Podcasts

I listened to all six of the podcasts in our assignment and I enjoyed most of them. They were informative and some were quite funny. The music added to the beginning gets you in the mood to hear what the podcasters have to say. The SmartBoard Lesson podcast was the most entertaining to me. The Kidcast and Connect Learning Podcasts had great feedback from experienced teachers. MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography had some of the same gentlemen and they had interesting conversations about their topics.
I really enjoyed the SmartBoard Lesson #147 with Ben and Joan. They are from different areas in Canada and they were not only funny, but interesting as well. The music in the beginning of their podcast was energetic. Their topic was, "Classrooms Collaborating in Literature, Writing, and Reading Strategies. The SmartBoard is used to allow the entire class to view a screen projected from the computer. The teachers can use the SmartBoard to teach new strategies and interact with the entire class.
The Kidcast #59 podcast Dan discussed pulling ipods into the classroom. After the students have listened to an activity, they can pause, turn to a neighbor and summarize what they have learned. This can give the students a chance to interact with each other in a postive, helpful way. This interaction gives the students an engaging activity that provides communitive lessons.
In Connect Learning with David Warick Episode 104:Conversations About the Purpose of Education, Warlick was at the Technology and Learning Diversity Conference. Warlick walked around the room and asked the teachers about the purpose of education. The majority of the teachers' answers were " learn to want to read". This was an interesting podcast to listen to. The audience was teachers from all over the United States.
After listening to the required podcasts, I am excited about using the technology available to teachers. In the school I currently work at, we are incorporating the SmartBoard in lessons. In one of the podcasts, social media is described as a media sharing site that has a sense of community and interpersonal action built around it. Teachers can use this media and bring a variety of knowledge to a classroom otherwise staring at a chalkboard. I enjoyed the podcasts and I look forward to podcasting myself.