Week 3

Topic 1:  

While I have never see or heard of teachers using podcasts, I think it would be a great idea.  Like posting to a Blog, this sounds like a wonderful option for the shy students.  By creating a podcast, it would allow the teacher to actually hear their voice rather than reading their words.  For the student, they still have the time to plan their responses and would not worry about having to face criticism from classmates.  Since the podcast would not provide complete anonymity, this would be a great way to start to get those students out of their comfort zone.

Another reason why podcasts could enhance the classroom is that students always want to hear or see themselves on the radio or television.  By using a regular podcast, the students can pretend to be like their favorite DJ.  For the enhanced podcasts, students could display art work or other projects to show meaning and understanding.

I think some of the benefits would be it gives students a different way to create.  This would be a great and easy way for students to use Bloom’s Taxonomy.  As stated above, for students who are shy this would be a great way for them to still not directly face their peers, but gets them out of their comfort zone.

One barrier would be if it is posted to the web.  Like a Blog, there would need to be parental permission to allow for the podcast to be posted.  A minor barrier would be starting the program.  This could be overcome by attaching the podcast project to a project based learning session the teacher thinks cold benefit from a podcast.  By doing this both the teacher and students could figure out how equipment works, best ways to load the program, or other potential pitfalls.

Topic 2:  

I listened to the the EduWin podcast station.  The podcast I used was “EduWin Weekly #007: Twitter and Time with Bill Selak”.  Selak and two other hosts talked about how teachers can use Twitter to both educate themselves and others on new educational ideas.  One stated that a teacher at his school told him that Twitter is “the best professional development” he has.  With school budgets shrinking and teachers not being able to participate in advancing development, the sharing on Twitter could be a good way to go.  

After the few times I have gotten on Twitter, I would agree with the statement that Twitter creates more of a connection than Facebook.  If someone follows engaging individuals or groups on Twitter, you are more likely to learn from it.  Facebook truly does seem more voyeuristic rather than collaborative.

Some aspects I did not like about the podcast related to a statement the hosts made.  One stated that teachers who did not pick up on new social technology could soon find themselves out of a job.  While I think teachers should embrace technology, teachers should still have an option about how connected they become.  Many teachers might not join Facebook or Twitter because they do not want their information to become too public.  While teachers should share ideas, sometimes face to face is the best method.  

Yes, I would agree that podcasts are something I will continue to use in professional learning.  I am an audio/visual learner.  I love listening to podcasts and finding new ones that help me learn and grow professionally.  The other thing I love about podcasts is that you can listen when you want.  They are usually up on the website or easy to obtain through the archives.  You do not have to feel like there is a time crunch before the session closes or that you have to be free at a certain time to listen.

Topic 3: 

I watched the video presented by the Digital Learning Series.  It was a great little clip that reenforced the idea that school projects and future work based projects are not the same.  The video is easy to understand and could be shown to students to help them understand the concept.  

What was great about the clip it showed a connection between how a project would be completed in the work place and how the idea could be refigured for the classroom.  If we want to teach our 21^st Century students, we have to let them communicate in their own language when appropriate.  While papers are often easer to grade a PBL could be too as long as guidelines are set and a rubric is provided.  

It seems that the great thing about PBL is the project could change year to year for your students.  This way the teacher does not get bored by reading the same material 25 times and over a course of their first five year 125 times!  Each year would be different and the teacher could tweak the assignment to help accurately reflect their students knowledge.

Topic 4:

I want to start by saying that Chris Lehmann is AMAZING!  His ideas and people with like minds, I think truly will change the direction our schools go in as well as the education of the future.

I truly love the idea that Lehmann thinks children should create and produce valuable projects for their instructors.  I have mentioned it in other posts that creativity and creation is the highest order in Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Isn’t that what we want our students to strive for?  We want them to take the information we give to them and they must repurpose that information, because they will encounter in in the real world.

The concept of making our students citizens is also very important.  Most likely, a majority of Lehmann’s students will go on to another form of education. Unfortunately, for many high schools that is not the case.  Those students who are not able to further their education, still must be a part of society and they need to know how to function in it.

The last point is the idea about creating meaningful projects and having a sense that the teacher and peers care about it.  What are students going to give to the world by always writing papers that only the teacher see.  In real life the world is collaborative.  People share their ideas and thoughts and that is how end of unit “exercises” should be.  Again going back to the idea of being a citizen, a student could have a wonderful idea that would benefit the community or world, but if they cannot work with others or communicate their idea, the idea might become lost.

I truly hope that as many preservice teachers as possible have a chance to become introduced to these ideas and find meaningful ways to introduce them into the classroom.