An update on Podcasting and Blogs!
Podcasting:
One of my best friends is an SBTS in Virginia Beach. For Christmas several years ago she gave me the book, Podcasting for Dummies. To understand our friendship you need to know that we both have a love for life but also a love for teaching, so when we visit we spend half of our time planning lessons together. I know …..we are total nerds – but she is the one who awakened me to my love for technology integration. Anyway, while I appreciated this gift and fully intended to put it to good use the issues of time and coverage have kept it ‘on the shelf’ for the last few years. However, after last week’s lesson of creating the Podcast (Loved working with you Juliana!) I took the book off the shelf and am now reading it in addition to the Richardson book. I LOVE Podcasting. I think this is a great tool to incorporate in the sequence of teaching and learning. How cool would it be to incorporate a Podcast during the 5th grade unit on Sound so the students could see sound waves in action????!!!! I also think that being able to layer the sound effects lends itself to such creative genius. The only drawback is that student could spend all their time exploring these possibilities so there needs to be some time guidelines here – just like when exploring all the music possibilities in Photo Story. Anyway, I really look forward to implanting this tool further!!
Blogging:
Now that I am really paying attention to Blogs I am really taking notice of them everywhere! Last night one of my daughter’s best friends posted on Face Book that she had updated her blog – who knew!!! She was a fashion major in school and is headed to NYC so her Blog is Seeks in the City…..Check it out!!!
On another note…..I felt totally kicked in the gut this week when receiving some news via a Blog. If you read my first Blog entry it told you that my only experience to date had been with friends using Blogs to update friends and family on medical conditions. When getting update notices via email on this Blog - for a dear friend’s 5 year old niece with leukemia – I had learned one thing. When the email notification came that there was a subject that the either read:
· Urgent update …. Or
· New Update….
I learned that when the subject line read: Urgent Update something had happened, and also realized that when the subject line said New Update that there was no cause for alarm.
Well, earlier this week I got an update with the subject line that stated “New Update”. Here is what it said.
Allison passed away this morning
During the lung biopsy, Allie started bleeding and went into cardiac arrest. They were unable to revive her. More details to follow on a memorial service/funeral.
I think this type of Blog should have come with a disclaimer to take a “deep breath” before reading. I felt totally kicked in the gut.
