Podcasting

Today I listened and learned about podcasts. I listened to four different educational podcasts. They include:




SmartBoard Lessons Podcast

KidCast

EdTechtalk.com

MacBreak Weekly


The first podcast I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons, episode 11, "Year End Ideas." In this podcast they spoke about using technollogy such as ipod touch in the classroom. Joan Badger is trying to get this in her school district because she feels that there are many useful applications you can download for your students. In addition, Joan Badger brought up the website Math Movies where there are scenes from movies listed that have math in them. They both though that a great project for students would be for them to find movies with math scenes in them over their weekend. I have to agree with their idea, this is a great way to get students interested. Aside from the ideas I learned for the classroom I also learned a little about how podcasting is done. I learned that you can be miles and miles away from one another and still be on the same podcast. I believe they call this "streaming." Also, Joan Badger mentioned that she has links posted to the podcast where viewers can go and download or look at the sites.
After listening to SmartBoard, I then tuned into MacBreak Weekly, episode 155. This podcast talked all about technology and podcasting. I learned that they use skype and mi-fi in their podcast, which I am still not completely sure what those two applications are. In addition, they also spoke about the different people involved in podcasting. I learned that there are a lot more people involved than the one or two people speaking. He mentioned he had to hire a clapper, snapper, and so on. Not only did he have to hire those extra people,he also explained how he has to have different takes for each little bit of clapping. This podcast taught me that a lot of work goes into making a successful podcast. In addition to their talk about podcasting, they also focused on apple products such as the ipod, iphone, and MacIntosh computers. They gave thoughts and ideas on how in the future you should not have to drag pictures from place to place and have all the overlapping sites. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from listening to this podcast.
The third podcast I listened to was Kidcast, episode 62, "Thoughts on Video Podcasting." This one focused solely on video podcasting. I learned that video podcasting can be very useful in the classroom. For example, if you are teaching a subjecgt that has some nonverbal action, it is beneficial for you to use a video podcast versus a audio podcast. Another reason to use video is when you have a visual model you need to explain. Although video podcasting seems to be becoming the medium he states that it is important to choose your type of podcasting based on your audience. Out of all the podcast I enjoyed and learned the most from this one.
The last podcast I listened to was Edtechtalk episode 45. The topic of this podcast was how people can grow as a professional. I personally got nothing from this podcast. I felt that this podcast was very unorganized and off topic. In fact, I had to skip through the entire first part of the podcast to get to something meaningful. Once I found some talk about their topic I learned that they too used skype in their podcasts and that they had a lot of people call in to voice their ideas. One of the major problems they find with teachers is that they are not motivated to continue their education unless there is something in it for them. I agree with their statement, in the society we live in today people are rarely motivated to do anything unless there is a prize waiting for them at the end. In the end, this podcast was the least useful for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to the podcasts. I feel that I have a better idea as to how they work as well as some good ideas for the classroom.

Media Rich Post

Michael Jackson

(CNN) -- The Los Angeles coroner has concluded preliminarily that singer Michael Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, a powerful sedative he was given to help him sleep, according to court documents released Monday.
Los Angeles' coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to a search warrant and affidavit unsealed in Houston, Texas.
The affidavit outlines probable cause for search warrants of the offices of doctors who are believed to have treated Jackson.
The Associated Press is quoting a single law enforcement official, who says the L.A. County Coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office told CNN they had "no comment" on the report. An LAPD spokesman says the story did not come from their department.
The 32-page warrant said Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told a detective that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks. Murray said each night he gave Jackson 50 mg of propofol, also known as Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine via an intravenous drip.
Worried that Jackson may have been becoming addicted to the drug, the Houston cardiologist said he attempted to wean him from it, putting together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep during the two nights prior to his death.
But on June 25, other drugs failed to do the job, as he recounted to detectives in an hour-by-hour account that was detailed by detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department:

Next Generation Learning

Alright, this Next Generation Learning video may have swayed me a little. I am typically a hard core believer in the fact that, teachers should teach with art, music, and activities rather than technology. But, this video showed me that this would be really a neat idea for students. It made me think about when I was in school, I loved my art projects and games, but I would have really enjoyed some of the things mentioned in this video. Out of the whole video there was only one thing I disagreed with, and that was the WII.

Technology has come a long way and there are many new and exciting tools we can use to teach with, but is one of these really a WII gaming system? Believe me I think the WII is a great invetion, and I love it, but I do not think it should be in a classroom. What ever happened to recess? You know, getting outside, having fresh air, being able to run and interact with your fellow class mates. Yes the WII may give the students some exercise and may help them with focus, but playing outside or playing games inside would stimulate them just the same. I feel that students need to interact with their classmates instead of interacting with a video game.

Now like I said, I am all for the old fashioned way of teaching, but this video had some really neat things that I wouldnt mind having for my classroom. One of which is the white board that students can write on and it can be used as a computer. I like this because it gets the students involved, they get to come up in front of the class and share their knowledge instead of plugging their answer into a computer. In addition to the white board, I really like the voting systems. I believe this is another great way to keep your students entertained and focused.

In the future, I would have to admit that I would like to have some of these tools in my classroom. I strongly believe that with the way our technology is growing it wont be long before all the schools have the latest and greatest technology. Every teacher will use the technology available to them in their own way. I personally, will use it very minimally if possible whereas, Vicki Davis used it to its full potential.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

After watching the video on Vicki Davis and her classroom, I realized some of the positives for using technology in a classroom. Although, I got some good ideas for using technology to teach, I still stand firm in my beliefs that technology should not rule the classroom. Now, I know that we are growing and things are simply just not the same as they were when were in elementary school, but I think that some teachers should teach without a major technological influence.

Vicki Davis teaches her entire class on the computer. I heard her say they use google docs, they blog, and even play an online avatar game. I agree that for a student this is very cool. I found that by using these programs with older children that it would be a good way to keep them entertained in the classroom. Because when we think about it, what do kids do when they go home? They either get on the computer or play video games. Therefore, having a very technologically advanced class would be a smart idea. Another pro for using technology is that students will be prepared for almost any job when they get out of school, because even now almost every job requires you to have some computer skills. In addition, Vicki used the internet to connect her students with others throughout the world. This is a great way to culture your students and have them interacting with other kids.

Now, I know that those things sound great but I feel that there are also many down-sides to this technological class. For one, what is the point of the avatar game? From what they showed on the video it looked just like a video game the student would play at home. I personally just do not see what these students are learning from this game. Secondly, since our students are already constantly using technology outside of school, we should teach them other ways to learn and have fun so they can be well-rounded individuals. Finally, have your students write letters to pen pals, this will keep them cultured as well, and they get to practice writing correctly.

In the end, there are many ways to teach, and each teacher will find what works for them the best. Vicki Davis found that the computer and technology worked best for her and her students, I just happen to believe that there are better, more affective ways to learn than by using computers. But as we know, the most important goal we have as teachers is to make sure our students learn and can succeed when they get into the world.

The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson's lecture was very entertaining, creative, and very true! The school system is set up to teach children only what we think is the most important and that is, the basics. Chidlren are no longer given the freedom of creativity through activities such as: dance, art, music, or drama. Although, the basic math, english, science, etc is very important, creativity should be held to a higher importance as well. Allowing children to be creative will help them to learn better. When a child is up and moving to music or creating a picture they retain information better. If you sit a child at a desk all day and lecture them on multiplication and grammar all day, they are not going to pay attention therefore, they will not retain the information. A professor of mine said "if you gave your best lecture in the forest, did you teach?" Many of us answered "yes" but, the answer is no. You cannot teach if no one is there. So if you keep your students in their desk all day they will not mentally be there therefore, you are not teaching.

Students should be praised for the creativity instead of steared away from it. Who knows how many great actors, musicians, or artists have been taken away from us because their creativity was blocked in school. I think that teachers today need to find a way to teach the basic skills through something creative. Have your students sing about grammar, sing about the states, and even math. Teachers need to learn to use their creativity in the classroom, it will benefit your students. Once the teacher finds a creative way to teach those basic subjects that we find so important then, our students will start to enjoy learning them. I have always heard that children learn better when they are moving and from my personal experience with children, that statement is true!

Ken Robinson stated that the arts are placed at the bottom of the list when it comes to subjects in schools. He was right with this comment, and it is only getting worse. With the economic crisis schools are having to cut back on their budgets therefore, they are taking arts out of the schools. I know of numerous schools right now that no longer have art class because the schools cannot afford the supplies. Instead of spending the money on art supplies schools are spending it on updating the computer labs. Now, I do believe computer labs are important but at the elementary level these students should be coloring, painting, dancing, and singing. Let these children unleash their creativity at school.

Also, Ken Robinson mentioned that ADD/ADHD was not invented back in the day. Kids who were fidgity were considered to be creative. Now if a kid cant sit still or wants to move they are rushed to the doctor and diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and put on medication to calm them down. This is ridiculous to me, I mean come on, THEY ARE KIDS! Kids are going to want to move and be active. Think about when you were a child, could you ever be still for longer than 10-15 minutes tops?! I know I couldnt and I know of many kids who still cant. Kids have not changed, they still want to be active. I believe that bringing arts back into the school will not only make it more enjoyable for the children, it will also make it easier and enjoyable for the teacher. Although, many teachers have gotten lazy with projects. They dont want to do art projects because its messy or they dont want to deal with all of their students moving around the classroom. Those teachers I think need to re-evaluate. Most teachers go into education because they care about children and their education and we all know that kids learn more when they move and be creative.

Overall, I think that arts needs to be mandatory in the school system. Children need to be able to express their creativity at school. When children start enjoying themselves at school then they will start learning and retaining more, and thats what we all want right?

Did You Know?

First of all let me just say one thing, wow! This is amazing and scary to think about all of this. This video had so much information that I never knew was true or maybe I did but just didn't think about it. I knew that our technology was rapidly growing but had no idea to what extent. I mean to think that the amount of information in a week of the NY times exceeds the information one would learn in their lifetime during the 18th century is amazing! We have grown so much since that time and the knowledge seems to be endless! I guess the question that is on everyone's mind after watching this video is, "is this a good thing?"

In many ways the growth of technology can be a very good event. By having the latest and greatest technology we are opening ourselves and our youth to an endless amount of information and opportunities. The internet alone stores information that our youth could possibley never learn in a classroom. Then there are the opportunities, advancing technology opens a wide variety of different jobs. The more technology grows the more different jobs will be available. Like the video said "the amount of technical information is doubling every 2 years," this means by the time the children in our classroom are in the workforce the technology and information available will be more than we can even imagine. Our youth are going to have endless opportunities and their knowledge is going to be so complex.

Now, I know that this growing technology seems like a great thing but, I feel otherwise. With the rapid growth of technology and information, the things our students are learning in school now will not be useful by the time they get into the workforce. Also, with the growth of technological devices our children get distracted from books and studying. The video mentioned that India has more honor students than the US. I believe this is because our students rely too much on internet sources such as google and wikipedia. We, as teachers, need to find a way to keep our students entertained in the classroom without relying on technology. The US is getting away from the way we used to be. Everything we do is on the computer, ipods, iphones, and much more. We are even meeting our significant others, friends, and families on the internet, instead of in person. The video stated a scary statistic, "if myspace were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world." Now, if that isnt scary, I dont know what is.

There are many pros and cons to the rapid growth of technology, but I feel that we need to slow it down a little. We need to go back to the basics and not rely on our devices to get us through a day. Before we know it we will be teaching kindergardners how to use their latest iphone to do their homework. It might even be a requirement for elementary school kids to have a phone that has internet capabilities. I know I, as a teacher, will not want that to be the case. I want to be able to hold my students attention and teach them without needing to use technology. So, i know we all enjoy our ipods, laptops, and iphones but we need to ask ourselves if we are going too far.

First Post

My name is Kimberly Wright but everyone calls me Kim. I live in Fairhope, Alabama but I am originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. I lived in Knoxville since I was five years old but decided to move to Alabama in the summer of 2008. I based my decision to move on the fact that my parents agreed to pay for my college if I moved down here with them. I found this offer quiet entriging considering I was paying for my school when I was in Knoxville. When I moved down to Fairhope I got a part time job at Belk, in the shoe department. I absolutely cannot stand my job but it pays the bills and for the gas it takes me to drive from Fairhope to Mobile for school.

I am a junior at the University of South Alabama and I am pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. This has always been my degree of choice but unfortunately my family talked me into a different major for the first two years I was in college. I started out being a psychology major because they convienced me that the money was better, which it is, but I changed my mind and decided to go with what I am passionate about. I have always loved and worked with children therefore, I decided to go into this degree and disregard the pay. I have about two years left until I finish my bachelors degree and can begin teaching in a classroom. In addition to my bachelors degree, I hope to complete a masters degree in education and even possibley consider a PHD in order to become a principle. I plan to teach for about five years while taking night and online classes to obtain my masters and PHD.

Outside of school, I am a very outgoing person. I love to be outside, play sports, be with my family, and enjoy life to the fullest. My one passion is traveling but unfortunately I have not been able to do this as much as I would like. I am hoping that one day I will be able to travel to all the places I would love to see. I also enjoy photography, I would eventually love to be a photographer on the side. Overall, I feel that I am a very well rounded person who is driven and enjoys many things in life.