Week 3 Blog: Podcasts

Podcasts!

To be honest, I do not know anything about podcasts. In fact, I have never heard of them till now and they frustrate me if I cannot understand them. You see, I am hearing impaired and it does not do me any good to listen to them because I do not hear them very well. Yeah sure, there are technology out there in the world that will help turn audios into texts so I can read them instead. However, I cannot afford those things.

Now I could watch the video podcasts and make out what bits and pieces of them are talking about, but still it will not do me any good. You see, not all podcasts will have captions on the video. That is I get by watching TV. I have captions that I read instead of hearing. After all, I read better than I hear.

If I ever have to make a podcasts for my class, I have to take into considerations as to who will be the audience. If my audience does not have any hearing problems, then I can give an audio podcast along with a video podcast. However, if I have an audience that is deaf or hard of hearing, then I need to adjust the podcast to meet the accommodations of the disabilities' standard.

I might have not been able to understand the audio podcasts I was suppose to listen to, however, I did get a chance to watch a video podcast. I watch a Walt Mosspuppet: Tech News and Opinion podcast. It was a video of a puppet talking about technology. Unfortunately, I did not understand a word he was talking about because I could not read his lip very well.

So my opinion of podcasts: they are very frustrating for me. If I was one of the rich people in the world, I would actually buy technology that will benefit me. I am not a rich person so I will have to make do with what I have. Podcasts may be for others, but it will not be for me.

REDO BLOG POST: April 30, 2010
I did the best I can listening to a couple of these podcasts, but I still had trouble with them. So I was only able to make out what two of the podcasts were talking about.

EPISODE 90: A CONVERSATION ABOUT PODCASTING WITH MEDIA COORDINATORS
-WITH DAVID WARLIK

This was talking about using podcast in a couple of ways: at the library and at home. One of the things the conversation was about is podcasting in the library. Podcast in the library will allow easy access to teachers and students. It is also effective because teachers can teach the students how to look for things they need for their class.
Another thing the conversation talked about was some positive effect of podcasts. When teachers are lecturing in their classrooms, the students are doing the best they can to write down notes. However, it is not enough sometimes because they may miss some important information. So if the teachers record their classes and post them online, then the students can refer back to the video/podcast made. This will also help students who miss a class! They can stay up-to-date with their class and not have to worry about getting behind in their classes!!

KIDCAST 62: SOME THOUGHTS ON VIDEO PODCASTING
-WITH DAN SCHMIT

I believe Dan was talking about the difference between video podcasting and audio podcasting. Some positive things about both of them together are that they can both be uploadable and easy access to them. Also, anybody can do either one of them.
Video and audio podacast are different from each other in many ways.
1. Time: Making video podcasts take more time and patience than audio podcasts.
2. Effort: Video requires more effort with technical stuff like the lighting, sound system, background, and etc. All you have to do with audio is to write down what you want to do and just read it out loud as you are recording yourself, which is simple enough.
3. Visual: You may not be able to do too much visual with audio as you can with videos.
These were just some of the differences I think I heard. Both of them are very effective in their own unique ways. For people like me, we would rely more on videos than we would with audio because if you have a hearing disabilities, you will experience some problems with audio podcast.

MY OPINION OF PODCAST
I believe that podcasts are great for some people. It is not for everybody. Due to my hearing loss, I would benefit more from Video Casts than I would from anything else.

Week 2 Blog

MICHAEL WESCH: A VISION OF STUDENTS TODAY

This video is depressing to me because it stated some of the problems I face today in college. Everyone is going to have problems and we all have to face them sooner than later. However, I wish we did not have to. Some of the problems I face as a college student are tuition, books, schedule, and not getting enough sleep. My tuition for school cost too much so I have to get financial aid to help me pay for it. I did not receive any scholarships because of my ACT score which is not really fair. I am not looking forward to having to pay back the loans. Books are my second problem. They cost too much, some may not be usable, and the buy back policy is totally unfair. No matter what, the bookstore should buy back every single book they sold whether the school is using them or not. Some money is better than none at all. My Schedule right now is insane. I feel cramped up with the schedule I have. My schedule includes school, chores, dance, and family time. I feel like I do not have any time to myself. Also, I feel like I am not getting enough sleep because my schedule is so intense. These are my problems. Anybody else face these kind of problems?

It mentioned in the video about how some people believe that technology can save us from anything. I am not sure if I agree with that. How will technology save us money on tuition and books for school? How will it give us a sufficient schedule that will allow us not to feel cramped up and give us time to rest?


"IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY" BY KELLY HINES

I agree with some of the concepts that Ms. Hines talked about. I agree that teachers should also be learners too. If they learn new things, then they can become better teachers. Like Ms. Hines said in her post, teachers do need to stay up to date with today's world, so that they can be prepared to teach their students in the best possible way. However, it would be beside the point because the world is changing everyday as we know it and EVERYBODY will eventually learn new things anyway just to cope with what is going on around them.

I do not think it is possible to be a 21st Century Teacher without technology. A 21 Century Teacher will need some form of technology to help teach class, especially if he or she wants the students to understand more clearly on what is being taught. A slide show presentation with examples will be more effective than just lecturing the class itself. Teaching with technology will draw the students' attention better. It may be possible to teach without technology but I do not think it will be as effective as it would to teach with technology as long as the teachers stay up to date and be creative in how they teach their students.

THE FISCHBOWL: IS IT OKAY TO BE A TECHNOLOGICALLY ILLITERATE TEACHER?

Some of what Mr. Fisch has to say is kind of mind-boggling to me. However, I agree that is is okay to be technologically illiterate. Just do not be proud of it. If you are going to be proud about something, then make sure it is something worth being proud of. As for being illiterate, you can change that by learning whatever it is that you are illiterate of. You might have to work for it, but that is the only way to do it. Like Mr. Fisch said, you have to experience it.

If you experience the things that you are illiterate of, you can teach kids how to be successful in what they do. If you do not experience it, then what are you teaching your students that will be relevant to their lives?

GARY HAYES: SOCIAL MEDIA COUNT

Dang! Every single second, there are new blog posts, members adding facebook, tweets sent on twitter, and etc. That is a lot going on technologically! I had no idea. It is interesting to see exactly how advanced technology has become. None of this stuff was going on this quick way back then. I guess I better start appreciating technology a little bit better now.

As for my future career as a teacher, I hope I can catch up. Technology is changing and as long as I stay up to date with it, I think I can handle it. It will not be easy and I will have to work for it. I will follow the concept of "Teachers should also be Learners." Not only will I be a Teacher, but I will also learn new things as life goes on. This will help me to teach students to be successful!

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis seems like a really cool teacher!! She came up with creative ways to teach her students without boring them to death. Her class uses hands-on technique, which helps maintain the students' attention and increases their learning and their memory. With the way she teaches her class, the students gain more knowledge and they are more aware of what is going on.

Davis appeared more human to the students. She showed that teachers are not always perfect. She admit that she did not know a few words such as avatar, terraform, wiki, and etc. In fact, she had to look them up herself and asked her students to do the same. A couple of those words, she learned from her students. She showed how it was amazing of what you can learn from other people by working together in a comfortable environment. She was a likable teacher and made sure that everyone was comfortable with each other and she was there for them.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson was a very interesting speaker. He was not boring at all. He gave an enlightening speech about how schools deal away with creativity. He mention how dance is not taught with the intensity that mathematics did. He disagrees with that and he thinks it should. He believes that creativity give us the freedom to express ourselves.

I have been very fortunate to be encouraged during my life to pursue my own creativity. My creativity is through dance. Dance allow me to be free and to express who I am as a person. I support anybody that believes that dance should be taught as much as math because I am dancer and I also teach dance.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

Mr. Winkle Wakes video is based on the American Literature piece "Rip Van Winkle". After 100 years of sleeping, Mr. Winkle wakes up and found that so much changes has taken place. The world was not as he once knew it, especially with all of the technology being developed. He was not familiar with the advancement of technology and was a little bit afraid of it. I suppose my dad could relate to Mr. Winkle because he is not 100 percent familiar with technology himself. The only comfort that Mr. Winkle found was in a empty classroom with a dusty laptop that have not been touched. I guess he was happy that there were still some that stay to the old ways, which is what my dad is comfortable with. He rather write instead of typing.

I agree with some of Mr. Winkle's point about sticking to the old ways. The old ways are basic and it is important to learn the basic as well as updating your ways of learning. That way your mind will stay sharp and you will not have to worry about what to do if something does not work out. No matter how old you are, it is crucial that you keep the basic with you as you are staying up to date with today's technology.

Did You Know? 3.0

Over time, technology is increasing and it has a major impact over the world. In fact, the technology is so much more advanced than ever before, I begin to wonder where we will be in 20 years. Technology can be useful or it can be dangerous.

Technology can be useful for education purposes. It helps us to do research on many things. These things can range from how to do something or to know what is going on in the world. It keeps our mind aware of the environment.

Technology can be dangerous. On the video, it showed that 1 out of 8 married couples in United States met online in 2007. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it shows the dangers of predators looking for preys online. Not everyone will say exactly who they are online. There is no protection. Another downside of technology is that it can take control of some people's lives. It causes some to be lazy and not to be active, which is not good.

I have no problem with technology. It help me a lot through school!! If I need to write a research paper or something like that, technology will help me. I am thankful for that.