Podcasts and videos

Podcasts

I listened to many podcasts today, and they were all different. The podcasts I listened to were This Weeks Photography, KidCast, EdTechTalk, Smartboard Lessons, Connective Learning, and Macbreak Weekly. Each podcast discussed a topic; some were alike in general, but mentioned something different about the topic. We had one that discussed photography, some mentioned how to use technology in the classroom, and some just brought up the new technology that just came out on the market.

The first three that I watched were planned differently. We had the "This Week Photography" that had advertisements in the beginning of the podcast. This podcast also had three hosts; one was very quiet and hard to hear, while the other ones were understandable. They did bring up facts that were interesting, but the person I could not hear turned me against it. The next one I watched was "KidCast", which i absolutely loved. I enjoyed the music introduction and the information he was trying to get across. He brought up the idea that if you know some information about your followers, you will be able to revise your script to appeal to them. For example, if your followers on your podcast are commuters, you would probably want to stick with the audio podcast and stay away from the video because they could not watch it. He really spoke in terms, even though it was a technology subject, that were easy to understand. I could follow him easily. The third one I watched was "EdTechTalk". You could tell there was no script, but I did like how they tried to incorporate the followers through skype and let them join in the discussions. It could have been louder though, so you could hear it better.

The next three that I listened to were the same, no one was exactly alike. I listened to "Smartboard Lessons", which was disappointing. I did not like how he stopped in the podcast to order coffee. I also did not enjoy trying to listen to it with all the background noises. I think he was trying to make the conversation more casual, but having lots of noise just distracted me. The volume on the podcast in general was very quiet. The next one I listened to was "Connective Learning"; this podcast had the host and I guess a guest from a teacher group. The podcast made it enjoyable to listen. I think that since it was a little louder made me like it more, since I had been straining to hear the other ones. This podcast told us about kids that they helped and what the kids were doing in school. I did like the question and answer set up. It sounded pretty organized. "MacBreak Weekly" was the last one I listened to. This one had too many ads in the beginning and sort of bored me; maybe if they could have intersperse the ads through the podcast it would have been better. There were many hosts, and it sounded more like a radio talk show. It was like a conversation back and forth in between the hosts.

I learned some ideas to make my podcast better, like speaking up so that it is easier to hear. I would like to add music or sounds to the introduction in my podcast to catch attention. I think having many hosts is sort of confusing, because they would interrupt each other sometimes, and I had a hard time following them. I hope that I can make an enjoyable podcast. I really am going to try to make some of these improvements to my podcast so that will not be the same.





Media Literacy

I am very surprised at seeing all these kids being able to use technology like this. It is very motivating for me to want to learn technology, so I can at least catch up with them. I am very proud of the students, but also very overwhelmed on how technologically literate that they are. They are very intelligent. I never had the chance to do all these things when I was younger. I do like the blogging idea. I think that will help the students in many criteria. I hope that I will be ready for them!

Little Kids ... Big Potential

I do like that kids writing can improve by writing on blogs. It helps them to improve spelling, social skills, and writing skills. I do agree with the idea on commenting; I think when commenting especially to the younger kids to only say things that are helpful and do not say anything mean. I am actually jealous that when I was younger, we did not have computers to play with during center time. We actually had to go to different parts of the room and learn with doing worksheets and reading books. I also like the idea of kids being able to go home and still be able to learn and communicate with class and other classes. The idea of "wikis" are amazing. I actually have never heard of "wikis" until now. When they used it to learn traditions and then make one I was impressed. I do want to use the idea of skype to communicate with other classes around the world. The idea of talking to someone on the other side of the world through skype is astounding.

IPhone Video



For the video that shows the kid using the iPhone, it is impressive that he can understand what his parents are telling him to do. I do not know that with him just tapping the screen if he is comprehending what he is actually doing, or if he was just tapping it and enjoying watching it move. I think that him being able to turn it on and unlock it is interesting. I do notice that these days since kids are getting access to these technologies, they are becoming more comfortable with using them. I remember when I was a little girl, I got a toy phone from the store, and it was like a rectangle with buttons that I could not even push. Now kids have smart phones as their toy phone, and they can push buttons and it makes noise. Some children even have their own working cell phones - not toys. I do believe that since technology is accessible, we are learning how to use them earlier in our life.