Teaching with Technology Episode 7 is interesting to listen to. The use of the music at the beginning and how it fades away is neat. Further, he uses sound effects/music throughout that kept my attention and I even found myself looking forward to hearing the effects. The fact that there are several different speakers keeps the podcast from being merely a long monologue of boredom. The podcast can be used to further student learning which is really what it's all about. For instance, when the kids sang the song that was based on the Spongebob song, but changed the lyrics to new material. Thus, good podcasting will enhance student learning.
I think Tony Vincent, the elementary teacher from Nebraska, pointed out a great advantage of student podcasting - it is simpler and takes less editing than making movies/video. Podcasting gives educators the option of assigning something more than a paper and less than a video. However, elementary school teachers must be willing to put in the hours of editing for their young students. The teacher's role could be especially frustrating for those who are not tech-savvy.
Podcasts can serve as a creative outlet for students, as demonstrated by a song about ideas using the Spongebob tune.
Hanes Middle School's Middle East Museum Podcast integrates a slideshow of student-made statues into the audio experience. This visual aid is not of the same caliber as making a video, but I believe it can be just as effective.
The Teaching with Technology poscast was really interesting, the voices of the multiple students conveyed their involvement in the project showing the community and focus fostered in all of the children involved. The more I listened to it the more it felt like a newspaper or magazine - it presented a great deal of information on many different topics, while at the same time maintaining a consistent fluency. One of the coolest things about the podcasts by "Radio Willow Web" I think is its affect on other children. One of the segments was about a grandmother who downloaded the podcasts for her grandson who learned a great deal and could recite informaiton about topics such as space or Nebraska. The system of children learning from children through podcasts is a really powerful aspect of the technology.
I did think Vincent made a good point about using audio vs video--that video requires much more time for editing.
I like the idea of using podcast as part of centers instead of making it the ONE project we're working on in class, because that way people can focus on other projects. I also like the idea of having the school technology specialist helping with it :). I definitely see how the podcast helped the students think about helping other students and understanding their audience.
I thought that it was a good idea to have podcasts so that the students could focus on one part of the assignment and that way a big class project would be easier. I think another advantage to using podcasts is that other classes can listen to them. Each class can benefit from what other classes are learning. It also gives the students an opportunity to revisit the material over and over again by re- listening to the podcasts.
I think that podcasts are a great way to get students working on speaking at a young age. They lose their fear of public speaking and begin expressing themselves more when they speak because there isn't the intimidation of a video right in front of them
With podcasting, I like the idea of having a nice finished product to show for everyone's effort. There was one section where they talk about presenting it to their principal or something when asked what the kids have been learning. Podcasting leaves you with a nice polished product that you can just pull out and be self-explanatory. Especially for parents, it's great to be able to mass email the parents and say, "hey, look what your kids made." Also I like how you can quickly present them for future grades - kind of like how some teachers show examples of exemplary essays or projects for future classes.
I think the podcast idea is very cool, and I wish that I had gottent to do something as creative when I was in school. Beyond that, podcasting is a really great way to review material in an innovative way. Kids are rehearsing content, writing their outlines, and all the while reviewing the information they just learned. As much as I like it, I do think a technology specialist or someone well acquainted with technology would need to be there for help or really to help those not good with technology feel more comforable. As we saw in episode 7, it does require a lot of work from the teacher's point of view, and it is important that they're fully comfortable and at ease with the technology before people will really use this in the classroom.
This podcast is really a great product and makes me want to work more on podcasts. It really sounded like a radio show. The way the music and sound effects were used was perfect and probably hiding behind many hours of work. What I get from this podcast is that the kids seem to be having fun, which is a great way to learn. As said, they feel like ‘celebrities’, which enhances their motivation to work on the podcast and ultimately work on content. They are able to teach others too and they realize it. Through podcasts, students can get experience in expressing themselves clearly –both in writing and orally- which can be quite hard for young students. They also get to review content in a fun way through podcasting.
My first impression of Episode 7 of the Teaching with Technology podcast was that I LOVED the intro music. From the short piece of the Nebraska podcast that was sampled, I feel that Mr. Vincent and his kids have done a fantastic job. I was impressed to hear that the kids had already been highly involved in video, but decided to move to podcasting. Giving each student a segment to do is a good idea, and I love the idea that each segment is on one topic, so that the teachers can use a podcast on a topic that they are going over in class. As we’re learning in our methods classes, students sometimes learn better when they are teaching themselves or other students. From what Mr. Vincent said, making and/or listening to these podcasts is an effective way for students to learn and teach different content. The kids are really creative with it! The song about ideas and content in the tune of the spongebob squarepants theme song was so cute! If I ever decide to do a podcast, I will absolutely look on Mr. Vincet’s website for help.
I listened to one from a school system, and I can’t remember the title, but the music behind the speech was highly distracting. It sounded like a bad ringtone version of “All Star” by Smash Mouth. I don’t remember what the child was taking about because the music was a little annoying and very loud. Many of the kids seemed very young, and I wonder how much involvement do they have in the process. In the video we watched last week, the kids wrote their own scripts and recorded themselves. However, the teacher stayed up late doing the editing. I wondered if any of the students in the other podcasts were able/allowed to do the editing of the podcasts?
I think that these podcasts are a very interesting assignment. Having the students write their own scripts really makes them learn more about the topics and think of them in their own terms. Also, finding the appropriate music and putting it all together creates a great assignment for the students to be creative and responsible. It's good for them to hear the product they are able to produce and realize that they have the ability to do such interesting things on computers.
I really like the transitions that the creator of this podcast used. When he introduced his interview with Tony Vincent, he used a sound clip of an audience clapping so it sounded like more than a phone interview. I thought that was a neat touch. And in Tony Vincent's class' podcast, they manipulated the Spongebob theme song to teach
I also thought that Tony Vincent had some interesting things to say. A lot of people (and I'm definitely guilty of this) assume students need an insurmountable amout of technological instruction. However, kids are taking photos and videos and uploading them to Facebook and Youtube. They are on top of technology, so we should take advantage of that.
Lastly, I thought Tony Vincent had an interesting point when he said that kids are more engaged in class and more excited about school in general because of podcasting. They get to hear their own voices and download the projects and share them with their friends and family. They value educaation more because they feel like they are a part of something. I thought that was really meaningful.
This podcast was very interesting because of the transition music and the nice blend of the actual interview and samples of the students on Radio Willow Web. I think that it's great that the students are so excited about doing a podcast after a unit. It forces the kids to think differently and more intently about the subject matter. Also, podcasting is a very involved process. The students are at the center of the script and the recording of the podcast, which is the important part. I thought that was a good thing.
Podcasting is a good idea but I am not too sure if this is a project that I would do with high schoolers. I think it is great for middle school and elementary school but I think that with high schoolers there could many motivational problems. I would be willing to try it but I think it will be a different experience than it would be with elementary or middle school kids.
I really enjoyed listening to Tony Vincent's input about K-12 podcasting, especially his emphasis on the educational value of such projects. The section featuring a child talking about Nebraska demonstrates that podcasts are a great way to encourage good research and composition skills. The student speaking has probably either gone to the library or looked up information about her state on the internet and compiled that information into a factual report. This info-gathering and presentation project enables students to teach themselves, their peers, and the world about their subject, and also encourages development of communication skills. Overall, I think this is a very beneficial tool for learning content material and increasing use of technology in schools, once teachers get past the hang-ups about wasting valuable class time.
I was impressed at how excited the kids were about podcasting. The comment about the "celebrity status" of the hosts made me smile--I believe it! The fact that it is an audio production really takes the pressure off the kids, where a video recording would be more stressful, as a result the podcast sounded more official. The control that the students had in its creation really came across too. It was very much their project with the teachers there for support (scaffolding). I wonder, what order do you teach a unit and assign a podcast project? Do you teach the unit first so the students can decide what interests them the most? Or try and do a dual thing--working on the podcast while you do the unit to save time? Or does it all equalize in the end?
I thought the examples of podcasting with elementary school students were interesting, but I wish we had more examples of how to use podcasts with high school students. It is easy to convert an activity you'd do with 4th or 5th graders to one you could do with 6th or 7th graders, but it's much harder to see the same activity being used in a 12th grade (or even 9th grade) classroom. Why would my high school kids care about making a podcast? What about it would capture their interest? How would the podcast be used? Would the time I spend teaching kids HOW to make a podcast and then actually making it be worthwhile, or would I sacrifice necessary class time for the sake of using unnecessary technology?
I am wondering whether it might not be better for me to make podcasts and recordings of lectures/instructions, so that kids who miss class have an easy way to make up the work and learn what they have missed. I guess I am thinking podcasts might be more useful to me as an instructional tool, rather than teaching students how to make podcasts themselves.
There have been a lot of comments on the practicality of podcasting compared to traditional methods. I am surprised that there are so many in the blog heralding the standard as the bastion of best educational method. I see the traditional method as being out of touch with the way the world is changing, redundant, and not providing students with a method that encourages a lasting learning experience. I don’t see technology teaching tools as being a replacement for the tradition as much as an alternative, even exciting, way of reaching the same goals as the traditional, with hopefully at least the same quality of experience. I am not saying that the traditional should be abandoned or that podcasting should replace all assignments, but that there are a variety of different ways of doing assignments besides the traditional. Instead of always doing the expected, same old thing, teachers should mix things up with non-traditional assignments. I think the most important consideration, and obvious fear of teachers, is that the technology result will be a waste of time. As long as the goals of an assignment take center stage, and the technology structured in a way that will accomplish that goal, then method for achieving that goal can be flexible. As a student, the non-traditional assignments have stuck with me my whole life, while the traditional assignments are all kind of lost in the massive amount of work done in the exact same fashion. Breaking things out of the tradition creates a new context for accomplishing the goals of the assignment. These kids in the podcast seemed really proud of what they were doing and I would think that this assignment is going to stick with them.
Teaching with Technology Episode 7 is interesting to listen to. The use of the music at the beginning and how it fades away is neat. Further, he uses sound effects/music throughout that kept my attention and I even found myself looking forward to hearing the effects. The fact that there are several different speakers keeps the podcast from being merely a long monologue of boredom. The podcast can be used to further student learning which is really what it's all about. For instance, when the kids sang the song that was based on the Spongebob song, but changed the lyrics to new material. Thus, good podcasting will enhance student learning.
ReplyDeleteI think Tony Vincent, the elementary teacher from Nebraska, pointed out a great advantage of student podcasting - it is simpler and takes less editing than making movies/video. Podcasting gives educators the option of assigning something more than a paper and less than a video. However, elementary school teachers must be willing to put in the hours of editing for their young students. The teacher's role could be especially frustrating for those who are not tech-savvy.
ReplyDeletePodcasts can serve as a creative outlet for students, as demonstrated by a song about ideas using the Spongebob tune.
Hanes Middle School's Middle East Museum Podcast integrates a slideshow of student-made statues into the audio experience. This visual aid is not of the same caliber as making a video, but I believe it can be just as effective.
The Teaching with Technology poscast was really interesting, the voices of the multiple students conveyed their involvement in the project showing the community and focus fostered in all of the children involved.
ReplyDeleteThe more I listened to it the more it felt like a newspaper or magazine - it presented a great deal of information on many different topics, while at the same time maintaining a consistent fluency.
One of the coolest things about the podcasts by "Radio Willow Web" I think is its affect on other children. One of the segments was about a grandmother who downloaded the podcasts for her grandson who learned a great deal and could recite informaiton about topics such as space or Nebraska. The system of children learning from children through podcasts is a really powerful aspect of the technology.
I did think Vincent made a good point about using audio vs video--that video requires much more time for editing.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using podcast as part of centers instead of making it the ONE project we're working on in class, because that way people can focus on other projects. I also like the idea of having the school technology specialist helping with it :). I definitely see how the podcast helped the students think about helping other students and understanding their audience.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was a good idea to have podcasts so that the students could focus on one part of the assignment and that way a big class project would be easier. I think another advantage to using podcasts is that other classes can listen to them. Each class can benefit from what other classes are learning. It also gives the students an opportunity to revisit the material over and over again by re- listening to the podcasts.
ReplyDeleteI think that podcasts are a great way to get students working on speaking at a young age. They lose their fear of public speaking and begin expressing themselves more when they speak because there isn't the intimidation of a video right in front of them
With podcasting, I like the idea of having a nice finished product to show for everyone's effort. There was one section where they talk about presenting it to their principal or something when asked what the kids have been learning. Podcasting leaves you with a nice polished product that you can just pull out and be self-explanatory. Especially for parents, it's great to be able to mass email the parents and say, "hey, look what your kids made." Also I like how you can quickly present them for future grades - kind of like how some teachers show examples of exemplary essays or projects for future classes.
ReplyDeleteI think the podcast idea is very cool, and I wish that I had gottent to do something as creative when I was in school. Beyond that, podcasting is a really great way to review material in an innovative way. Kids are rehearsing content, writing their outlines, and all the while reviewing the information they just learned. As much as I like it, I do think a technology specialist or someone well acquainted with technology would need to be there for help or really to help those not good with technology feel more comforable. As we saw in episode 7, it does require a lot of work from the teacher's point of view, and it is important that they're fully comfortable and at ease with the technology before people will really use this in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis podcast is really a great product and makes me want to work more on podcasts. It really sounded like a radio show. The way the music and sound effects were used was perfect and probably hiding behind many hours of work. What I get from this podcast is that the kids seem to be having fun, which is a great way to learn. As said, they feel like ‘celebrities’, which enhances their motivation to work on the podcast and ultimately work on content. They are able to teach others too and they realize it. Through podcasts, students can get experience in expressing themselves clearly –both in writing and orally- which can be quite hard for young students. They also get to review content in a fun way through podcasting.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of Episode 7 of the Teaching with Technology podcast was that I LOVED the intro music. From the short piece of the Nebraska podcast that was sampled, I feel that Mr. Vincent and his kids have done a fantastic job. I was impressed to hear that the kids had already been highly involved in video, but decided to move to podcasting. Giving each student a segment to do is a good idea, and I love the idea that each segment is on one topic, so that the teachers can use a podcast on a topic that they are going over in class. As we’re learning in our methods classes, students sometimes learn better when they are teaching themselves or other students. From what Mr. Vincent said, making and/or listening to these podcasts is an effective way for students to learn and teach different content. The kids are really creative with it! The song about ideas and content in the tune of the spongebob squarepants theme song was so cute! If I ever decide to do a podcast, I will absolutely look on Mr. Vincet’s website for help.
ReplyDeleteI listened to one from a school system, and I can’t remember the title, but the music behind the speech was highly distracting. It sounded like a bad ringtone version of “All Star” by Smash Mouth. I don’t remember what the child was taking about because the music was a little annoying and very loud. Many of the kids seemed very young, and I wonder how much involvement do they have in the process. In the video we watched last week, the kids wrote their own scripts and recorded themselves. However, the teacher stayed up late doing the editing. I wondered if any of the students in the other podcasts were able/allowed to do the editing of the podcasts?
I think that these podcasts are a very interesting assignment. Having the students write their own scripts really makes them learn more about the topics and think of them in their own terms. Also, finding the appropriate music and putting it all together creates a great assignment for the students to be creative and responsible. It's good for them to hear the product they are able to produce and realize that they have the ability to do such interesting things on computers.
ReplyDeleteI really like the transitions that the creator of this podcast used. When he introduced his interview with Tony Vincent, he used a sound clip of an audience clapping so it sounded like more than a phone interview. I thought that was a neat touch. And in Tony Vincent's class' podcast, they manipulated the Spongebob theme song to teach
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Tony Vincent had some interesting things to say. A lot of people (and I'm definitely guilty of this) assume students need an insurmountable amout of technological instruction. However, kids are taking photos and videos and uploading them to Facebook and Youtube. They are on top of technology, so we should take advantage of that.
Lastly, I thought Tony Vincent had an interesting point when he said that kids are more engaged in class and more excited about school in general because of podcasting. They get to hear their own voices and download the projects and share them with their friends and family. They value educaation more because they feel like they are a part of something. I thought that was really meaningful.
This podcast was very interesting because of the transition music and the nice blend of the actual interview and samples of the students on Radio Willow Web. I think that it's great that the students are so excited about doing a podcast after a unit. It forces the kids to think differently and more intently about the subject matter. Also, podcasting is a very involved process. The students are at the center of the script and the recording of the podcast, which is the important part. I thought that was a good thing.
ReplyDeletePodcasting is a good idea but I am not too sure if this is a project that I would do with high schoolers. I think it is great for middle school and elementary school but I think that with high schoolers there could many motivational problems. I would be willing to try it but I think it will be a different experience than it would be with elementary or middle school kids.
I really enjoyed listening to Tony Vincent's input about K-12 podcasting, especially his emphasis on the educational value of such projects. The section featuring a child talking about Nebraska demonstrates that podcasts are a great way to encourage good research and composition skills. The student speaking has probably either gone to the library or looked up information about her state on the internet and compiled that information into a factual report. This info-gathering and presentation project enables students to teach themselves, their peers, and the world about their subject, and also encourages development of communication skills. Overall, I think this is a very beneficial tool for learning content material and increasing use of technology in schools, once teachers get past the hang-ups about wasting valuable class time.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed at how excited the kids were about podcasting. The comment about the "celebrity status" of the hosts made me smile--I believe it! The fact that it is an audio production really takes the pressure off the kids, where a video recording would be more stressful, as a result the podcast sounded more official.
ReplyDeleteThe control that the students had in its creation really came across too. It was very much their project with the teachers there for support (scaffolding).
I wonder, what order do you teach a unit and assign a podcast project? Do you teach the unit first so the students can decide what interests them the most? Or try and do a dual thing--working on the podcast while you do the unit to save time? Or does it all equalize in the end?
I thought the examples of podcasting with elementary school students were interesting, but I wish we had more examples of how to use podcasts with high school students. It is easy to convert an activity you'd do with 4th or 5th graders to one you could do with 6th or 7th graders, but it's much harder to see the same activity being used in a 12th grade (or even 9th grade) classroom. Why would my high school kids care about making a podcast? What about it would capture their interest? How would the podcast be used? Would the time I spend teaching kids HOW to make a podcast and then actually making it be worthwhile, or would I sacrifice necessary class time for the sake of using unnecessary technology?
ReplyDeleteI am wondering whether it might not be better for me to make podcasts and recordings of lectures/instructions, so that kids who miss class have an easy way to make up the work and learn what they have missed. I guess I am thinking podcasts might be more useful to me as an instructional tool, rather than teaching students how to make podcasts themselves.
There have been a lot of comments on the practicality of podcasting compared to traditional methods. I am surprised that there are so many in the blog heralding the standard as the bastion of best educational method. I see the traditional method as being out of touch with the way the world is changing, redundant, and not providing students with a method that encourages a lasting learning experience. I don’t see technology teaching tools as being a replacement for the tradition as much as an alternative, even exciting, way of reaching the same goals as the traditional, with hopefully at least the same quality of experience. I am not saying that the traditional should be abandoned or that podcasting should replace all assignments, but that there are a variety of different ways of doing assignments besides the traditional. Instead of always doing the expected, same old thing, teachers should mix things up with non-traditional assignments. I think the most important consideration, and obvious fear of teachers, is that the technology result will be a waste of time. As long as the goals of an assignment take center stage, and the technology structured in a way that will accomplish that goal, then method for achieving that goal can be flexible. As a student, the non-traditional assignments have stuck with me my whole life, while the traditional assignments are all kind of lost in the massive amount of work done in the exact same fashion. Breaking things out of the tradition creates a new context for accomplishing the goals of the assignment. These kids in the podcast seemed really proud of what they were doing and I would think that this assignment is going to stick with them.
ReplyDelete