Podcasting can be a drag

I committed to do a daily podcast “just so I could get better at it.”  So far I feel pretty confident that my skills are improving.  I’ve produced a couple of “buffer” episodes that I have in the can just in case I’m unable to produce new content on a particular day.

Currently, I’m up to episode 15, and I’ve decided to abandon one of the underlying products that make my podcast go:  podcastblaster.  I didn’t know XML when I started this project, so I signed up for the first tool that I could find that would let me publish podcast feeds for free.  Had I done my research, I would have found that blogs make FAR superior podcast feed generation tools (plus they’re BLOGS)!

So, I’ve spent much of this evening transferring all of the entries from my podcast feed into blog entries on the blog I’ve set up to host my daily podcast.  I hope I don’t lose many subscribers when I make them resubscribe using the new feed…

Pace University Student Seeking Podcast Study Participants

Cynthia Maddox, a doctoral candidate at Pace University, is doing a research project with the guidance of Dr. Kathy King, in which she is looking at the effective use of mobile technology, especially podcasts.

“I’m inviting teachers to share experiences you have in using podcasts with your students. Some of you may have written your own podcast scripts and some of you have had your students create podcast recordings. This study will look at children in grades K – 12.”

Come show administrators, your colleagues, parents and reluctant technology users that the tools of our youth do have value. Let the nay Sayers learn that authentic assignments can motivate and stimulate a thirst for discovery. Share your successes in turning your students on to school and into life long learners.

To find out more about this podcast study, Email Cynthia at Cynthiam9@gmail.com ASAP
Be sure to include the words “Maddox Podcast Study” in your subject.

Cool Tool – Cool Text

When I needed a quick logo, I found Cool Text.  It’s a website that has been around for a while, but I still consider it to be a cool tool.  Go to the site, click on a design template, enter your text, fiddle with the details, and hit the Render Logo button.  Depending on server load, you may get your logo instantly or after waiting a minute or two.  Here’s an example:

Made with Cool Text

Cool Text is a free service, but they also have a new tool called Vector Studio which is free for 30 days.  You can use it to make all of the buttons and banners that Cool Text can, but you can do much more and in real time!  Currently, it only runs in Internet Explorer, though.

RE: Network Challenge @ Durff’s Blog

mrsdurff at Durff’s Blog issued this challenge today:

“I challenge you to find and listen to a podcast to which you have never listened. You can find podcasts for free in iTunes, at NPR, or Podcast Alley (to name only a few places).  Then blog about the podcast on your blog. That’s it! Pretty simple, but can you do it? Will you do it?”

I will do it!  And I did.  And I’m very pleased with the results  I’ve been listening to podcasts for several years for pleasure, but only recently have I listened with my ed tech ears.  My personal computer’s iTunes podcatcher regularly gathers episodes of This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, Security Now, and other shows in the Leo Laporte lineup.  I also listen religiously to This American Life, Car Talk, Radio Lab (when they get around to releasing new episodes), and Fresh Air from National Public Radio.  In addition to my own podcasts, my work computer regularly brings down the last remaining episodes of the SMARTBoard Lesson Podcast, The Teachers’ Podcast, and everything David Warlick comes across.  

So I took a copule of minutes after class today and came across Geek!Ed!  By their own admission,

“Geek!Ed! is a frequently-weekly netcast produced by five geeks (and occasional guests) from Pinckney Community Schools, MI. We’re geeks ineducation who aregeeked about the impact of technology on education.”  

Having completed 118 episodes to date, these geeks are not podcasting newbies by any means.  Within seconds, it’s obvious that they have an excellent rapport and are comfortable being recorded.  The newest episode mainly dealt with a 14 year old in their district who had used her mobile phone to distribute inappropriate pictures of herself to other students in the district.  They spoke about how the district was handling the situation, how the media had blown certain aspects of the story out of proportion, and how teachers there were seizing this teachable moment and making the most of it.

As soon as I finished my first episode, I subscribed and started downloading back episodes.  I’m almost finished listening to episode 117 now, in which one participant is reporting in using a skype/speaker assembly.  I certainly look forward to catching up with the 100+ episodes of this program.  It’s a keeper!

Thanks for issuing the challenge, Mrsdurff.

Blogging the Revolutionary War

 

Fog of War

I recently had a visit with the chair of our humanities department about possibly incorporating some technologies into one of their history units.  We came up with a writing activity based on the following question:

 

If blogs existed during the American Revolution, what would the historical figures have written?

 

The exercise will require each student to adopt a role.  Some will be named figures such as Benedict Arnold while others will just be “shop owner” or “widow.” 

The students will research the period and the people that they are studying, and they will be required to blog and comment, in character, for a period of 1-2 weeks.  Each blog posting must be an original work by the student based on evidence found during the research period.

We’ll keep you posted on how this little experiment goes.

Cool Tool – Foxit PDF Reader

Just a quick weekend post.  I use Foxit Reader in my computer lab rather than Adobe’s genuine PDF reader.  For a teacher who also manages/maintains lab computers, Adobe Reader is just too much to keep up with.  Foxit is small, quick, and it doesn’t ask to update (too much).  My students like it because it lets them open PDF files, add annotations to them, and print them out.  The free version won’t let you save those annotations, though.

Podcasting

Part five in this week’s series of 5 technologies I use in my classroom every day is podcasting.

I started out with a weekly show called the Frank and Moix Week in Review featuring Carl Frank and myself.  The show typically runs about 30 minutes and covers a lot of territory.  Carl and I talk about what’s going on in our department and our classes, but we also encourage students who are participating in clubs and activities.  We try to have a third voice each episode as well.  Listen to a little bit of our newest episode or pick another from our episode archive:

It took about a month to really get the podcasting technologies figured out.  To get more practice, I started a daily show called the MoixLand minute in which I bring up one topic or item of interest and give it 60 seconds.  

the MoixLand minute for October 24, 2008 is about the often overlooked academic calendar.

I use the podcasts to reach students.  Other educators use the process of podcast creation as vehicle for a lesson.  Check out Bob Sprankle’s Room 208 podcast produced by his elementary students.

Interactive White Board

Part four in this week’s series of 5 technologies I use in my classroom every day is my interactive white board (IWB).

This item goes hand in hand with yesterday’s selection.  There are a number of different products that fall into the category of interactive white board.  Mine is a SMARTBoard similar to the one depicted here.  Other brands include Interwrite and Promethean.

The teacher’s computer screen is projected onto the surface of the IWB which can then be manipulated either by touch or with a stylus or marker substitute.  IWBs come with software designed to make the product much more than just a large wall-sized mouse.  SMART Notebook, for example, provides a large library of downloadable pre-made lessons and interactive elements.

Check out the SMARTBoard lesson podcast at pdtogo.com for some outstanding ideas about how IWBs can be used in a variety of different environments.

Economy’s Impact on Web 2.0?

This came up in my Google Reader this morning, and I immediately thought, “What would I do without Wikispaces?!”

“The economic crisis will ultimately eliminate open source projects and the “Web 2.0 free economy,” says Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur. Along with the economic downturn and record job loss, he says, we will see the elimination of projects including Wikipedia, CNN’s iReport, and much of the blogosphere

Surely, the author of the original article is carrying things to logical extents, but it is always worth thinking about…  what if some of the free tools we use every day disappear tomorrow?

Digital Projector

Part three in this week’s series of 5 technologies I use in my classroom every day is my digital projector.

The projector in my classroom is an older Mitsubishi XL2U, but it gets the job done.  When I started teaching at ASMSA in 2003, there was no projector in my classroom.  I borrowed mine from the library so long they eventually filled out a property transfer document which then gave me the chance to permanently mount it to my ceiling.  And there it has rested, projecting my computer screen in one form or another for years.

I teach computer science which I learned via traditional lecture.  The professor wrote things on the board, and we wrote them in our notes.  During lab time (usually once a week on Thursdays), we’d transfer things we had written in our notes into the computer and see how accurate our notes were.  I teach computer science by explaining concepts to my students and then immediately demonstrating those concepts so they experience them immediately.  My projector lets me do this.

Occasionally, I will have a student come to my computer and demonstrate for the class how to perform a particular task.  Sometimes we reinforce concepts with videos from the Internet.  Even if you teach a subject as non-technical as history or music, you can still support your instruction with a digital projector.  If you borrow televisions with VCRs or DVD players from your media center and roll them into your classroom, you can omit the lumbering cart and just play the DVD with your computer next time.

Check out this outstanding resource on digital projectors at lifetips.com.  They discuss everything from bulbs and lumens to speakers and screens.

In the 4-5 years that I’ve had my little Mitsubishi projector, I’ve used it on a table and mounted on the ceiling.  When it was portable, I could take it to conferences and lend it to other teachers.  Once I got it mounted to the ceiling, I never had to worry with cables and wires being strewn across the floor.  Either way, you will find that having a classroom digital projector opens up many new, interactive resources to your students.