Thinking About Learning

I first learned of Gcast last summer at the Upstate Technology Conference in a session led by Elizabeth Kohut. When you’re at a tech conference, you always learn more than you have time to explore, so although I was intrigued with the idea of creating a podcast with a cell phone, it was one of those new ideas that got put on the back burner.

This year I’ve seen a growing interest in podcasting by my teachers.  Only several of them have iPods in their classrooms.  Usually when a teacher has a podcast idea, they will schedule a time for me to come into the classroom with my iPod, and I help record and publish.  As I was preparing for this month’s technology staff development grade level sessions, I was considering what new technology tools I might introduce to them.  This is how GCast resurfaced for me.  Every teacher has a cell phone, and GCast is so simple to use!

• Sign up for a free GCast account and create your PIN.
• Call the GCast number from your cell phone and enter your PIN.
• When you are ready to record a podcast, call the same number and enter your PIN.  You will be prompted to push # to begin recording and push # again when you have finished.  Then you have options to listen to your recording, discard your recording, or publish your recording.
• Within a few minutes, your recording shows up on your account page on the GCast website.
• You then have the option to publish your podcast.  GCast has it’s own little podcast player that can easily be embedded in a blog or web page by copying and pasting the code.

This is another fast, easy way to connect our students with the world, to give them an opportunity to have their voices heard, and to provide them with an authentic audience as they express their learning.

There are a variety of ways to create audio and video files that can be played on iPods or other media players.  Here are a few ideas:

Creating podcast content with a Windows computer:

• Record a podcast on an iPod and load it into iTunes.
• Record a podcast on a laptop in Audacity and export as an MP3.
• Create a PowerPoint and convert it with Authorstream.
• Create a video using Windows Movie Maker and use a converter such as Jodix or Zamzar.
• Use SMART Notebook recorder to record a Notebook lesson and convert the .wmv file to an Mp4.

Creating podcast content with a MacBook:

• Create a Keynote Presentation, record narration, and export as an Mp4. (If you do this, add a blank slide at the beginning after you record, but before you export. It’s a quirk, but necessary to get the file to play correctly on the iPod. )
• Create a recording in GarageBand and export to iTunes.
• Create a video with iMovie and export as an Mp4.

Over the past several months, I have become convinced that iPods have an important role to play in the classroom, both as a tool for learning and a tool for sharing learning.  Two teachers in my school each have 3 iPods that they are using regularly with their classes.  My math coach and I recently received a grant to get an iTouch that will be made available for check out by math teachers.  We are in the process of creating some standards-based math content, and I’ve searched extensively for online content.  Here’s a short video that is a summary of a presentation I shared with principals and technology integration specialists in my district.

Download

This video is also available on TeacherTube.
Here are some resources for free podcasts available online:

Apple Learning Interchange
How Stuff Works (informational)
Lunchbox Lessons (science videos, sea creature informational videos, video books with text, writing videos)
Free Learning Content A-Z (listing of content by subject area)
M3 – Math Movie Minute (great example of student created instruction)
Children’s Fun Storytime Podcast
Mastery Maze (more high school oriented)
iTunes U:
Lit2Go (mp3 stories and poems)
Meet the Author Interviews with Children’s Books Authors & Illustrators
iTunes Podcasts:
Storynory – Audio stories for kids
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (each contains an advertisement)

Educational podcasts for purchase:

Raybook!
kids.audible.com

TeacherTube and YouTube are also good resources!