11
Jul
Blogging and podcasting, whether done individually or collaboratively encourage our students to break out of piece meal thinking and start a long term academic journey. Even more importantly, podcasting can help our students see the connections between disparate parts of concepts.
Recently, I watched some example videos created in a high school social [...]
14
Jun
The toughest point for many student podcasters is finding direction for the content of their work and getting started. If you’ve been reading or listening to me very long, you know that I’m not a fan of topical research which merely reports out facts. So to avoid it, I think teachers should take [...]
3
Mar
“The web is for scanning, not deep reading. People typically spend two minutes or less on a site. Why do you think the killer app is called a browser?” - How tablets will change magazines, books and newspapers, Fortune, Feb 2010
I was reading this morning about potential changes to the publishing world as mobile devices [...]
29
Oct
This week I was speaking to a group of would be podcasters who were a little taken aback when I asked them who their audience was. The look in their eyes suggested that they thought I had misunderstood where they were in the process…as if the audience is something that comes after you have a [...]
19
May
I’ve received lots of emails lately from teachers interested in “vodcasting” – short for video podcasting. I typically don’t use this term because, as people begin learning the concepts around syndicated media, I believe it throws an unnecessary term into the mix. Whether you use video, audio, enhanced or some variant of all three. It also sounds nearly [...]
15
Apr
In this episode I would like to discuss the power of adding meaningful data analysis into your podcast as a way to increase the validity of your message and to help teach students how to talk about data in ways that promote understanding of complex issues. Podcasts offer us a great context for data explorations. [...]
24
Mar
I often find that teachers get a little overwhelmed with the idea of producing an extended series. The prospect of committing to a long term or never ending publishing adventure is a little scary. I try to reassure them that it’s not overwhelming if you just take it one episode at a time. That actually [...]
22
Mar
I am speaking and doing workshops this week at the WEMTA conference in Madison, Wisconsin. I am posting a few of my resources and handouts here as way to extend the conversation beyond those attending my sessions.
First up is my workshop on Podcasting with Purpose (WEMTA Podcasting Handout (PDF) ) where we will be exploring [...]
27
Feb
In my current role, I work with a LOT of teachers and many are exploring how podcasts fit into their curriculum. I am most interested in getting students and teachers to create their own podcast episodes as products of their learning. However, there is so much wonderful content out there to use [...]
26
Feb
The next winner in this round of awards is the Portable Radio Point of View podcast for their work in the “Editorial POV” genre. This podcast comes from Nathan Toft and Jane Smith at A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School in Stittsville, Ontario in Canada.
This podcast is produced by two classes of 5th and 6th [...]
25
Feb
The next category we are recognizing is the educator created “Study Guide or Learning Scaffolds” This award recognizes a series of podcasts that are focused on helping students learn and or review content. Our winner in this category is Brent Coley’s StudyCast from Tovishal Elementary School in Murrieta, California.
Brent provides his students (and many others [...]
25
Feb
The next category we would like to recognize is Professional Perspectives. This category is designed to highlight an educator’s podcast that is designed to share their professional knowledge, perspective and ideas with their colleagues around the world.
The winner of this category is Steven Katz, from Country Day School in San JoseEscazu, Costa Rica.
Steve Katz has [...]
16
Jan
Today’s featured KidCast winner is the Elementary Spanish Podcasts from DVE sponsored by Leslie Davison in from Dillon Valley Elementary in Dillon, Colorado. Their podcast is both a documentary of their growth in literacy and an outreach activity to help other kids expand their language skills. One of my favorite things about this podcast is the way that [...]
14
Jan
Our next category is Sound Seeing or POV Video Tour. The point of this category is to teach your audience by exploring a place or a space with them. Take them on a journey with you through a series of episodes that introduce them to an historical sites, or habitats, or unique community spaces, or [...]
14
Jan
I’m going to be announcing the winners of the latest KidCast awards via blog entries and podcasts over the next week or so. Keep tuning in for some great examples!
Our first category is Inquiry – An investigation with a clear and driving question that is explored through the podcast episodes. These are academic and guided [...]