Week 9 Podcasts

Tech Chick Tips

Episode Title: DOPA
Date: 07-29-06
Episode Number: 4
Reflection: The Tech Chicks encouraged teachers to use digital photography on the first day of school and had great ideas to carry out the use of the pictures throughout the year. For example, the pictures could be printed off and used for a helper chart, management chart, or to organize centers. I had not thought of this idea and I think it would be helpful for the teacher to get to know his/her class and fun for the class. Students enjoy seeing themselves and it would make the classroom environment comfortable and homey. The hot topic of the day was the Deleting Online Predators Act which protects students from online predators in public schools. This prohibits students from viewing social networking sites at school. Although the Tech Chicks were discouraged by the fact that DOPA blocks students from viewing helpful resources, I think DOPA was an essential factor in protecting students and the school district. Since educators are allowing students free access to computers more often than before, I believe DOPA was implemented for legitimate reasons.

Infinite Thinking Machine

Episode Title: ITM Extra: P=AxDxE
Date: 03-20-07
Reflection: Bernie Dodge revealed an original way to look at the power of learning games: Power = Attention x Depth x Efficiency. He stressed that it is essential to use effective games in the classroom that get the students’ full attention. The games should require some amount of processing that the learner must develop. Last, the games should utilize and enhance the skills that the teacher is focusing on. By putting together these three parts of the equations, online games or video games can become extremely powerful for students. Previous to this podcast, I was not in favor of using video games in the classroom, but if the games are evaluated using this equation, I can definitely understand how they would be beneficial to learning.

Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Date: 03-12-07
Episode Number: 139
Reflection: During this podcast Wesley Fryer had an interview with his mother, Angie Fryer, about the important blogs she has subscribed to. She is not a blogger herself, but enjoys reading others’ blogs to form a connection with people from many diversities, cultures, and communities. She encourages everyone to check out www.anysoldier.com. There are ideas of things to send to soldiers and I thought it would be a great idea to turn this into a class project. For example, students could make cards and send them to soldiers who are overseas. There are many more blogsites that digital learner, Angie Fryer, suggests, and they can be found at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/speedofcreativity/podcasts. This podcast was enjoyable to listen to and easy to connect with. I found it motivating and it encouraged me to read blogs and make connections with other people around the world.