Blog Assignment Week 3

SmartBoard Lessons Podcast

I listened to episode 131 of the podcast. It was entitled "Design & Innovation." On this podcast, the hosts interviewed Arnold Westman, a speaker at the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Conference. I really liked that they introduced the podcast with music, and both of the speakers had very good speaking voices. The entire podcast was smooth and pleasant to listen to, while also providing beneficial facts about teaching innovations. The speakers were also very descriptive when speaking about the different programs and applications for computers. This helped since you can't actually view anything with podcasts, you may only listen to them.

Kidcast

Episode 17: Oprah Has My Book was the episode of my choice for this particular podcast. I instantly noticed how they introduced the episode with what sounded like a robotic voice. I found this to be very creative. A song was also included in the podcast and, like most people, I love music. Therefore, just as I was starting to become distracted, a song begins to play, and my attention was quickly directed back to the podcast. He then discussed the origin of the song that was played, and explained that the singer was actually Swedish. He then elaborated on how global America is today.


Ed Tech Talk

I listened to Conversation #62 of this podcast. Three teachers discussed their favorite ipod and itouch applications for the classroom. I love my itouch so after hearing the topic of the conversation, I was immediately interested. What also immediately caught my attention was that one of the teachers was across the world. It was 2:30a.m. in Australia. Compared to the two previous podcasts that I watched, this one did sound a bit less clear. The voices did not go over as well, probably due to the fact that the people participating were in different parts of the world. The volume was also much lower.

Macbreak Weekly

I found this podcast to be particularly interesting because I enjoy learning about new technology. I'm very pleased with my itouch, and I'm eager to learn more about the ipad. Just as the speakers discussed the name of the new invention, I had the same discussion with some of my fellow honors program members just the other day. We all agreed that the name fit the product adequately. They discussed whether or not "regular" people on the street would buy the product and concluded that yes, they would because the device is appealing to several different types of people.

This Week In Photography

I chose to listen to episode 126 of this podcast. It was entitled "Racism in Photography: Don't Blink!" The speakers of this podcast were Alex Lindsay and Frederick Van Johnson. The topic of the discussion was "racist cameras." They first discussed how cameras can now detect when you blink, smile, ect. A certain type of Sony camera continually showed that all Asians in pictures kept blinking. It was decided that they might not have thoroughly tested the cameras before putting them on the market. For a camera to even be able to detect such slight movement is incredibly fascinating to me.

GeekSpeak

I found this podcast on the link provided in the syllabus. I listened to the episode entitled "Liquid Diamonds and Cold Eyeballs." It was the most recent episode. They discussed both safari and google chrome. This podcast also used music in its presentation. The only thing I find that I dislike about podcasts is that it is sometimes hard to visualize some of the things the hosts discuss. However, this podcast posts their news on their website. I found this to be beneficial.

Media Literacy in the First Grade

Wow!! First graders blogging?? I'm almost embarrassed to say I was a bit scared of the thought of blogging at first! I've quickly learned that it's a great way to communicate with people all over the world and learn new things. In looking back to when I was in first grade, I realize how things have changed dramatically. We did not even have computers in the class room. We went to computer lab about once a week, and there we just learned basic principles such as typing. The students in the video also seem to be very knowledgeable about what to say and what not to say when blogging. One little boy mentioned that you should never say anything hurtful, only helpful things online. Not only has Mrs. Cassidy taught the students how to blog, but she has also taught them how to do so politely.

Little Kids, Big Potential

The most important thing I saw in the video was that the kids are not only learning how to use to the internet and how to blog, but they are also learning how to be safe online. Though the internet can be a great resource, it is also scary to think what kids can get into these days. There are all types of predators in the world, and a child's safety is very important. That said, it seems that they are benefiting in many ways by blogging. Their writing improves, and the children get excited to see comments on their blogs from family and friends.

Here's What's Coming!

I found it amazing that the child was showing an interest in technology at such an early age. I'm also a little intimidated to think that one day I will be teaching these children who are growing up with such technology. There wasn't much technology when I was growing up, so I'm still getting used to the whole idea of it in the classroom. I'm excited, however, to implement such new inventions in order to help each student achieve academic success. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for my classroom!