Science Podcast

Here is my science podcast I made for my wiki page. How do you put a podcast on a wiki or blog? First, convert your podcast to an MP3 format. Then, copy and paste it as an attachment on your email and send it to yourself. When you receive it, right click on attachment and click on copy link location. This will copy your URL and will store it for you to use later. Now, go to your blog or wiki page.  Go to the place you want to insert podcast, type in key words and highlight those words. Click on "Link" at top of site. Paste URL into link. Press save. Now click on the key words and see if your podcast was downloaded.

Podcasts

image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoomar/2265202595/

license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

Have you ever recorded your voice on a website? Until recently, I would have answered no. But now I have a podcast on a wiki. On this podcast, I give directions to a science experiment. Why? Because many of my first graders need help decoding words. Podcasts allow me to record messages and important information and send it to my students. I plan on also using podcasts to record books and stories being read by my students. Parents can then hear their child's precious voice whenever they want to.

In class today, we worked with Audacity and iPadio. Both sites are free and easy to use. When using Audacity, you need a microphone, and it allows you to edit.  With iPadio, you need a phone and does not allow you to edit. I am excited about using this new technology in the classroom. Any time a student has his fingerprint on display for his parents to see great things will come of it. 

Flickr, Delicious, and Tagging

 Did you know that you can store and share photos on Flickr? You can store private photos and share other photos publicly. People can comment on your public photos and say "good job". It is always a good idea to store photos in at least 2 different places (on-line, hard-drive, memory stick). Delicious is a site that allows you to organize your favorite websites. Once tagged, you can easily find and access them.

 
image and license:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zulphadawson/91957795/
image and license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misspepo/1794097590/

Blogging

Why Blog?  The best answer I can come up with is...because it's fun! Connecting with each other locally and globally is exciting. Blogging gives students a voice. They are networked with each other and can obtain and develop knowledge and skills from each other which will enable then to be successful. Education is delivered through more channels than just the teacher.

                           








image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/4455035915/
license:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.enhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/drbeachvacation/2874078655/
image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/drbeachvacation/2874078655/ 
license:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Wikis

Wikis are fluid works in progress. Students can use wikis for collaborative problem solving, group lab reports, classroom writing projects, WebEssays (essays that combine images, text, and hyperlinks), classroom writing projects, and the creation of a class "textbook".  Wikis can be used to support any type of collaborative student project.

There are a variety of wiki tools.    
 PBworks: This site offers two services:  Premium and Regular.  The Premium Service offers 40 GB of storage, lock out ability, unlimited color choices and costs $99/year per individual or $799/year for 1,000 users.  The Regular Service is free and has 2 GB of memory, no lock out ability, and 9 color choices. 
Wikispaces: Wikispaces is an outstanding tool that's free for K-12 educators, and more important, it's free of advertising. The site offers four services:  a Private, Super, Plus, and Basic Plans. The Private Plan is $1,000/year and has unlimited storage, customized text and themes, lock out security, and no ads.  The Super Plan is $20/month and has 5 GB of memory, lock out security, and custom themes.  The Plus Plan is $5/month and has 2 GB of memory, lock out security, ad free, and custom themes.  The Basic Plan is free and has 2 GB of storage.  Wikispaces is a good choice for teachers getting started with wikis.
Google Sites:  This site has 100 MB of memory and has no lock out ability. 

http://www.techlearning.com/article/6164

image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cambodia4kidsorg/3617074570/sizes/o/in/photostream/
license:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Tuesday's Class

image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraketchup/622612084/

license:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

 

 Today we learned how to add photos to a blog and wiki.  We got photos from creative commons.org  (Flickr).  We added text beside the photos and added pages to our wiki site.  Something interesting I learned is that Flickr is both a site to get photographs from and store personal photos.  I am loving the class and learning new things every day.  Tomorrow we will make a podcast.