Podcasts for All Occasions

A podcast is a kind of self-contained audio (or video) clip that can be accessed and listened to/watched on a computer or mobile device.

While investigating podcasts I discovered that there are an amazing number of podcasts available on just about any topic you can imagine!  Not only did I find lots on education, but I found some on running, nutrition, music, parenting, camping, and on and on......

I can see great applications for podcasting in school.  I think that students will learn best when they have to teach someone else, so by asking them to make podcasts on a topic it will help reinforce the topic for them while helping explain it to others.  Students can post podcasts on school websites, wikis or blogs and others can access them to listen to whenever they want.  Parents can listen to them as well, as a way to keep up with what their children are learning.  The possibilities are enormous!

A Blog on Blogs!

There are lots of ways to share information online, and many can be useful to help students share what they are learning.

Blogs, like this one, can be used to share information so that we as teachers don’t have to reinvent the wheel when looking for new ideas for lessons, documents, etc. 

They can also be used by our students as a way to express themselves creatively.  Students can post to a blog without fear that their work will be changed in any way.  Other students or teachers can comment on the blog posts so it can be a method for peer review of written work or ideas.

Class blogs are a great way to keep parents and students up to date with what’s going on in the class.  Homework assignments, class activities and even info on lessons can be shared on the blog so everyone can know what’s going on.  Parents can subscribe to the blog so they can see when every time it is updated.

There are so many ideas for using blogs in education, I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface.  Use your imagination!

Welcome to my blog!  I am a self-proclaimed “digital immigrant” – I grew up in a time before technology really took off.  Through my studies, I’m learning about all kinds of new technologies that exist (like blogging!) that could have great applications those of us who teach in classrooms full of “digital natives” – kids who never lived in a time when computers (or cell phones, or many other technologies) didn’t exist. 

My goal for this blog is to share some of what I’ve been learning in the hopes that some of you out there who are “digital immigrants” like me can be exposed to some of the technology that you might not otherwise be familiar with or might be hesitant to try because you’re not comfortable.  I’m here to tell you – if I can do it, so can you!

One of the first things that I want to talk about is the “new” face of the internet.  When the internet was new, it was a great source of information but was only one-way, kind of like a teacher lecturing a class.  Over time, the web has become more and more interactive – like a collaborative classroom where everyone has an opportunity to contribute.  This has come to be known as “Web 2.0” because it is the “new” version of the internet.  You can find information on Web 2.0 and links to some great tools to use in the classroom at http://web2012.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm. These tools can be used by students as well as teachers to make lessons not only more interactive and collaborative but also more engaging for those “digital natives” that fill our classrooms. 

I’ll go into more detail on some of these in future posts, so stay tuned!