Podcasting

What did you learn about podcasting?  How can it be used in the classroom?

Well, I knew a lot about podcasting since I listen to a lot of sports radio.  Typically, I'm on the road a lot and in my car, so I'm able to listen a lot.  However, sometimes, I'm in and out of the car running errands, or meeting with clients so I miss stuff.  It always happens when the radio announcers are about to interview someone that I'm actually interested in hearing what they have to say.  The radio station puts all interviews in podcast so that I can download them to my phone and listen when I would like to.  I can see how this would be beneficial in the classroom seeing as how more and more kids are on the go.  Going to this practice or brother and sister's practice, and not really having enough time for the studies.  With a podcast of a lecture or some other informative session via podcast, they can do all that they have to do, and still get in their study time.  Or in my case with Physical Education, maybe they can download a series of Olympian jumps, or a workout routine to use at home without having to be in front of a tv


How is podcasting different/similar to other Web 2.0 applications we discussed so far?

Podcasting is not as interactive as say a Wiki.  Podcasting is more of a one way communicative application for students to gain information without having to either sit in front of a computer or tv or be near a radio.  It's more personalized and can be taken with them wherever they would like to go.

Reflection:  Do you own an iPod or MP3 player?  How do you use it?  Would you use it in your classroom and how?  What do you think about advantages/disadvantages of online communication tools?

I do not own an iPod since most of my listening is in my car.  I have satellite radio and regular radio, and I get Pandora on my phone that I can plug into my car.  I guess my phone can substitute for an MP3 player or iPod, but I don't download music.  I once had a computer with probably 6 straight days worth of music on it that I either copied from my collection, or downloaded.  My computer crashed and most of the music couldn't be recovered.  I was so devastated, it took years to get that compilation together and in a blink it was gone.  I haven't downloaded anything since.  I do see the benefit of using a podcasting in the classroom as a teaching tool, like I said, I could cast workout routines that students could take with them, or maybe videos of certain athletes performing a particular task that students could practice to emulate.  The communication tools available these days are astounding when one steps back to take a look at it.  The only thing that worries me about all of it, is less human interaction.  I'm a people person, and like being around people.  Viewing reactions, reading body language.  There are so many ways to communicate with people without ever shaking a hand it kind of frightens me.  However, I either have to cope or I lose out on what's happening in the world.

Whitsitt Rhys Shelton

Wikis, Socialbookmarking, and voicethread

So, I recently did my journal critique about using wikis for a physical education project.  Basically the teacher set the students into groups and charged them with creating a game.  He then set them up all up with wikis so that they could all collaborate on the creation of the game.  At the same time, the teacher could monitor progress as well as comment on things to help the students along.  I thought this was the most brilliant thing I had ever heard of.  Not only is it incorporating technology into physical education, which I originally thought would be impossible, it gets students to think about physical education more than just once or twice a week.  If given the chance I would like to be able to do something like this with at least one class a semester. 

In regards to social bookmarking, I thought this was a really great idea too.  Years ago, I discovered this online playlist.  For me, this was fantastic since it seemed like I was sitting at a new computer every day.  With my online playlist, I could listen to my music without having to sit at the same computer, or plug my mp3 player into some portal, or having to have earphones on.  I have small ears so earphones just don't work for me.  Okay, back on topic, social bookmarking seems to be the same concept.  Not only can I sit at any computer on any network and get to my bookmarks, I can also view other's bookmarks and see if they have found anything useful or interesting.  My favorites bar across the top of my computer is constantly used, honestly I don't know if I could even write in the url anymore if I needed to.  I'm very reliant on my favorites, so the social bookmarks seems to be a pretty great idea.    I couldn't really get any of the voicethread links to work, I didn't really understand it.  It does seem to be pretty neat, but not something I would ever put into application. 

I had the pleasure of exploring Tapped In, this is an awesome website! Having great teachers is the key to having highly educated students.  The whole idea of having teachers collaborate worldwide is rather intoxicating.  I will most definitely be interested in using this type of learning community. 

Copyright and Fair Use

         Copy right laws are vitally important in education today.  With countless numbers of videos, papers, music, and other forms of media readily available over the internet, the rules and regulations become more important today than they were before the information age.  With the implementation of fair use it get a little confusing.  I would surmise that if one is in doubt, and unable to find a difinitive answer when looking at the laws, don't use it.  The safest way to assure oneself as a teacher is to create your own material.  When teaching students about copy rights and fair use, it is also important to inform them of the difference between plaigarism and copyright laws.  It can be very tempting for a young student who is an ESL student to cut and paste an entire paper and pass it off as his own.  This is completely different from the copyright laws which demand compensation for original works used by others. 

         Cyberbullying is a new phenomenon much created by the advent of social networks such as facebook or myspace.  Before the internet, kids were bullied on the playground and in the hallways or on the way home from school.  Every kid who was bullied knew that once they were home, they would be safe and live to fight another day.  However, with these new social networks, the bullying continues even in the safety as ones own home.  The difference between online safety and cyberbullying is online safety is the protection of those being bullied online, and safety from online predators.  Information on people is readily and easily accessable to the trained stalker.  Computer hacks can get any information about a person they want with virtual ease.  Even if you try to be safe and not post address, phone number, school address, predators can still assertain from pictures posted where your neighborhood is, what places you visit frequently and where you may go to school.  It's a scary world out there, and parents and educators both need to be careful what information is posted about their children online. 

This weeks assignment was very enlightening.  I was regretably informed of the fact that I know nothing about copyright laws.  Cyberbullying has been advertised lately with commercials run during popular sporting events and television shows, so I had base knowledge of that.  I thought, however that I was pretty well educated about what was legal and what wasn't regarding fair use, and copyright laws.  I scored a 72 on the quiz which was disappointing.  Everytime the quiz told me I was wrong I was surprised.  It will be beneficial to have the "cheat sheet" about what is okay, and what is illegal.  Overall, I think I'm still a little confused.

Newsome, C. (1997). A teacher's right to fair use and copyright. Manuscript submitted for publication, Educational Technology Leadership Program, The George Washington University, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Teachers and Fair Use