Stifled by Education ? (Thing 16)

I was more impressed by the second video than the first, although I think the first deserves a response...

While I agree that education is too lecture-paper-test-driven, I believe there is still a place for those things...even for those who may not enjoy them so much.
No matter what, we all still need to develop abilities in listening, processing, and written expression. At the same time, we do need to find ways to reach our students where they are, and to develop latent, but valid talents they may have.

The second, a talk by Mr. Robinson from the TED, was quite engaging and stimulating. He's quite right, although I would say the same in response. Our primary job is not to create university professors...but we should still teach and prepare those who will be. The important thing to remember is that "school is not all of life"-- there's much more out there.

Using podcasts (Thing 15)

I see many potential uses for podcasts. The first would be to assign students to listen to/view specific podcasts outside of class for response or discussion. The advantage of podcasts over reading articles would be less paper (eco-friendly), less cost, ease of use (students could listen on bus, in car, on bike...perhaps), as well as being friendly to students who struggle with reading.

Another use would be as a research tool. I will begin to allow podcasts as a source on research projects, and perhaps require students to use at least one.
That said, it may even make sense to allow/ require students to create a podcast...versus a traditional oral or written presentation.

There are two major obstacles that I can see. The first is technology, and the requirements on students to own a device (or bring it to school!), which could be a problem. One way around this would be to have cheap, simple MP3 players available as part of student school supplies (sold in a school bookstore, for instance). These could even be kept by the teacher until the end of the day.

Another obstacle would be the "other"content that could be accessed and used alongside or instead of useful content. This is a more serious concern, but I imagine there are some ways to filter the content accessed, as well as "check up" on what students have on their players. (Random confiscation, perhaps?:)

Podcasts (Thing 14)

There are great possibilities for this one. Not only are they free, which is very attractive from a budgeting standpoint, but they are so portable and impossible to destroy. I can see many of the non-to-poor readers consuming a podcast (or three) before they would ever make it through a reading assignment.

I found these podcasts on on-line safety/ predators quite well done, and relevant to every student who uses social networking sites, especially:
http://www.internetsafetypodcast.com/

I also was drawn to sites which feature oral storytelling, such as griddlecakes
http://www.griddlecakes.com/griddleplayer/index.html
or particularly "This American Life," (NPR) which is very well done, although not all content is well-suited for "kids." http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Podcast.aspx

It's my opinion that the art of storytelling (and public speaking in general) is not really being taught...and is a vital skill for both career succes and relationship.

Thing 13

Another nifty tool, this. Over the past few years, I've had several occasions to speak to various groups, and often used a slideshow to complement my talks. Although some of these talks were recorded, I've never had a way to include the slideshow...except to attach it personally by e-mail, or give it via flashdrive. Until now.

In theory, I could include an MP3 file of the talk, and sync it with the slideshow. Although I have to admit it does make me a bit nervous to have a presentation meant for a particular group "out there" for anyone to consume...out of context.

This particular slideshow comes is adapted from a talk I did on some major figures in the modern era of scripture translation...except for the last two, which are in there by way of comparing and contrasting the movement to split the atom and to translate scripture into every known language.
Thing 13

View more presentations from Eric .

Online Calendar (Thing 12)

For this thing, I tried the "30Boxes" application, which is basically a calendar program. Many of the other applications looked quite interesting and useful, but I've long had a desire to try to synthesize/ streamline the often disparate bits of my life, and so this is my newest stab. For it to work, it will have to link into the things I do everyday, like check e-mail. If I can make the calendar part of my homepage, for instance, it might actually work for me.

I found 30Boxes fairly easy to use, although the means of entering...or especially editing...information was not the best I've seen. I do like the option of being able to share the calendar with others...this could really come in handy, I should think, especially in coordination events with family members...

Online Productivity Apps (Thing 11)

I suppose the folks at Microsoft stand to be a bit worried, although I imagine not everyone will go for Google Docs...at least not right away. It takes time for habits to change...and a good number of people may have no interest in have their documents "out there."

At the same time, schools will make a big difference here. If using Google Docs (or a similar application) becomes commonplace during the school years, millions of people will become familiar with it...and probably continue to use it.
If using Google docs can circumvent the massive headache of saving and transferring documents from home to school...I'm all for it. Not to mention that it allows groups to collaborate outside of class...which could save lots of time in class, and lead to a better product as well.

Entering wikiworld (Thing 10)

Nothing to it, really. Of course, being away from the classroom, I have serious doubts as to what to do with my new wikispace...and even more serious doubts that it will be used, at least in the immediate future.

Like with almost any new skill, for me there will need to be some sort of impetus to do more with this, at least before I learn much with it. The tutorials are only useful if the information is applied, I think. Still, knowing that a wikispace is so available and accessable is quite valuable, in that it opens whole new possibilities for extending learning (and the learning community) beyond the classroom. Exciting stuff, especially in my context...