More Podcasting Applications

Two very interesting applications of Podcasting that I came across recently that have applications in education. This is in addition to the 4/6 posting for audio in education.

The educational allure of having students create a podcast is that they are up to their neck in an authentic, engaging, and language intensive (writing, revising, rehearsing, speaking) experience. Podcasts are inexpensive also... they can be done with free software (Audacity) and a $5 microphone from almost any computer.

We're going to get our feet wet with creating podcasts at the workshop. For now, here are two examples of Podcasting, one for unique travel guides and the other for workout instruction.

Let a Podcast Be Your Idiosyncratic Guide

By HILARY HOWARD

Published: April 30, 200, New York Times

Podcasts are typically attached to Web sites or blogs that provide information ranging from "show notes" (subject matter from each post), to a comments section, to photographs and news updates.

Independent podcasts like Living in Las Vegas are the most numerous of the genre. Like independent blogs, they tend to be more personal and colorful than their big-media counterparts. Lonely Planet's Turkey podcast, for example, gives vivid sound tours of calls to prayer and of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and has helpful information. But the narration and interviews have a polished, professional feel.

E! Online, Ask the Answer B!tch

by Leslie Gornstein January 21, 2006 E! Online

Subscribers can log on to iTrain.com and download fresh workouts, barked by real live celebrity trainers, once a month. The workouts, which have Mac-user-friendly names like iTread or iClimb, combine cardio, stretching (all that good stuff) and focus on different exercises depending on a customer's favorite way to sweat. The workouts cost as little as 99 cents each, or you can sign up for a subscription.

NJCU Email Announcement

I see the email just went out to the NJCU faculty for this workshop. If you are coming to this site via that message, welcome. I've been working on the material for this workshop for the last four months and working with these issues for the last fifteen years. This site will give you an overview of the content of the workshop. I do want to mention here that the workshop will be interactive and have a some hands-on activities.

Post any questions here. Hope to see you on the 19th.

Chris

Blogs and the News

For the last few months I've been tracking stories and example that integrate blogging and conventional news media (TV and Print). It's part of an effort to examine the role blogs and blogging can play in student research and writing. There is a lot to say and debate about this topic, but the following two stories are indicative of the integration of blogging into news reporting.

The first is a piece by the New York Times Public Editor (4/9/06) on the Times' Blogging projects.

The Times's New Blogs: More Information, Fewer Filters

BLOGGING has made its way to The New York Times. Across the paper's Web site, blogs run by assigned staffers are posting opinions and information they consider insightful on topics such as dining, wine, real estate and the financial world. And The Times has "a bunch on the drawing boards," Jonathan Landman, the deputy managing editor, told me Tuesday.

The other story is how mainstream news services are partnering with bloggers.

Newspapers Sign on to Syndicated Blog Service

by Eric Auchard Sun Apr 9, 5:23 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A syndication service that delivers commentary from 600 bloggers for use by newspaper publishers is set to launch on Tuesday, further blurring the lines that divide blogs and mainstream media. Newspapers are looking to BlogBurst to provide expert blog commentary on travel, women's issues, technology, food, entertainment and local stories, areas where publishers may not have dedicated staff, Pluck Chief Executive Dave Panos said...
In return, a select group of popular bloggers are offered wider distribution for their writings, he said. The online syndicate drives traffic to blog sites, allowing featured bloggers to make money from resulting online advertising fees.

Audio in Education

This is the first installment of an issue that I have been working on for a while--using audio technologies in education. Students learn language skills, for real purposes and audiences, as they collaborate, research and interact with people inside and outside the class. There are several educational applications, based on your subject and grade, and the technology is fairly simple, accessible, and inexpensive (an $8 microphone). I would recommend using Audacity multitrack audio editing software...it's a free, open source, and well respected program. I have a tutorial that can be used for students in grade 4 to adults.

Here are two sites that can be models for educational applications. I've developed work from both of them and we will do some of it at our workshop.

Radio Rookies --a program by WNYC to cultivate teenage radio broadcasters. The program just won a Peabody award for journalism

Art Mobs --a project for art students to create original, engaging (and occasionally subversive) audio tours of art galleries.

Wikipedia in Education

Here are some divergent and sometimes provocative views of Wikipedia--its use in education and its value as a source. This is a topic that we will discuss during the presentation.

Below is an excerpt from Marc Prensky's Search vs Research:

...What should we teach our kids about Wikipedia?

First, that it’s a source. Second, that it’s never the only source.

And third, that merely searching, finding and citing the Wikipedia—or even the Brittanica—does not constitute "research," even by an elementary school kid. Students need to be taught early to cross check information, to consult multiple sources, and to go to, read and cite original documents and sources, where they exist. Especially in this time and political climate, students must be taught not to necessarily believe what they hear or read—even from so-called ‘experts,"—but to always look for additional, corroborating sources. (By the way, that’s the "re" in research.)


"Search vs. Research Or, the Fear of The Wikipedia Overcome by New Understanding for a Digital Era" by Marc Prensky
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Search_vs_Research-01.pdf

"Anonymous Source is Not the Same as Open Source" by Randal Stross March 12, 2006 New York Times, Section 3, page 5.
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1081FFA38550C718DDDAA0894DE404482 (Web version is part of NYTimes Premium Services)

Nature's comparison between Wikipedia and Britannica
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html

"Fatally Flawed" Britannica's Rebuttal to Nature Magazine
http://corporate.britannica.com/britannica_nature_response.pdf

Wikipedia's Article on Britannica's Rebuttal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2006-03-27/Britannica