Learning - Thinking - Playing

Student Podcasting

A few weeks back I was involved in a great activity, one where I was able to get my hands dirty (so to speak) and work with children. I was involved in a wonderful activity called the eTrain, which has been developed by Rod White from Melbourne Grammar School. Basically the program brings students together from all walks of life and engages them in using technology to develop resources. Students work in teams of around 10 for 2 days on one specific activity, and again this year the project focused on the Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Convent where the event is held.

I worked with a group of wonderful students on the development of podcasts with a focus on taking people on a auditory tour of the farm. The students were split up into 5 teams of two to cover the various areas of the farm. I was amazed and impressed with the work and ability of the students and I would like to celebrate their results, the following is the blog we set up to share the podcasts: http://etraintourpodcast.edublogs.org/

Please have a listen and leave your comments - I know the students are checking and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Well done to my team for an impressive result and well done to Rod and the team who put the conference together.

Remember you can download the podcast in iTunes, just do a search for etrain in the Apple store.

Podcasts on the Wii

It only occurred to me today as I prepare for a presentation on podcasting to a group of teachers from the Western Metro Region in Melbourne that it should be possible to listen to podcasts on websites through the Opera internet browser on the Wii game consoles - and sure enough it is possible. This reinforces the fact that as long as you have internet access you can watch, listen and interact with a whole range of resources, and doing it through the Wii is just one of them. One small issue with this is the fact that the Wii does not yet fully support bluetooth connectivity with keyboards and other input devices - yet there are plenty of work arounds, hopefully soon we will see Nintendo making this possible.

The following is a video clip I recorded of me accessing a podcast I am involved in called the Ed Tech Crew.

EdTechCrew Survey

I need your help, the podcast I do with Darrel Branson called the EdTechCrew needs your help. We have constructed a survey about software and we need you to help fill it in. It is very short, easy to do and completely confidential - please take the time to check it out:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=l7yJs0sT6kHDRS8NtBBEuw_3d_3d

If you feel the need please send the link to the survey or to this blog to your friends to get them involved as well. We are hoping to get a good sample size of over 1000 people.

Thank You

Tony

Our Podcast Growth

For almost a year I have been working with Darrel Branson (the ICT Guy) on a podcast called the Ed Tech Crew, which explores the application and use of ICT in education as well as in everyday life. It has been very rewarding to see our subscriptions and downloads grow and we have really appreciated the comments and feedback from all our users who are literally located all over the world.

The other day we passed a very important download milestone and I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all our listeners and to Darrel - the journey so far has been very rewarding.

Thanks everyone and keep listening.