The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village Podcasts

     I have just completed looking at the podcasts "The Edible Schoolyard" and "A Night in the Global Villiage".  The first podcast "The Edible Schoolyard" was about a project at the Marin Luther King Junior High School in Berkely, California.  The project was the brainchild of Alice Waters, a chef in Berkely.   She wanted to do something to increase awareness of the environment and our responsibility to it and to each other.  Through this program, students learn about interdependence, responsibility, the environment, and the value of hard work.   The students were enjoying not only growing their own food in the organic garden, but also cooking it in the classroom adjacent to the garden.   I was touched by the students cooperation and their willingness to work and share with each other.   It is said that students learn best by doing and this edible schoolyard is just what they needed to teach social studies, science, and so much more.     The next podcast was called "A Night in the Global Village: A study in Poverty".  These students in Denver, Colorado were given the opportunity to live the way 3/4 of the world's population lives today, in primitive surroundings without luxuries like lights, running water, or adequate fool supplies.   The children lived in various "villiages" for the night and had to bargain with each other for things like food and water.   The students realized that although they would be going home to adequate food and housing in a day or so, that many people have to live like this all their lives.   The object was to teach the students the responsibility that they have to others around them in their communities and world.   This program was sponsored by Heifer, a program for providing livestock to pooer, developing countries and raising global awareness of poverty.     As a teacher, I like the idea of hands on learning.  I already plan to incorperate it into my classroom.   I just believe that people learn best by doing and that being an active learner leaves more of an impression of knowledge on the student.   These podcasts have inspired me to think of ways that I can get my English/Language Arts students "out of the box" and into a more meaningful learning experience.      I have learned much by being exposed to iTunes University, blogs of other educators that I have researched in class as well as what I have learned of ALEX and ACCESS.   I believe that technology coupled with hands on learning is worthwhile and that it is the direction that education is taking today.   We should encourage our students all we can to gather all they can, and I canno think of a beter way to do this than with iTunes University, Podcasts, and sharing through technology.   

February 15, 2009-Fall EDM 310 Podcasts

I have examined two podcasts. Each one can be found at the website: edm310fall08.blogspot.com. The first poscast was entitled ALEX and ACCESS: Alabama Distant Learning. The presenters were: Alison Davis, Kellie Brooks, and Brooke Elder. The second podcast was entitled: Distant Learning in Alabama: ALEX and ACCESS. The presenters for this podcast were Susan Smith, Bridget Thompson-Hall, and Angela Minish. I chose these podcasts because my group and I plan to do our podcast on the same subject. I wanted to see not only how to do this type of podcast by examining those of my peers, but I also wanted to see how I could perhaps imporove my podcast over their efforts.
The first podcast, ALEX and ACCESS: Alabama Distant Learning, was full of valuable information. However, the delivery of the information sounded flat. It could have been more conversational. There was also a lot of transferring of information from person to person and the information did not seem well organized. The second podcast, Distant Learning in Alabama: ALEX and ACCESS was also full of information. The first speaker was not flat at all but her voice had much expression. The information was well organized, but I could tell as the podcast went on, that each presenter was reading from a script. However, towards the end, the presenters began to give their personal opinions of ALEX and ACCESS and the conversation became more relaxed and realistic. Overall, though, I found the podcasts interesting and informative.
For my own podcast, I will have lots of new and updated information from a variety of sources including the School Board. My group and I will rehearse our ifromation to the point that we can present it in a more unscripted, conversational way. I also think that it will be helpful to offer our own critiques and feelings about ALEX and ACCESS and how these programs will impact us as teachers. With these tips in mind, I hope to present a better podcast.

The iTunes Store

I have downloaded and perused the iTunes Store website. I found it very interesting, especially the wide array of educational podcasts available. I was able to review SmartBoard Lesson 150 as well as KidCast, Teachers Teaching Teachers, EcoGeek, MacBreaK, and This Week in Photography. I also discovered that in the iTunes Store, one can download music as well as movies. My husband was very excited about this and said that he was glad at my discovery of the website.
First of all, I enjoyed the overall quality of the podcasts. For the most part, they were easy to download and understand. Many of thenm were very conversational especially in the beginning and took a while to get to the subject at hand. I also found that for some of the podcasts such as MacBreak and This Week in Photography, the scrub bar did not work and I had to listen to a lot of idle talk before I learned anything new. For the most part, though, I enjoyed the podcasts and can see their merits both to students and to teachers.
SmartBoard Lessons and Kidcast were relatively easy to find. I think that the SmartBoart hosts, Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger were a little too conversational diverging from the subject frequently and being a bit wordy. The KidCast was interesting. It was hosted by the students from Willowdale Elementary School. This particular podcast should appeal to children because it is presented by their peers. I found this to be quite refreshing. I also checked out EcoGeek. This podcast can be found under More Education, K-12 in the large middle section of podcasts. This "untamed science video" was my favorite. Its topics ranged from reptiles to fungi. The presentations are short and to the point. They were information packed, and this is what I liked about it the most. Children should appreciate this effect also. MasBreak was wordy but interesting, if you are technical minded and love computers. This Week In Photography was okay, but I would have liked to have seen the host, Alex Lindsay, get to his point more quicky.
Overall, I have developed somewhat of a feel for what podcasts are like. They are very informal, some taking place in the host's living room or den. Often, co-hosts are in different areas or cities. They are personal to an extent and conversational, much like chat among friends that we, the audience, just happen to b privy to. Some of these elements I will use in my own podcast. I want to put my audience at ease, but I think that the challenge will be to keep the audiences' attention throughout the audio. This strategy, I will contemplate.