Podcasts and Education

Pod casts are online conversations that can be access anywhere in the world on i-tunes as long as their is an internet connection. It is a way for people to put their ideas into the open for the world to see and make judgments on. These can be helpful in education in getting students to do research in order to correctly answer a question and place their opinions on the web for the world to see. This week I listened to four educational pod casts.
Kid Cast #56 was the first one that I listened to. The subject was questions make the world go round. The speaker talks about how a pod cast projects will teach students how to properly do research on a topic and to have an intelligent conversation about the topic that they did the research on. He says that teachers who assign a class a question to which their are multiple answer will be able to put together an excellent pod cast in which their students discuss a subject with intelligence. He talks about how this tool can be very valuable to teachers if used and enhance the learning opportunities for students.
The next one I listened to was Smart Board Lesson number 146. This pod cast is one that discusses clouds and their formations, the stars and saints. The hosts of this pod cast, Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger, talk to about interactive white boards and how to do use them. They tell about different websites that are educational and define words that are relevant to the pod cast topic. Joan talked about word clouds and what they were for. She discussed how a website called wordil could help kids in language or writing classes. They discuss how that open comunication can be problematic if not monitored because any one who wants to cant post things. They also talk about the water cycle and its affects showing how this technology is important in spreading through technological advances. They discuss the use of technology in class and bounce around from subject to subject.
Next I visited Ed Tech Talk and listend to episode number twelve. This episode discusses how the parents need to be used as partners. Their are several different people broadcasting on different subjects that deal with the use of technology outside the classroom at home for homework and the posting of class information that could help the student succeed in the classroom. They also talk about internet accessibility at school and at the home. One of them talk about whether or not restriction of sites in schools should be done. He also discusses how online publishing could be beneficial. They talk about internet safety and how digital media does put someone out there for the world to see. They discuss how kids need to know how to parole their own digital citizenship. A lady states that kids who have problems on the the internet do tend to have the same proplems in real life. The norm is that who you are in person is who you are online. They talk about how the parent should be involved along with the teachers in the usage of tecchnology in education. The schools do not need to have their hands tied behind their back when it comes to allowing technology to be used and digital publishing to be used. They talk about how the internet can be a stage for intellectuals to display their work as a football player's stage is the football field. They roundout talking about how some classes used cell phones as an educational tool, and how the internet allows all to communicate with well educated peers.
The last one I listened to was This Week In Photography. The host was talking with Andrew Darlo from the Imaging Buffet. He is a photo journalist that publishes the afformentioned magazine. The host talks with him about his love of photography and sharing that love with others. They discuss how he prints his pictures and what types of printers he uses to print with. They discuss how new technologies are making better dies and pigments for printing and how dies and pigments affect prints. He also discusses how to decide what inks to buy and how that the further up the printer scale you go the better your prints will be. They finish out the conversation talking about the different quality printers for priniting pictures.