Blended Edu

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Podcasts and Classroom Use

Task pre-service student teachers to research integrating technology into classroom use and they will produce an overwhelming source of ideas!

To share their ideas for using Podcasts in the Classroom:
Teachers can use podcasting to share lecture information with students. Teachers can have students create podcasts to share information that they gathered. This type of assignment would have students use voice recordings, sound effects, and photos. This will definitely engage students if they are taught how to create one. Students and teachers can also use podcasting and add it to a website or blog. I think I'll do that with mine smile. Teachers and students who use podcasting learn content in a creative way. In addition, they are also learning new communication skills.

I like the idea that students can access information from the web and not have to only read. This could help with auditory learners, students who like to listen to music, and those students who love to use computers.
~Elena

A few examples of how podcasts can be a learning tool for learning are that podcasts make most educational needs accessible, such as lectures and speeches, audio-guides, case studies, audio-notes/feedbacks, music, news and course updates, etc..
~Clare

I looked at Brown University’s website—it was cool how they put up podcast about activities that took place and we can view them with a windows media player, itunes or download it into your iPod.
MY IDEA… This gave me that idea that in your class—you may use this to document special days/presentation in class or in the school and this can be a way to have parents view it at home or when internet access in nearby. It is a new way students may learn how to access information and/or have them create a podcast as a culminating project.

Some other ideas for podcast can be “How-to-do” podcasts- for example, grammar, writing a story or letter, read-aloud, storytelling, step by step completing a science project, making a blog or website, etc…
~Diane

When I was looking through some teacher blogs about podcasting I read about one teacher that uses podcasting for students to record their reading. This way progress can be tracked and teachers or specialists can listen to the podcast to see what areas need to be addressed.

I was thinking that it would be neat to have the students create portfolios that could be accessed by their parents at home. It would work just like engrade.com but lots of other things could be included. Students would also be able to access their recordings at home and work on improving their reading if they wanted to. Just like teacher portfolio or the paper portfolios in the classroom.

I was also thinking that a teacher could use podcasts as part of the weekly or daily routine. At the beginning of the year the teacher and students would/could listen to the same podcast together and learn how to take notes or listen for key words. Since Saipan has so many (mostly) ELL students I would start out with video webcasts so that students could see along with hear but quickly move into the listening only realm. The teacher could easily modify the lesson by providing some with worksheets to fill in as they listen while the higher level students would have a worksheet too but have to take better notes and fill in more information. Students would rather listen to a podcast from a specialist or celebrity than their teacher!

When I was looking through the social studies podcasts I got the idea that it would be fun to have the class do a year-long project about their community. It could be bundled together so that people could listen and learn about Saipan from the students’ perspective. I got the idea from listening to students in a social studies classroom question a guest speaker about his trip to Egypt.

I never realized all of the uses for podcasts in the classroom. Laurence mentioned a lot of great ideas that address multiple intelligence, thinking styles, and learning styles. One of the great things I learned from this assignment is that if done properly podcasts can reach students at their level and where they are at with their background knowledge. Wouldn't it be great to have time on Friday's for students to be able to put podcasts on their ipod to listen to over the weekend! They would not even realize they are learning! State of flow all on their own!

Maybe the new yahoo for teachers website will have podcasts bundled by levels and content so that a teacher could just put it on the computer for the students and not have to look at 50 different places before getting just 3 different leveled podcasts addressing the same content.
~Erin

Podcasts can be created from original material by students and teachers or existing audio files can be downloaded for classroom use. Creating a podcast allows students to share learning experiences. It provides them with a worldwide audience that makes learning meaningful and assessment authentic. Teachers can use the technology to provide extra and modified material to students to download and evaluate at a time that suit them. The flexibility that such time-shifting offers makes podcasting a valuable educational tool.

Podcasts are a great way for using student products to share learning, sharing school news with parents, faculty, community members, and other people, and for teachers to provide professional development with others. By providing students with an authentic audience, teachers increase motivation to write. Students improve fluency and listening skills. Podcasts give students a view of journalism in the making, tutorials, and encourages interactive collaboration with others that is creative, fun and FREE.

Here are some educational techniques we could use podcasts and incorporate them into our classroom and lessons/teachings.

* Talk and music shows
* Interviews with pupils and staff
* Story telling and audio books
* Tutorials and instructions
* Commentaries
* Sharing information with parents and the community
* Providing updates on forthcoming school events
* Sportscasts
~Laurence

Some sites they wanted to share with others looking to incorporate podcasts:

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Podcasts: The "Millennials" Are Coming

If you are an educator a podcast you don't want to miss, “The "Millennials" Are Coming” reported by Morley Safer of 60 Minutes fame, talks about the new generation of American workers we are educating right now.

Still new to podcasts? What are they- I know I’ve heard that word??

According to Wikipedia, "a podcast is a digital media file, or a related collection of such files, which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers."

Blendededu.com
has posted about the educational use of podcasts over the years - just to recap...

....podcasts can be used as: lecture captures, conversation prompts, writing prompts, as connections to field experts, to take your students on electronic field trips, to extend learning beyond the class period and beyond the classroom walls, as ‘teasers’ to excite students about upcoming events in your class, and to prep students with material or information needed before coming to class....

One great thing about podcasting is that you can listen to podcasts when you want to, any time- any day. No waiting ‘round the TV or radio. You can subscribe to a podcast via RSS Feed, so podcasts are ready for you when you are ready to listen.

You can also listen to your news sites via podcasts:

Here are a few podcast posts from the Blendededu.com archives to review:

Podcasts offer a wealth of information and learning for you and your students- just ask any student with earbuds dangling.

For a little 'lagniappe'- a tech-savvy, Mount professor shared a few favorite podcasts with us:

Or check out a Podcast Directory to find one to fit your own area of expertise:

If you have a favorite podcast you're using with your students – be sure to share it with us. Sharing is good.

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Podcasts as a Course Resource

Here is a great article from Educause "Confessions of a Podcast Junkie"

Podcasts hold a great wealth of information. You can listen to podcasts while on the treadmill at the gym, or while at your desk working, or plug them in during your free time to learn more about things that interest you. That's a good way for us to use them for our own professional development, but what about student learning?

A Criminal Justice instructor turned me on to Grammar Girls Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing. She found this podcast a good resource to use with her students.

Another teacher in Japan hooked me to NPR Wait Wait, Don’t Tell me. This weekly podcast humorously relates current events and even includes a quiz to see if the audience has been listening. She passed it along to Social Students teachers to use as a resource for their students or for ESL teachers to build oral students' listening skills.

With so many podcasts to listen to how do we get students to find time to listen to podcasts that we feel will enhance their learning?

One way to do that is talked about in Confessions of a Podcast Junkie. Use the podcasts as support material after briefly discussing the topic in class.

Assign the podcast as required reading material, then use the discussion forums of Blackboard, Moodle, or your LMS to extend the discussion and learning beyond the classroom. By utilizing the discussion forums your students will get the ‘depth of learning’ often needed for certain topics that 50 minutes of class time doesn’t provide.

Or have your students listen to a podcast, then do a survey asking others what they think about the topic, and then report their findings to the class for oral discussion.

One thing to know is that podcasting is not just relegated to recording class lectures for playback; they can easily be integrated into your curriculum and used as a course resource to enhance student learning.

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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Podcasting- UVA's Global Future

It's just amazing that with a simple technology like podcasting, The University of Virginia, is able to provide information for the world to listen to that addresses its "Global Future- the Future of the University"....

Listen and hear how the "University of Virginia feels its' obligation is to be as “bold and revolutionary in our thinking and actions” as its founder, Thomas Jefferson, was in his time."

Thinking 'bold and revolutionary' will get their students prepared for their future!

Podcasting provides a revolutionary way to deliver information on the Internet. Now that The World is Flat anyone can reach out and have the world as their audience too.

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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Podcasts- Bring Technology Professional Development to You

Podcasts are so easy to listen to while you rush around during the semester break on your ipod or mp3 player or directly from your computer.

Odeo offers some great podcasts to subscribe to. It’s another way of bringing professional development right to you. Listen to CNETs Technology or the Internet podcasts right from Odeo or sign up to receive them by RSS Feed or Itunes. The podcasts provide information that will keep you current.

If you like to keep in the know of tech gadgets your students are talking about sign up for Crave, a blog from CNET about the latest geek gadgets, or subscribe to the Weekly Crave Vodcast.

Social Media Technology makes it easy to share information and keep informed.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Scientific American Podcast

Subscribe to Scientific American Podcasts. Choose from the weekly podcast Science Talk with Steve Mirsky to explore the latest developments in science and technology or 60-Second Science for quick reports and commentaries about the world of science.

Whichever one you choose it will keep you updated with information to share with your students. Subscribe to Podcasts- it’s a great way to bring professional development to your office.

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

eLearning Awards 2006

Visit the eLearning Awards 2006. The eLearning Awards are sponsored by European Schoolnet, with the support of Young Digital Planet, Intel, Promethean, Oracle and Michael. Teachers and schools submitted their ICT projects for the eLearning Awards. The Awards show how ICT is being used effectively in schools throughout Europe.

The 1st Place eLearning award for best use in ICT went to a project called "Living in Europe: on highlands and lowlands" from Scuola Primaria "Ada Negri" in Lodi Vecchio, Italy. 2nd Place-Podcast de radios scolaires from Ecole élémentaire d'Hénouville, Henouville, France. 3rd Place- Patient, Doctor, Specialist - A fiction of health consulting in a future world from Begin High School, Rosh Ha'ain, Israel.

Browse the entire Project Gallery to view this year’s entries from all EU countries or visit the shortlist of the Top 100.

My favorites:
->Slovakia- Fit Kids -Healthy Diet- You Are What You Eat
->Finland - ENO Tree Planting Event- A Day for the Environment & Peace
->UK- Battle of the Poets -STARZ Library- eBooks
->Spain- New Technologies also Teach Fables- Aesops Fables & Christmas WebQuests
->Poland- Mathematics Without Borders- Mathematics in Different Areas of Our Lives

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Saturday, December 09, 2006

IBM ShortCuts – Listen While You Work

Since it’s so easy to listen to podcasts I have subscribed to many to listen to while I work. Lately I have been listening to ShortCuts, a weekly online show from IBM and I passed the RSS Feed to faculty for their own technology professional development.

ShortCuts' tips, presented in a weekly online format, provide information to keep you up-to-date with answers to questions about email, blogs, wikis and the new Web2.0 tools we are learning to use.

You can bookmark the site or subscribe through RSS Feed.

Using RSS Feeds and a News Aggregator brings news and podcasts to you so you can do more important tasks than spending so much time searching the web. RSS Feeds keep you current without you having to do so much work. It's a shortcut!

IBM ShortCuts Weekly Podcast is one of many tech feeds you can subscribe to.
Make sure you share this resource with your students!

-> Subscribe to ShortCuts

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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Digital History + Yahoo! Time Capsule Project


Looking for a way to get your students interested in history?

Well, Yahoo! and the Smithsonian may have just the project that provides a way for students to get actively involved in history and use all those digital Web 2.0 tools they love so much!

From now through November 8th, your students can contribute a digital artifact to the Yahoo! Time Capsule by submitting a photograph, social studies movie, video, audio podcast, classroom blog, or other classroom project.

This is a great way for students to share their work, be involved in living history, and connect with the larger world outside their classroom.

The Yahoo! Time Capsule Project is a joint partnership with the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in Washington D.C. But hurry! You only have until November 8th to share your contribution.

Here's some more information about the Yahoo! Time Capsule + Smithsonian Folkways Project:

"For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio — even drawings — to this electronic anthropology project.

This is the first time that digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes. And by November 8, a mosaic of revealing snapshots will be sealed and entrusted to
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history.

Finally, to thank you for your contribution to the Time Capsule, you’ll be asked to help us select how Yahoo! will donate $100,000 to seven global charitable organizations. Learn more about these seven organizations.

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Thursday, September 14, 2006

21st Century Explorer Student Podcast Competition

NASA is running its first podcast competition from Sept. 1 through October 10 for students ages 11-18. Students are challenged to create either an audio or video podcast reflecting their answer to the question "How will space exploration benefit your life in the future?"

More details and the entry form for this competition can be found at the 21st Century Explorer Podcast Competition website.

Web Resources

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Sunday, August 27, 2006

Audiobooks & The Millennials

Audio on the Internet is reshaping the way English teachers think about their curriculum and the resources they use. Back in the pre-digital kid days English teachers bought sets of books, including sets of novels they would read in class for the year. Today’s English teachers have a whole new set of tools to use on the Internet.

Audiobooks are a great resource for English and ESL teachers. Students now can listen to literary works in English, not only read them in print. This is great resource especially for learners of English as a Second Language.

LibriVox provides audiobooks from the public domain for students to listen to that are read in English; students can listen to the literature or poetry while also hearing the correct pronunciation.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, Public Domain Books, Ready for Your iPod, “LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.”

Today LibraVox has over 200 recordings of books, poetry and speeches with another 100 in development. Think of the uses of these audio recordings in your English, Literature, ESL or Social Study classes for students in all grades. Now think of the quiet in your classes as your students listen to this new medium – a medium of their generation.

Web Resources

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Friday, August 25, 2006

Teachers Domain & Gen Y Learning

In an effort to help teachers support the digital learning styles of today's kids, WGBH Boston has put together a phenomenal collection of multimedia resources (video and audio clips, podcast, interactive media, images, and documents) in a new service called Teachers Domain.

"Teachers Domain is an online educational service with two related components — collections and courses — that help teachers enhance their students' learning experiences and advance their own teaching skills. The Teachers' Domain collections include classroom-ready multimedia resources for use in lessons or independent study."

Web Resources

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Sunday, July 30, 2006

KidCast: Global Podcasting Geography Quiz


via KidCast: "Where in the World? is a global podcasting geography quiz that is being collectively produced by students all over the world.

Students and classes from all over are recording podcast episodes that describe their communities without giving away its name or exact location.

Listeners can use geography and deduction skills to use the clues and discover the exact location. An email is given at the end of every posting, so you can email them with your guess. If you guess correctly, you'll get a postcard back from the producers!"
This activity is a great way to integrate podcasting and geography into your classroom. The Where in the World project is being sponsored by KidCast.

We are big, big fans of KidCast and Dan Schmit. If you haven't already, pick up a copy of Dan's book KidCast: Podcasting in the Classroom, or even better yet, listen to his podcast. KidCast is a "must listen" for any educator interesting in using podcasting in the classroom.

Web Resources

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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Podcasts & Electronic Field Trips

The web is not just for text anymore, more web sites are using audio & podcast broadcasts to grab the 'ears' of users and to transfer information and learning.

Check out the podcasts from Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present. This interactive website contains teacher lesson plans, photo slide shows, online exhibits, and online field trips. The website also makes use of a new technology- audio files or podcasts- so people can listen on their computers or their portable music players to learn how people lived in the 18th century.

Today's learners are not only readers, they want to learn and learn in new ways, through media they are accustomed to using. Just ask any young person with earbuds hanging from their necks which medium they prefer.

Some other sites that make use of podcasts for learning:
Think how you can use podcasts in your curriculum in such ways as learning a language, math, science, literature, or history. Take your students on an electronic field trip when a "real-time" trip isn't possible.

You can build even you own electronic field trips by adding pictures to Flickr, creating a slideshow, then add podcasts websites to complete the trip with audio providing your students with opportunities to travel virtually.

Grab the attention of the young wired generation by adding voice and audio and entice them to learn more. Nice hook!

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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Questionmark Podcasts- Need Juice?

Questionmark has posted a series of podcasts on Assessment for everyone to listen to. These free podcasts feature interviews with knowledgeable experts in the field of assessment.

You can download these podcasts and listen to what others have to say about online surveys, quizzes and tests. You can subscribe and download the podcasts to your iTunes and make use of your free time this summer while you're lazin' round the beach.

Or download the podcasts to Juice, (who's primary purpose is podcasts and supports multiple players) and treat yourself to a new camera-mp3 player by Samsung, Digimax i6PMP. I just found this nifty converged media tool while browsing to replace my camera, that mysteriously disappeared. I need to catch up on some photo shots and would really love one of these to try out on Flickr.

That's what is so great about learning with mobile media; you can take it with you and learn wherever you go, whenever you want.

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Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Social Networking, Digital Discourse & Think.com

Kids and teachers can create "debates" on Think.com and invite others to take a position and defend it. Think.com was created by the Oracle Education Foundation, and is available in eight languages.

More from the Think.com web site:

"Only students and teachers from member schools can enter this password-protected learning community. Once inside, members use websites and interactive tools to publish their ideas, collaborate on projects, and build knowledge together."
Thanks to Wesley Fryer for the tip! He has a terrific podcast featuring Cheryl Oaks on "using the Think.com environment to help students learn about Internet safety and appropriate digital discourse."

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Sunday, April 23, 2006

EnglishPod: Learn English on Your Terms


via Humanaught: "Learn English with free daily podcasts and a personal learning center.

There is no need for inconveniently scheduled classroom lessons. Use EnglishPod to learn English when, or wherever it's most convenient."

This EFL/ESL English language course is taught by the same team that produces the highly popular ChinesePod series.

Web Resources

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Friday, April 21, 2006

UCLA Center for World Languages: Russian Podcasts

via UCLA: "The Center for World Languages (CWL) was created within UCLA's International Institute. Its primary goals are to bring more coherence to existing language-related activities and to extend UCLA's presence, visibility, and capacity for innovation and instructional delivery.

Business Russian Podcasts

These podcasts are for those who want to learn business Russian Business vocabulary communication. They model the use of essential vocabulary and phrases.

Podcasts are created by Ganna Kudyma, Lecturer in Russian, UCLA Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Each podcast has an accompanying text that can be downloaded. Level: intermediate and advanced.

Russian Literature Podcasts

These podcasts are readings in Russian from classic Russian literary texts. They are read by Alexandra Paperny. The text of each podcast can be downloaded via iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts. Level: intermediate and advanced."

Web Resources

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

Sprechen Sie Deutsch in YackPack!

Last week I introduced Martina Schubert, creator of the Let's Speak German podcast, to YackLearning.

In case you missed it, YackLearning.net is a new site developed by YackPack to highlight the use of audio messaging in education and training.

Well, Martina immediately saw the possibilities for using audio messaging to teach languages and implemented YackPack into Let's Speak German. That's fantastic!

When I took a look at her YackPack classroom, I was amazed to see how many of her students had signed up to lernen Sie Deutsch (how am I doing Maxie?) in YackPack!

Gute Arbeit Maxie!

Web Resources
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Thursday, April 13, 2006

YackPack:Grading & Narrative Feedback

We've already showed you how YackPack can be used to foster a collaborative, inclusive, and interactive learning environment. But did you know you can also use YackPack as a grading, narrative feedback, and assessment tool?

Yep. It's true.

And YackPack founder BJ Fogg has created a short movie to show you how he uses it for grading at Stanford University. So grab the popcorn and click here to find out how you too can grade with YackPack.

Web Resources

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Wednesday, April 12, 2006

YackPack:What you Yacking 'bout Willis?

My friend Gayle teaches writing, speech, and EFL/ESL classes at Kanto Gakuen University and Toyo University in Japan. Like other members of the Net Generation, her students love their mobile phones, blogging, and technology.

I sent Gayle a link to YackLearning.net and she thought YackPack was a fantastic learning tool to weave into her curriculum. However, after viewing the YackLearning movie, Gayle still had one burning question:

"Sent ya a recording/mssg. What do you call that? We said "ping" for AIMing...dish me the jargon. ;-)"

Good question Gayle. I wondered the same thing when I started Yacking. Thankfully, the uber cool team at YackPack took a break from the YackLab and put together a Yack-ictionary.

So, from the YackPack home office in Santa Rosa, here's the dish:

YackLingo Yack: An audio message
YackPack: The group with whom you Yack
Yacker: The voice behind the Yack
YackTrack: A series of yacks that play in sequence
PackHost: The Yacker hosting a pack
YackCast: The yacks you send out for all the world to hear
YackStack: A stack of messages
YackFAQ: Come on, you know what this is
YackCircle: A visual element, the circle you see on the screen

Hope that clears it up for you Gayle. Hopefully, the YackLingo terms won't get "lost in translation." Or is that yacklation? Oy!

Web Resources

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Saturday, April 08, 2006

eLearning Toolbox: YackPack Tutorial

Barry Jahn has prepared an excellent and easy-to-follow tutorial on how to use YackPack in the classroom. Yackpack is an amazing interpersonal podcasting tool designed by a team of programmers at Stanford University that takes no special software or expertise to use.

Links

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

YackLearning: Learning via Interpersonal Podcasting

YackLearning.net is a powerful new way to teach and learn through audio messaging. Various Internet companies allow you to create and share audio messages. We recommend using YackPack, because it's private, it's easy to use, and it offers true interpersonal podcasting."

I'll be posting more about YackLearning soon, but I wanted BlendedEdu readers to be among the first to know about this fantastic interpersonal podcasting resource.

I'm also excited to announce that I have agreed to join the YackLearning Educational Advisory Board. I'm looking forward to working with BJ Fogg, YackPack, and the other advisory board members!

If you're using YackPack in an educational setting, drop me a line so I can share it with the YackLearning team. Who knows, we just may feature iyour pack on the YackLearning site!

Links

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Tuesday, April 04, 2006

KidCast: Pod Pal Exchange


One of the discussion threads in the KidCast community is being used as a forum for teachers to meet others interested in participating in a "PodPal" classroom exchange.

What's PodPal?

A PodPal is podcasting's answer to traditional pen pal or educational twinning programs used to promote global cross-cultural exchanges, reading, writing, literacy, and dialogue among children.

Kevin, a school teacher from North Carolina, posted a terrific idea for a class "PodPal" exchange:
"You know, I was thinking that a Spanish Class in the States could link up with an English Club in another country and they could translate each others messages.

The English Club would relay the message back to check for accuracy and then send their own message and so on and so forth. Seems like a cool way to spark interest, hear authentic language/accents, and bring the student that much closer to the culture."
What a fantastic idea Kevin!

Participation in a PodPal program is a great way to weave technology skills into your social studies, geography, or language arts curriculum. You can use "traditional" podcasting technology, or you can use a web-based voice messaging tool like YackPack. Remember, you can easily embed YackPack into your class web site or blog!

But what makes a PodPal program so unique is the ability of the human voice to convey emotion that postcards, letters, or even pictures.

Links

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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Learning Styles 2.0: Digital, Social, and Always On


“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” -Peter Drucker

Raised in the "always on" world of interactive media, the Internet, and digital messaging technologies, Generation Y has different expectations and learning styles than previous generations.

What happens to student learning when a course is revised to incorporate self-directed learning opportunities? The learning that students achieve goes far beyond the boundaries of what they are taught because individuals create meaning for themselves beyond solely the intent of the teacher.

Digital learning styles include fluency in new media, online communities, guided mentoring, video games, or collective reflection via weblogs, podcasts, moblogging, wiki, Flickr, and other forms of social media.

Effective online learning design should provide engaging content which allows the pupil to draw connections between the context of the learning objectives while utilizing various forms of social media. Another vital design element is the users ability to mediate their level of communication within the virtual learning environment.

Understanding and incorporating these digital learning experience attributes into your frontline and online curriculum will increase student motivation and enhance the delivery of instruction while meeting the needs of today's digital learning styles.

Digital Learning Experience Attributes

  • Interactive: Engaging content and course material that motivates them to learn through challenging pedagogy, conceptual review, and learning style adaptation. Students expect to pick and use various types of media and create a personalized “mash-up” of content. Students also use social media as a way to express their identity and creativity through creation of user-generated content.

  • Student-Centered: Shifts the learning responsibility to the student, and emphasizes teacher-guided instruction and modeling. The role of the teacher is to help novices clear cognitive roadblocks by providing them with the resources needed to develop a better understanding of the topic. This requires the student to take a more active role in their own learning process.

  • Authentic: Learning and knowledge acquisition takes place only when situated in a social and authentic context. Teachers should find ways to reconcile classroom use of social media to the authentic way teens are using outside of the classroom. The use of technology (video games, blogs, podcasts) use should be tied to a specific learning goal or activity.

  • Collaborative: Learning is a social activity, and students learn best through observation, collaboration, intrinsic motivation and from self-organizing social systems comprised of peers. This can take place in either a virtual or in-person environment. Collaborative work and peer feedback supports motivation by giving students a sense of active involvement within the learning community.

  • On-Demand: Student's have the ability to multitask and handle multiple streams of information and juggle both short and long term information and/or learning goals. Course content should be made available "on-demand" so the learner can view course materials when, where, and how (PC, mobile or handheld device) they want to view the content.
These trends in online and lifelong learning are being fueled by changes in the characteristics of student learners and the ways in which they use new technologies to exchange information. One thing is clear: the convergence of social software technologies and a generation of web-savvy learners are rapidly changing the face of education.

In light of these socio-cultural changes, educators need to “keep abreast of change” and embrace digital learning styles through curriculum design which integrates authentic ways in which students use social media to collaborate and interact with peers as a means to achieve short and long term learning goals.

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

TurnHere: Short Films for Learning

Need some video microcontent for your social studies or history class? Then you need to check out TurnHere!

TurnHere is "an Internet video destination which chronicles different neighborhoods and places across the country with short (2-4 min) video tours of historical sites, cultural neighborhoods, history, and people." These films can be viewed on your computer, or even downloaded onto your iPod (video podcast!).

There are a wide variety of TurnHere films that can be used in an educational context in the classroom:

  • You can even travel to NY, NY and learn all about peanut butter (and even catch a glimpse of Elvis)!

Turn Here Video Links

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Sunday, March 26, 2006

LibriVox

The objective of the LibriVox project is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet. LibriVox is a totally open source, free content, public domain project.

Volunteers record chapters of books, and then release the audio files back onto the net (podcast and catalog). These stories can be downloaded on to an iPod or other mp3 player, burned on to a CD, and easily integrated into the curriculum.

The catalog of books is constantly growing and includes audio books for both adults and children. The LibriVox catal