PodCast

Podcast are technology venues that are used to connect people concerning specific information. I have explored several Podcast pertaining to different areas of education and how education has been effected by technology. The really neat thing is Podcast are able to connect teachers living in different parts of the world. You are able to hear several points of view on a specific topic. Almost like a radio broadcast type feel. The first Podcast I listened to was Smartboard lessons Podcast which was hosted by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger they were actually two-thousand miles apart when they were doing this Podcast, however they sounded as if they sitting next to each other. Joan Badger actually has a website Teachers Connecting.comthat is also used as a forum for teacher to connect with each other and learn new teaching strategies from each other.

The second Podcast I checked out was “Kidcast” episode 58. Dan Schmit was the host his topic was “The median is not the message”. Basically he was discussing how to teach children the way to use technology. Instead of assigning a presentation with an uninteresting topic that doesn’t spark the children’s curiosity. Pick a question or topic that the student will be curious and more willing to explore deeper than putting together a few slides to get through the assignment. The more interesting the topic choice the student in return will not only do more to learn about the topic at hand he’ll use technology to explain it to the fullest potential In return actually learning more.

Next I listened to “Macbreak Weekly” which is a forum to discuss and compare different technologies ins and outs. I listened to episode 123 which was a discussion comparing Macworld and Apple. They were discussing if Apple was going to survive some of the new technologies that was happening with Macintosh computers. I honestly didn’t really understand a lot of the jargon they used. “Edtalk Talk” was my next Podcast I listened to they were discussing Parents as Partners in episode 19. All of they guest on the cast had backgrounds in various technology fields and were also parents very involved in their students schools. They were discussing the benefits in schools that have a strong connection with their parents. It closes the gap between students and parents when the parents are involved in the activities happening in the classroom and students tend to learn more productively.

“ConnectLearning” podcast episode 92 was the next podcast I listened to, the host was David Warlick a school principal. The guest on the show was Chris Lehmann he was overseeing a teachers conference he was responsible for creating. This conference was set up differently than your run of the meal conference. Some of the main differences were the length of the sessions teachers were able to attend. The standard session only lasted 60 minutes, the sessions at his conference lasted 90 minutes so topics could be more thoroughly explored. The time in between sessions was also extended to 30 minutes so teachers didn’t have to rush from session to session. The could be able to visit and not be in a hurry. At the end of each day they also held a reflection sessions where teachers could chat about things they learned earlier in the day. The last podcast I listened to was “This Week in Technology” the host in this cast was discussing different photography issues. One of the photographers was complaining about the camera and lens security would allow him to take to photo graph the presidents inauguration.