Technology Infused Learning and Teaching

One of the first things that I did when I got an iPod was to search for educational podcasts, specifically those that centered around Web 2.0 applications since that is what I wanted to learn about at the time. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few great ones, but I’d like to be honest about my experience with podcasts. I found that short audio podcasts, which last five minutes or less, work best for me. Because I’m such a visual person, beyond that time span makes it difficult for me to remain focused. However, video podcasts or vodcasts are an incredible resource for me. First of all, they’re free, and I’m all about that. You don’t have to have an iPod or an MP3 player to take advantage of them, and no matter who you are, there is probably a podcast out there that could teach you something you’d like to learn about.

Personally, some of the best ones that I found recently were about using ActivStudio for Promethean Boards. Our schools are slowly purchasing more and more boards and needing professional learning for the software the accompanies it. Normally, that would fall on me, but I haven’t had the time that it would take to devote myself on becoming an expert on the boards. That and if you don’t use what you’ve learned, you’ll lose it, which could very well happen to me. The podcasts that I found were short vodcasts, and each focused on a particular tool or topic. I was able to point others to these resources, but have also kept them archived for myself as well.

Even though I’m not a huge fan of long (only) audio podcasts, I have found listening to some conference keynote speakers to be valuable and often times uplifting.

Given that I haven’t taken much time to search out or listen to student-created podcasts, I really enjoyed this particular activity. My experience in the classroom was with high school students only, so I headed straight for the “younger” podcasts and chose to explore the collection from Jamestown Elementary. The first that I listened to was on the topic of Thanksgiving. Even though theirs didn’t have true “video” in the podcasts, they did have images that the children had drawn to accompany their narration. I absolutely LOVE student artwork and to be able to see their interpretation while they spoke was a treat. I then listened to the one titled Outdoor Lab Experience that included pictures from their field trip. This podcast sounded as though they were recording the students during the field trip as they shared what they enjoyed most or what they learned. It wasn’t scripted at all and the spontaneity of their responses really captured their enthusiasm.

After Jamestown, I chose to explore Ms.Edminson’s Weekly Podcast. I specifically chose this one because I was hoping to find a scripted podcast to compare with the prior ones. The first title caught my eye, which was Take a BITE Out of Shark Facts!. I said before that I enjoyed the unscripted podcast, but this one blew me away. It was extremely well written, had music to introduce the podcast as well as during the transitions in the segments of the “broadcast”. The children, to me, sounded as if they had been doing this for quite a while because there was so much inflection and character in their voices. I wasn’t expecting that at all, especially from third graders! It makes me want to find a teacher in one of our schools and start podcasting with them! Given that it doesn’t require a huge investment or expensive equipment to produce a podcast, it’s one of those activities that could be quickly produced for those just beginning.

In searching for podcasts for myself, I went through iTunes and decided to search specifically for vodcasts and found a new one that I had not seen before. It’s from Kevin Honeycutt of ESSDACK out of Kansas. He’s very active on Plurk (one of the social networks I participate in) so when I saw that this was his podcast, of course I subscribed. I think he may also have some on his website, which I’ll have to look into further.

What I like about searching for podcasts/vodcasts in iTunes is that it will tell you what other people also subscribed to in addition to the one I’m currently looking at. I found that to be very useful information and I treat that like a recommendation to at least check the others out. The ones that branched off of Kevin’s podcasts pointed to “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” by Wes Fryer (which I already have subscribed to), EdTechTalk.com, David Warlick, and November Learning just to name a few. I’m familiar with all of these so I felt the recommendations were very valid. For someone just beginning to search for podcasts in iTunes, it’s a great resource to have if they aren’t sure what other podcasts might be out there.

I have looked before in the Educational Podcast Network, but honestly found it easier to use iTunes or directly subscribe to a podcast from someone’s blog if I found one there. Again, I’m a visual person and I guess the iTunes interface really appeals to me. That and I can learn more about the podcasts itself through iTunes as opposed to EPN. Now LearnOutLoud.com’s interface really appealed to me and I was about to get right to a few podcasts within a few clicks, I had some kind of a visual that went with each podcast, along with a short description. From there I did subscribe to Teach42’s podcast (Steve Dembo). I have to admit being a bit biased about choosing his since I was just able to meet him in November and he’s also on Plurk.

Podcasts, whether teacher created for specific tasks or existing podcasts can be a goldmine for the classroom. My first thought, was using them with elementary students in centers. Also, I noticed that there are some podcasts specifically for learning English, which might be very useful for ELL students. Some of the podcasts appeared to be geared for older people, so those might be more appropriate for high school students. Teachers could record their lectures and post them on their website, which would be especially useful for students who were absent or need to review. Additionally, teacher created podcasts can target specific standards which students are having problems mastering. The podcast, especially if it was visual in nature, could help explain difficult concepts and appropriate activities could be tied to the pod/vodcast to ensure that students were able to take what they heard and watched and apply it.

In my school system we are currently running a pilot with ELL students and iPods, using them both in school to tackle areas on the CRCT where they were defiicient. Math is our current target area and the teachers are either finding existing content or creating their own to provide that needed remediation and support. Our pilot group is small and the students do take home the iPod for one night along with a corresponding activity. Thus far, the response from the students has been very positive and I’m looking forward to the end of the school year when we can see if using this technology has made an impact.

Photo Credit: Pmtorrone on Flickr

Here is the embedded player for Gcast. My addition to the list is called Caroline’s Musings. Enjoy!

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First of all, I wasn’t sure if we were to do both a 7B and a 7C about what we found in our Google Reader. I’ve already done a 7c, why I skipped B left my scratching my head. Regardless, to cover my bases, here is my 7B.

This first blog post that I’m sharing kind of jumped out at me. The title is 5 Methods To Bypass Blocked Sites. I’m not choosing to bring light to this particular site because I thought it was not to be missed, but because it kind of disturbs me. The first line of the post says, “So you’re at work or school and you want to check your profile or watch a YouTube video.” The author goes on to post 5 ways of bypassing filters, including free downloadable applications that can be used from a USB flash drive!

Let me start by saying that there are sites in my district that I wish weren’t filtered. I understand the why behind it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. However, knowing that our students can bring in a flash drive to bypass our filter and access sites they have no business looking at in school (or at home for that matter), disturbs me. Whether at school or on the job, if you are utilizing proxies or software to bypass the filtering system, then you’re not doing what is expected of you, meaning your job! Advertising these types of applications to me only encourages people to break policies that are in place for their own personal gratification.

Now onto something more positive. The next blog post that caught my eye was Using skype in the classroom. Skype is currently not accessible in my district, but that is definitely on my list of things that need to be changed. I’m completely convinced of the educational benefits that can be reaped by using Skype as a collaborative tool between classrooms. It’s a true bridge, the value of which cannot be overlooked in spite of students being able to “smuggle” Skype in on a flash drive to use it to potentially chat during the school day.

What I liked so much about this blog post, was it’s simplicity in how it outlined what Skype is, the hardware required, 21st Century skills required, management issues, class discipline, and constraints. I love blog posts such as these, especially when it’s about a topic that I would like to investigate further. For me to introduce a tool such as this to teachers, having a concise resource from which I can pull is very valuable. Out of curiosity, I Googled “using skype in the classroom” and ended up with over 500 hits. Some of them are duplicates, but it goes to show that integrating Skype into instruction has become a somewhat prevalent topic. Two items of interest that I found included a blog post by Vicki Davis back from 2006 about learning how to use Skype in her classroom and teaching it to her students, and a discussion about Skype on the Classroom 2.0 Ning.

View my page on Classroom 2.0

I first discovered Nings, specifically Classroom 2.0 in last summer of 2007. I think at that time there were just shy of 400 members. It was an incredible resource at that time, a very welcoming environment full of knowledgeable people who were willing to share their expertise, experiences, and offer advice on just about any topic. And now? This particular network boasts over 14,000 members!

Is it overwhelming? Absolutely, but if one takes the time to explore, there is much to find. My particular recommendation is to the tags on the right hand column (scroll down). You can search by tool, subject, and area. Each keyword brings up post after post that matches the tag. You can still spend a huge amount of time even after narrowing the focus, but it’s quite worthwhile. I count Classroom 2.0 as an important piece of my Personal Learning Network (PLN).

This isn’t the only Ning in which I am a member. This past summer, I joined the NECC 2007 Ning, which also became a great resource for me to keep up with the conference in San Antonio when I was stuck in Georgia unable to attend. I was able to find information about sessions, see pictures from the conference, and “hear” about the best NECC had to offer.

View my page on NECC 2008

Social networking is the center piece of my professional learning. Without the pieces that make it up, I would be at a great disadvantage. It is my network that I rely on to learn of new tools and trends in Educational Technology and how they are being applied in the classroom. Traditional professional learning courses are not plentiful enough nor available in a timely fashion, which makes my social networks all the more important to me.

Social networks definitely have an important place in the classroom as well. Students thrive in environments where they can communicate, share, and collaborate digitally. For those students who are particularly shy, the use of social network can be a means for them to branch out and make a valuable contribution that they may not have felt comfortable doing in a traditional classroom environment. Social networks can open students up to a wide variety of perspectives as they have the ability to connect with others across the state, United States, and internationally. For students who might never get the opportunity to travel much outside of their state or country, these opportunities can be invaluable learning experiences.

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When I was first looking for a web-based RSS aggregator, I tried both PageFlakes and Netvibes (which to me is somewhat similar). However, once my list of RSS feeds grew too long, I ceased to use them and never gave either another thought. I’ll be the first to admit that I can be very one dimensional in my thinking, meaning that I will sometimes look at a tool and see it as having one purpose. I need to work on thinking out of the box more and exploring PageFlakes allowed me to do just that.

I would have never thought about creating a PageFlake that could be used by others as a resource. It’s a great idea and seems as though it would be far easier to use as a themed resource page than building a web page containing a variety of resources. I found it to be very easy to create and customize my own PageFlake. Always a good sign when a site is fairly user friendly, which is something I look for when promoting its use.

For classroom learning, a teacher could conceivably create a page for each unit containing a “theme” of resources pertaining to those standards. I would be very interested to see how teachers use PakeFlakes with their students. I’m also wondering if students could generate their own PageFlake as an assignment and how that might look. The “anything” flake was completely new to me and considering how flexible it is, I would think that students could get very creative with what they might choose to embed for an assignment.

As a professional learning resource, I could definitely see incorporating PageFlakes into a course, such as providing an RSS feeds for specifically tagged bookmarks from Del.icio.us or Diigo, an RSS feed for specific blogs that might relate to the course, task lists, a calendar, and more.

Personally, I can see spending a lot of time going through some searches on PageFlakes to see what gems I might uncover. I”ll have to spend some more time there once this course has been completed.

Photo credit: Poinsetta Flakes by CaptPiper