Five Giant Steps through Virginia

My podcast series is entitled, Five Giant Steps through Virginia.  The series is about the five major land regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  In these podcasts, listeners are taken on an east-to-west discovery trip through the five regions.  I chose this subject because I have loved every minute of the five years I have lived in Virgina.  In addition, when I was a fourth-grade teacher, I had to teach Virginia Studies, including the five regions.  Because I was a new resident, I felt compelled to research and learn more, mainly to know what I was talking about to my fourth graders, but also to be knowledgeable about the place I had chosen to be my home for the rest of my life.  When I moved to Virginia, I did not even know that the state had five land regions.  I think my fourth graders would have liked having a podcast series like this to help them to learn in addition to the other resources they were given.
In this series, we learn many things about the regions.  These topics include the geography, major products and industries, important cities, and historically significant places and attractions of each region.  Traveling east to west in this way helps the listeners to follow along, either with a book, a map, or other resource if they choose.  It also is more organized and allows one to understand the specific relationships between many elements that make Virginia the wonderful place it is today.

The initial podcast I created is called, Step 1:  The Coastal Plain.  In this episode, we are introduced to Virginia via the easternmost region, the Coastal Plain, or Tidewater.  I take the listener through the region by discussing the elements listed in the preceding paragraph.  As Virginia is rich in history, many historic places are covered in the podcast, with their significance established.  I enjoyed creating it, and hope that you will enjoy listening and learning.

You can listen to the podcast at the following link: http://susantolivaredtech513.wordpress.com/about/podcast/

Changing of the Guard

I had trouble coming up with a topic so I decided to do one on what I know - the Air National Guard. Since September 11, 2001, the mission of the "Guard" had dramatically changed. Specifically, the Air National Guard was always considered America's great flying club. As budgets tightened and resources were re-allocated, the Air Guard began to take on a more prominent role in the nation's defense. When September 11th happened, the Air National Guard found itself at a sort of crossroads - either play an even bigger part in national defense or be relegated to nothing more than a source for personnel and equipment when wars or natural disasters occurred.

My podcast is an introduction for Air National Guard members, specifically members of my airlift wing, to access and get the latest news regarding our unit. Many times members aren't either given or privy to information about our unit and this is a way for them to find out what exactly is going on.

It was difficult for me to find appropriate unlicensed music for my podcast but I think I finally found something that works. There was a learning curve for me when it came to editing and saving the files correctly but I finally overcame that hurdle. Once I understood the functionality of Audacity, it was a lot of fun manipulating the different tracks and finalizing the quality.

Paul

Dipping or Diving

Test (or performance) anxiety. From an experienced teacher’s standpoint, the symptoms are apparent; from a personal standpoint the void in the center of my being is alien, yet its presence is painfully making itself known as technology sweeps me into the unexplored territory of apps, mobile devices, and shareware.
For an old gal approaching 50, I am far from the digital fluency of my children and students even though they continually depend on me to answer their myriad “how to” questions. I’m reluctant to share with them that they are following a blind navigator, so I embrace their devices and software with a lingering sense of dread akin to diving into a frigid lake rather than slowly dipping hoping for submersion by tolerance.
Whatever the water temperature – any diver knows there are certain things for which one must prepare – knowledge of existing hazards, depth of water, swimming ability, length of time one can hold one’s breath, and diving technique. My diving ability doesn’t stop me from appreciating the expertise of seals and penguins as they flaunt their superb skills any more than my amazement at the ease in which even preschool children take to the endless array of information access.
For that reason, I am creating the podcast "What matters" that offers strategies to reduce the aprehension associated with written or performance assessment in hopes that my listeners will improve their test scores and feel better doing it - and while I'm at it, I'm helping myself. In the same way that I might prepare for a dive, I am preparing for my technological future because for this digital immigrant, that’s what matters.

Science and Me.

Science and Me is a podcast concentrating on Science at the elementary school age level. The hope is that students as well as parents can use the podcast as a resource for further their understanding about science.

The first episode is about Earth Science. We discuss what is Earth Science and we discuss Earth and its place in our solar system.

I Heart EdTech

I consider myself a bona fide lover of technology, and I know I share this love with many others. This is why I created the “I Heart EdTech” Podcast series. I thought about this topic a lot while I was attending the ISTE conference at the end of last month. My goal was to create a show that would appeal to educators, educational technologists or just about anyone who had a love for technology. It could even be used for the people in my organization which is a franchise-based education company.

I would produce the podcast on a weekly basis for my audience. I have even created an email address for corresponding with listeners. The topics will include EdTech news, various tools and ideas for instruction and professional development learning events. In this episode, I share some responses given by teachers, parents and administrators regarding the value of technology in schools. This part was both challenging and interesting. First of all, time management is key because you must work with the schedules of others when you need several people to sit down and record with you. Also, everyone had so much more to say about the issue, therefore, you have to edit quite a bit to stay within a reasonable time and more importantly get the best content. Nonetheless, I am very grateful to the people who participated.

I really liked using Audacity for this project. Incorporating the sound clips and music was easy and gave the podcast character. I tried not to break any of the Multimedia Theory principles, which was not too hard since there were no visuals to go along with my podcast. However, this series would be great as a video podcast because it’s beneficial to show some of the technology tools in use. I followed the format from point #1 in our project description, so the episode is longer than 10 minutes. If you have a chance to listen, I’d appreciate any feedback that is shared. I hope you enjoy it!

Performance Improvement in the Workplace (PIW)

PIW is a professional development series. The focus of this series is human performance improvement with a particular emphasis in the work place. This series will cover such topics as; goal setting, self assessment, effective planning practices, time management, chairing and participating in meetings, presenting, communicating effectively, and many others. This first episode in an introduction and like most the objective is to inform you, while also intriguing you, in hopes that you will tune in for the next podcast.

I learned several things this week about podcasting and audacity. I am not 100% pleased with it but I took the lessons to heart and will not make the same mistakes again. Some of the things I will strive to improve upon are scripting. I think my script was adequate but needs more polish in providing the listener a better overall snapshot of what this series is about. I also think the conclusion of my podcast was a little rushed which also reflected that my script was not fully developed.

Sorry about the link issue, I too am having problems with it. You will have to click and download to listen. I'm working hard to get this resolved on my end in addition I am having network issues at home. I am logged onto the internet through my phone as I type this blog.

The Peoplesoft Lounge: Episode 2

The Peoplesoft Lounge is a podcast series related to the field that I'm in which is the computer technology field. The information is my podcasts are geared toward non-technical staff that have used Peoplesoft but either need refreshing or training on various ways to accomplish different tasks. This episode brings to light the importance of the JOB page/table which is used to store employee related information.

As my new role continues to expand in the working world these podcasts help improve my preparation by and confidence since I'm required to interact and speak with people at many different levels in various organizations.

My new episode can be found here.

Thank you for listening.

SMoore about Film

SMoore about Film is a series that explores several aspects of film. Anything from camera and directing technique to tips for screenwriting. The first episode looks at 5 tips for creating captivating character in our films.

I wanted to create this series because I have two film English classes where we do a lot of screenwriting and character creation, as well as, the study of film elements. This series will give me a way to reinforce some things that we talking about in class and provide a place for those students who miss the in class discussion to receive the information directly from me.

In this specific episode, I discuss 5 tips for creating captivating characters. These tips include giving your character a goal and an opposition, a motivation, a backstory, intentional actions, and believable characteristics. I feel that these are 5 key things to keep in mind as we both watch and write characters.

I came up with the name for this series by doing a play on my name because it is mostly going to feature my discussion on the topics. Although, I would like to include students in the future. I also wanted to have it be "about film" because it gives me a broad term so I can cover a vast number of topics. And I was able to end each podcast with a fun play on the title, which as an English teacher, brought me joy.

Click HERE to listen to Creating Captivating Characters.

Happy Listening!

Sarah Moore

Pagin' Through History

When teaching AP World History, we talk a lot about various historically based books, the theories that authors present in them, and the implications of those theories on the study of history. Since I am an avid reader, I have read several such books, however found that I had some difficulty recalling enough of the details at the drop of a hat when asked for recommendations by students. I thought that the best way to organize my own thoughts about all the historical books I had read was to create a podcast series over this type of literature. This way, when students ask about specific books and what they were about, they can simply pick a book title from the list, listen to a 4-5 minute explanation of what the book was about and make an educated decision from there. The book descriptions in no way give students enough information to get away with not reading the book, if this were for an assignment, for example, but it would help them make informed decisions about what they would like to investigate further. Thus "Pagin' Through History," was born.

The first episode covers A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage. In this book, Standage relays the development of human civilization around six different beverages (beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and Coca-Cola) and explains how these beverages have shaped human civilizations, cultural interaction and human settlement. Within this first episode, I provide a brief explanation of some of Standage's theories and their historical connections for each beverage, before inviting listeners to tune in next time, when Jared Diamond's book, Guns, Germs and Steel, is discussed.

To listen to the first episode from my 513 homepage click here

Happy Listening!

Jessica Dowell

The Whole Note

The 'Whole Note' podcast a guide to everything creative and musical in my music classroom. I intend to use it to distribute general concept guides, learning aids, and lessons. This edition focuses on the creative process and how one should go about composing music. Since I intend this podcast for actual use in my classroom I didn't worry about time so it runs about 17 minutes long. However, I've gone to great lengths to ensure that the pace of the podcast is engaging with the addition of music, sound effects, and lively narration.

This podcast may confirm to my students that I am indeed a dork but I think they'll find it entertaining and educational never-the-less.

Future topics of the 'Whole Note' might include 'How to Practice' and 'How to reflect on your work.' I've often found that students have difficulties with these topics so any help I'm trying to offer as much help as possible.

To create this podcast I used Garageband to create this podcast rather than Audacity due to the complexity of the editing and the intuitiveness and greater control offered by Garageband's user interface. I also created a podcast site on my 513 homepage and supplied a subscription link there that I've confirmed works with iTunes. You can see my podcast site in its natural environment by clicking HERE

I hope you enjoy the podcast. I had a great time making it.

I will include a further embed on this Blogger site as well because of the assignment requirements.

Mathematics Hall of Fame

The Mathematics Hall of Fame is a series of podcasts about the life and times of eight famous mathematicians. These podcasts will be delivered over the course of eight weeks - the length of my Algebra 1A course. The mathematicians that we'll look at are: Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Carl Gauss, Sir Isaac Newton, Euclid, Archimedes, Leonhard Euler, and Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann.

The first episode features information about Rene Desacartes who is credited for developing Analytic Geometry which we use today every time we graph an equation on the 2-D Cartesian Coordinate system.

Anna-Marie Robertson

Banned in Concord

Banned in Concord: Huckleberry Finn

My podcast series Banned in Concord explores the challenges sparked by some classroom texts and provides tips and resources for educators who are assigning novels that are frequently at the center of controversy.

The first episode centers on Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was banned from the Concord library in Massachusetts in 1885. The American Library Association lists Huck Finn as one of the most frequently banned novels of the last 20 years. In my podcast, I summarize the reasons why readers objected to the novel when it was first published and compare those reasons to the objections raised today. I also describe some of the strategies I use for teaching the novel in a racially sensitive way and provide a list of additional online and paper sources.

If I were to produce additional podcasts in this series, I would turn next to Toni Morrison's Beloved and then to other texts listed by the ALA website.

Banned in Concord: Huckleberry Finn

The Infinite Word Podcast - Kristin Ewing

The Infinite Word
Episode 1: http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/kristinewing/audio/TheInfiniteWord-Episode_1.mp3
(updated 7/9/11)

My podcast series is called The Infinite Word - Sharing ways to expand your wordly wisdom. It's designed for students in approximately grades 3-6 and covers words, language, writing and authors.

During each podcast I plan to cover:

• Word of the day--its definition and context
• Quotes from famous and not so famous authors
• Author bios and books
• Writing tips
• Writing/Word game websites

For this podcast I focused on the word(s) infinite/infinitely/infinity, the author C.S. Lewis, and the writing tip of using a journal to record ideas. I also recommended a website for story tips called http://www.coreygreen.com/ and a website with word games called http://www.storyit.com/.

I updated the podcast on 7/9/11, adding an intro, outro and transition sounds between each section of the podcast. This extended the time to a little over 8 minutes.

Enjoy!
Kristin Ewing

Discovering our World: Spain

Podcast Series:

This podcast series purpose is to give geography students a review tool on what is being learned in class. Each series will will focus on a region in the world and each individual podcast will be exploring a particular country. This is a great way for students to review if they missed a day or just want a refresher before an upcoming test.

Podcast description:

The podcast that I posted today explores Spain (European Series) the four major topics discussed are location, physical aspects, culture, and government.

I've worked with audacity in the past but I'm having a lot of trouble adding an audio file. The file will import it but then there is nothing there where it should show the actually music for me to cut and paste. I will continue to play with it and hope I can figure out the problem and add a jingle to my podcast in the near future.

Podcast_Spain

The Peoplesoft Lounge: Episode 1

Podcast Series: The Peoplesoft Lounge

This podcast series will revolve around the IT system I use which is called PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft is a web-based software system I support where changes occur at a rapid pace and there are foundational concepts that everyone that uses this system should know. This concept should be reemphasized on a consistent basis regardless of how many years experience a person has in using PeopleSoft.

Podcast description: Effective Dates

The concept being discussed is called effective dates and it allows businesses to have an organized way of entering and recording current, historical, and future information in regard to employee information. These dates are time sensitive, critical, and drive the effectiveness of how well the system operates. A computer is only as good as the information it is given and examples of this are in my podcast. Enjoy!

Music Theme: "Kiss of Life" instrumental by Sade.

Here is a link to my podcast as well: http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/fisherd/audio/podcast.mp3

Technology Development in Caribbean Schools: Episode 1

http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/kirklandLawrence/audio/podcast.mp3
This podcast series will be looking at technology development in Caribbean schools at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
The podcast series will highlight the different programs at the different levels and how technology is integrated in the schools' curricula on all the islands in the Caribbean. I will also highlight the culture and other unique things about each island. Most, if not all the Caribbean islands, depend on tourism for their economical development, hence I will use this opportunity through this medium to sell our beautiful region to the world.
This particular episode reports on technology development at the primary level on the island of Turks and Caicos, British West Indies.
The entire region will be covered through network links, collaborative efforts of my colleagues who come from the various islands and other correspondence channels such as social networking blogs. I hope you  found this inaugural episode of the series to be informative and entertaining.
Until the next episode, have yourselves  a great time.

Mr. Querry's Multimedia Musings - Episode 1

Name of Podcast Series: Mr. Querry’s Multimedia Musings

Podcast Description: This podcast series is dedicated to introductions, samples, and tutorials for the Multimedia Arts class at Huston Middle School in Lower Burrell, PA. Though the content is geared towards this class, it is applicable to anyone wishing to learn introductory elements related to multimedia, digital audio, and Web 2.0 applications. It is assumed that the listener is either a part of the Multimedia Arts class or has basic understanding of using the internet and computer programs.

Episode #1: Music and Multimedia – What’s the Big Deal?

Description: In this episode, I will define multimedia and highlight some of the tools and activities that can be used in multimedia production, especially those being used in the Multimedia Arts class.

Notes: I wanted to make this podcast something I could use with my students as an introduction to my Multimedia Arts class. I included several effects, including fade in, fade out, and change speed. I also added several music clips and sound effects. All of these were either royalty-free clips for which I owned a license to use, or were used via the Creative Commons search (provided permission for reuse).

MR. QUERRY'S MUSICAL MUSINGS - EPISODE 1
http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/brianquerry/513/Podcast_Ep1.mp3