BP820100402_one-minute-message

BP2_20100403_Educational Uses for Blogs

Blogs can be very useful in the classroom. They provide the student an alterative outlet for their writing and provide a place for interaction and feed back related to the work they are producing. They are great companions to project based learning. The students can use blogs to keep their teams updated on completed work, communication from the instructor, and feed back through all stages of their work. It can help them keep their work organized and offer them a wider audience to display their work. Blog’s also encourage students to use technology in their learning environment. Blogs are an excellent tool for teachers as well. They can use them to keep the students updated about certain assignments and projects, classroom or team expectations, communications with parents; the list goes on and on. Teachers can also use the blogs to share resources and provide students with access to topics that relate to what they are working on. It gives them an inclusive place to go for topics related to their class and what they are studying. They can also be a place to provide feedback for the work that they do. This way they, and the instructor, know if an assignment or project was well received or successful. Comments by students can help the teacher tweak the project in the future to what the students found they needed or didn’t need to help them complete the work. They can also be used as a place to write personal reflections on the topics they are studying. They can refer back to the blog for information in the future, if they find it relates to other areas they are studying.

BP4_2010041_Discovering Web 2.0 Tools#1: Podcasts

Web 2.0 Tools

Since I began at Full Sail University I have started to use many of the tools the internet has to offer. Many of the Web 2.0 tools were not very familiar to me before our classes started. Podcasting is one tool that I found was very easy to learn and very enriching to my classroom. There are many sites that will guide you in the right direction on how to make and utilize podcasts.

What is a Podcast?

A podcast is a way to audio broadcasting over the internet. It can be played and listened to on computers, Mp3 players, smart phones, etc. It allows users to subscribe to RSS feeds instead of having to download all of the audio they may want to produce or listen to. Here is a short video from www.entrepreneures-journey.com that explains RSS feed.


(Shalwick, n.d.)

How do you make one?

Podcasts can be made with many programs. Mac users have the advantage of access to programs, like Garage Band, that has a specific template for making audio podcasts, QuickTime, iMovie, or Final Cut for video production; and iWeb for podcast feed creation (For Podcast Makers, 2010). PC users can use programs like Windows Movie Maker, or even download programs from the internet to use to create them.

How would I use a Podcast?

There are so many possibilities for the use of podcasts in the classroom. I have done mock interviews of historical figures, turned the students required writing prompts into audio “books” to take the stress off the assignments, we have made news shows parodies of news shows, all from just learning the basics of podcasting when school started this year! In the business world, podcasts could be made for training and meetings, because they can be listened to or viewed from work or at home, podcasts can make scheduling an easier process.

Example of a Podcast

http://web.me.com/gillettsd/Welcome/Podcast/Entries/2010/4/3_Web_2.0_tools.html

(Written transcript of the Podcast)

Hi, this is Shannon Gillett and we are going to talk about Web 2.0 Tools. When we received our computers with our school this year I discovered podcasting as an incredible tool for use in my classroom. The possibilities for its uses have been limitless. Because podcasts are accessed online, students are able to work from school and home on their different projects. One way we use them is to have the fourth grade use their writing work and turn them into audio stories. We also do history interviews. Students choose a person in history and teams research information about their historical figure, then conduct and record mock interviews. (One person is the historical figure, one person the interviewer.) Each group then gets to listen to the other’s interviews. These are just two of hundreds of ideas that are available with the use of podcasting. I found a great site, http://www.podcasting-tools.com that goes through step by step how to podcast, what is podcasting, different types of software used to make podcasts, podcasting articles, blogs, questions, the list goes on and on! There are many tools available to help teachers get started with podcasting. Podcasting is a way to give students purpose to assignments they are asked to do. Podcasting allows students to utilize many different types of learning modalities and sets itself up naturally for project based learning. It also gives the students something tangible to share with others, which is more rewarding than just a grade on a paper or working individually. This tool has so many stages of preparation; it allows each student to showcase area’s they are strong in. Podcasting allows opportunity for meeting required, set classroom standards, while exploring the new requirements set for 21st century skills. I can’t wait to add more of this type of learning into my lessons; especially since next year I will have a SMART board to work with in my classroom which will be perfect for podcasting and many other projects.

Resources:
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/230/what-is-a-podcast/
http://www.podcasting-tools.com
http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html
http://www.itunes.com

References
iTunes. (2010). Making a podcast. Retrieved from
http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html
Notepage. (2010). Podcasting tools. Retrieved from
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/
Shalwick, G. (2005). What is RSS? Retrieved from
http://www.BecomeABlogger.com
Yaro. (2005). What is a podcast and how can I use one? Retrieved from
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/230/what-is-a-podcast/

BP3_20100403_Setting Up Google Reader

Here are a few of the feeds that I use often and a few that I found that have information about some changes to the curriculum for my classroom for next year! Our school system filters many sites from our network so I can't access You Tube for my class. However, there is a off shoot of You Tube called Teacher Tube that is available. This has educational video's from geometry to poetry. It is great for adding visual to lesson plans. The next one is a combination of TED, 100 best video's for leaders, 100 Best video's for the classroom. I included the others with TED because they have many of the TED talks on them. TED is very inspirational, informative, and useful! Here you can find the leading idea's of today. I am a total TED geek and watch them for fun! Core Knowledge was something I included because my school system is implementing this in our curriculum. While I know the basis for the Core Knowledge idea's I need to really start to investigate what this will mean in my classroom next year. This is also the reason I choose 21st Century Skills. This is going to be a topic that will sweep through my school system. I need to see what they are going to mean to my instruction. Because of the 21st Century skills requirements that are coming, our school classrooms are all being set up with Smart boards this summer. This is WONDERFUL! I included a feed that talks about lesson planning and creations of lessons using the Smart board.

BP1_20100402_iGoogleScreenShots