I took a refresher course in the very basics of podcasting today at the TLA. Of course, I am hooked on the idea of getting all sorts of fabulous equipment to really have a high tech podcast production center. Right now, I think that is getting a little ahead of myself! To be honest, I think that what we have right now in the lab (i.e. our eMacs) has just the right equipment for guiding students in making basic “podcasts.” To do podcasts for the school, we will definitely need a bit more. Right now, I think a Snowball (microphone that is both uni and omni-directional) will be the best bet for reasonable funds with good functionality. Now the only question is, how can podcasts help promote Downtown Elementary?
- Informational: Interviews with administrators and faculty detailing our Optional Program, as well as other programs and opportunities our school has
- Community Involvement: Interviews with parents and community members–informational interviews (such as science, social studies, or math topics with parents or other professionals); motivational interviews (with positive messages or tips for students); literature focus (parents or community members reading excerpts from favorite children’s books)
- Student spotlights: Featured students read an excerpt from their favorite book
- Teacher spotlights: Interviews with teachers, or teachers reading from their favorite books
- Tips: Homework and school work strategies for success
Podcasting seems to be a great medium for communicating with not only students and parents at home, but with the community. Podcasts from the school could possibly be made ready for download, which would be a bonus. I will continue to brainstorm this summer and see if a more organized plan can be created. Perhaps once the school year starts, teachers, parents, and community members who are interested in making Downtown very Web 2.0 savvy can help with planning and production.
Parents, this is a program I found (through a review in PCMag) that is a kid’s browser with access to over 600,000 websites, pictures and videos reviewed by teachers and parents. As a parent, you receive weekly e-mails that will keep you up-to-date with what your kids are searching for and looking at on KidZui.
This program is available free for download, but a paid membership is available for upgrading available features.
If you’re looking for a web browser that interests younger children, it seems like they would be happy using KidZui and not trying to circumvent parental controls. In any case, it might be worth a look.
From PCMag, Chloe Albanesius
George Lucas , creator of the Star Wars franchise and head of a non-profit group designed to encourage innovation in schools, called on lawmakers Tuesday to create a free, “third Internet” that would be used solely for educational use.
“As we move into the future, most everything’s going to end up wireless and as it ends up wireless, [the government is] going to be auctioning off bandwidth,” Lucas told the House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “As you auction this off, why don’t you just hold some back for schools and libraries?”
Lucas appeared at a hearing about universal service (USF), a fund intended to provide all Americans with access to telecommunications service. Though providing technology services to underserved areas of the country is a laudable goal, USF funding has been a point of contention for years.
The program is currently funded by surcharges on interstate telecom services, which show up on consumers’ landline and cell phone bills. Broadband providers, however, do not pay into the fund, which telecom providers claim is unfair given that some of the USF funds go to provide Internet service to schools and libraries under a program known as “e-rate”.
I found something new, thanks to a fellow teacher blogger (see “Integrating Technology” in my blogroll). It’s called Sprout.
You hopefully can garner most information from their video included there. As the site states:
Sprout is the quick and easy way for anyone to build, publish, and manage widgets, mini-sites, mashups, banners and more. Any size, any number of pages. Include video, audio, images and newsfeeds and choose from dozens of pre-built components and web services.
Seems like a pretty nifty thing. The quality of my sprout is not spectacular, but I whipped it up in about five minutes. It really has a lot of capabilities, so I will improve upon it. What’s great is that I already made a couple changes and I didn’t even have to paste any new code in the blog. It publishes your presentation live, and adjusts any embedded videos. I like that.
Yep.
Highlights Magazine has a section called “Ask Arizona.” Now, this magazine feature is available as a podcast. It can be downloaded, or you can subscribe via iTunes or RSS.
The podcasts have a good production value–quality voice actor, music, and an overall good sound. This is a great resource for teachers or parents. Kids need to ask permission before clicking any buttons on the page, though.
