Week 13 Podcast Reflections

1.) Kidcast
Episode Title: Tips for Controlling Noise
Episode Number: 21
Date: 4/1/06
Reflection:
It is often hard to escape the clatter and noise in active, learning classrooms because students and learning tend to be messy and load. There are measures that teachers can take to help eliminate some of the excess noises that are recorded in the background of their podcasts. First, teachers can express to their students their concern about their noise level and how it is affecting the podcast being generated. Teachers can do a test by having a student record a podcast while two other students are talking in the background to help show and illustrate the idea that it is important to be quiet while others are recording. A signal is often a good approach to quietting students down. For instance, shouting out "Voice Over!" could be the universal signal for students to be quiet because podcasting is being done. Also, trying separating podcasting recording students into different rooms is a good idea. The further you can separate recording students the better, but often teachers only have one lab to do the podcasting in. Teachers could also designate time slots for their students to take turns recording. Also, the microphones that are built into the macintosh computers pick up sound from all directions, so an external microphone could be a good investment.

2.) Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Episode Title: The Changing Landscape of the Global Digital Divide: Opportunities and Challenges for Teacher Education
Episode Number: 143
Date: 4/2/07
Reflection:
The Digital Divide occurs between developed countries and developing countries, or the haves and have nots in regard to access to hardware and the internet. This digital divide is only a small part in a much broader social and economic divide. There is also a Knowledge Divide occuring between developed and developing countries. This is important to understand because access to computer hardware and the internet will not guarantee that people will be able to opporate it. Worldwide, 25 % of women are not literate, and males have a slightly lower percentage. The literacy gap is huge between women and men especially within Arab states and desert countries. People must first be literate to opportate a computer and this is a huge part of the digital divide.
Our known landscape is changing rapidly and it is important for teachers to understand where technology is now and where it will be going in the future. Teacher Education could be a huge leadership role in the tech inclusion movement. We need to ask ourselves, "What is our responsibility?" By the year 2015, 15-35 million teachers will be needed, and 2/3 of that number will be in developing countries. Teacher shortages are occuring everywhere. This is not so much of a recruitment problem, but a retention problem.

3.) Infinite Thinking Machine
Episode Title: And the Walls Come Tumbling Down
Episode Number: ITM 6
Date:3/29/07
Reflection:
Their is much talk about sites such as myspace and facebook that adults use as social networking tools, but there are many other (safe and kid friendly) sites such as Club Penguin that children can enjoy using as well. Myspace is the biggest social networking site out there, within myspace, members can enjoy music, videos, articles, and many other aspects within the site. A website called "Taking IT Global" is also a good tool for teachers to use where they can join in projects digitally. In recent years, teachers have shifted to using programs such as Moodle and Blackboard with their students. These programs can be an exchange between teacher and student with podcasts, blogs, and other digital projects. Teachers also have the opportunity to join an online community to collaborate with other teachers in their profession. It is said that 1% of an online community design and opporate the system, 10% participate within the system, and the remaining percent observe and use the information from the system. These online communities are a great opportunity for professional development and are easily accessible.