Today I listened to two podcasts. The first was called the Edible Schoolyard and was about a class in Caloifornia in which the kids grow a garden. This teaches them lessons such as teamwork, math,and cooking because they eat the food as well. I love hands on learning and from what I heard, the kids do too.
The second podcast was called a Night in the Global Village and was about an Arkansas schools field trip to the global village. They learned how other people around the world live, How they eat, sleep and go about their days.
These podcasts can be used by me as a teacher because I can get ideas about what other classes are doing.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
iTunes U
iTunes can be used for many great things and if you just play around with it, you might find some really cool things. One such thing is iTunes U, which is a section of iTunes in which teachers post various things that are designed to enhance their class lessons, such as lectures.
This is great beacuse you can also get stuff from other colleges. So I could get a lesson from a teacher at Duke if I wanted to. This may help me because I may like that way that teacher explains it more than mine. Or a teacher can go on here and borrow from another teachers lessons. Also, anything with an internet connection can access it, so computers, iPods, and cell phones can access this content. This makes it readily available.
This is great beacuse you can also get stuff from other colleges. So I could get a lesson from a teacher at Duke if I wanted to. This may help me because I may like that way that teacher explains it more than mine. Or a teacher can go on here and borrow from another teachers lessons. Also, anything with an internet connection can access it, so computers, iPods, and cell phones can access this content. This makes it readily available.
Ipods for Education?
According to Apple, the iPod was released in 2001. That seems like so long ago. Most teachers at South don't allow iPods in their classrooms but, when you think about the ways in which the iPod could be used for education, maybe they should. For one way, maybe you could download a lecture to your iPod and listen to it at your own pace. You could even fast forward and rewind it.
One school that is using iPods is Duke. You can check out http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499533/20050404/index.jhtml?headlines=true for all the info on it. Basically, Duke gave their freshman iPods that were preloaded with Univeristy content such as calendars, and lecture information through a special Duke site that is modeled on iTunes. I think that it is a great idea, and more teachers should post their lectures to iTunes, that we could listen to at our own pace in order to help us study.
One school that is using iPods is Duke. You can check out http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499533/20050404/index.jhtml?headlines=true for all the info on it. Basically, Duke gave their freshman iPods that were preloaded with Univeristy content such as calendars, and lecture information through a special Duke site that is modeled on iTunes. I think that it is a great idea, and more teachers should post their lectures to iTunes, that we could listen to at our own pace in order to help us study.
Alice Christie
Today, I checked out www.alicechristie.org and it is certainly very informative. Basically, the site is a compilation of all her knowledge of teaching from her forty years of experience. I looked at the Educational Technology section of her website and found a couple of things that were pretty interesting.
She has a video in this section about how in technology everybody is a learner and a teacher too. I thought that was cool. She also has links in this section about things ranging from podcasts, to email, to even just basic internet safety. I do believe that teachers should use technology to enhance their classrooms, and I know that I will let my kids teach me about the things that they are using and try to incorpporate their pop culture and technology into my class, just like she did.
She has a video in this section about how in technology everybody is a learner and a teacher too. I thought that was cool. She also has links in this section about things ranging from podcasts, to email, to even just basic internet safety. I do believe that teachers should use technology to enhance their classrooms, and I know that I will let my kids teach me about the things that they are using and try to incorpporate their pop culture and technology into my class, just like she did.
Is Wikipedia Reliable?
Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites ever and is certainly the most used web source for information, but there's always been a concern about its reliability because anyone can edit it at any time.
One of the big problems with anyone being able to edit any entry at any time is that sometimes companies will edit their own entries or post info about their products that may or may not be true.
Also, some people just go on Wikipedia to mess with things or delete things.
But there are steps being made in order to secure Wikipedia's entries.This guy named Virgil Griffith made this program that tracks anyone who posts anything to Wikipedia, so that noone can change anything anonymously anymore.
I use Wikipedia all the time, and I haven't ever come across any false information, but I've heard stories of people who have, so I've cut back and only use it for my personal curiosities and never for any class work or anything like that. Most teachers now wont let you use it as a source. I trust it but I can see how some people wouldn't. I dont know if it's reliabile, but it sure is convenient and popular.
One of the big problems with anyone being able to edit any entry at any time is that sometimes companies will edit their own entries or post info about their products that may or may not be true.
Also, some people just go on Wikipedia to mess with things or delete things.
But there are steps being made in order to secure Wikipedia's entries.This guy named Virgil Griffith made this program that tracks anyone who posts anything to Wikipedia, so that noone can change anything anonymously anymore.
I use Wikipedia all the time, and I haven't ever come across any false information, but I've heard stories of people who have, so I've cut back and only use it for my personal curiosities and never for any class work or anything like that. Most teachers now wont let you use it as a source. I trust it but I can see how some people wouldn't. I dont know if it's reliabile, but it sure is convenient and popular.
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
Today, I watched the last lecture of Randy Pausch. It was his last lecture because he died of pancreas cancer. He didnt shy away from this issue at any point during his lecture. In fact, it was a big part of his lecture, but he also was very quick to say that this would not be focus of his lecture. He even showed us some pictures of his house and his family. He said that he was looking forward for his family and that he wasnt feeling sorry for himself because of his condition.
He got to do some cool stuff in his life, like going into zero gravity, and being an imagineer for Disney, where he worked on the movie Aladdin. That part was very cool to me.He shared a lot of his other childhood dreams too.
He also did some pretty cool things with education too. For instance, at Carnige he made a class called virtual reality for $5 a day, in which the students were given a virtual lab to create whatever they wanted with no teachers or deans or anything. He also talked about something called the "head fake". This is taking something that wouldn't be fun in the classroom and making it fun.
I think that he did a great job with this lecture and the fact that he was able to be so happy and cheerful while he was basically dying was very inspirational to me because I could see that he clearly had a love for teaching.
He got to do some cool stuff in his life, like going into zero gravity, and being an imagineer for Disney, where he worked on the movie Aladdin. That part was very cool to me.He shared a lot of his other childhood dreams too.
He also did some pretty cool things with education too. For instance, at Carnige he made a class called virtual reality for $5 a day, in which the students were given a virtual lab to create whatever they wanted with no teachers or deans or anything. He also talked about something called the "head fake". This is taking something that wouldn't be fun in the classroom and making it fun.
I think that he did a great job with this lecture and the fact that he was able to be so happy and cheerful while he was basically dying was very inspirational to me because I could see that he clearly had a love for teaching.
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