I’m here at NECC 2009 in Washington, DC, as most of you should know by now. I’m interested in Podcasting because many of my students are dyslexic, and finding ways around their reading incomprehension is critical for my learning objectives. Listening to materials is very bit as important as seeing it or reading it. With podcasting (especially podcasting with subtitles, images, and audio all combined), I may be able to break through some barriers. Hence my presence here.
The presenters in room 151 A are setting up the SMARTBoard, and works exactly like the one we have at school — insofar as the one at school ever works. Our SMARTBoard’s main cables are missing, its projector was scavenged by another teacher, and the board itself sits behind our copier. Hmm.
I’m also surprised to discover that I’ve had 6-8 important conversations at this conference using Twitter… with people who aren’t even at this conference. In fact, my online discussions with non-attendees may actually outnumber the conversations I’ve had with attendees. Hmm.
Anyway, the meat of the BYOL session, Podcasting for 21st Century Teachers, will follow below.
Working in GarageBand. Great tool for students, easy to learn, useful and powerful. Currently learning how to assemble music tracks into an opening intro. Combining various loops into a song. Using the keyboard piano keys, and the digital keyboard.
Learn to distinguish between copyrighted materials, public domain recordings, and copyright-free loops.
Emphasize to students that creating their own opening songs and recording loops will be better for their careers than the regular songs that they know and love. Start kids working on their 10,000 hours! (Thanks, Malcolm).
http://www.wavsource.com as a source for many copyright-open clips of movies, music, and sound effects.
Oh, and use iWeb to publish your podcasts in series… just be aware that they try to tie your account to mac.com and control your content through an iTunes publication-subscription model.
My own, the Ancient History Podcast, is available here.
[…] I think how astonished, how bewildered, and how bewondered (and confused) I was at NECC 2009 last summer. What an eye opener. […]
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I really think that using podcasting to address students’ disabilities, like dyslexia, is a great idea. Using technology in an exciting way is great to get students engaged in learning. I think podcasting is also a neat tool that students will respond well to and may even help improve their reading ability if the subtitles are included.