Podcasts:
Podcasts are by no means a new technology; I can remember seeing the option to search for podcasts when I got my first iPod in 2006 for my high school graduation. I cannot say I listen to a lot of podcasts, but there have been a few times where I have downloaded several to pass the time on a long road trip or a lazy afternoon by the pool. It has been a while since I have looked for any new podcasts to follow, so it was fun exploring. I first wanted to see what podcasts were available for mathematics education. I ended up downloading a few podcasts by The Math Dude: Quick & Dirty Tips to Make Math Easier. The Math Dude is a weekly podcast covering topics from tricks to do math problems to the history of mathematics to explaining abstract math topics in a way friendly to those who are not mathematicians. The podcasts are easy to listen to, but I do think a math-themed video would benefit heavily for some visuals instead of just audio. Overall, I would describe the Math Dude’s podcasts as fun – they are light-hearted, yet talk about simple to complex mathematics topics.
Because the offering of podcasts is so vast in the iTunes store, in order to find a new podcast to follow for pleasure, non-academic purposes, I decided to scan through the “New & Noteworthy” podcasts. I did not want to go down my usual NPR route. I ended up finding Yer a Wizard Harry: A Harry Potter Book Club. This podcast is essentially a weekly bookclub of friends discussing the Harry Potter series as they read through them. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and I found myself wishing I could join in the conversation. The discussion ranged from thoughtful to humorous.
For my own practice at creating a podcast, I wanted to create something I could use in my classroom. I ended up creating an audio lesson that my AP Calculus students could listen to in order to go over some practice problems. I usually post the answer key, but some questions – particularly conceptual ones – are easier to explain rather than simply showing the answer on a key.
Here’s my podcast. You can also listen to my podcast on Pop-O-Matic by following this link.
Podcasts are by no means a new technology; I can remember seeing the option to search for podcasts when I got my first iPod in 2006 for my high school graduation. I cannot say I listen to a lot of podcasts, but there have been a few times where I have downloaded several to pass the time on a long road trip or a lazy afternoon by the pool. It has been a while since I have looked for any new podcasts to follow, so it was fun exploring. I first wanted to see what podcasts were available for mathematics education. I ended up downloading a few podcasts by The Math Dude: Quick & Dirty Tips to Make Math Easier. The Math Dude is a weekly podcast covering topics from tricks to do math problems to the history of mathematics to explaining abstract math topics in a way friendly to those who are not mathematicians. The podcasts are easy to listen to, but I do think a math-themed video would benefit heavily for some visuals instead of just audio. Overall, I would describe the Math Dude’s podcasts as fun – they are light-hearted, yet talk about simple to complex mathematics topics.
Because the offering of podcasts is so vast in the iTunes store, in order to find a new podcast to follow for pleasure, non-academic purposes, I decided to scan through the “New & Noteworthy” podcasts. I did not want to go down my usual NPR route. I ended up finding Yer a Wizard Harry: A Harry Potter Book Club. This podcast is essentially a weekly bookclub of friends discussing the Harry Potter series as they read through them. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and I found myself wishing I could join in the conversation. The discussion ranged from thoughtful to humorous.
For my own practice at creating a podcast, I wanted to create something I could use in my classroom. I ended up creating an audio lesson that my AP Calculus students could listen to in order to go over some practice problems. I usually post the answer key, but some questions – particularly conceptual ones – are easier to explain rather than simply showing the answer on a key.
Here’s my podcast. You can also listen to my podcast on Pop-O-Matic by following this link.
![](http://education.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/wav.png)
podcastapcalculus.mp3 |
Visual Learning Tools:
I have seen numerous of my graduate school classmates post about Animato in both this course and ITEC 7455. It is a tool I have not used before myself, so I wanted to check it out to see if it was something I could utilize in my own classroom.
I just made a quick video of my dog, Kingsley. It was a fun and quick way to make a presentation (and works well on mobile). I do think it is better for pictures rather than information (which I would use PowerPoint or Prezi for).
My Animato:
I have seen numerous of my graduate school classmates post about Animato in both this course and ITEC 7455. It is a tool I have not used before myself, so I wanted to check it out to see if it was something I could utilize in my own classroom.
I just made a quick video of my dog, Kingsley. It was a fun and quick way to make a presentation (and works well on mobile). I do think it is better for pictures rather than information (which I would use PowerPoint or Prezi for).
My Animato:
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/5/3/51533951/5919049.png?370)
Last module, I explored RealTime Board which serves as a virtual white board where anyone with a link can post text boxes and images. This week, I looked at Padlet. After playing around with it, I would definitely recommend this tool. It is much more user friendly and visually appealing. Additionally, it has many more features. Padlet allows you do drag and drop to share files quickly and easily. Additionally, you can receive email updates whenever a padlet is updated. I could see Padlet as being a great tool for collaboration – whether between students, between the teacher and students, or between teachers. I laughed at the email I received from Padlet when I created an account. It started with “Hi Daniel, You signed up for Padlet. That's beautiful. You're beautiful” and ended with “Love & Laughter.” It did bring a smile to my face. I ended up using Padlet to share the podcast I made above with my students. They could then post questions they had as they listened to the solutions – myself or other students could post responses to their questions. My Padlet: http://padlet.com/browndanielc/czfijdnfv6zr
One of the biggest benefits to using technology in the classroom is with differentiation. Hobgood and Ormsby (2011) give several examples as to how technology can be used to differentiate for learners with diverse needs, inlcluding content input, learning activities, and opportunities to demonstrate comprehension. TPACK is a useful framework that can be used by teachers in order to purposely plan for implementing technology in their classrooms. I like how the model forces the teacher to focus on what meeting teaching the content and standard first, and then finding technology to match and enhance the learning process.
The Internet is also a powerful to for allowing students to explore diversity. The Internet can serve as a gateway to exploring other people, other cultures, and other places – and not from just an academic perspective. Social media, Youtube, and local news sites allow students see and view the world from a perspective other than their own. I do think as teachers we need to show our students and expose our students how to learn from others through the Internet, as it can also be used to divide people as well.
One of the biggest benefits to using technology in the classroom is with differentiation. Hobgood and Ormsby (2011) give several examples as to how technology can be used to differentiate for learners with diverse needs, inlcluding content input, learning activities, and opportunities to demonstrate comprehension. TPACK is a useful framework that can be used by teachers in order to purposely plan for implementing technology in their classrooms. I like how the model forces the teacher to focus on what meeting teaching the content and standard first, and then finding technology to match and enhance the learning process.
The Internet is also a powerful to for allowing students to explore diversity. The Internet can serve as a gateway to exploring other people, other cultures, and other places – and not from just an academic perspective. Social media, Youtube, and local news sites allow students see and view the world from a perspective other than their own. I do think as teachers we need to show our students and expose our students how to learn from others through the Internet, as it can also be used to divide people as well.