Here are some resources that will inform and educate the reader about using podcasts in the classroom.
Educational Podcasting
To start off with, this article informs the reader about what podcasting is all about. It tells you what the word ‘podcast’ actually stands for, what is a podcast, educational uses of podcasts (for teachers and students), and what type of software can be used to create a podcast.
Some of the examples for using podcasts are:
-The ability to listen to a lecture multiple times
-Supplement to traditional class notes
-Post student compositions
-Peer critiquing of student work
Educational Podcasting is a great place to start for information and links about podcasting. Check it out.
***This next reference is not a link to a website but an assignment for the reader (don’t worry, it’s a fun assignment). You’ll have to have iTunes for this task.
Step 1. Go to the iTunes Store home page
Step 2. Under the iTunes Store heading, select Podcasts
Step 3. Then under Categories, pick Education
Step 4. Take a look at the top 25 podcasts people have subscribed to
Step 5. Be surprised
I know I was intrigued when I saw what people were using podcasts for in education. It makes perfect sense after I thought about it though. Have fun with your assignment!
Study: class podcasts can lead to better grades
Can it? Let’s see. After reading this article, you will learn about a study given by psychologist Dani McKinney from State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia. In the study, McKinney gave a psychology lecture to a group of students. After the lecture, the students were split into two groups; one given slides of the lecture, the other given slides plus a synchronized podcast of the lecture.
The students were then given a test on the lecture a week later. The results were interesting, but I bet you can figure it out.
Why every school should be podcasting
As the title suggests, this article gives you an abundance of reasons why every school should be podcasting.
The article mentions some of the products that can be made using podcasts: children's stories, audio diaries, plays, interviews, news and reviews, and the distribution of exam revision material.
The article then goes on to talk about why you should use podcasts. Some examples are publishing to a potentially vast audience, it's a great way of distributing learning material, it's publishing with a purpose, and it's a great communication tool.
Radio WillowWeb
This was by far my favorite site to visit regarding education and podcasts. It has examples of elementary students’ podcasts covering a wide variety of subjects.
First graders talking about how ants live and work together and fourth graders reading a book about energy are some of the podcasts on this site. I highly recommend it to get ideas for the classroom.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
RSS Feeds for the Educator
Until recently, like the day before this was written, I didn’t exactly know what an RSS feed was. I’ve heard of it and knew a little about it, but I couldn’t teach someone about the meaning and use of RSS feeds.
After doing some research and finding five great sites that explain what an RSS feed is and how educators are using them, I feel much more confident about this web 2.0 technology.
Here are the sites I looked at:
What is RSS?
If you need to explain what an RSS is to your technologically unhip family member, then this is the site for them. Short, simple, and easy to understand. It talks about what an RSS is, why you would want to use it, and what “RSS readers” are and some examples of them.
Londonderry School District RSS Feeds
I was thinking of how my colleagues and I could use RSS feeds. That led me to how my district might use them. After doing a google search about “School districts and RSS feeds,” I was surprised by many schools are using this technology.
This site is one example of how school districts are getting their information out in new ways. Instead of important district information waiting to be looked at on the school website, the noteworthy news comes directly to the educator.
RSS Feeds for Teachers
This site has a comprehensive list of RSS feeds for educators. Even though it is a little dated, it still offers links to some great resources. Some example categories are:
-Education News
-Education Technology
-Science
-Music
-Art
-Math
If you are interested in expanding your RSS subscription list, then take a look at what this site offers.
RSS feeds college students' diet for research
I liked reading this article because it has specific examples of how RSS feeds are being used by students and people in the work force.
Ediriwickrema, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, says about RSS feeds, "It saves me a lot of time and energy. I can quickly find what I'm looking for without having to go from Web site to Web site, and I get the most up-to-date information."
Dave Panos, a CEO for the software company Pluck, describes searching the web the traditional way is, “like trying to find a needle in a haystack…(RSS) is a better way to stay on top of the information that’s out there.”
RSS (from Wikipedia)
Did he just reference Wikipedia? Yes, I did. Let me tell you why. While doing my research on RSS feeds used in education, there were a few questions I couldn’t find the answers to. So where did I go? Wikipedia.
What’s an aggregator? When did RSS first originate? What’s XML file format? All these questions were answered with help from Wikipedia. Of course, to make sure the information is correct I advise double-checking it on more reliable websites where the information can’t be added by any outside source. Still, it has a lot of useful and technical information about RSS feeds.
After doing some research and finding five great sites that explain what an RSS feed is and how educators are using them, I feel much more confident about this web 2.0 technology.
Here are the sites I looked at:
What is RSS?
If you need to explain what an RSS is to your technologically unhip family member, then this is the site for them. Short, simple, and easy to understand. It talks about what an RSS is, why you would want to use it, and what “RSS readers” are and some examples of them.
Londonderry School District RSS Feeds
I was thinking of how my colleagues and I could use RSS feeds. That led me to how my district might use them. After doing a google search about “School districts and RSS feeds,” I was surprised by many schools are using this technology.
This site is one example of how school districts are getting their information out in new ways. Instead of important district information waiting to be looked at on the school website, the noteworthy news comes directly to the educator.
RSS Feeds for Teachers
This site has a comprehensive list of RSS feeds for educators. Even though it is a little dated, it still offers links to some great resources. Some example categories are:
-Education News
-Education Technology
-Science
-Music
-Art
-Math
If you are interested in expanding your RSS subscription list, then take a look at what this site offers.
RSS feeds college students' diet for research
I liked reading this article because it has specific examples of how RSS feeds are being used by students and people in the work force.
Ediriwickrema, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, says about RSS feeds, "It saves me a lot of time and energy. I can quickly find what I'm looking for without having to go from Web site to Web site, and I get the most up-to-date information."
Dave Panos, a CEO for the software company Pluck, describes searching the web the traditional way is, “like trying to find a needle in a haystack…(RSS) is a better way to stay on top of the information that’s out there.”
RSS (from Wikipedia)
Did he just reference Wikipedia? Yes, I did. Let me tell you why. While doing my research on RSS feeds used in education, there were a few questions I couldn’t find the answers to. So where did I go? Wikipedia.
What’s an aggregator? When did RSS first originate? What’s XML file format? All these questions were answered with help from Wikipedia. Of course, to make sure the information is correct I advise double-checking it on more reliable websites where the information can’t be added by any outside source. Still, it has a lot of useful and technical information about RSS feeds.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Social Bookmarking Makes it Easier…
Below is a list of five websites that will help you to understand what social bookmarking is, how to use it in the classroom, where to find it, and how to get started.
I can tell you from my own experiences, my old way of bookmarking is no longer. I’m a convert to social bookmarking and I’m happier for it.
Sites to See: Social Bookmarking
This write-up on the Education World website contains a brief (but informative) explanation of what social bookmarking is all about. It also explains how teachers can use it in the classroom. One example given is that you can organize the sites you draw information from into categories, making them easy to find later when preparing a lesson. Bookmarking in the traditional way consists of a long list of bookmarked sites that makes it difficult to find a specific site, let alone a group of sites pertaining to the same thing.
The article also includes various links to social bookmarking sites like Delicious.
Social Bookmarking in Education
Rebecca Hedreen, the Distance Education Library Coordinator (aka the DE Librarian) for Southern Connecticut State University's Buley Library, explains what social bookmarking is and gives a few examples of how to use it in an education setting.
Here is one example she gave:
“A professor could save readings for a class this way, too. Since each tag has it's own URL, like my classes above, the URL could be posted in the syllabus.”
Social Bookmarking Stories in Education
This site is unique because teachers discuss social bookmarking and how they are using it in the classroom. They let you know what is working and what isn’t, what projects they have been using social bookmarking for, and links to presentations, blog posts, and social bookmarking sites being used.
Here is an example entry by Derral:
“I was having my students post their bookmarks for their podcasts last year. I moved schools and haven’t gotten it going for this year but here is my classrooms bookmarks from last year. The students were 4th and 5th graders and I gave them a base set of tags and then let a small group monitor and then create their own for the rest of the class.”
Taming the Beast: Social Bookmarking
If you want a clear and concise definition of what social bookmarking is and how to use it, check out this article by Will Richardson.
The part that was informative to me was the explanation of how you can track Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds on social bookmarking sites like Delicious. He also includes how you can use social bookmarking as a collaborative tool in school or throughout an entire district.
Scholar.com - Social Bookmarking for the School Set
Scholar.com is a social bookmarking service that, “supplies software to the educational industry…that this is geared for learning.” This article gives a brief overview of scholar.com and points you in the right direction if you want to learn more. With all the web tools out there, it’s a good idea to do your homework before you start using anything in your classroom.
Those are my references for social bookmarking. If you’ve never used it, I strongly recommend it.
I can tell you from my own experiences, my old way of bookmarking is no longer. I’m a convert to social bookmarking and I’m happier for it.
Sites to See: Social Bookmarking
This write-up on the Education World website contains a brief (but informative) explanation of what social bookmarking is all about. It also explains how teachers can use it in the classroom. One example given is that you can organize the sites you draw information from into categories, making them easy to find later when preparing a lesson. Bookmarking in the traditional way consists of a long list of bookmarked sites that makes it difficult to find a specific site, let alone a group of sites pertaining to the same thing.
The article also includes various links to social bookmarking sites like Delicious.
Social Bookmarking in Education
Rebecca Hedreen, the Distance Education Library Coordinator (aka the DE Librarian) for Southern Connecticut State University's Buley Library, explains what social bookmarking is and gives a few examples of how to use it in an education setting.
Here is one example she gave:
“A professor could save readings for a class this way, too. Since each tag has it's own URL, like my classes above, the URL could be posted in the syllabus.”
Social Bookmarking Stories in Education
This site is unique because teachers discuss social bookmarking and how they are using it in the classroom. They let you know what is working and what isn’t, what projects they have been using social bookmarking for, and links to presentations, blog posts, and social bookmarking sites being used.
Here is an example entry by Derral:
“I was having my students post their bookmarks for their podcasts last year. I moved schools and haven’t gotten it going for this year but here is my classrooms bookmarks from last year. The students were 4th and 5th graders and I gave them a base set of tags and then let a small group monitor and then create their own for the rest of the class.”
Taming the Beast: Social Bookmarking
If you want a clear and concise definition of what social bookmarking is and how to use it, check out this article by Will Richardson.
The part that was informative to me was the explanation of how you can track Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds on social bookmarking sites like Delicious. He also includes how you can use social bookmarking as a collaborative tool in school or throughout an entire district.
Scholar.com - Social Bookmarking for the School Set
Scholar.com is a social bookmarking service that, “supplies software to the educational industry…that this is geared for learning.” This article gives a brief overview of scholar.com and points you in the right direction if you want to learn more. With all the web tools out there, it’s a good idea to do your homework before you start using anything in your classroom.
Those are my references for social bookmarking. If you’ve never used it, I strongly recommend it.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Using Twitter in the Classroom
Twitter is a micro social networking utility that can be used to share ideas and information (using 140 characters or less for each post). I am new to twittering…tweeting? Ha! Not sure. Anyways, here are links to 5 great resources that will help explain more in depth what Twitter is and how it can be used in education.
Pupils to study Twitter and blogs in primary schools shake-up
This article is about the change primary schools in England are proposing. They want their curriculum to include the use and mastery of some web 2.0 tools. Part of the proposal would require, “children in England to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication.” That’s sounds to me like they are headed in the right direction.
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Education
I thought this would be appropriate since it is a blog about Twitter. This blog has ideas for getting started on Twitter, ideas about what to tweet, tips to keep your sanity while tweeting, and negatives and positives about Twitter. Here are some samples:
-Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
-Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
-Promote your students’ stories, but be careful to maintain anonymity, particularly with kids.
-Twitter can augment parent feedback.
Using Twitter as an Education Tool
This is a highly motivating article to read if you plan to use Twitter in your classroom. The author, Roy Jones, complied stories and reflections teachers had when they used Twitter in their classrooms. The first example is about a teacher that reluctantly tried using Twitter in his classroom, but then discovered that it brought about a sense of “classroom community” that was not limited just to the classroom.
It was nice to read about positive examples teachers had using Twitter.
How ‘microblogging’ sites such as Twitter can be used in education
This article goes over 3 useful web 2.0 tools that can be used in the classroom: Twitter, Edmodo, and Shout ‘Em. Since I briefly described what Twitter is, I’ll explain the information given in this article about Edmodo and Shout ‘Em.
Edmodo is a tool that can help you set assignments for students, manage classes, and grade students’ work. “Edmodo provides a way for teachers and students to share notes, links, and files. Teachers have the ability to send alerts, events, and assignments to students.”
Shout ‘Em enables you to have a private community that isn’t as complicated as other social networking sites. Included in this article is a Shout ‘Em demo video that is very informative.
Twitter for Education
This last article describes what Twitter is and some practical uses it has for education. It also has some great links to more information about Twitter.
I included this piece of writing because I located it on my own Twitter page (it was posted by my fellow classmate). I think that shows first hand how twitter can be used to share information.
Thanks for reading. I hope it was informative.
Pupils to study Twitter and blogs in primary schools shake-up
This article is about the change primary schools in England are proposing. They want their curriculum to include the use and mastery of some web 2.0 tools. Part of the proposal would require, “children in England to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication.” That’s sounds to me like they are headed in the right direction.
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Education
I thought this would be appropriate since it is a blog about Twitter. This blog has ideas for getting started on Twitter, ideas about what to tweet, tips to keep your sanity while tweeting, and negatives and positives about Twitter. Here are some samples:
-Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
-Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
-Promote your students’ stories, but be careful to maintain anonymity, particularly with kids.
-Twitter can augment parent feedback.
Using Twitter as an Education Tool
This is a highly motivating article to read if you plan to use Twitter in your classroom. The author, Roy Jones, complied stories and reflections teachers had when they used Twitter in their classrooms. The first example is about a teacher that reluctantly tried using Twitter in his classroom, but then discovered that it brought about a sense of “classroom community” that was not limited just to the classroom.
It was nice to read about positive examples teachers had using Twitter.
How ‘microblogging’ sites such as Twitter can be used in education
This article goes over 3 useful web 2.0 tools that can be used in the classroom: Twitter, Edmodo, and Shout ‘Em. Since I briefly described what Twitter is, I’ll explain the information given in this article about Edmodo and Shout ‘Em.
Edmodo is a tool that can help you set assignments for students, manage classes, and grade students’ work. “Edmodo provides a way for teachers and students to share notes, links, and files. Teachers have the ability to send alerts, events, and assignments to students.”
Shout ‘Em enables you to have a private community that isn’t as complicated as other social networking sites. Included in this article is a Shout ‘Em demo video that is very informative.
Twitter for Education
This last article describes what Twitter is and some practical uses it has for education. It also has some great links to more information about Twitter.
I included this piece of writing because I located it on my own Twitter page (it was posted by my fellow classmate). I think that shows first hand how twitter can be used to share information.
Thanks for reading. I hope it was informative.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Education and the Blog
In my first reference, Academics Give Lessons on Blogs, Esther Maccallum-Stewart, a Sussex University historian states, “The weblog meant a place to store ideas, links and references." Blogging is a valuable tool for students to use. Whether it is sharing ideas, organizing thoughts, asking for feedback, or sharing information, blogs do all of this using a very personal format. It’s like writing a journal that can be read by the public.
Here are 5 references that discuss using blogs in an educational setting:
Academics Give Lessons on Blogs
This article on the BBC News website talks about how blogs are increasingly being used by students, how blogging is helping students to share information and work together on projects, and how blogs might be a problem if bloggers rush their work and include faulty information.
Blogging? It’s Elementary My Dear Watson!
On the Education World website, this informative article makes a case for using blogging as a learning tool for elementary education students. It talks about what subjects a class can blog about and it has links to web-based blogging sites that kids can use. Also, this article also goes over some ideas for safety when using blogs in the classroom.
Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs
This article created by Andrew Johnson is a little more in depth than the previous two. It gives the reader a step-by-step process on how to introduce and use blogs with students. The article then goes on to talk about the advantages of blogs for teachers and students.
Blogger’s Legal Guide: Student Bloggers
The Electronic Frontier Foundation made this interesting report about frequently asked questions on student blogging addressing legal issues. Some of the topic questions are:
-Can Public College Administrators Censor My School-Hosted Blog?
-Can Public Schools Censor or Punish Students' On-Campus Speech?
-Do I Have More Protections for a Personal Blog?
-So Can I Criticize Teachers on My Blog?
Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education
This is a formal discussion about wikis, blogs, and podcasts and how they are influencing teaching practices and student work in the 21st century. Discussions are about the ease of use of these web 2.0 tools, the increase of better and cheaper personal technology, and the increasing mobility of students. Other topics include advantages, disadvantages, and remedies of wikis, blogs, and podcasts and research and development agenda of these tools.
Here are 5 references that discuss using blogs in an educational setting:
Academics Give Lessons on Blogs
This article on the BBC News website talks about how blogs are increasingly being used by students, how blogging is helping students to share information and work together on projects, and how blogs might be a problem if bloggers rush their work and include faulty information.
Blogging? It’s Elementary My Dear Watson!
On the Education World website, this informative article makes a case for using blogging as a learning tool for elementary education students. It talks about what subjects a class can blog about and it has links to web-based blogging sites that kids can use. Also, this article also goes over some ideas for safety when using blogs in the classroom.
Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs
This article created by Andrew Johnson is a little more in depth than the previous two. It gives the reader a step-by-step process on how to introduce and use blogs with students. The article then goes on to talk about the advantages of blogs for teachers and students.
Blogger’s Legal Guide: Student Bloggers
The Electronic Frontier Foundation made this interesting report about frequently asked questions on student blogging addressing legal issues. Some of the topic questions are:
-Can Public College Administrators Censor My School-Hosted Blog?
-Can Public Schools Censor or Punish Students' On-Campus Speech?
-Do I Have More Protections for a Personal Blog?
-So Can I Criticize Teachers on My Blog?
Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education
This is a formal discussion about wikis, blogs, and podcasts and how they are influencing teaching practices and student work in the 21st century. Discussions are about the ease of use of these web 2.0 tools, the increase of better and cheaper personal technology, and the increasing mobility of students. Other topics include advantages, disadvantages, and remedies of wikis, blogs, and podcasts and research and development agenda of these tools.
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