Podcasts

I am by way far a radio listener than a television viewer. I don't have cable and I am not a fan of any particular show on TV at present. But as that old Dire Straits song (with the Sting opener) goes "I want my MTV". Not! I want my C-Span and NPR. That's basically it. I go back and forth between those two radio stations more than any other. I know what times shows are on and have my radio alarm clock set to them. Occasionally if I should either miss a show and or want to hear again something broadcast from a show on either of these stations I'll listen again via a podcast. Not only that, but C-Span will provide written transcripts as well. How cool is that. Boy I hope I am not considered a nerd for saying that.
Having always been into music (and now talk radio) I find this Podcast thing really amazing, especially when creating them myself. Splicing and dubbing in sound and or voice overs is quite a trick. Getting it just right makes it an art form. The music intros and outros and that found intertwined within make a radio sound production so much more worthwhile listening to. Even more so than video I find well done audio productions that much more appealing. Perhaps it's a way to make up for the lack of talent I have in playing a musical instrument. The creation of a podcast is almost like that of a composition. Having a purpose and an audience in mind then developing a certain style and format and taking in time considerations are all things a composer does. To me being behind the scenes and producing a podcast radio production is truly, if not even more so thrilling than being the voice behind the microphone.

WWW or Why Wikis Work

Getting students to write has to be one of the most difficult things to do. I can remember even when I was a child writing had to be my least favorite thing to do in school.  In fact I can remember having to do it as a punishment for misbehaving in class, as in having to write "I must not talk" 100 X. Maybe it's just instinctive in us as humans, but even for that I would try to be creative. It's funny how I can recall coming up with inventive ways to even write that, thinking for instance that perhaps if I wrote each word individually a hundred times first on a new line like this, "I, I, I, I .... must, must, must...,etc." it would get done more quickly. Who knows though, perhaps it was having to do that "task" (as the term was used back then) so many times which made me associate picking up a pencil to write something burdensome, even when writing about a topic I may have enjoyed. Writing for pleasure as in reading for pleasure were not things I associated with "pleasure" until much later in my young adult years. What a wonder wikis seem to be now. If only I had had the opportunity "as a punishment" to read an on-line Wiki and make a written contribution to it. Perhaps that would have spurred in me an earlier desire to research and write and not have looked at it as a burden. But having around a wiki or not really doesn't matter. A tool not used is just as useless as a tool not around. A creative teacher then could have made a writing assignment just as pleasurable then as now. Application of a tool can not be haphazard either. A wiki has many affordances to learning; from writing which leads to easy and fun ways to edit, a la wiki, by being able to highlight and play around with font and other such things that a toolbar provides. The further adding in of audio and video, and the uploading of files and pictures. All of these aspects that a wiki allows for can create a nice collaborative event. Instead of getting into trouble and talking with my school age friends we could have been involved with a wiki on whatever the subject was that held our attention. Maybe as a punishment in these modern times the task of "withholding writing" would be even more severe then mine was back in the day. What a punishment that would be, taking away the privilege and not being allowed to write on a wiki anymore.

The Blob...No - The Blog

Blog, what a name, eh? According to Wikipedia (the on-line encyclopedia which everyone uses, but is not supposed to use as a final authority, but does) it's a blend of the words web and log. I guess it sounds better than wog or weblo. Whatever the case, blogs are the latest and greatest form of personal exposure, or perhaps twitter now has that distinction. Nonetheless, both allow one to put oneself out there, albeit blogs allow for much much more to be said or exposed of and by oneself, if you will. But as the cartoon above depicts, blogging really is a conscious decision one makes. Just because one has this exposure though does not make one a Shakespeare. Regardless though if you are a celebrity you will be read if you blog because of that status, whether you write well or not. Writing, and writing well is perhaps one of the hardest things to do, at least for me. So aside from my co-hort buddies I do not expect to get much traffic to my blog. And if it is read or not perhaps the best thing about blogging is that it is all done in cyber-space. As an educational tool this is really a wonder. Allowing students to think that they are kind of famous by being on-line for all to see can be quite a motivational draw for many. Who doesn't always look for themselves in a group photograph? So let me end here for now with this disclaimer and stop rambling, until I get my thoughts together, hopefully in my next blog. I do feel good in saying though, no trees or animals were harmed in this post : )