Podcasts (The best kept secret - and I hate secrets)

So we still have a few weeks until the Podcasting section of our class, but I went ahead and looked up the podcast idea and information through Google, which took me to Wikipedia which gave me some great information. I was suprised at how many podcasts were avaialble and the subjects...
For instance: I am an English Major. For years I have been learning how to write a great paper. I have learned the differences in expectations between teachers. I have honed my skills in configuring a compelling thesis statement and I can make anything a great topic sentence. However, I watched 3 podcasts on good storytelling called Ira Glass on Storytelling #1, #2, #3.
I learned that  when making a video story, I should never write the script like a paper. No thesis statement, no topic sentences, no summary. I would treat the script like an anectote.  A sequence of actions which ask a question (not literally, figuratively) and then an answer to the question. I will write to manipulate the work so that the viewer is always asking the next question, and then getting an answer.
Many times the sequence is great, but has a lousy moment of reflection. And other times, the outcome is exactly the opposite.
Ira Glass said "Failure is a big part of success". If you are not failing, you are not trying -- And one can never be afraid to try it out -- but kill it if it is crap.
He did say that almost everyone who is successful has good taste, but they do crappy work for years before they get it right. The only way to "get it right" is by doing it every day, work on a deadline -- even when you aren't being paid -- and that volume is the only thing that will close the gap between crappy work and the sublime.
Ira Glass is an NPR journalist who has been in the business for 30 years.
Addendum: The two students who shared with the class their podcast ideas did a great job. Itunes.com has a magnificent selection of Podcasts including language selections as well as many other learning resources.

Photo Sharing At it's finest

I signed up for flickr several weeks ago and downloaded some photos on to it, however the value of social photo sharing really came into play this week when I was preparing a power point presentation for my Multi Etnic Literature class. I needed some photos of Liberia and sure enough, there were several that I was able to use. I gave credit to the photographer either under the photo or at the end, but WOW, it was so simple and I didn't have to worry about getting myself into trouble.
Flickr Photo Sharing

Thursday 7/15 Last Official Blog for Ed 2500

Today I am completing the requirements for my blog. I will turn it in for my points this afternoon. It is almost bitter sweet, to coin a phrase, but I have learned a lot from this experience.
I had no idea that there was so much information out there for technology in education.
I learned about RSS feeds and other sites that keep me up to date, with daily information that will be pertinent as I get further and further into the teaching profession.
Second, I actually learned something about Wiki's. I hope I get the appropriate points on this topic, but I will admit that I never made any changes to any wiki sites and this is the reason why. I logged on and created my own account, but the reality is that I didn't feel like I had anything to contribute. If I felt like I was an expert on something, I wouldn't have a problem, but I am not... so I couldn't make a contribution.
The bookmark sharing was awesome. In fact, I was at the college library and needed a site I couldn't remember and sure enough, I had put it on my delicious site.
Photo sharing was pretty cool. I like the idea of a legal sharing site where I don't have to worry about whether it is ok for me to use and music as well.
Podcasts are not new for me however I didn't realize that I could download them on my computer for later use so that was very useful.
I will continue to work on this even though it will be turned in for the points.
Thanks Dr. Davis. This was a super informative class and I believe that my final tech-badge will be greatly improved from 4 weeks ago.

Photo Story 3 Success at last...

Tuesday In Class

I have to be honest. The online class is not my first choice... I would much rather meet face to face. I am SO frustrated with webquest. I would love to throw it out the window. Who has this much time to just sit and fiddle on the computer. It takes more time to figure these programs out than I have in a day.
Honestly, isn't there a way to do this that is easier?

I truly believe that I am intelligent enough to get this but I am getting angry that the program is so difficult to get into. GRRR...

Monday 7/12/2010 On my own

I viewed the online UEN class UEN Lesson Plan and Rubric Tools. I will admit that I have been uptight about creating my own lesson plans correctly and trying to create a rubric from scratch. Watching the video put my mind at ease and I found that like any other technical function, it's really all about the time I invest in the software.
The tutorial gave a lot of detailed information, some that went right over my head, however there were alot of new things that really helped me feel more confident.
On another note, I have completed all of the assigned UEN videos as well as my rationales. I have only my blog, Lesson Plan and presentation yet to complete so will continue to work on them.
Two weeks remain in summer session. Wow.

Time to catch up on the blog...

I am not sure how the week got away from me, but it did. I have been so busy working on Rationales, Web Quest and UEN papers I somehow forgot to keep up on this blog. I have been terrific on my other blog, but oh well.
Anyway, I am done with my Rationales. The word rationale sounds so much bigger than the actual paper or project and now that we have done six, the rest will be easy. It's just a matter of telling someone else "why" I believe that the artifact fits into the exact value.
Web Quest is not hard, just time consuming for the first couple of times. The first one got tossed for one reason; it was stupid. The one I am working on now is for Juniors and Seniors and will be a collaborative project which will include social studies and the math department as well as English. I think it will be fun.
The UEN classes are amazing and like I said in class, I should have watched them the first week (and, yes, Dr. Davis did suggest it, but there were so many other things to keep up on.)

I am not feeling so overwhelmed anymore. I think this techy stuff is awesome, but I am not used to sitting for so long and my bum hurts after a few hours.

Digital Storytelling

Even though my Photo Story 3 project has already been completed, I wanted to find out more so that I could use it in the future. I went to the UEN site and watched DIGITAL STORYTELLING for one of my 4 UEN assignements.
I learned several new things.
First, I had no idea that Window had a movie maker which was nice to learn.
The infomation regarding video importing was very helpful as well as the suggestions for classroom use. I could actually see myself doing a project with my grandkids to use this at home. Kids can use this to "paint" there own stuff and make a story board out of the story. It could be used as an opportunity for classroom collaboration as well.
There was some super useful information on triming, sizing and editing.
A few minor things to work around such as the fact that you can't insert an audio track and narration at the same time. But that is something that you could work around.
The video was helpful but several of the things he tried to show didn't exactly work like he wanted and I never got to see the finished product.
He did remind viewers that it was all wasted unless it was saved appropriately.
He also took us to his personal blog which listed several bookmarks and some other cool gadgets.

Blogging with Blogger and instructions from the UEN website

I have been working on techy stuff all weekend for this class. Much of which has been done by trial and error, however I will say that my quest for knowledge is paying off.
I have now watched the "blogging with blogger" on the UEN website (something I should have done eons ago) and I am certain that it will make blogging easier and certainly more productive.

More about Wikis, New info on Web Quest and loads of homework

So I was too busy yesterday trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing to even think about my rationales. I feel like Dr. Davis thinks we don't have any other classes. This should be a two part class cuz there is too much for one short summer semester... I asked today and several people feel as I do...Too much, too quick.
Wikis seem unreliable as anyone can change, update or add/delete information. I am so skeptical of the information on Wikis that I don't really want to even attach my name to one. I am not an expert in ANYTHING so how is it I can post information regarding anything...
Web Quest on the other hand, looks amazing and I can't wait to play with that a little more. I don't exactly get why we are creating lesson plans yet, but I will just go with this and not ask too many questions.
I am so glad we have a long weekend so I can catch up.
My rationales will all be done this weekend and I will catch up on the techy stuff.
Grrr. Overwhelmed.