you just look here, so make sure you also search Google, where you will find several more options. One of the first results on iTunes is TeacherCast. I enjoyed listening to some of these podcasts, and have several more marked for future listening. Many of the TeacherCast podcasts are quite long, so this was one of the reasons that this particular site was not as appealing to me. However, in the true spirit of a podcast, I can see myself downloading these and listening to these while I clean the house or take a walk. When I tried to listen to the longer ones directly on my laptop, I found myself also surfing the web and not paying attention to the podcast!
The format of TeacherCast is nice, in that they usually use a sort of "round table" discussion, which is not scripted, so it flows naturally, and makes it real for the listeners. In the episode I listened to, the host and 2 guests were discussing "BYOD" or, the "Bring Your Own Device" movement. 2 educators discussed their views on this, pros/cons, ways to implement, and so on.
From a technical standpoint, the intro, music, and audio were all spot on, and this podcast was professional in nature. I think teachers of all grade and subjects could find something useful on this site.
Doing a search on iTunes for educational podcasts also led me to several podcasts for learning a language. Oh la la! As a language teacher, I have used several different online sources for finding audio for my students to listen to, but why have I never tapped into these podcasts before?
One podcast I started with is called Coffee Break French. Most of the episodes are about 20 minutes long. I clicked on a random episode, which happened to be one about numbers, focusing on the higher numbers. The 2 speakers are not native speakers, but this did not hinder the overall quality of the program. In fact, for my students, I think this might make the podcast less scary. The main speaker, Marc, has a very good accent. The other speaker, Anna, is "learning" French from him, playing the role of the student. Marc will stop and explain little things in English, such as grammar exceptions, or why things are the way they are. This podcast would be very helpful for students to listen to on their own time, because with the English explanations, there would be no questions. I think I will start linking some of these podcasts to my class Wiki and perhaps require students to listen to 1 per week. I will continue to look for podcasts that do not have as much English (if any) for the students and myself to listen to in class.
Finally, my classmates and I made our own educational podcast this week! This was an interesting experience, as we are spread out over 3 states, but can you tell from our podcast? Nope, we are just that good. ::smile::
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Blogging About Blogs
I have been a fan of blogs and blogging for many years now. Personally, I first started a blog to keep friends and family updated on my travels when I have spent longer amounts of time abroad. I decided to keep my blog going to show glimpses of my life for my friends and family who are spread out around the globe. In the classroom, I have been blogging with my upper-level French students for two years now. For now, we are using the blog as a way to post weekly responses/reflections to the topic we are studying that week. Like any technology project, I have found it is best to start small, and grow from there as both the teacher and the students feel comfortable with the technology and make it part of their weekly routine. I see potential to keep growing my class blog and am looking forward to incorporating ways to make it more interactive.
In the courses I am currently taking myself, we are also blogging (obviously) and following blogs that are relevant to our profession. To be honest, I have never followed education blogs (I prefer food blogs). When I first started teaching 12 years ago, I also kept going to school for about the first 8 years, whew! I think I just got burned out on going to school. Now that I have had a nice 4 year break, I definitely see and feel the need to continue to find ways to grow professionally. Educational blogs are a great way to keep up-to-date on new ideas and best practices!
One blog I have enjoyed reading is the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. The author, Vicki Davis, is a tech savvy educator who shares her passion for teaching and technology through her blog. The June 5th post about being a geek made me laugh. I too label myself as a geek! I'm glad to see I'm not alone, and that it is indeed cool to be geeky.
Seeing that we all just finished up another school year, I appreciated another one of Ms. Davis' posts about ending the school year positively. I felt like this post had good perspective and I wish I would have read it 3 days ago! I think I would have ended the school year on a better note. So, as a reminder, here is a to-do list for myself for next year, summarized from this post:
End Of School Year Checklist for Mrs. Thompson
1. Take the time to comment on student's report cards, no matter how much you want to just hit that 'Post Grades' button.
2. Say THANK YOU.
3. Remember people you see everyday, but might not speak with often. (Custodians, lunchroom staff...)
4. Leave the students with a positive message and remind them they are great young adults.
5. Leave classroom better than you found it.
6. "Sprint to the finish line!" Keep an active and exciting classroom until the last bell of the last day.
And you, how did you wrap up your school year? Do you agree with her advice? Do you have any tips to add?
I look forward to reading more educational blogs, as well as my classmates' postings. Please see my blog list on the right to follow these blogs yourself!
In the courses I am currently taking myself, we are also blogging (obviously) and following blogs that are relevant to our profession. To be honest, I have never followed education blogs (I prefer food blogs). When I first started teaching 12 years ago, I also kept going to school for about the first 8 years, whew! I think I just got burned out on going to school. Now that I have had a nice 4 year break, I definitely see and feel the need to continue to find ways to grow professionally. Educational blogs are a great way to keep up-to-date on new ideas and best practices!
One blog I have enjoyed reading is the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. The author, Vicki Davis, is a tech savvy educator who shares her passion for teaching and technology through her blog. The June 5th post about being a geek made me laugh. I too label myself as a geek! I'm glad to see I'm not alone, and that it is indeed cool to be geeky.
Seeing that we all just finished up another school year, I appreciated another one of Ms. Davis' posts about ending the school year positively. I felt like this post had good perspective and I wish I would have read it 3 days ago! I think I would have ended the school year on a better note. So, as a reminder, here is a to-do list for myself for next year, summarized from this post:
End Of School Year Checklist for Mrs. Thompson
1. Take the time to comment on student's report cards, no matter how much you want to just hit that 'Post Grades' button.
2. Say THANK YOU.
3. Remember people you see everyday, but might not speak with often. (Custodians, lunchroom staff...)
4. Leave the students with a positive message and remind them they are great young adults.
5. Leave classroom better than you found it.
6. "Sprint to the finish line!" Keep an active and exciting classroom until the last bell of the last day.
And you, how did you wrap up your school year? Do you agree with her advice? Do you have any tips to add?
I look forward to reading more educational blogs, as well as my classmates' postings. Please see my blog list on the right to follow these blogs yourself!
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