Wes Fryer Ch. 3 Audio

Wes Fryer Ch. 3 Audio

            Podcasts are dated entries in an often - ongoing series of recorded audio or video reports which often have other files linked to them such as video or image files.  They usually have an associated web feed that allows listeners / observers to subscribe to the channel they are in.  They also have meta information attached.  Students can use these as a way to report on a class project or assignment, or on something they did recently that was interesting.  These can take the place of paper reports, and can incorporate images, video, and other interactive resources.  There were several examples that were discussed.

            There were various audio recorders discussed, which included some pros and cons.  This helps teachers to decide what would be most appropriate and useful for their intended project.  For instance, if I wanted to use one on a field trip, I would need to get a battery powered audio recorder.  However, they involve significantly more “clicks” and organization to get to the finished product.

            There was a great deal of discussion of the process of how to use this technology in the classroom.  This is something I paid attention to and learned a lot about.  This will help me to better use this technology in the classroom and avoid some issues.  For example, I now know that if there are bandwidth issues in the school I am teaching, using a cloud – based system may not work well.  Phonecasting could be used for no-editing audio recording in the field or the classroom, but it can become complicated.  The images that accompany these must be considered – there shouldn’t be copyright issues, and the privacy rules regarding students must be observed.

            One use of these audio recordings is for students to record their essays and then play them back later.  It could also be used to make them accessible to friends and family far away.  Recording students’ impressions in the field can preserve their authentic emotional connection to the experience, and preserve details that will be forgotten weeks later.  This can also be important to their families.  Students could also record their class notes or highlighted text as an audio book and then listen to them as they are on the school bus being transported, or passengers on long drives looking for something to do.  Or for teachers preparing for lessons!

            For the classroom management assignment, I could use an audio recording as a voiceover for a screencast.  This would allow me to present information on the screen while the voiceover explains what it means to the assignment.  It could also work for some other assignments. 

            I visited the EdTechTalk site and thought it was interesting.  Much of it seemed oriented to or created by education people who had a lot of experience.  Most of the webcasts were about new ideas or programs people were creating and exploring, or about conferences.  Some topics might build upon traditional methods, while many others were outside of, experimental, or alternative to the mainstream education establishment.  As a starting educator, much of it was more about theory and not directly applicable to what my class has been doing in class at this point.  However, there was some discussion of things, such as digital writing, that was immediately usable.  Also, careful examination of the written descriptions accompanying the podcasts did reveal leads to interesting tools with great potential for use, such as gooru and this list by Erin Klein.

            The EdReach site has blogs that are more relevant to class activities you might want to use yourself today.  Using digital content and technology, incorporating gaming in the classroom, and new ways to use iPads are some of the topics I found in a short time.  There seems to be lots of material here if you spend the time to search through it.  However, there was less written documentation accompanying the podcasts, and the formerly live podcasts weren’t edited.  Some of the technology limitations of long – distance collaborations were evident here, and could have been edited out to increase watchability.

            The website Classroom 2.0 Network had a lot of interesting wikis that had direct relevance to technology use in the classroom, interesting apps, and to classroom management topics.  This included a number of entries of use to new teachers.  I felt this was the most relevant to me as a developing teacher.