Blog #4

Judy Scharf offer’s a very brief but detailed description of what a podcast entails, and I was pleasantly surprised at how direct she was. Although our class survey changed my self-definition of being technologically illiterate, I am familiar with the Podcasts I have downloaded for my iPod and iPad. I am afraid that it wasn’t until my recent return to school that I have used them for educational purposes. I have sadly only downloaded Podcasts from A Prairie Home Companion and some by more liberal poets. I enjoy listening to them on long drives (my kids hate this part of my iPod) and to decompress after a long workout. I recently downloaded several using iTunesU to help refresh some parts of history to help me on the Praxis. I plan on using Ms. Scharf’s link on how to use Audacity to help with my Podcast for EDM 310.





My group met today to work on Project #8 for EDM310. For Project #8, we have to create a Podcast using an assigned reading from Rafe Esquith’s book, Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire. We were free to take the project any route we wanted, but we had to use our assigned reading. After reading about how the first graders created their own read-along book using a Podcast, I felt so silly for feeling so inadequate today. If first graders can do it, we can do it. While I think my group may have taken the long road in creating our first Podcast (we should have sucked it up and just filmed ourselves, instead we created a Google Presentation with voice-overs), I think it will be beneficial for the end of this class. I loved that the first graders created their own read-along book! It replaces the monotony of books on c.d. – I often find my ADHD-self drifting off into dreamland while participating in these kind of activities. These children are creating their own work, and the teacher is using it to reinforce what they have learned. It’s also incredible that the kids are learning so quickly what intrigued me earlier today in the lab. I played with changing my voice several times – it was so much fun!



Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting was very interesting and insightful. Can we use this technique in EDM 310? Maybe if I use iMovie 70 times in one sitting, I can become more proficient in making a Podcast. Just kidding. It’s common knowledge that repetition is key to our students learning, and through this project the kids are getting to use THEIR creativity to help each other and their parents. I really liked that they edited their work using a SmartBoard in class. The SmartBoard wasn’t available to me the first time I took this class, and every classroom didn’t have one in the schools that I have taught. I am extremely excited about getting to learn this tool. I think it is something that would help me greatly in the classroom.