Week 9 – Podcasts, Videos & Downloadable Audio

To teach is to learn twice over. - Joseph Joubert

By now, everyone knows YouTube and its subsidiaries (e.g. TeacherTube, even FarsiTube, which my daughters love!). I’ve enjoyed the entertainment aspect for years. I used to not consider using web-based videos as a classroom resource, since most sites are blocked by LAUSD. For other sites, streaming videos were subject to the Internet working, or working too slow. However, once I figured out how to convert files, they are now a staple in my curriculum. Just today, I had a scheduled author visit, who wanted to show a video she had made as part of her presentation. Although I had offered to prepare anything she needed for her presentation, she didn’t tell me she needed access to YouTube until she arrived at our school (with her camera crew – more on that later). All efforts failed to circumvent the block so she rescheduled for another day. Of course I had to use Plan B for the classes I had scheduled! Point – videos are a vital aspect to engaging students. It takes planning and preparation to streamline their use.

In undergraduate school, I had the opportunity to work in college radio (MIT’s WMBR) as an engineer (11pm – 3am shift). I had obtained my third and second class engineer’s license. If I had stayed in Massachusetts, I would have gone on for my first class license and probably made it a career. Point – this exercise allowed me to think about the progression of digital media over 20+ years. With podcasts, anyone can become an “air personality”. It’s an effective communication tool for those who prefer to be “off camera”. I linked a podcast for educators to my Blog since teachers are following.

I first used audio books as a parent and found them a wonderful resource. With my first iPod, I started importing books on CD. Having been an ELL teacher most of my teaching career, I am an advocate of audio books for language learners, struggling readers and those with time constraints. And I certainly welcome tips on resources for free e-books. I hope future funding allows us to purchase and use them more.

Week 4 - RSS Feeds

I am not a teacher but an awakener. - Robert Frost

Prior to this “thing”, I had discovered Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and started using them for personal use. Like most people, I wanted breaking news sent to me. I had also put a feed into the web portal. I was to soon find out how valuable feeds were. On April 4th (Easter), I was sitting at my computer working on ELIB assignments when the Baja earthquake struck. There was strong rolling, but no loss of power. I had added the United States Geological Survey (USGS) feed awhile back. I was notified instantaneously and knew the magnitude before the television media. Seeing it work so efficiently, my interest in RSS soared and consequently, I began to subscribe to sites to use for everything!

In this assignment (thing 8), I set up the RSS feed in Google Reader. Was I ever impressed! In Google Reader, you can just add a subscription just like a search and you will get links to choose from. This is good if you are just building your sources. If you are already on the web, you can add feeds by the orange button in the tool bar.

As for Library Blogs, I found using the Google Blog Search to be the most convenient since many of the tools I use link to Google (Blogspot, Reader, G-mail, etc). The most impressive feature for me was the ability to see all subscriptions, blogs and feeds, on one screen. Very practical! In the last few weeks, I have become an enthusiastic user of Google apps. I just wish I had money to buy Google stock (LOL)!