PodPeople

Ok, so if you would have asked me about what a podcasts even was just two years ago I would have literally had no idea what you were talking about. Fast Forward to now and not only am I going to put together a handful of ideas on how you can use podcasts in the classroom but I have actually included a podcast on my blog that I finished earlier today. Podcast are an easy an inexpensive tool that you can use for just about any subject or grade level.

We all know how much students love to get involved in projects that are interactive and challenging and that produce something that they can proudly share with peers and people in their lives. The creation of a class podcast is an incredible way to provide them that opportunity.”It’s not about the technology so much,” Dan Schmit says creator and host of the online community KidCast. “Podcasting is much more about inquiry, analysis, and articulation.” By having students develop ideas into something that they can confidently speak on moves us beyond fact regurgitation and in the direction of more student driven learning.

Public speaking is something that I have heard many people say is something that they struggle with. While I know that for some it may actually be standing in front of a group, but I think for many people (who likely do not even realize) it is often the lack of confidence in either their material, their ability, or both. When a person feels truly connected to what they are promoting (explaining, describing, etc.) and prepared and confident in their ability as a speaker then the audience actually isn’t so bad. When recording a podcast a student is practicing speaking. They have prepared information and that information is being delivered and recorded.Because the student is able to hear the result right away with their own ears and understands the life that this podcast will have, the likelihood of them catching mistakes and wanting to correct them is increased.

Here are a few ideas for elementary classroom podcasts:

• Classroom news: A modern take on the class paper, students can take on various roles in the production.
• Communication of observations: Students can record information about the world around them potentially crossing multiple disciplines including science and social studies. Students can post their podcasts and also look for podcasts to subscribe to (as a class) for other places in the country (or even world) allowing students to experience their environment in a much different way.
• Author Studies/Book Reviews: Engage students in a new way by allowing them to create audio reviews for books using their written reviews as a template. These podcasts could then be made available to the school library or other classrooms.

The possibilities for how this can be integrated are seemingly endless. To get started Education World had a good list of teacher friendly and free tools to help you begin your classroom podcast.

Have fun!

 

Technology in Education Podcast

Time to liberate the cell phone in the classroom?

So this is the question, Why Should teachers embrace mobile technology?

Here’s the thing…I understand that teenagers see their cell phones as an extension of their being (after all I am the mother of a 13 year old and have to set boundaries on cell phone use here at home) it seems that if we know that they have this connection,  then we should find ways to use that relationship in a positive way; ways that would help to enrich our students lives rather than just entertain them. This is the argument of many these days including a rather convincing Anthony A. Luscre in the article, “OMG, Engaging Students on Their Own Terms.” In it he makes the argument not only for cell phones, but also suggests that texting and even Twitter provide opportunities to get our students engaged. I have to admit that I am impressed with how many things that you can do with such a small device, and new inexpensive (and many free) apps are coming out all the time.

I myself have had a hard time with this topic, for me there is nothing more frustrating to me than sitting in a college class and seeing a peer in the “texting position” you know what I am talking about, right? Sitting, heads facing down, both hands in their laps, I can’t figure out for the life of me why they seem to believe that just because their phone is out of the line of sight that no one knows what they are doing…I honestly don’t know if it worse when students are blatant in their cell phone use or when they try to “hide” it.

This problem is addressed in, “Teachers Use Cell Phones in the Classroom” proposing that by encouraging students to use cell phones turns the phones into educational tools, not distractions or cheating devices.”You start managing the cell phone use, teaching them cell phone etiquette,” Webb says. Instead of trying to hide their phones all the time, her students use them for class. “It takes the cat and mouse game out of it.”

One argument against the use of cell phones in the classroom is one that is not unfamiliar regarding other forms of technology, access. How would we PAY for all of this technology? According to a Pew Poll published in 2013 on teens and technology, 78% of teens own a cell phone, a quarter of which say that their cell phone if the primary way that they access the internet. Having students use their own phones would reduce the cost of new supplies not to mention time for instruction on how to use them, as pointed out by Neilsen,  “No one has to learn to use their own phones. Even if I had millions of dollars to waste, it’s better for students to use the phones they already own.”

I feel that in a way I am lucky that my focus is on early education as the integration of technology is rather simplistic and foundational in the lower grades. I am not so naive as to think that I will not encounter 7 year olds that need to be reminded of cell phone etiquette (after all there are many adults who could stand for a lesson…I’m talking to you bathroom stall talker) but a cell phone in the pocket or backpack of every first grader is not yet the norm. Teaching younger students in terms of safety, proper use, and being considerate of their surroundings will likely continue to be the focus in regards to mobile learning in the coming years for K-3 education….but then again with the rate in which things advance in regards to technology who knows?

My first animation presentation. Subject: The flipped classroom

So yeah…fun…but so so so much more time consuming than I could have imagined! Did I mention fun though?

http://www.powtoon.com/p/bzuNo46PSS6/.

It has to be true…It’s on the internet

And this is an example of why we have to discuss digital literacy with our students. To be discerning and approaching information critically is a skill. The consequences of not acknowledging this can be detrimental. The chances of a student running across a “hoax” website is far less likely than 1. a website representing itself as information that is actually trying to sell them something, 2. A website that is options shrouded in a professional appearance and worse yet, 3. People that are not who they present themselves to be. This last one we tend to discuss with our children but for some reason we don’t extend that conversation in the natural way to the others.

Multimedia Use

You ever try to write something when you are much too tired to be doing so? A sea of red squiggles attacking all of the words that make so much more sense in your head than they read on the screen…No? Me neither. I have had my Godson here all week and I have to say that these two (my daughter and godson) as 13 year olds are as loud and giggly as they were as 3 year olds. Good for the heart but not so good for keeping focus!  But alas, I must get these thoughts out before they escape me completely.

It is with great enthusiasm that I approach the next topic on Technology in the Classroom; the use of podcasts and screencasting (video use to follow, too big to tackle tonight). This is not because I have a lot of experience with them but because of the excitement that these kinds of interactive actives brings out in kids (young and old alike). Here are a few ideas for their use in classroom.

Podcasts: Podcasts have become quite popular in the last several years, no matter what your interests you can likely find podcast that will fill the bill. With available technology and a tiny amount for supplies you can easily start broadcasting your own class (or school, or even personal) podcast. This could be used in many ways from having students communicating what they are learning for parents/loved ones (to access at home) to creating “news” broadcasts for the school website. One idea that I love is the use of digital recordings to have students explain/teach other students learning strategies and information. I think that this really would help to get students involved. I believe that we all have (at least) a small part of us that wants to be able to help others succeed and this would allow for students to get to feel that too

Screencasting: This is a really neat one. I swear when I was first introduced to Jing I had one of those “Ah” moments when I realized how they make those video tutorials…you know the ones with the writing right on the screen that looks JUST like the screen you are trying to figure out. The uses for teachers seem obvious but I am intrigued by the idea of teaching students to use screencasting for things such as explaining the steps they take to complete a multi-step math problem.

Soon to follow: what I’ve gathered in my toolbox regarding video production. I can’t wait to share, but I guess I will…

On Flickr

I know that I have mentioned before that while I am not a Technophobe I am slow to getting to know new technology. I hear all the time about a new “this or that” online that I just HAVE to check out. Sometimes I even AM interested but for whatever reason the thought flies out of my head before I get a chance to. This was the case with Flickr. I am kicking myself now for not having explored this before. I was under a false assumption (probably because of how it was presented to me) that it was another facebook-y site where I would be forced to look at endless pictures of friends and families kids, food, or much worse. Boy was I wrong! After poking around and doing a bit of research, the classroom possibilities for Flickr are endless! I really enjoyed what Will Richardson complied in, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms about possible uses for Flickr. A few of my favorites cover a wide range of subject areas such as:

• Collaboration/Analysis:Starting online class discussions (such as our ED270 W14 group this week) by adding comments under the photos the students work together to analyse and interpret photos and their meanings.
• Geography: Using Latitude and Longitude or Geotags to find photos taken at specific places (that you’ve been, that your studying, etc.) giving students a feel for locations in a whole new way
• Literature: Creating visual representations of literary works, such one suggestion that includes compiling the more “tag-able” words of a poem for an added dimension
• (and probably my favorite) Creative Writing: “flicktion” Students take a random photo on Flickr and craft a story around it. This gives students a virtually bottomless vat of ideas. I love love the idea!

These are just a few and there are many many more just a Google search away…Just remember to have your students credit the works original owner!

A real website for a hypothetical classroom

Imagine this if you will. There is a first grade class. They have been working on “parts of a story”. They are already familiar with Mo Willems’ books and love pigeon. We have covered the importance of proofreading, asking for help (if they need it with spelling, punctuation, etc.), and what makes a “good” story. I have also (Oh, I should mention this is MY hypothetical class) discussed with them and sent a letter home about “homework” that will be completed through a website that I have set up. I have also arranged for a print version for any parents who do not/will not have access to the website. This would be an example of a project that would assigned to the students. I understand that some of them may not have someone to assist them regularly and I am in no way trying to overwhelm the students or their caregivers. I believe that a project of this size and involvement would be appropriate once or twice a month. So I guess all that is left is to let you see the website. I hope it does not disappoint! My 1st Grade Reading Website

presentationzen

I think we have all sat though a PowerPoint that was just bad…There are numerous reasons why we might have thought this, loud colors, excessive pictures and clutter, too many words on each slide, all of this can be dizzying for the audience. The explanation mentioned in the text Presentationzen, “People have a hard time coping with excessive cognitive strain.” It seems that sitting through these presentations hasn’t been enough for us to see when enough is too much in our own work.It was mentioned that pictures when used for impact (rather than distraction) are remembered more than bullet points…This is probably why you have never heard the term a bullet point is worth a thousand words!  I think that the best advice given concerned  the use of 3-D graphs, avoid it. If I am trying to digest information being presented to me I would like to be able to easily tell what it is I am looking at (as we all know we have to have a healthy skepticism when it comes to how statistics are presented anyways). Learning how to streamline a PowerPoint is a skill that would be useful for both teachers and students alike. Being a teacher you have a captive audience but that does not mean that they have to pay attention. Having concise but interesting visual aid will help to engage students more than a cluttered or boring PowerPoint. You probably won’t get any Kudos for a good one but they will remember the information even if they don’t know that it was by the assistance of your visual aid. A bad PowerPoint however, will be remembered but for all the wrong reasons!

1st time for everything

Ok so you caught me…never one to have extra time on my hands I am attempting to kill two birds with one stone (no actual birds were harmed in the making of this post) Create a Prezi for Tech in the classroom and the start of an author study for children’s lit.

Since I am confessing here I will tell you that I was a bit intimidated about this because I had never even heard of a Prezi before last week. I am pleased to say however, that I had a lot of fun with it and I may keep going. Prezi is so easy to use, interactive, and gives you far more creative control than PowerPoint….go tell all your friends kids

So after 2 hours and trying a million different ways to embed this (and have it “play”) I am just going to add the link…Ok you win computer (I must been getting a bit too cocky about my abilities) Thanks for bringing me down to Earth! My First Prezi