My favorite things that we've learned so far are the podcasts and wordle. I loved finding so many free podcasts out there. I hate to admit my ignorance, as I probably should have known about them, but I'm excited for the possibilities...
I can see using podcasting to help children with reading fluency. We used to "tape" them reading and play it back. Now that technology is outdated and this seems the wave of the future. It would also be useful to use podcasts to share information, when they do research on a variety of topics.
The article, "Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom" reminded me of the point that our goal is to help children communicate clearly, not just impress people with cool stuff. Keeping this in mind will help me figure out how to use things that I am learning in a genuine way with my students, their families and my colleagues.
I'm also loving WORDLE! Now I'm trying to figure out how to embed one that I made into my blog. Stay tuned!
Smart Recorder on Smartboard
14 years ago
I really like your point about not losing sight of our goals. It is about communication and not just about cool stuff, as you say. I agree with you about Wordle and was able to get one onto my First Class Home Page! I am beginning to be impressed by these tools and starting to figure out ways to genuinely enhance my work. I also think keeping our work genuine is really key.
ReplyDeleteJoel
It is an interesting analogy comparing podcasting to tape recording. Podcasting is the next generation. Personally, I started using podcasts to entertain myself as I went walking after school. I would download an hours worth of podcasts on my i-shuffle. It is a great way to exercise and get smart at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of using podcasts as a way to work on reading skills. As a foreign language teacher I forsee myself using it for that purpose as well.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the wordle- it is a nice way to enhance a web page or blog, etc.