Good Podcasts for educators

For quality podcasts: Ericka suggests teacherpodcasts.org, Dr. Davis suggests the itunes store under the education tab.

Wikis in Plain English

Podcasts

So can you tell the whole Podcast thing is overwhelming me? I didn't realize I've already made 3 posts about it, each one helping me wrap my head around the idea and its ramifications. It was very enlightening to learn about all of the audio and video material available to download. I learned that a Podcast is a combination of an ipod and a broadcast and can be audio, or video. You can sycronize your ipod to automatically download the latest version of a podcast.
I really appreciated Sue Eyring's post on her blog explaining Podcasts and how to use them. She also gave some great sites. Go to her blog and view her post for podcasts: http://eyringeducation.blogspot.com/.

I did find a few good educational sites myself;
http://www.learnoutloud.com/ where I downloaded a couple of articles, http://www.podbean.com/, and http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/infolit/edupodcast/

My e-portfolio is up and running

I spent last night at the Computer Lab with Erica, Stacy, and Deanna. With their help, I was able to get my e-portfolio constructed. It's looking pretty good. I just need to play with it more to know I've got it down.

Yesterday I learned about Podcasts and how handy they can be. I was impressed to hear that Sue Eyring's husband was instructed by his principle to incorporate podcasting in his lesson plans. Technology is incorporating itself into education.

My heading should open the link to my e-portfolio.

Dr. Davis's China Blog

davisatsdu.blogspot.com---Dr. Davis's China blogspot.

About Podcasts

Cathy: go to "podcasting in Plain English" on utube. (Pod=Personal On Demand).
To get podcasts, you need a "Podcatcher."

Sue: lots of podcasts are available for teachers. Lots available on itunes, teacherspodcast.org, epnweb.org (the education podcast network). (eyringeducation.blogspot.com). itunesu are all educational podcasts.

podcasts are like RSS feeds.

for better or worse, the Webquest is published

Well, my webquest is published. It would be so neat if someone actually used it, or added to it. I am just excited to have accomplished that project, and I hope to utilize webquests in my teaching strategies. I think they are a great idea--such a valuable way to incorporate technology and higher thinking skills into one activity.
This entry's title should take you to my published webquest.

More on Wikis

I added Laurie's wiki suggestion to my wiki list. What a fun idea, to gather traditions from around the world.
I am almost done with my Webquest. I feel like it could be a never-ending work in progress because I keep thinking of things I could add to make it better. I am hoping to feel good enough about it tomorrow to just turn it in. I need to just let it go so I can sleep again--the other night hyperlinks went over and over in my head while I slept.

Wikis

I stuck my toe into the waters of wikis. I opened an account, but don't know what to do with it yet. I did edit a page about presidents of the U.S, adding a link to a good website for information. I also looked around at what's out there, and what other classroom communities are using it for. I found a great wiki for learning French; the teacher incorporated some really good ideas and keeps her wiki very active. I also found a cute interactive story developed by a class in Scotland. The story took you into a cave and depending on your decision in certain situations, told you if you died or lived to make another decision. I died right off the bat, but then went in and replayed. I can tell which sex came up with each scenario--some were pretty violent, and then others were about chocolate! A very fun idea for a classroom.

Catch up time

I have been so attached to this computer lately it's crazy. With beachweek coming up, I'm trying to get all of my assignments in early--it's meant a lot of time on the computer and a lot of crawling into bed at 1:00 AM. The Webquest assignment is the one that has me the most worried. Last night I dreamed about hyperlinks over and over and over....argh!

More new technology to absorb

I am amazed at the technology available to us these days. I'm looking forward to practicing applying it all to my teaching instruction.
I just opened a bookmark account on delicious. Kelli mentioned a cool one on flickr that I'm anxious to learn about in her presentation tomorrow. Kelli also mentioned how helpful the uen blogger class was, so I'm going to check that out to hopefully improve my blog.
It's so easy to get lost in time on the computer--clicking from one site to the next. It's like a labyrinth that leads me further and further into a maze of information. I often forget what my original objective was.

Learning about Islam

I spent last night finishing my PowerPoint about Muslims for my multicultural education class. I am glad I chose Muslims because I learned so much. It reinforeced the concept for me to examine different cultures and societies with the aim of finding common ground. In this case, I found many of my beliefs harmonize with those of Islam. I feel like I've just made millions of new friends.

There was a lot of information on the internet. I think I ended up going to 10 different sites for my little 12 minute presentation. On article that I really appreciated though was one from an LDS perpective written in 2002,titled, "An LDS perspective of Muhammad." The title of this entry will take you to the article. Regardless of your denomination, it offers a lot of information.

Rob Bentley at UEN is very smart

I just viewed a very interesting presentation on uen about interactive PowerPoint. Rob Bentley showed us a couple (of many) websites that have game shows and templates set up for use with PowerPoint. He demonstrated how an already existing game can be adapted to your own questions (easier than creating a game from scratch).
He also explained the technology behind the tool and I was pleased to know I understood most of what he was saying. Thanks ed tech! I have a long way to go, but I'm making progress.
Click the title of this entry to go to Mr. Bentley's uen page, then go to educational games and find the PowerPoint folder.

Math 4 - Act. 16: Defining: Cylinders, Cubes, & Prisms

Math 4 - Act. 16: Defining: Cylinders, Cubes, & Prisms

Another lesson idea for a webquest. I can see having a section on classifying, and having a section on architectural history or science.

Iguana Algebra

Iguana Algebra

Here is a lesson plan worth expanding on for a webquest. It's designed for grade 4.

About RSS feeds.

It's been a long night. I was up all night trying to get organized and caught up with all of my computer work. I made it just in time to start a new day with new assignments.
I'm supposed to share some RSS feeds this morning for our online class. RSS feeds is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. One site explained RSS as "Really Simple Syndication," another explained it as "Rich Site Summary," so I still don't know exactly what RSS stands for.
I found a pretty interesting website called RSS Orange that has hundreds and hundreds of RSS fee URL's--any topic you can think of. I really like viewing Ericka's blog to get ideas. My next goal is to get a video to my blog page. I also need a picture of myself. I'll have Mitch take one of me--on another day, after I've slept.

go comics crazy

Well, today was our first online class. What an adventure. I'm sure it will get better as we become more comfortable with the format. I found a fun website called Pixton.com, where you can make your own comics. I thought creating a comic strip would be a fun way to incorporate humor into a lesson plan--or let the kids create their own to practice a concept taught. Click on the title of this entry and it will take you there.

favorite thing I learned about today; flickr.com

My brain feels maxed out and it's only 9:00 A.M. I need to practice, practice, practice. We learned about creating slide shows on both Microsoft office and Microsoft photo story 3. We practiced getting into the wimba room (I just hope it's as easy at home as it is here).
Some sights of interest were; cutestblogontheblock.com for dressing up a blog page, Microsoft photo story 3 as listed above, uen from yesterday for all sorts of help. My favorite one though is the website flickr.com that has images that are public domain. Click on today's heading to take you there.

inspiration

This is a really neat site. It's a site to create concept maps, graphing maps--lots more. To check it out, click on the entry title (inspiration).

day 2 in ed-tech

Today is day 2 of educ. technology. I feel like I'm treading water to survive, however, my head is still above the water so that's a good sign. The blog wouldn't accept my initial password, so I went to make a new blog-spot. Now I have to figure out which address I'm on right now.