If excellent teacher's can teach without technology, what's the point of technology training?
Newspapers didn't appear to see it coming - who really could imagine people writing for free, and then attracting enough readers to hurt newspapers? Blogs offered a way that anyone could voice their opinion, and while the criticism that 'everyone' means that the bulk of blogs are inadequate, self-indulgent or unprofessional may be true, it misses the point entirely. People don't read all blogs, they read a limited number. As an almost evolutionary process, the good (or at least the readable) are sorted from the bad, and the critique now looks a bit weak - the blogs people read frequently exceed the quality of newspaper articles in knowledge, depth, understanding or entertainment. Unlike newspapers, blogs also allow the readership to comment, inform, correct and even chastise the author. This is not arguing that blogs are "better" either. Blogs simply out-compete newspapers in many traditional newspaper niches where it matters - readers.
This has a lot to do with education. When I started teaching schools still required many traditional teaching supplies: textbooks, pens, paper, chalkboard, desks, etc. The generational difference between teachers seemed one of form rather than function - I kept my grades, lesson plans, lessons and notes on a computer, other teachers used planners, agendas, and binders. We were still, however, doing the 'same thing' in many respects. The new environment, however, is new in function as well as form. Seven million (full text) books are available through Google Books. Wikipedia is the world's largest, and most current, encyclopedia. iTunes has iTunes U and YouTube has YouTube Edu, both of which offer lectures by professors. In many cases textbooks no longer need to be purchased for class. Films, examples, and demos can be viewed without a video or DVD, and for free. The quality can be equal to (or superior) to purchased items in many areas. Alternative lectures of the topics I'm covering in class are widely and freely available. Facebook, Myspace, and now Twitter have changed how we share, communicate and collaborate.
Experimenting with videos and digitizing class notes creating some video's of class topics has made for some interesting insights.
For example, some YouTube author has created a video entitled Parts of the Brain. It's not great, and is mostly just a dry re-statement of the parts with a diagram to show where the parts are located. Despite that, they've received a modest number of views (2000+), and some favorable comments. The conclusion to this anecdote is not that we should be providing/creating YouTube videos to our students. The conclusion is that soon, if not already, there will be available to our students resources that specifically engage them, as a unique individual, to learn a particular topic. One student commented "Thank you so much for being the kind of instructor that I'm paying for and NOT RECEIVING!!!", which highlights the issue directly. Although the videos may not be good, they did meet the needs of specific individual students. Given the ever-expanding amount of resources available, at some point resources that cater to an individual's learning style will be easily available. Using generalized teaching methods geared to a 'class' seem inadequate. As the encounter between blogs and newspapers demonstrated, people prefer to choose what works for them, rather than accepting what works for most.
So what, exactly, am I providing in the classroom that's not available elsewhere for free?
Many students walk into school with an impressive amount of computing power. When helping a student after class we had a disagreement about what I had taught. She consulted her iPhone, had the class notes downloaded and double-checked. She also had the review website I had suggested bookmarked, as well as several educational videos. Yet, with this impressive demonstration of resources, she was sitting on a couch in the common room, working over chemistry problems with her teacher, in her free time. No amount of Twitter, email, or virtual resources is enough to replace the basic need for a teacher/student mentor relationship.
While blogs may be causing problems for the New York Times, some magazines that have embraced the new technology (Discover, Seed) are flourishing. It appears to me that the NYT used the web as an extension of their newspaper, but Discover and Seed used blogs themselves to offer something different from their magazine. I don't know if it will work in the long run, but in the short run it has been much more successful.
New technology doesn't replace teachers, but it does shift how we might think about teaching. It seems that many of the teaching methods I still use, and was taught, were invented in a time when the student environment was resource poor. Much like the NYT, simply shifting what we do on paper to doing the same thing with technology is only one evolutionary step. Of more pressing importance is how to change the nature of teaching itself so that it keeps what still works, and adapts what does not to the new environment. For example, one twitter user pointed me to an article in which a college professor no longer gives lectures (no link, sorry). All of the class time is devoted to giving extra help and tutorial help, going over common mistakes, or hands-on learning opportunities. Rather than assigned homework, lectures are assigned, so that students are expected to show up having listened and made notes on the next days topic. As an adaptation to a resource rich environment, this seems intriguing. Unfortunately, as with all adaptations, whether or not it will be ultimately successful is uncertain.
An online poll asked "Can a teacher be a good teacher without using technology?". I think it unsurprising that the majority answered "Yes". The purest form of university I've ever heard defined is as a log, with a teacher at one end, and a student at the other. The follow-up question, “Is a teacher, who is not using technology (computer, internet, etc.) doing his or her job?” resulted in a rather emphatic "No".
If I am not providing my students with resources they can easily access, and if I'm not providing a learning environment where individualized resources from outside are encouraged and utilized, I am not serving the needs of my students. By today's standards, I risk becoming the New York Times - not quite good enough. The environment has changed enough, particularly in today's economic climate, that what schools and teachers evolution will eliminate is not entirely clear. It is never enough to be the best, as what's 'best' depends on the environment, a variable that appears to change more quickly with each passing year.
We have started a technology initiative, and I was compared (favorably I think) to a Bulldog in terms of herding it along. I thought a bit of explanation might be in order. The purpose of the initiative is not to learn a 'thing', like a tablet, a specific set of programs that can improve what we do in the classroom, or even new teaching methods. Its purpose is to take excellent teachers, and help create more familiarity with the environment, and provide more opportunities to learn technology. If this means that no new technology 'things' are used in the classroom, then that's fine. Being able to critically assess and experiment with new technology - adjust to the changing environment, as it were - will be more important in the long run than simply learning a new 'thing'.
Two quotes from Tom Whitby from Twitter:
"I have tunnel vision when I do tech training. I apprch it with 1 Ques: How can this help kids learn? If I can't use it I don't learn it."
"If teachers employ the technology to teach there would be less of a need to teach technology. "
While there are a great many resources out there and a great many excellent teachers with tips on how to use those resources, I do not see a consensus or agreement on what approaches are necessarily 'good'. I certainly can't claim that I've discovered any amazing way to help students learn more, or faster. The more of us there are looking, collaborating, testing and experimenting, however, the better the chance the environment can be harnessed rather than just waiting to see what evolution does. As is common with a changing environment, there seems to be a great many ideas about how to best capitalize the new resources, and it's certain that a great many of them will turn out to be wrong in addition to a great many of the traditional resources and methods. If there's one thing biologists know about evolution, it's that it's not very kind to the individual species participating. Unlike organisms, however, we have the advantage of being a bit more Lamarkian about this process, borrowing, adapting, and changing on the fly as successful strategies are proven. If you're not, however, learning the technology you don't have that advantage - and are subject to a more Darwinian form of elimination.
And that's the reason I think technology training is a serious issue.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Just 13 things - Tablet specific
Five things to try on your HP 2730p tablet. (Rather specific I know, but there are reasons.)
9.) Play games.
The best way to get used to the pen is to do something fun. The games section has “Inkball”, which is mildly amusing (I ended up playing it for a ½ hour, but I’m also easily amused).
10.) Check out the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC (located in “All Programs” after you hit the Start button). There’s Ink Art, Ink Crossword, and the “Snipping Tool”. The snipping tool actually quite useful, I use it to take ‘clips’ of articles or pictures I’m reading and stick them into OneNote 2007 if I’m doing research.
11.) Download your own “Experience Pack”. As an operating system, XP is fairly old. As a result, there is a whole whack of resources that have been created for it, that you can download and install. Remember, to install anything, you will need to be logged in as the Admin user on your tablet.
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx and take a look at what’s available. There’s art tools, a drawing animator, a physics illustrator, a bunch of games, a Music Composition tool, and a bunch more. My personal favourite is the “My Font Tool”, which allows you to make your own font – in your own handwriting! I managed to fool my Bio12 class for a week that I finally learned how to write in a straight line by preparing some notes in “Neufeld Font” on the Smartboard.
12.) Explore all the buttons and settings.
When I got my first laptop, I noticed that whenever I was typing, occasionally the mouse would ‘jump’ around and I’d end up typing in the middle of a previous sentence without realizing it. This was frustrating, and I thought my laptop was defective until I finally found the culprit – my large thumbs. While typing my thumbs would hit the Touchpad.
If this happens to you, there is a way to shut off the touch pad when you’re not using it. Press the Function key located on the bottom left:
And then press the F5 key at the same time, located at the very top leftish:
The light above the F5 key should turn on, and be amber in colour. This is to remind you that the Touchpad is off. Since you have a pen, you essentially already have a mouse, and don’t need a Touchpad unless you prefer it. I hate the touchpad with a passion usually displayed by two year olds towards their vegetables. To turn it back on again, hit the same key combination (fn + F5) again, and the amber indicator light should shut off.
13.) Turn on the light.
Lastly, I don’t know if you noticed, but your laptop comes with a light to illuminate your keyboard at night. I think it’s kind of unnecessary and gimmicky (and therefore kind of cool), but in case you haven’t noticed it, press the little square button at the top of your screen as indicated. The light should pop out, and illuminate your keyboard. Just push the light back in to shut it off (I have no idea how quickly this drains the battery – I assume relatively quickly).
I thought that might be of use to some of you – it took me awhile to figure it out. I still haven’t found the off control for the nub (labelled “Pointstick” in the diagram), so if anyone knows how to shut it off, let me know.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
9.) Play games.
The best way to get used to the pen is to do something fun. The games section has “Inkball”, which is mildly amusing (I ended up playing it for a ½ hour, but I’m also easily amused).
10.) Check out the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC (located in “All Programs” after you hit the Start button). There’s Ink Art, Ink Crossword, and the “Snipping Tool”. The snipping tool actually quite useful, I use it to take ‘clips’ of articles or pictures I’m reading and stick them into OneNote 2007 if I’m doing research.
11.) Download your own “Experience Pack”. As an operating system, XP is fairly old. As a result, there is a whole whack of resources that have been created for it, that you can download and install. Remember, to install anything, you will need to be logged in as the Admin user on your tablet.
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx and take a look at what’s available. There’s art tools, a drawing animator, a physics illustrator, a bunch of games, a Music Composition tool, and a bunch more. My personal favourite is the “My Font Tool”, which allows you to make your own font – in your own handwriting! I managed to fool my Bio12 class for a week that I finally learned how to write in a straight line by preparing some notes in “Neufeld Font” on the Smartboard.
12.) Explore all the buttons and settings.
When I got my first laptop, I noticed that whenever I was typing, occasionally the mouse would ‘jump’ around and I’d end up typing in the middle of a previous sentence without realizing it. This was frustrating, and I thought my laptop was defective until I finally found the culprit – my large thumbs. While typing my thumbs would hit the Touchpad.
If this happens to you, there is a way to shut off the touch pad when you’re not using it. Press the Function key located on the bottom left:
And then press the F5 key at the same time, located at the very top leftish:
13.) Turn on the light.
Lastly, I don’t know if you noticed, but your laptop comes with a light to illuminate your keyboard at night. I think it’s kind of unnecessary and gimmicky (and therefore kind of cool), but in case you haven’t noticed it, press the little square button at the top of your screen as indicated. The light should pop out, and illuminate your keyboard. Just push the light back in to shut it off (I have no idea how quickly this drains the battery – I assume relatively quickly).
I thought that might be of use to some of you – it took me awhile to figure it out. I still haven’t found the off control for the nub (labelled “Pointstick” in the diagram), so if anyone knows how to shut it off, let me know.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
Just 8 Things
5.) Develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN)
One of terms bandied about with respect to professional development and teachers is the concept of the PLN, or Personal Learning Network. Although it includes your traditional learning network of friends, collegues, and acquantances with whom you share ideas, a PLN also incorporates web media and especially social networking with things such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, wikis etc. What makes it so powerful is now you can be connected not only locally, but globally with colleagues who share with you common interests and ideas, but also in diverse settings and with different challenges. The breadth of specialized knowledge, relevant to you, available is what makes a PLN so special. Developing a PLN can take many forms. The first, if you've started reading blogs, you're already familiar with. Seeking a collection of relevant and interesting blogs that offer useful advice is a good first step in developing a PLN. Creating your own blog, and then keeping it regularly updated, takes time and patience, but can be part of the process as well. When writing your thoughts and ideas you change the participatory pathway so that you are contributing, as well as taking, from the flow of ideas. Whether or not someone reads your blog is almost beside the point: putting your ideas and thoughts in a public forum for critique carries many of the same benefits of recording a journal. If writing a blog seems like too much, the vast majority of blogs also offer the ability to comment and give feedback to the author. Use this feature.
Blogs themselves, as previously mentioned, are not the entire story when it comes to PLN's. When it comes to social networking, I'm going to start with Twitter.
6.) Join Twitter - http://twitter.com/, Sign up for an account, Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/neufeld by clicking the Follow button on my page, go to Twitter4Teachers and look for some other helpful people to add to your PLN. That's really all there is to it, if you'd rather stop reading.
When it comes to PLN, it's hard to explain why, exactly, twitter is so useful. When collecting useful blogs for advice, it was like dipping into a stream of knowledge. When I first tried twitter, I 'followed' a few people, but didn't see much benefit or point. People 'tweeted' about what they were having for dinner or other irrelevant bits of personal material. Then I found a couple of sites that listed teachers who tweet. Rather than a gentle stream of knowledge, it was akin to looking down the end of a fire hose and wondering where the water was, and then having it blast into your face. The person I have to credit for this introduction is Grant Potter who taught a pro-d course on Twitter I attended.
Frankly, if you do nothing else, join Twitter. It's relatively new, and given that I don't know if something newer and better will come along, but I do know I've accumulated more useful resources in a few months of Twitter than I accumulated in years of searching and using things like Google. Twitter is ultimately a very simple tool for cooperation. I must also say, for awhile, you will believe that it's the stupidest and most useless thing on the Internet. That's normal and common. Just keep at it, and you will be assimilated.
First, some links to give an overview: Nine Reasons to Twitter in School, an article trying to explain why it's not a waste of time, Can we use Twitter for Educational Activities, 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom, Twitter in Plain English, The Twitter Song, and even primary schools in England are considering teaching twitter and wikipedia as essential new tools.
So, what exactly is Twitter? It's a form of microblogging ("micro" = small, "blogging" = we already covered). Even if you haven't text-messaged anyone yourself, you are probably vaguely aware that your students do that. Twitter is simply a method by which you can send text messages (140 characters max). The difference between regular text messaging and Twitter, is that you're not text messaging any particular person, and you can message not only from your phone, but also your computer, and a record of your messages (called "tweets") are kept in your Twitter profile online (making twitter a searchable database as well as a texting service). If anyone "follows" your Twitter profile, they will automatically be messaged when ever you send a new tweet, and vice verse. As well, you're not limited to text, but can send links, photos, audio clips.
Although it sounds much more restrictive than regular blogging, the restrictive nature usually makes microblogging more topical, and more useful. I mean really, how many people are still reading this email/blog? I've gone on and on, and in a typical busy school year who really has the time to read all of that, let alone write it? Twitter forces people to be succint, and communicate only the most critical bits.
This is, of course, if you are following what I consider 'good tweeters'. Twitter itself doesn't seem to really help this, as the question it offers at the top of the entry box is "What are you doing?". As an example of such, I did find a twitter user who tweeted he was excited about having prawns for dinner, then he tweeted about how many prawns he ate, and how good they tasted, and lastly he tweeted about how sick he felt, and how he shouldn't have eaten those prawns. Unless you're his Mom, I rather suspect this isn't all that interesting to anybody. If you're not finding interesting stuff on Twitter, stop following The Prawn People.
There are a few people I follow who do offer tidbits of their life, like Adam Savage and Grant Imahara from the Mythbusters. Their life sometimes seems a tad more interesting than mine, and they often tweet pictures from the set and updates on what new episode they're working on.
Beyond those, however, I follow a number of people. Here are some of those that I've found most valuable.
http://www.twitter.com/grantpotter - Useful Web 2.0 resources, commentary
http://twitter.com/sanmccarron - Science teaching resources
http://twitter.com/ChemEdLinks - Chemistry and Web 2.0 resources
http://twitter.com/MySMARTSpaces - SmartBoard resources, UK based
Which brings me to:
7.) Find some Twitter friends to follow!
Best place to start is Twitter4Teachers, which lists teachers that tweet by subject area. As well, I have found 515 Scientific Twitter Friends useful too. Once you begin, you will find there is a rapidly expanding kit of resources for the tweeting teacher, particularly as we ‘follow’ each other. As a group of colleagues, when I find a useful link, tool, or idea, the only real method I currently have to share it is to email the entire faculty. This clutters up your inboxes, and is probably considered spam by many. If, however, my colleagues and I were all part of a Twitter group, I could tweet the link, tool or idea, where it’s easily ignored by those that aren’t interested, but picked up by those that are, cutting across barriers such as time, space, and (most formidable of all), department.
8.) Develop your tweeting skills
If you've started using Twitter, and want more to explore, work your way through the Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher.
There is a lot I haven't covered, how to personalize your page, useful Twitter tools, etc, but if you've started you'll find a plethora of links to help you.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
One of terms bandied about with respect to professional development and teachers is the concept of the PLN, or Personal Learning Network. Although it includes your traditional learning network of friends, collegues, and acquantances with whom you share ideas, a PLN also incorporates web media and especially social networking with things such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, wikis etc. What makes it so powerful is now you can be connected not only locally, but globally with colleagues who share with you common interests and ideas, but also in diverse settings and with different challenges. The breadth of specialized knowledge, relevant to you, available is what makes a PLN so special. Developing a PLN can take many forms. The first, if you've started reading blogs, you're already familiar with. Seeking a collection of relevant and interesting blogs that offer useful advice is a good first step in developing a PLN. Creating your own blog, and then keeping it regularly updated, takes time and patience, but can be part of the process as well. When writing your thoughts and ideas you change the participatory pathway so that you are contributing, as well as taking, from the flow of ideas. Whether or not someone reads your blog is almost beside the point: putting your ideas and thoughts in a public forum for critique carries many of the same benefits of recording a journal. If writing a blog seems like too much, the vast majority of blogs also offer the ability to comment and give feedback to the author. Use this feature.
Blogs themselves, as previously mentioned, are not the entire story when it comes to PLN's. When it comes to social networking, I'm going to start with Twitter.
6.) Join Twitter - http://twitter.com/, Sign up for an account, Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/neufeld by clicking the Follow button on my page, go to Twitter4Teachers and look for some other helpful people to add to your PLN. That's really all there is to it, if you'd rather stop reading.
When it comes to PLN, it's hard to explain why, exactly, twitter is so useful. When collecting useful blogs for advice, it was like dipping into a stream of knowledge. When I first tried twitter, I 'followed' a few people, but didn't see much benefit or point. People 'tweeted' about what they were having for dinner or other irrelevant bits of personal material. Then I found a couple of sites that listed teachers who tweet. Rather than a gentle stream of knowledge, it was akin to looking down the end of a fire hose and wondering where the water was, and then having it blast into your face. The person I have to credit for this introduction is Grant Potter who taught a pro-d course on Twitter I attended.
Frankly, if you do nothing else, join Twitter. It's relatively new, and given that I don't know if something newer and better will come along, but I do know I've accumulated more useful resources in a few months of Twitter than I accumulated in years of searching and using things like Google. Twitter is ultimately a very simple tool for cooperation. I must also say, for awhile, you will believe that it's the stupidest and most useless thing on the Internet. That's normal and common. Just keep at it, and you will be assimilated.
First, some links to give an overview: Nine Reasons to Twitter in School, an article trying to explain why it's not a waste of time, Can we use Twitter for Educational Activities, 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom, Twitter in Plain English, The Twitter Song, and even primary schools in England are considering teaching twitter and wikipedia as essential new tools.
So, what exactly is Twitter? It's a form of microblogging ("micro" = small, "blogging" = we already covered). Even if you haven't text-messaged anyone yourself, you are probably vaguely aware that your students do that. Twitter is simply a method by which you can send text messages (140 characters max). The difference between regular text messaging and Twitter, is that you're not text messaging any particular person, and you can message not only from your phone, but also your computer, and a record of your messages (called "tweets") are kept in your Twitter profile online (making twitter a searchable database as well as a texting service). If anyone "follows" your Twitter profile, they will automatically be messaged when ever you send a new tweet, and vice verse. As well, you're not limited to text, but can send links, photos, audio clips.
Although it sounds much more restrictive than regular blogging, the restrictive nature usually makes microblogging more topical, and more useful. I mean really, how many people are still reading this email/blog? I've gone on and on, and in a typical busy school year who really has the time to read all of that, let alone write it? Twitter forces people to be succint, and communicate only the most critical bits.
This is, of course, if you are following what I consider 'good tweeters'. Twitter itself doesn't seem to really help this, as the question it offers at the top of the entry box is "What are you doing?". As an example of such, I did find a twitter user who tweeted he was excited about having prawns for dinner, then he tweeted about how many prawns he ate, and how good they tasted, and lastly he tweeted about how sick he felt, and how he shouldn't have eaten those prawns. Unless you're his Mom, I rather suspect this isn't all that interesting to anybody. If you're not finding interesting stuff on Twitter, stop following The Prawn People.
There are a few people I follow who do offer tidbits of their life, like Adam Savage and Grant Imahara from the Mythbusters. Their life sometimes seems a tad more interesting than mine, and they often tweet pictures from the set and updates on what new episode they're working on.
Beyond those, however, I follow a number of people. Here are some of those that I've found most valuable.
http://www.twitter.com/grantpotter - Useful Web 2.0 resources, commentary
http://twitter.com/sanmccarron - Science teaching resources
http://twitter.com/ChemEdLinks - Chemistry and Web 2.0 resources
http://twitter.com/MySMARTSpaces - SmartBoard resources, UK based
Which brings me to:
7.) Find some Twitter friends to follow!
Best place to start is Twitter4Teachers, which lists teachers that tweet by subject area. As well, I have found 515 Scientific Twitter Friends useful too. Once you begin, you will find there is a rapidly expanding kit of resources for the tweeting teacher, particularly as we ‘follow’ each other. As a group of colleagues, when I find a useful link, tool, or idea, the only real method I currently have to share it is to email the entire faculty. This clutters up your inboxes, and is probably considered spam by many. If, however, my colleagues and I were all part of a Twitter group, I could tweet the link, tool or idea, where it’s easily ignored by those that aren’t interested, but picked up by those that are, cutting across barriers such as time, space, and (most formidable of all), department.
8.) Develop your tweeting skills
If you've started using Twitter, and want more to explore, work your way through the Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher.
There is a lot I haven't covered, how to personalize your page, useful Twitter tools, etc, but if you've started you'll find a plethora of links to help you.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
Monday, July 20, 2009
Just 4 Things
Part two of a theoretically infinite series, a couple more things you can do before classes start in September. Pick and choose or ignore. If you're wondering about the numbering, read the previous article.
3.) Listen to Podcasts.
If actually reading seems like too much work, then a perfect alternative is podcasting. A podcast is equivalent to a radio show that you can download onto your computer, and many portable devices such as iPods, and listen whenever and wherever you like. With the right equipment (i.e. a computer and a microphone and/or video camera) anyone can become a podcaster, and as a result there are many podcasts and multiple topics to choose from.
For a quick overview, try Podcasting in Plain English. Actually, going through the "Plain English" video series would make its own complete pro-d course.
So, download iTunes and install it (if you don't have it already), and click on "Podcasts". There are podcasts for keeping up with subject areas (aka Chemistry , and The Introduction to English Learning Podcasts has a good introduction to podcasts, and links to several podcasts for English teachers and students) and educational pro-d, but of particular use can be podcasts for students. A ridiculous amount of our students have an iPod and seem to enjoy using them - much to our chagrin sometimes. Rather than fighting this very expensive and versatile piece of equipment, finding ways to use may be more productive. Supplementary or assignment material for class as a podcast can then be downloaded and listened to in the same way as their favorite music. I was first introduced to this by a student who had found a series of biology lectures as a podcast (I didn't get the link, sorry), that corresponded to the anatomy lectures for Biology 12. Whether or not the school network allows students to connect to the iTunes store to receive podcasts, many teachers have their own private Internet connections, from which they can download content and then make it available at school, whether through Moodle or another medium. A reasonable 'first list' is at the Podcast Awards, and it includes a section devoted to education.
Podcasting essentially democratized audio content, with all the benefits and drawbacks that this implies. The popularity of blogging, which turned anyone into an online news commentator, caught the media establishment sleeping at the wheel (heard of any newspapers going out of business lately?), and the industry is trying not to make the same mistake with podcasting, which lets nearly anyone "broadcast" on the Internet. Traditional media have embraced podcasting, and have been quick to adopt it as well. CBC has a large number of podcasts, as does Scientific American, plus there's some great comedy as well. Most 'formal' news and entertainment organizations now have some kind of free content available through podcasts.
Of particular use is podcasts for second-language learners, whether that's ESL, French, Spanish, Mandarin or German. In addition to regular programs in other languages (i.e. the CBC has numerous French podcasts), simply typing "Learn French by Podcast" into a web search engine or the iTunes store, and numerous free programs pop up. The BBC has, for example, a 'learn Spanish' section that includes a series of podcasts (actually the BBC has a similar series for several languages).
Much like creating your own blog, you can create your own podcast. Far from being simply a mode of entertainment, podcasts now present a wealth of educational material, and can be structured to meet an individual students' learning style and desires. The ability to repeat a concept or a lesson, critical for those IEP students, allows significant opportunities for repeated reinforcement and review. Instructors are podcasting specific ideas and constructs, broken into manageable chunks and (like all electronic media) are potentially available year after year, everywhere your students are.
4.) Create your own podcast.
If you need something done right, and specific to your needs, you sometimes have to do it yourself. Whether it's podcasting lectures, or specific items for learning or discussion, or even a guest lecturers talk, podcasting can be as easy as blogging.
When podcasting, it is essential to have good material. Don't worry overmuch about your style or delivery - presenting quality material is more important than production values. There is a problem with copyright if (for example) you wish to podcast a guest lecturer or speaker. A copyright waiver form would be an essential part of doing so. Our school doesn't have an official one yet, but I use a printed version from the Creative Commons when necessary. If you are going to publish someone else's work, you will need their permission, in some form.
There are some specific technical requirements. Although blogging just requires a computer and internet connection, podcasting needs audio equipment. There is the Audacity software (free and open source) which can record podcasts and convert them into mp3 files. Even if your laptop comes with a microphone, buy a separate one. A USB microphone is usually pretty cheap, and the increase in sound quality is substantial - I've found wireless ones for under a hundred dollars on sale, which gives the added ability to record without wires and allows you to move about a classroom. After that it needs to be uploaded online. If it's not possible to host it at your school site, type "Free Podcast hosting" into Google and numerous resources will appear.
Lastly, an RSS feed (more on those in a later article) is needed to stream the podcast. This is what makes a podcast different from simply hosting an audio file - the RSS feed updates potential listeners that a new podcast is ready. This can be as simple as creating a blog, and then linking to the podcast in the blog, as blogs often have their own RSS feeds.
At that point you have a podcast. Getting it into iTunes is another step (if you so desire), but not one I am in any way an expert. Check out Apple itself on how to do it generally, or this article on how to use Google's free blogging service to set up the podcast feed for iTunes.
So, essentially thus far, pro-d this summer is reading blogs on material you already like, and listening to content via podcasts you already enjoy. The next article will introduce the personal learning network.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
3.) Listen to Podcasts.
If actually reading seems like too much work, then a perfect alternative is podcasting. A podcast is equivalent to a radio show that you can download onto your computer, and many portable devices such as iPods, and listen whenever and wherever you like. With the right equipment (i.e. a computer and a microphone and/or video camera) anyone can become a podcaster, and as a result there are many podcasts and multiple topics to choose from.
For a quick overview, try Podcasting in Plain English. Actually, going through the "Plain English" video series would make its own complete pro-d course.
So, download iTunes and install it (if you don't have it already), and click on "Podcasts". There are podcasts for keeping up with subject areas (aka Chemistry , and The Introduction to English Learning Podcasts has a good introduction to podcasts, and links to several podcasts for English teachers and students) and educational pro-d, but of particular use can be podcasts for students. A ridiculous amount of our students have an iPod and seem to enjoy using them - much to our chagrin sometimes. Rather than fighting this very expensive and versatile piece of equipment, finding ways to use may be more productive. Supplementary or assignment material for class as a podcast can then be downloaded and listened to in the same way as their favorite music. I was first introduced to this by a student who had found a series of biology lectures as a podcast (I didn't get the link, sorry), that corresponded to the anatomy lectures for Biology 12. Whether or not the school network allows students to connect to the iTunes store to receive podcasts, many teachers have their own private Internet connections, from which they can download content and then make it available at school, whether through Moodle or another medium. A reasonable 'first list' is at the Podcast Awards, and it includes a section devoted to education.
Podcasting essentially democratized audio content, with all the benefits and drawbacks that this implies. The popularity of blogging, which turned anyone into an online news commentator, caught the media establishment sleeping at the wheel (heard of any newspapers going out of business lately?), and the industry is trying not to make the same mistake with podcasting, which lets nearly anyone "broadcast" on the Internet. Traditional media have embraced podcasting, and have been quick to adopt it as well. CBC has a large number of podcasts, as does Scientific American, plus there's some great comedy as well. Most 'formal' news and entertainment organizations now have some kind of free content available through podcasts.
Of particular use is podcasts for second-language learners, whether that's ESL, French, Spanish, Mandarin or German. In addition to regular programs in other languages (i.e. the CBC has numerous French podcasts), simply typing "Learn French by Podcast" into a web search engine or the iTunes store, and numerous free programs pop up. The BBC has, for example, a 'learn Spanish' section that includes a series of podcasts (actually the BBC has a similar series for several languages).
Much like creating your own blog, you can create your own podcast. Far from being simply a mode of entertainment, podcasts now present a wealth of educational material, and can be structured to meet an individual students' learning style and desires. The ability to repeat a concept or a lesson, critical for those IEP students, allows significant opportunities for repeated reinforcement and review. Instructors are podcasting specific ideas and constructs, broken into manageable chunks and (like all electronic media) are potentially available year after year, everywhere your students are.
4.) Create your own podcast.
If you need something done right, and specific to your needs, you sometimes have to do it yourself. Whether it's podcasting lectures, or specific items for learning or discussion, or even a guest lecturers talk, podcasting can be as easy as blogging.
When podcasting, it is essential to have good material. Don't worry overmuch about your style or delivery - presenting quality material is more important than production values. There is a problem with copyright if (for example) you wish to podcast a guest lecturer or speaker. A copyright waiver form would be an essential part of doing so. Our school doesn't have an official one yet, but I use a printed version from the Creative Commons when necessary. If you are going to publish someone else's work, you will need their permission, in some form.
There are some specific technical requirements. Although blogging just requires a computer and internet connection, podcasting needs audio equipment. There is the Audacity software (free and open source) which can record podcasts and convert them into mp3 files. Even if your laptop comes with a microphone, buy a separate one. A USB microphone is usually pretty cheap, and the increase in sound quality is substantial - I've found wireless ones for under a hundred dollars on sale, which gives the added ability to record without wires and allows you to move about a classroom. After that it needs to be uploaded online. If it's not possible to host it at your school site, type "Free Podcast hosting" into Google and numerous resources will appear.
Lastly, an RSS feed (more on those in a later article) is needed to stream the podcast. This is what makes a podcast different from simply hosting an audio file - the RSS feed updates potential listeners that a new podcast is ready. This can be as simple as creating a blog, and then linking to the podcast in the blog, as blogs often have their own RSS feeds.
At that point you have a podcast. Getting it into iTunes is another step (if you so desire), but not one I am in any way an expert. Check out Apple itself on how to do it generally, or this article on how to use Google's free blogging service to set up the podcast feed for iTunes.
So, essentially thus far, pro-d this summer is reading blogs on material you already like, and listening to content via podcasts you already enjoy. The next article will introduce the personal learning network.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Just 2 Things - Part I
A major project kept me away from blogging for a long time - luckily that's slowly winding down. Part of that project involves a focus-year for professional development for our school on technology. If it seems odd that I'm blogging about the importance of reading blogs...this was also emailed to my colleagues. Hopefully I don't end up in somebody's permenant blacklist for spam.
This is for those teachers that would like a head start on their pro-d, before classes, marking, and the usual marathon starter gun goes off. Funnily, most of the things you can do as 'pro-d' also qualify as an enjoyable summer's afternoon, so in this series of blog posts I will very roughly outline a few suggestions. Pick and choose or ignore.
1.) Start Reading blogs.
Whether it's in education, or your own interests, simply becoming more familiar with the ever increasing blogosphere would be a great investment in time. There are is a blog for every interest, some of my personal favorites are Bad Astronomy, Pharyngula, Skepchick, and Skepticblog, all of which keep me loosely up to date on science and critical thinking and any Internet memes that happen to be flying about. And if a student asks me an off-the-wall question about the Moon Hoax, I might have a chance of answering it.
Educationally, the following is my current list of education-based blogs that I'm reading:
I also have my own blog, which is either linked in this email, or you're reading this article in it. It contains such amazing advice I find I often have to hid it amid poor grammar, spelling and logic just to ensure Blogger isn't overrun with readers.
You may have noticed a particular theme running through my recommendations, vaguely along the lines of science-based resources. On the Internet, however, if you can think of a resource, somebody else has either invented it, or written about it. From the Blog "Making Teachers Nerdy", I found a much better list than my own: "Educational Blogs You Should Be Investigating", covering a wide variety of interests, plus 50 Must-Read Up and Coming Blogs by Teachers, and focusing on educational technology, check out 20+ Must-Read Education Technology Blogs. Beyond that, it would be useful if, having found some great blogs in your own subject area, share their recommendations here in the comments section for everyone else.
So, when your significant other mentions that some chore needs to be done, or certain relatives need visiting, you can slump your shoulders slightly and claim that you've already got some critical work to do for next year. And then snuggle up with your laptop/desktop and some good reads. My wife is probably far too busy to actually read my posts, so I should be able to still get away with this for some time yet.
2.) Write your own blog.
You didn't think blogs created themselves did you? And you don't think your own thoughts are important enough to publish? Nonsense. If everyone had that kind of attitude, the Web wouldn't be the kind of place it is today!
Seriously, even if you never intend to blog, investigating how it's done is useful in and of itself. I know of two people that write private blogs, viewable only by themselves, as it can never be 'found' in the house, and is accessible for writing anywhere there is an internet connection. I write a family blog with family photos that's only my immediate family can see. Whether you write for an audience of one or one million, or are even just exploring the process, set up an account and start.
There are many free alternatives for blogging, obviously I'm most familiar with Blogger, but there's also Live Journal and WordPress as two others that immediately come to my uninformed mind. Like always, somebody else has already created a great list of 40+ Free Blog Hosts.
Of course, I can't quite leave it at that without a word of warning. As will be true of anything that involves people putting content on the web, rather than just receiving content, use good judgement. As a rough guideline, if you wouldn't want to see it attributed to you on a public billboard, don't put it on the web.
Remember, nothing suggested is mandatory. If you find one blog with one article that was useful, you're good.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
This is for those teachers that would like a head start on their pro-d, before classes, marking, and the usual marathon starter gun goes off. Funnily, most of the things you can do as 'pro-d' also qualify as an enjoyable summer's afternoon, so in this series of blog posts I will very roughly outline a few suggestions. Pick and choose or ignore.
1.) Start Reading blogs.
Whether it's in education, or your own interests, simply becoming more familiar with the ever increasing blogosphere would be a great investment in time. There are is a blog for every interest, some of my personal favorites are Bad Astronomy, Pharyngula, Skepchick, and Skepticblog, all of which keep me loosely up to date on science and critical thinking and any Internet memes that happen to be flying about. And if a student asks me an off-the-wall question about the Moon Hoax, I might have a chance of answering it.
Educationally, the following is my current list of education-based blogs that I'm reading:
- 2¢ Worth
- A Plethora of Technology
- always learning
- Change.org's Education Blog
- Countdown to Teachhub
- Dangerously Irrelevant
- Generation YES Blog
- HeyJude
- Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech
- James McConville
- Moving at the Speed of Creativity
- open thinking
- Practical Theory
- The Fischbowl
- The Thinking Stick
- Weblogg-ed
I also have my own blog, which is either linked in this email, or you're reading this article in it. It contains such amazing advice I find I often have to hid it amid poor grammar, spelling and logic just to ensure Blogger isn't overrun with readers.
You may have noticed a particular theme running through my recommendations, vaguely along the lines of science-based resources. On the Internet, however, if you can think of a resource, somebody else has either invented it, or written about it. From the Blog "Making Teachers Nerdy", I found a much better list than my own: "Educational Blogs You Should Be Investigating", covering a wide variety of interests, plus 50 Must-Read Up and Coming Blogs by Teachers, and focusing on educational technology, check out 20+ Must-Read Education Technology Blogs. Beyond that, it would be useful if, having found some great blogs in your own subject area, share their recommendations here in the comments section for everyone else.
So, when your significant other mentions that some chore needs to be done, or certain relatives need visiting, you can slump your shoulders slightly and claim that you've already got some critical work to do for next year. And then snuggle up with your laptop/desktop and some good reads. My wife is probably far too busy to actually read my posts, so I should be able to still get away with this for some time yet.
2.) Write your own blog.
You didn't think blogs created themselves did you? And you don't think your own thoughts are important enough to publish? Nonsense. If everyone had that kind of attitude, the Web wouldn't be the kind of place it is today!
Seriously, even if you never intend to blog, investigating how it's done is useful in and of itself. I know of two people that write private blogs, viewable only by themselves, as it can never be 'found' in the house, and is accessible for writing anywhere there is an internet connection. I write a family blog with family photos that's only my immediate family can see. Whether you write for an audience of one or one million, or are even just exploring the process, set up an account and start.
There are many free alternatives for blogging, obviously I'm most familiar with Blogger, but there's also Live Journal and WordPress as two others that immediately come to my uninformed mind. Like always, somebody else has already created a great list of 40+ Free Blog Hosts.
Of course, I can't quite leave it at that without a word of warning. As will be true of anything that involves people putting content on the web, rather than just receiving content, use good judgement. As a rough guideline, if you wouldn't want to see it attributed to you on a public billboard, don't put it on the web.
Remember, nothing suggested is mandatory. If you find one blog with one article that was useful, you're good.
Cheers,
Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School
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