Last week I decided to use my new "alone" time in the car more constructively. (My child started kindergarten.) I found and downloaded a podcast about technology and faculty development. What I found was good "stuff" but as always it led me to more questions.... questions about the content, questions about the who, what, where, and how of the podcast, and of course, how can I start doing it and informing USM faculty about it.
The podcast was about technology in the classroom, but I walked away with information about using blogs and wikis to extend the classroom, make students more conscience of the quality of their work, the resources they have in classmates (classmates as colleagues), and getting students thinking beyond those classroom walls (traditional or virtual). As the presenters (http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/podcastsupportingfacultya/46943) say, a wiki makes the content real... the students are no longer just writing for another teacher, but they are thinking, organizing, and writing for real people sitting out there reading. A blog - used as an ongoing notebook to keep thoughts can show the complete process a student goes through to create understanding.... and can be used by another student to complete or expand their process for understanding. What an amazing instructional tool. I wasn't sure how and why blogs and threaded discussions were different, but as usual, my partner in crime, Bonnie and I dug until we found out how and why and then what was best for instruction. We found that blogs are best for keeping up with individual thoughts, processes, information, while a threaded discussion is a conversation board for a class to discuss, argue, share, and support. Both are useful in a teaching and learning setting... it depends on the goal... what the student should walk away from the lesson with.
I have enjoyed taking my podcasts with me. I generally listen to them more than once sometimes forwarding through to the point(s) I miss.... what a great learning tool.
As always, I'm still searching...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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1 comments:
Shanna introduced me to podcsting. I love it especially listening to the technology in teh classroom while doing something else. I learn a lot about how to apply and new idea for it. I also went to Itunes-U and downloaded similar classes or something I am interested in. So far, I love it very much. I think it is very helpful and would recommend it to others.
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