January 31, 2010

Media Literacy in First Grade
Wow! I was so impressed by both of these videos. Ms. Cassidy is doing an amazing job with her students. As I commented on their site, I would love to be able to emulate what she is doing with her students.
The students seemed to be well trained in their technology skills. They knew where to click with no help from the teacher. They were writing in their own blogs! It was astonishing to see them actually using wikis. I really liked the process Ms. Cassidy uses for students to access learning games and sites through there own website. Students simply had to click the skill they were to work on and go directly to that site. I always had to save them in my favorites and click on them for the student, for I had no class website.
I can just hope that when I begin teaching again my students will have access to that many computers and not just for a half hour a day. Maybe the public school system will soon grasp the importance of technology in education and put it in the forefront as a vital tool for learning.



My Thoughts on Podcasts

After listening to an array of podcasts, I've come to believe that podcasting is an excellent tool to use in education. The possibilities could be endless for learning and teaching. Teachers can find all sorts of ideas for the classroom. One thought came to mind, remember all those cassette tapes to record fluency reading? Well, no more. Just use a podcast and then it can be shared online for the parent to hear their child's progress. How about a weekly newsletter for the classroom recorded by the students and the teacher and shared online on the classroom website? The possibilities for podcasts in education are unlimited.

My first observation with the podcasts I listened to were the various types of introductions. Many began with a musical intro which I found appealing, although some musical introductions were drawn out too long. Ah, that's where I realize the itunes slider comes in handy and it's more convenient to the listener to download the podcasts first. Other podcasts got right to the point with no music. They listed their objectives and proceeded in their discussion. Many had guests or two hosts discussing subjects. In some instances I found this to be annoying in that the hosts or guests were too long winded in meaningless chitter chatter. At least, unlike a traditional radio show, the listener has the ability to bypass the chitter chatter or music and get to the substance of the discussion.

I was under the impression by the title of Kidcasts that all of the podcasts were created by students for students. After listening, I found it has many ideas for teachers. Educators discuss a variety of subjects and uses for podcasting with student examples of podcasts. Had I not explored the Kidcasts audio clips I would have assumed it was just for kids. As a beginning podcaster I would use Kidcasts as a starting point to learn and get ideas.

Overall, most podcasts sounded well prepared, interesting, and informative other than an occasional technical mishap. I found some podcasts were a little too lengthy in their discussion to keep your attention and, I would say, for the teacher who has very little free time. The time they have is valuable and they can appreciate short and to the point. The vast array of choices in podcasts were mind boggling, yet, intriguing enough to keep you searching and listening.