The Power of Podcasting by Cindy Sheets

My students probably thought I was just exaggerating when I demanded they do an excellent job on their podcast because it would be broadcast to the entire world. Well, much to our surprise, about six months after our podcast was published, I received a phone call from Berlin, Germany! On the other end of the ocean was someone who had heard our podcast  The call was to request permission to include our podcast on their website. (http://www.across-the-ocean.org/)

 I must tell you that my fifth grade students, who had created the podcast as fourth graders, were amazed. (I didn’t explain to them that I was pretty amazed, too!)

 But I really shouldn’t have been surprised – the power of technology really can open up the world. The audience for students’ work is no longer limited to the other students in the class, or to their parents. A real audience is waiting to see and hear what they’ve accomplished.

 Since then, my students have created a number of podcasts. Topics have ranged from the ancient Greek Olympics to “Stars Who Give Back.”  Not only are they sharing what they’ve learned, but they are also using a number of skills: planning, organizing, group/teamwork, writing, and speaking, just to name a few.

 If you’re a beginner, there is a lot of help out there and a variety of tools to use.

I would start with Tony Vincent’s website, http://learninginhand.com/podcasting/.

Tony has a wealth of resources for everyone, including step-by-step directions. You can also visit the Our City page to hear podcasts from around the nation and world. You can even stop by and hear my students’ work at  http://learninginhand.com/storage/ourcity/kanasas_city/index.html.

 So give it a try – with podcasting, “the world IS your stage!”

 

Cindy Sheets, Vice President: Advocates for High Ability Learners (AHA-Learners.org)

Elementary Gifted Facilitator, Shawnee Mission, KS

 

Other resources:

http://www.apple.com/education/podcasting/

http://stager.org/podcasting.html

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec700/pod/resources.htm

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/sites/sites074.shtml

Click the Creative Outlets Tab

For those of you who don’t have Facebook, we will post some of the ideas and discussions from Facebook under the Creative Outlets Tab. If you have any ideas, student projects, or news related to computers and technology, please email Jennifer Troester so she can post it here. selt33@gmail.com 

We would love to see our members network more and share ideas.

Gearing up for NAGC 2012 in Denver

The proposal process is open and we hope you consider submitting a proposal for NAGC 2012 in Denver. The Computer and Technology Network hopes to have a list of excellent sessions for attendees to learn from in the coming year. With each conference, the sessions get better and better. We hope you plan to share how you use technology as a tool for your students and how your students use technology for their products. The deadline is January 30th.

http://nagc.scsubmissions.com/index.aspx

 

WELCOME TO SPRING

I hope that everyone is enjoying some spring like weather today. Here in North Carolina the temperature just hit 80 degrees. Before you get too jealous, the pollen is already in full force.

Without further adieu, he is the lastest Tech Tool Tuesday from the NAGC Computers & Technology Network.

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This will serve as the last call for anyone interested in being part of the planning committee for the first ever NAGC video competition for gifted students. Do not delay in emailing Brian Housand at brianhousand@gmail.com

Your experience and expertise are needed.

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TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS!

NAGC is looking for new leadership for the C&T Network. If you have been a member of this network for the past two years and have a passion for technology and gifted education, I encourage to run for either the Chair or Chair-Elect for this network. If you have any questions about what is involved with the position, please contact me at brianhousand@gmail.com To apply for the position CLICK HERE to download the application form. All nomination materials must be postmarked by APRIL 11, 2011.

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Update from Texas: Part 2

By Diane Witt

DeeWitt@aol.com

The fourth and fifth grade gifted Connections students from Lundy Elementary school in El Paso, Texas have been learning to blog.

Their teacher, Margaret Clay has been using a blogging tool  with her students. Class blogmeister, (classblogmeister.com) is a free tool that encourages writing. David Warlick, author of four books on instructional technology created the web site. It allows students to have their own blogs. Teachers can monitor the posts and discussions while students take part in the process and ownership of their work. Tutorials are available on how to set up an account and publish to their blog page. A student contract and parent permission form are also available. Best of all, there is no cost.

These fourth and fifth grade students are required to post assignments on their blog. One main assignment is their study of a prospective university. Postings of their poetry and  book reflections also take place. As they become more familiar with the process, they will be requireed to visit at least ten blog sites and post comment on the posts every two weeks.

One of her favorite features is that all posts are sent to her email for review  before they go public. This gives her a chance to grade their work and ensure all content is appropriate. It can be used for any age group and is very user friendly.

Keys to success is access to computers for the kids to create their own posts as well as projection of the teachers computer to show them how to get started. According to Margaret, “Once that happens, they fly!!!!”

Margaret attended Lubbock University and graduated with a bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. Shebegan teaching at EPISD Alta Vista Elementary where she taught 3rd grade for one year and 2nd for two. She completed her masters in curriculum and instruction/middle management from NMUS. She is currently teaching 4th and 5th grade Connections gifted students at Lundy Elementary in El Paso, Texas.

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If you are looking for other blogging tools to try, do not overlook WordPress (http://wordpress.com) This is the service used to create this blog. It is relatively easy to use and provides a powerful online experience.

Another option to explore that is more kid and teacher friendly is Weebly (http://weebly.com). While this is primarily thought to be a website creator, Weebly does also offer the ability to create a blog pages as part of your site. It is the easiest web building site that I have ever used, and it provides very professional looking results with little effort.

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ONE MORE THING….

By this point, hopefully all of you have experienced the amazing resource that is TED.com This organization has revolutionized the way that presentations are made and that information is shared. While I am huge fan of TED, often I am left wanting more than the 18 minute talk. If you are looking for something more, I suggest you take a look at the brand new Talks@Google YouTube Page To quote the purpose “The @Google Talks program brings authors, musicians, innovators, and speakers of all stripes to Google for talks centering on their recently published books and capturing the popular and intellectual zeitgeist of the day.” As of this posting there are over 1000 talks that have been posted as part of this program.

Have a great week.

Brian

Marching Ahead!

The past few weeks have been a total blur and a flurry of activity. NAGC 2011 proposals were submitted and thanks to a group of dedicated individuals reviewed and scored. A great deal of thanks goes out to Ian Byrd, Tisha Duncan, Janine Firmender, Michelle McGuire, Kristina Paul, Elfi Sanderson, Cindy Sheets, Sita Thiruvadi, and Jennifer Vermillion for serving as this year’s reviewers. Jennifer Troester and Brian Housand reviewed the scored proposals and then rank ordered the proposals based on their scores and submitted recommendations to NAGC for the 2011 conference. Now, it is just a matter of scheduling and waiting to hear. Thanks for your patience and for your participation. I think that NAGC 2011 is going to be a leap forward for the integration and use of technology.

As we look ahead toward this year’s conference, the Computers and Technology Network is organizing a video competition for gifted students. Right now we are in the initial planning stages and forming a committee to determine exactly what this will look like. If you are interested in being a part of the planning and organization please contact Brian Housand at brianhousand@gmail.com Your input is important to the success of the project. Also, if you know of others that may be interested in this project please pass along this information.

Since the last posting to this blog, I conducted another 60 Tools in 60 Minutes session. Each time that I have presented, the session has had a slightly different twist. This time, I was speaking to a local PAGE (Partners Advocating for Gifted Education) group. The result included some organizations and advocacy groups that typically do not make the list. For anyone that is interested the site is available for you here. I was also trying a new icon driven approach and created the site using iWeb.

After many hours, I realized that I had made a pretty site, but also thought that not many teachers would ever have the time to spend to create such a page. Yet, there is always a need to share links with students, parents, other teachers, etc. in a way that is both visual and inviting.

So, here are several tools for you to use to present websites in a similar and much more efficient manner.

Honestly, the hardest part of using http://sqworl.com/ may be remembering how to spell it. This free service allows you the ability to very easily add urls and brief descriptions to a single page. Sqworl automatically adds a preview of each of the sites in an organized manner.

Another service to try is http://livebinders.com/ Think of it as a three ring binder for the web. You can create individual tabs within your customized page that serve as direct links to the sites that you want to share.

One final sharing tool that appeals to my visual aesthetic and desire for ease of use is http://www.symbalooedu.com/ I have personally not explored this tool to any great detail, but I feel that it does show a good deal of promise. I love the look and feel of it. There is something about the graphic icons that just makes me want to click on things and explore.

If you are using any of these tools or others like them, please comment on this post and share your experience.

We will be back next week with an update on the iPad 2 and more news on technology use in the classroom from Texas.

Brian

A Focus on Texas!

For this week’s Tech Tool Tuesday, we have a guest Blogger. Thanks to Diane Witt for this week’s update on what is happening with real gifted kids in Texas.

I know that there are many others of you whose students are doing exciting things with technology. I encourage you all to share those ideas with the C&T Network.

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Each day new applications in the area of technology continue to grow offering numerous opportunities for teachers to integrate those tools into their classroom. Gifted educators are using these tools to inspire a new generation of tech-savvy kids. This month’s focus is on El Paso, Texas. They are facilitators of technology that is opening new frontiers for their students.

Jerusha Hunt is a GT/50/50 dual language teacher. She teaches Spanish classes for the GT program as well as 7^th grade humanities piece. She works with gk all day in both languages.

Movie Maker: Tool of Choice

Movie Maker is a program that can be accessed on newer versions of Windows at no cost. Movies can be made through the ability to record, arrange and edit on the computer. Students use a drag and drop technique that allows them to create their own movies. A tutorial is available

In the Classroom:

Movie Maker works well for the class. She guides them guides them through the lessons, facilitating professional products to imitate. Products range from movie videos, radio campaigns, to infomercials.

Movie Videos: This is an ideal way for the class to review a grammar concept covered in Spanish class. Teacher tube is a great place to locate examples to share with the kids. They watch the examples, take notes and learn about product style. They take notes and before long are on their own.

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=63837

Radio Campaigns: Houston, Lamar and the Lone Star Republic presidencies never had campaign adds like these. The class creates them after studying real campaigns online. She usually requests to make them longer than thirty second spots in an effort to see if they understand the concept. All in all, the products turn out to show the kids understand the assignment and enjoy creating them.

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org

The Infomercial: She has her students create infomercials to study immigration and the idea of settling. They learn the three types of class persuasion such as ethos, pathos, and logos online. They emulate a professional infomercial developed to attract settlers to Texas. They promote colonists to come to Texas by incorporating details of the time period, as well as helping them understand the rules and regulations.

The Movie Review: The movie review is a great way to follow up after reading a novel. One of her favorites is Treasure Island, which is part of the curriculum. The class reads Treasure Island and then watches Muppets Treasure Island. They do a movie review for IT. They can also choose to review an appropriate movie of their own choice such as Ebert & Roeper.

http://www.richardroeper.com/reviews/default.aspx#

Keys to Success: Success comes with being flexible and using the kids as resources. Patience, learning from your students mistakes and just being open to the process can have unexpected rewards. She has a general rubric for the project which holds all students accountable for the same things. She always has a professional product to emulate as an example……….and then she just breathes!

State of Technology Integration for the State of the Union

While many things can be said about President Obama’s State of the Union message this week, I found it reassuring to hear throughout the message a return to the theme of the importance of creativity and innovation. Perhaps most innovative of all for this year’s speech in the Web 2.0 integration put forth by the whitehouse.gov staff.

I encourage you to visit the State of the Union: Winning the Future / Watch and Engage website. http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011 Here you can not only view the speech in HD, but you can also see accompany visual images and infographics in a PPT slide show format.

In addition to this, there are follow up discussions using a variety of social media outlets. For example, President Obama is scheduled to answer questions Today at 2:30 PM as part of a live YouTube interview from the White House. Also, all day today live round tables with policy experts are being hosted on the White House Facebook site at facebook.com/whitehouse

For those of you who Follow President Obama on Twitter, already know that the salient points of the speech were tweeted as the speech was being delivered, and there was even the use of the hashtag #SOTU.

When I set out to write this post, I thought that I would do was to use Wordle (http://wordle.net) to create a word cloud of the speech, but once I started digging deeper, I grew increasingly impressed with not only the importance of the message for gifted education, but even perhaps more interested in how technology was being employed in meaningful and interesting ways. With all of this in mind, how can we as teachers being incorporating these same tools into our teaching?

Tech Tool Tuesday for 1.11.11

Happy 2011 to everyone! Hope you had a great holiday break. The NAGC C&T Network is back for the new year with a five exciting announcements / tools / resources.

1. NAGC 2011 Proposals

Wow! It seems like we just left Atlanta, but you are reading this correctly. The NAGC 2011 proposal submission process is now open, and proposals are due January 31, 2011. So you have just under 3 weeks to get all of your great ideas together.

http://www.softconference.com/subs/nagc/311103/default.asp?log=1

If you are interested in reviewing proposals as part of this year’s selection process, please send me an email. We need all of the input that we can get to ensure that we have the best sessions selected for the conference.

2. Wikipedia turns 10

On January 15, 2011, Wikipedia will celebrate its 10th Birthday. Love it or hate it, Wikipedia has changed the way that we access and share information. If you are looking for ways to celebrate the day, visit http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page for some ideas.

3. Google Science Fair

Just announced! Google is looking for the brightest, best young scientists from around the world to submit interesting, creative projects that are relevant to the world today. The competition is open to students aged 13 to 18 from around the world working in teams of two or three. The deadline for project submissions is April 4, 2011.

For detailed information, visit http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/index.html

4. Google Books Ngram Viewer

This one came out just before the holidays, and honestly, I have not had a real chance to delve into it. Basically, Google has scanned 10% of all of the books ever published. Now you can see how often phrases have occurred in books throughout history. You can graph occurrences of phrases up to five words from 1400 to present day. If only I had some free time! I can only imagine the types of projects that gifted kids could come up with using this data resource.

5. Google Body Browser

Ok, one last reason to love Google for the week, and another tool that I am looking forward to spending some time exploring in 2011 is the Google Body Browser http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/ This requires that you use a web browser that can handle WebGL. Basically, you will need either the latest version of Google Chrome or Firefox 4. This interactive application allows you to virtually see layers of the body. Anatomy will never be the same again.

Google IS the Computer!

The Future is NOW! This is exciting. Google is offering a pilot program of its new notebook computer by giving away FREE Google netbooks. For more information on this exciting development visit http://www.google.com/chromeos/pilot-program-cr48.html

More Reasons to be GAGA for Google

I have been desperately trying to catch up after NAGC. The life of an Assistant Professor is never boring or short on things to do, but Tech Tool Tuesday is back with some of the latest tools from Google.

This was the first NAGC in several years that my BFF, Kristina Paul and I did not do a Google related session. It was a little sad not sharing what Google has been up to in the past year. Although with the releases just in the last few days, I am almost relieved that we did not present because several new and improved tools are now available.

Google Earth is now in its 6th version. Google Earth is now more realistic and 3 dimensional. Trees now appear as 3D objects rather than the flat photos that they have been since Google Earth was Keyhole. Google Earth 6 now has fully integrated Street View from Google Maps into the user experience.

Perhaps most exciting in Google Earth 6 is the inclusion of historical imagery.

Now you and your students can SEE how the world has changed over time. Google Earth is perhaps the most powerful FREE educational resource that is available.

A second exciting development from Google in the last week is the Google ebookstore. With the rise of ebook devices in the past year, the Google ebookstore unites all of the devices into a single user experience with access to over 3 million ebooks. Google has a FREE ebooks app for Android, / iPhone, iPad, & iPod Touch / eReaders that support the Adobe eBook platform / and for any computer connected to the Internet.

As I am writing this, the latest development from Google is being unveiled: Google Chrome OS. Google started as a search engine that attempted to organize the contents of the Internet. Since 1999, Google has expanded to include powerful applications like Google Docs. In 2008, Google introduced Chrome and the search engine became the browser. Now in 2010, Google is on its way to becoming our computer’s operating system. Full details are being unveiled today, but it can be said that Tuesday, December 7, 2010 will be a day that will live in Internet infamy.

Brian