Been meaning to write up some quick thoughts about Google Teacher Academy: Chicago, but realize that time is fleeting and I just didn't see myself getting to it soon. SO, I decided to go the video route and do a quick vlog wrapup about it.
FYI, that's the last time I use the camera on the front of the phone. While it's great because I can see comments that are typed in live, and I can see myself and make sure I'm centered and such, the quality is SO much worse than the camera on the back. So from now on, I use the good camera and even if it's a little laggy while watching it live, at least the archive will look much better. And let's face it, thats' much longer lasting.
It's no secret that I'm fascinated by live video streaming. I've never been one to do much editing, I like my media authentic, unscripted and unfiltered. And that's the way I've always podcasted, well back when I used to do it on a regular basis (more often than once year).
Well, in the last month I switched from the Samsung Blackjack to the Nokia N95 which has an unbelievable video camera built into it which is perfect for live streaming. Since Nokia's happen to be compatible with just about everything, I've got my choice of sites to use including Qik, Flixwagon, Kyte, Seesmic and more. My favorite right now happens to be Qik, which is what I used at NECC several times over, including the incredibly fun pair of broadcasts on airplanes before they took off.
However, as with with any new technology, I think the best way to figure out where it fits into my professional life is to start off playing. Try things out, experiment a bit, throw things up against the wall and see what sticks. And that's what I've been doing with Qik lately.
Last week, I did my first CarCast in quite a long time (download link). I used an old hair tie to strap my phone to my suction cup GPS mount. Then I hit broadcast and recording the commute home, talking head style. Since it as mounted, I was able to keep my eyes on the road, and just shoot glances at the camera on occasion, to make sure it was still broadcasting. Very fun. I enjoyed it so much that I've actually bought a mount specifically for the phone in the car.
A couple of days later I rode my bike to work. On the way home, I realized that if I stuck the phone in the little pocket one of the backpack straps has, it would probably hold the phone in place well enough to do a BikeCast (download link). And so I did. Threw on my helmet, hopped on the bike, and broadcast my ride home. Well, most of it anyway, I kinda ran out of battery before I got there. Regardless, it worked rather well for the first time! People were able to join me for the ride home in real time, and you can see the archive now. It's a little slanty, so sit down if you get motion sickness easily.
So what does all this mean for education? To be honest, I'm not sure. Would I recommend everybody start broadcasting their commutes every day? Well, no. But this seems significant to me and worth more exploration. It feels powerful. It seems like it opens up new doors. Imagine being able to share accomplishments with parents in real time. To broadcast successes, make the classroom more transparent than ever before. What do we do with it? I don't know, but maybe we can figure it out together.
However, we're not the only ones trying to figure out what it all means. In fact, there's a certain Representative from Texas that has been doing some rather interesting things with Qik. Last week, when the Republicans staged their protest before the House let out for a 5 week recess, the lights were shut off, the microphones were shut off, and the cameras were shut off. So was the general public blocked off? Not by a long shot. John Culberson, representative from Texas, continued the broadcast via his cell phone. He had interviews, covered a press conference, and provided the only glimpse into what was fascinating day in US politics. An integral part of the political system, it may not be. But there's definitely some significance that bears more contemplation, exploration and innovation.
I?m a high school teacher. Like all high schools, we are dealing with a problem that sucks time, energy, and resources like a black hole: cellphones. We waged a similar battle a few years back with iPods, and although stakes seem much higher now, the fundamental argument is the same. The argument is:
1] cellphones are a distraction
2] cellphones present a potential liability in terms of cheating on tests
3] cellphones are a distraction
.
So I?m asking for some insight on how to sell this to an administration that is overwhelmed with a hundred more important things, and to a school board that feels that two $500 computers are twice as good as one $1,000 machine. What?s the answer?
I'm so fed up with these arguments. Paper clips are a distraction. Spiral notebooks are a distraction. And as we've seen recently, students certainly do NOT need a cell phone to cheat on an exam.
So off the top of my head, I decided to rattle off a few things that cell phones could be good for.
And that's off the top of my head, spur of the moment. Give me some time and I'm sure we can come up with a much more comprehensive list.
So let's stop exerting so much energy trying to ‘bust' students for carrying the same devices the rest of us carry. Rather, let's start focusing on how we can use them to improve education in the classroom. You know, prepare them for the world and such.
Can you guess what's on my mind in this podcast? That's right, the two hottest buzzwords in the EdTech community right now. Twitter and Second Life. I'm about as bullish on Twitter as you can get, and I'm really starting to sink my teeth into SL now. On the verge of being a land owner too, thanks to some guidance from Kevin Jarrett (KJ Hax) and Fleet Goldenberg. As to Twitter, I was blown away by reading this blog post by Rob Wall. Just read through that one before you ask me again what the point of Twitter is. I'm still not sure of the answer, but I'm pretty darn certain that it has a point! Heh, that's some improvement at least
How many feeds do you have? I'm not asking how many you subscribe to, rather how many do you own? Do you have a blog or two? A del.icio.us account? Have you posted a YouTube video? Do you have a podcast? Share photos on Flickr? All of these sites and tools create RSS feeds. It occurred to me that when you roll all of those feeds together, you'd really have something that encompasses my entire online identity, a Life Feed if you will. That got me thinking about what it will be like for this next generation of students. As they enter our classrooms, their lives will be public in ways we have never even considered yet. Take my son Aiden for example. Hundreds of photos and a handful of videos and he's just a couple of days past three months. Am I really going to care if his teacher posts a photo of him on the class website with his name underneath it? Find out in this podcast!
I'm not sure how many people discuss the pros and cons of allowing public blog commenting on students blogs at their seder table, but that's what's on my mind! The Kathy Sierra situation and Stop Cyberbullying day has left a taste in my mouth worse than matzah with a heaping helping of horseradish. So in this podcast, I share my thoughts about why comments on students blogs should be left wide open most of the time, even though I fully realize that it might open them up to public slamming. I'm really not a bad guy for the most part, so you'll just have to listen and then tell me if I'm absolutely nuts.
Ladies and Gentleman, this is the third podcast in as many days. Being published a day behind, but that's no big deal. And I do believe that I've now published as many podcasts this week as the last 12 months combined. Yikes!
Topic: Filters. *grunt* What are they good for? Absolutely nothing! Heh, even while typing I have a bad singing voice. Regardless, I was thinking yesterday about what service filters really serve our schools. Do they really accomplish what we think they do? And of course, the million dollar question, will I put filters on Aiden's computer when he begins surfing the internet at the ripe ol' age of 18 months?
Sorry about the clipping and the background noise. It was raining out, which doesn't sound as cool as I thought it would.
Two for two! This podcast was recorded yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to upload it till now. Audio kinda stinks, but sometimes you just have to make do with the tools you have. The fact that I could still create a podcast despite the fact that I had no equipment just makes me so happy I could do the snoopy dance.
The primary question of the show is, where's the really good free stuff that is built with education in mind? Where's the EduDelicious? The EduBloglines? The EduFlickr? And I'm not talking about some hack of it that has an ‘edu' added to the front of it, I'm talking something really designed with classrooms in mind? Teachers, students, parents, and so on? I find it incredible that the stuff still doesn't exist. I also discuss a couple out of the box, "Steve must be certifiably crazy" ideas for where they might come from. Things that will never happen, but could if we put our heads together and got organized (we being the edublogging community).
I know, I know. It's been freakin' forever. But yes, I have uploaded a podcast. It's about 16 minutes long. It doesn't have a fancy intro. In fact, there's no music or editing at all. No guests, no new resources for you, heck it probably doesn't even merit show notes. It's just me, unplugged and uncensored.
It has been so long since I last podcasted that I felt a weird pressure to put up something really really good, or at least something mildly significant. I talk about it in the podcast, but for some reason I felt like people had expectations of me. Well, today I realized that I was being stupid. I've taught hundreds of teachers (literally) how to podcast in the last year, and yet I'm not doing it myself.
How can I get up there in front of teachers and say, "It's so easy, it takes virtually no time, and you can be doing it RIGHT NOW." And the entire time I'm thinking in the back of my mind, "That's all well and good, but are you leading by example?" And the answer was no.
So it's time to kick myself back into gear, dust off the ol' microphone and get back to blabbering. There's just too much to share!
Yikes, this is starting to become a habit again! This podcast recaps a few conversations that were scattered around NECC and the DEN National Leadership Conference. I've heard from many people that the most valuable part of the last few conferences they've attended have been the conversations that have occured with other attendee's and presenters outside of the actual workshops. If that's the case, then why aren't we creating more opportunities for such conversations? Perhaps it's time for a new EduBlogger's unConference, utilizing the Open Space format. Anybody want to take a trip to Chicago if I put it together?
If you haven't explored the Library of Congress website lately, you should. I spent some time in their booth and NECC and was impressed by what they have to offer there. While I wasn't impressed with the layout of the site, the content is well worth wading through. I also discovered that using the advanced search feature of Google Images can certainly make finding images there much more manageable. The summer months are a great time to find new ways to fill out the curriculum, and orignial source material definitely helps your students put things in perspective historically.
I know, it sounds crazy, but I've got a podcast to share! It's the night before NECC and if all goes well, I'm going to have a bunch of audio to share throughout the conference. July is actually going to be a pretty busy conference month, so I should have stuff to share throughout the next three weeks or so. I talk about that, some life updates, my new podcasting rig, and a little bit about my favorite hot topic lately, Office 2.0 applications. Think of it as a taste of more to come! I'm a little rusty, see if you can tell the difference between being rusty and my normal self. I'm not really sure my wife could even tell the difference!
Dave Warlick posted a year end podcast containing a few hundred interviews with teachers encouraging them to think about what the classroom of 2015 would look like. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the projections of many of the teachers. I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a pessimistic view of the next ten years, I just don't think the world of education is going to change that dramatically in a decade. If we've learned anything, it's that schools are slow to change and that it takes time for things to move through the layers.
However, I do foresee some very positive things happening in the near future. So I hope you enjoy this little peek into the future through the eyes of an average schmo sitting on his sofa with his dog.
Show notes: Connect Learning: David Warlick's 50th post, looking to the year 2015. The Academic Aesthetic: It's Aaron's open interview that I'm responding to at the end of the podcast.
It's sad to say, but the Teach42 podcast is going back to the dark side. I'm selling off my Powerbook and need to figure out the best way to create a podcast in a Windows environment. I spent a few hours prior to this podcast trying out some different software. I never found one that I was thrilled with, but I did find that Castblaster worked for me. I haven't bought into it yet (it's $50). I'm going to try to do a couple episodes with it and try out any other software that I find, but for now it's my number one choice. I also talk briefly about what's going on over at the new job and a nice little conversation that has evolved regarding aggregators and email subscriptions. Before the show closes, I also ramble on a bit about an article in the Chicago Sun Times concerning some students on Xanga who made some threats against a teacher. It's too bad, but it's another brick in the wall many schools are building against incorporating blogging in their classes.
If any of you have any great suggestions for recording podcasts in Windows XP, I'd love to hear some suggestions!
Show notes: Blawgthink 2005: A conference for legal bloggers created by Matt Homann Open Space: A chaotic, but productive way to facilitate a conference. I dig it. Michael Herman: An expert is Open Space meetings and kind enough to allow me to broadcast his introduction.
