An introduction to my e-portfolio for the class. Am attempting to put on page in website.
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=7117783&height=267&width=200
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Educational Podcasting: Forward Thinking to Capture Students Minds
Being a resident of the Informational Age requires a shift of practices and approaches to teaching and sharing of instructional materials. In the same way that horse-and-buggy and rail traffic was the accepted way of transportation in the last century, learning has also leaped to super-sonic travel as well as satellite fed devices in this new century. Students are aware of technology and have grown up with it so that former ways of instructing have almost become obsolete. It is imperative that teachers now engage them with methods that are familiar and fun!
Enter the podcast, a means of giving bite-size chunks of knowledge to students or others. These short audio digital files can relay lessons, instructions or even music and came into use around 2004. The MP3 files can truly make learning mobile activity. Beginning to learn about podcast can be as easy as doing a Google search, such as the one titled “Everything about Podcasts” (Dems, 2010) or “Bite-Size Learning: Structured to Engage” (Nash, 2012). Both these excellent articles describe the how-to’s and why’s of podcasting and how it can be a truly effective way of delivering a lesson.
The benefit of podcasting extends to the learner outside the classroom as well as in-school use. For instance, the student who struggles to take notes or needs additional time or assistance to recall information can listen or view the teacher’s lesson at home or on a mobile device such as their phone or audio player. It would also eliminate the additional time on both the part of the teacher and student when one is absent from class. Students could keep up with the class without excuses about missing an assignment.
Announcements can be recorded and played by teachers in each period rather than untimely interruptions during class-time. Or, perhaps a teacher would prefer to leave more instructions than a lesson plan for the substitute, even providing part of the lesson for the class. This is also a great way to involve parents in the educational process of their children.
It was quite easy and entertaining to read articles and watch videos of the various methods to create podcasts. However, if time is of the essence in posting one, audio podcasts of lessons ready to download can be found on numerous sites such as http://www.poducateme.com or other podcast directories such as http://www.recap.ltd.uk/podcasting which has over 5000 podcasts available in both audio and video. Teaching has now become a much more entertaining venture and has stepped into the modern age to engage and challenge todays learners.
Dems, K. and Callow, R. , 2010. Everything about podcasts. Retrieved Oct. 26,2012 from: http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/audio/articles/77820
Nash, S. , 2012. Bite-sized learning: structured to engage. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2012 from: http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2012/10/bite-size-learning-structured-to-engage.html
Ovadia, M., 2010. Learning how to bring the benefits of podcasting to your classroom. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2012 from: http://www.poducateme.com/
Russell Educational Consultancy and Productions, 2012. Educational podcasts for teaching and learning. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2012 from: http://www.recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Developing and Using a PLN
My decision to participate in these particular PLN's (professional learning networks)was based partly on an amusement factor and partly due to wanting to know more about each particular subject. The interests which seem attractive are as varied as the number of networks available.
Being a teacher, of course, I am interested in the content matter that is presented daily in the classroom. Grammar, writing, reading, books and methods of teaching are the topics which draw interest because the wealth of knowledge shared among people with more experience adds to mine. Therefore, I am an avid Facebook user and many of the posts viewed have to do with the above subjects. For instance, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Captain-Grammar-Pants is one of my favorites, written by a teacher at Evergreen College in Washington, she not only shares pictures of hilarious and horrendous grammar errors, but also writes short explanations on language usage. One thought was to use the posts as a classroom anticipatory set to engage the students in determining the error and how to correct it.
Another, just for the love of books is Book Shelf Porn, which isn't what it may be thought to be. Although this one doesn't really connect with anyone specifically, it does connect the hearts of all who just love books, being around them, looking at them, and absorbing their essence.
A couple PLN's that I found fun to use were Edmodo and Schoology and I look forward to implementing them in my classroom. The Edmodo site actually has a library built in which allows additions of other sites to refer back to all on one page. This is similar to Livebinders, yet all of the "books" or sites are laid out so that they are seen in one glance. It is easy to see that this one will become a favorite!
However, other topics capture my interest in health, nutrition, business and Law of Attraction also appeal to me. Another website which offers a wide variety of interest in topics and style is www.ezinearticles.com , and allows connection with other teachers, writers and business people.
These were inviting because of the intrigue and interest. The main questions were: What are these about?, What can I learn from them?, and How can I use them to benefit me or my classroom?
Some of the PLN's that I looked at the did not appeal to me were: Twitter, and the extensions of it. Of course, I do have a Twitter account, but it is not checked daily, and due to the diverseness of interests, the appeal and interest in consulting it does not exist. Perhaps because I do not have a specific or narrow enough interest, or because it seems to require too much time to sift through so many short messages.
Linkedin is another which doesn't yet work for me fully even though I have had an account for a few years. It is taking a great amount of time to edit my information, or sift through the contacts. This site seems to be for those who are more business oriented, and although that is where I eventually want to be, it does not work for me at this time.
The participants are other teachers, writers and fellow book lovers, as well as nutritionists, health observers, coaches and business people. A lot of these contacts are people whom I will never know, and that seems to be part of the fun of it as well!
Being a teacher, of course, I am interested in the content matter that is presented daily in the classroom. Grammar, writing, reading, books and methods of teaching are the topics which draw interest because the wealth of knowledge shared among people with more experience adds to mine. Therefore, I am an avid Facebook user and many of the posts viewed have to do with the above subjects. For instance, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Captain-Grammar-Pants is one of my favorites, written by a teacher at Evergreen College in Washington, she not only shares pictures of hilarious and horrendous grammar errors, but also writes short explanations on language usage. One thought was to use the posts as a classroom anticipatory set to engage the students in determining the error and how to correct it.
Another, just for the love of books is Book Shelf Porn, which isn't what it may be thought to be. Although this one doesn't really connect with anyone specifically, it does connect the hearts of all who just love books, being around them, looking at them, and absorbing their essence.
A couple PLN's that I found fun to use were Edmodo and Schoology and I look forward to implementing them in my classroom. The Edmodo site actually has a library built in which allows additions of other sites to refer back to all on one page. This is similar to Livebinders, yet all of the "books" or sites are laid out so that they are seen in one glance. It is easy to see that this one will become a favorite!
However, other topics capture my interest in health, nutrition, business and Law of Attraction also appeal to me. Another website which offers a wide variety of interest in topics and style is www.ezinearticles.com , and allows connection with other teachers, writers and business people.
These were inviting because of the intrigue and interest. The main questions were: What are these about?, What can I learn from them?, and How can I use them to benefit me or my classroom?
Some of the PLN's that I looked at the did not appeal to me were: Twitter, and the extensions of it. Of course, I do have a Twitter account, but it is not checked daily, and due to the diverseness of interests, the appeal and interest in consulting it does not exist. Perhaps because I do not have a specific or narrow enough interest, or because it seems to require too much time to sift through so many short messages.
Linkedin is another which doesn't yet work for me fully even though I have had an account for a few years. It is taking a great amount of time to edit my information, or sift through the contacts. This site seems to be for those who are more business oriented, and although that is where I eventually want to be, it does not work for me at this time.
The participants are other teachers, writers and fellow book lovers, as well as nutritionists, health observers, coaches and business people. A lot of these contacts are people whom I will never know, and that seems to be part of the fun of it as well!
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