Bringing Podcasting to the Classroom!
The word argument has become a dirty word, it seems. It conjures up images of angry faces and unrest. We are here today to clear the name of the "argument" and bring it back to class. You see, without arguments, facts lack organization to take a stand. Arguments give rise to point of view and illumination.
This episode features a guest, Dr. Michael Schueth from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Department of English. Dr. Shueth and I discuss the concept of argument and its role in developing more effective writing and podcasting. We'll listen to an example from the Portable Radio Podcast which has produced several "Point of View" podcasts. After listening in to this example, we'll try to categorize the types of arguments they have made and emphasize the value of this type of academic exercise. Special thanks to Jane Smith and Nathan Toft, from the grade 5 and 6 classes at A. Lorne Cassidy School in Ottawa, Canada for sharing their work.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet Richard Dryfus. Yes...that Richard Dryfus. He was at the MacWorld conference working as a part of the John Lennon Educational Bus. Richard was there working with a group of students and recording content focused on bringing Civics curriculum back to the forefront in American schools.
In many districts Civics has been reduced to a single course. In a crowded curriculum continually being driven by testing, what is the case for allocating more time and energy to this subject area. Dryfus argues that there is actually a lot at stake. I have to admit that as I look around at the current political discourse and the superficial, overgeneralized “us v them” thinking that seems to dominate discussions of government, there is a lot of room for improvement.
As I listened to him share his thoughts, in the passionate and convincing way that IS Richard Dryfus, i couldn’t help but tie podcasting back into the conversation.
With over 150 entries from countries all over the world, this year's KidCast awards were brought together some really impressive student and teacher achievements in podcasting. I'm very proud of the work that each entry brought to their shows. Not only do this years entries represent academic and technical excellence, but they also will serve as examples of for thousands of other students and teachers who are just beginning to explore podcasting.
The judging for this year's contest was conducted by six judges who are educators and experienced podcasters. Listening critically to this many shows was a big big job and I'm very thankful to everyone who assisted. I also want to give a special thank you to Humble Daisy - maker of Profcast and Atomic Learning for their generous support of this year's contest.
Here are the results:
* Professional Development
Cheryl Davis, Miramonte High School - Orinda, CA
Gone Google
* Instructional Podcast
Frank Falotico Hartman Podcasters of Hartman Elementary – Elwood City, PA
Concept Library
* Documentary
Victoria Monacelli - Harding Middle School - Philadelphia, PA
The Holocaust
* Sound Seeing Tour
Mary Lehman - Stony Brook Elementary School – York, PA
* Talk Show
(Video) Matt Rasgorshek - Studio66 – Westside High School, District 66 – Omaha, NE
(Audio) James Pippen - Wuerzburg Elementary School - Wuerzburg, Germany
* Drama
Frank Fitzpatrick - Ward Elementary School – Richmond, VA
“Give Me Liberty, or Let Me Sleep!”
* Where in the World
Kelly Bauer – Manzano Day School – Albuquerque, NM
* Best in Show
Linda Huryta and Sarah Haver Radio Willow Web – Willowdale Elementary School – Millard, NE
Honorable Mention - Steve Katz CDS News - Country Day School - Escazu, Costa Rica
Honorable Mention – Paul Fuller Podkids Australia – Orange Grove Primary School - Perth, Australia
This week's show features an update on the KidCast Awards - we had over 150 submissions! These represent some really excellent work by teachers and students. I'm looking forward to sharing the results with you soon. Check back after May 15th for results.
This episode was recorded using Ubercaster, a full featured podcast studio that offers some great work flows and creative options for podcasters. It takes some serious horse power and a lot of preparation (which is actually a great thing!) Ubercasters gets you to think about podcasting as a performance as much as a production. You can download a demo at ubercaster.com
Mothers day is just around the corner, so I decided to throw in a little podsafe music, "Mother", from Kevin Reeves.
There has been a bit of a backlash lately toward the iPod. I think most of it is drummed up media hype, but it is important to address these kinds of concerns by engaging administrators and teachers about how to address cheating and appropriate use through effective classroom management not knee jerk generalizations.
I end this episode with a sound seeing tour from Massacre Canyon in south west Nebraska. I love discovering cool little piece of history like this and it gave me an excellent change to bring out the iPod and do a soundseeing tour.
Kidcast for April 17, 2007
Still time to get involved in the 2007 Kidcast Awards - plenty of entries have come in, but not in every category. Still looking for more drama and sound seeing tour entries.
Sponsors - special thanks to our platinum sponsor Humble Daisy: makers of ProfCast. Our other sponsor is Atomic Learning.
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Its a very exciting time...watching all this great work fly in...knowing all the creative and constructive energy that goes into it. Thank you to all the vangards out there who are making podcasting happen in your classrooms.
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The 2nd Edition of KidCast Podcasting in the Classroom....FINISHED IT!
- GarageBand's Podcasting Studio
- Video Podcasting (including Video Cue Pro)
- more ideas about student voice and the fundamentals of podcasting
-It is available online at ftcpublishing.com - they have some great bundles - and they can even sell your district a license so that you can reproduce it for staff development within your district.
CURRENTLY working on a companion to that book that is a resource and activity book for classroom podcasts - it has over 50 ideas, strategies and Activities "KidCast: Creative Podcasting" - Look for this title out later this spring.
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I went down to FLorida last week to speak on a panel at the Technology adn Learning, Tech Forum 2007 Orlando. I spoke with David Warlick and Ginger Jewell about new technologies that are changing education. We took a really fun round robin approach to chiming in with exmples and ideas about collaboration, student publishing and creation, and immersive simulations and games. I popped my iPod on the table and recorded - most of the session - i'll post it as a separate show.
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Ubercaster - a new tool that i'm going to review soon. - go check it out, mac users. I'd be interested in what you think about this.
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Videos from dallas' beyond 4 walls keynote are back up... update your feed (or resubscribe) to get them
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Podcasting and ELL - Allison Wimmer, who is an amazing foreign language teacher has a request for us - she's doing some research and is looking for resources and ideas about blogging, podcasting and ELL. Email her at wimalim@gmail.com
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Two Minute SoapBox is a new collaborative podcast for teachers about teaching produced....you guessed it...by teachers. Make a short recording and email it to me at dschmit@intelligenic.com or just call (309)401-9353 and leave a posting as a voice mail.
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Calling all student and educator podcasters! We are sponsoring a podcasting contest again this year! Although the structure has changed slightly we are still focused on the same goal - recognizing quality
podcasting efforts from around the world.
Entry Deadline is April 30, 2007
Please share this information to educators who are producing podcasts as a part of their professional work.
This year we are dividing our contest into categories that focus on specific types of educational podcasting. They are:
Student Categories
Documentary (i.e. research findings, biography, exposé)
Talk Show (i.e. discussion, analysis)
Drama (i.e. radio plays that teach)
Sound Seeing Tour (i.e. descriptive language to introduce a place or objects)
Where in the World (best new episode of Where in the World)
Best in Show - This award recognizes the student podcast which exemplifies the qualities we value most in podcasts: learning, research, creativity, quality media production, and sustainability.
Teacher Categories
Professional Development (i.e. teacher reflection, tips, strategies, research summaries)
Instructional Materials ( i.e. study guide, process guides, guided learning)
For more details please see: http://www.intelligenic.com/blog/?page_id=90
Photo Story is available as a free download from the Microsoft website. According to the software maker, “Photo Story helps you to create exciting video stories by adding panning and zooming effects to your pictures. Use Photo Story to record narration for your pictures, and add titles and background musicto your story. You can also share your story in a variety of ways.
Overall, I was a little underwhelmed by Photo Story. The process is fairly straightforward, with options to edit photos, set panning and zooming on photos, add effects, add music and record narration. Recording narration was easy,but editing and creative choices seem a little limited. I used my Samson CO1U microphone. There were a few issues in getting the program to recognize my microphone, but after a few tweaks (!) it worked.
The output of Photo Story leaves us trapped inside Microsoft-land - WMV. Luckily there is a freeware application that can help us - Jodix
Jodix can easily convert a variety of different media formats into an iPod compatible format. For podcasters working with software limited to exporting to Windows Media formats, this is an essential piece of software.
I'm back! After a very busy February traveling all over the place sharing ideas and strategies for podcasting and integrating technology.
I'll have some notes from the Texas trip as well as some information about a few really useful websites for podcasting educators.