Podcasting, Technology Resources, & iTunes U, Comment 4 Kids Week 7

Comments for Kids Week 7:
This week for my Comments4Kids assignment, I was assigned to a young girl who recently moved from Samoa to New Zealand. Her name is Jordenne and she is 3rd grade. Her video on that she posted on her blog page was about her goal for the school year. Jordenne said, "She wants to learn how to post her story to the computer." I told her that I thought that this was a great goal, and that I'd come back and read her story later.


PLN update:
I'm actually just getting started with my PLN. I want to focus primarily on the subject of English--writing and literature. Here are some ideas and goals I have thus far:I want to find new ways to teach about classic literature, preferably at the high school level. I'm interested in helping students with new approaches to writing. I created a Twitter account today, so if anyone wants to follow me my name is springtylr . I started following Richard Byre and am right now using it as a home base until I can discover more on my own.



A Resource for Teachers:
Dr. Alice Christie's Site

Dr. Christie's site is a resource for teachers that would like to use technology in the classroom. The site is filled with resources that can help a teacher get started. The site also provides a list of articles on technology based topics such as text messaging and the average 13-year-old. It provides an extensive list of emerging uses of technology for the classroom, for example electronic portfolios. The site even has a guide for parents and teachers to help them understand the new lingo of Instant Messaging. She provides fundamental principles of the internet, including safety and defines internet terms.

This site is one to BOOKMARK! It is a well-spring of knowledge that can help any old-school teacher navigate through and make sense of the internet. I found this site beneficial to teachers because she has so many great ideas. I really like that she refers to teachers and students as "co-learners". She talks about not only podcast, electronic portfolios, and web design, but talks about emerging technologies like Second Life, Flickr, and Delicious. I see this site being very useful to secondary education teachers because using some of these technologies in the classroom could really engage students if used properly and enhance learning.

iTunesU Benefits as a Teacher and Student

iTunes U is part of the iTunes Store. It is a collection of free educational media available. This use of technology can be beneficial to students, teachers, and anyone else that wants to learn. Different campuses allow access exclusively to material on their own pages. This can be beneficial to the students in that they have readily available access to educational material. By using iTunesU teachers are allowing students to be active learner 24-7.

iTunes can also be beneficial to teachers too. Instructors at the college level especially, can post information to iTunes U. It becomes in a sense 'mobile learning' like the site says. iTunes U also allows a medium by which fellow instructors and professionals can collaborate. In the classroom, access to countless educational resources could enhance learning in a lecture. I think this can really change the way students learn in that they can move at their own pace. It would give students specific questions to ask regarding material they don't understand rather than expect them to unrealistically read entire chapters and books.


Duke at iTunes U
Not only just elementary school kids understand the benefits of recording podcast, but even Duke's University is using this educational tool. Duke University is participating in a podcast program, which contains free academic content in some cases at the global level. The site can be accessed at http://itunes.duke.edu/ Professors place content on this site in order for students to have easy access to material. There is a log in for students and a log in for the public. From lectures series to speeches, there are countless free podcasts at iTunes at Duke University. Check it out!

iTunes at Duke took me one click to access Duke on iTunes. I looked up English because that is what subject area I want to teach, but there are not many podcasts in the English Department, which was really disappointing. It seems like subject areas of law, history, business had more to offer listeners. As a resource for a future English teacher maybe iTunes U. at Duke University isn't the best resource. I'm at hoping for the sake of all English majors at Duke that maybe students have access to more than I do.