Podcasting



__ Teacher Podcast __ Students created a musical composition track using the program "Groovy City" from the Groovy Music Suite.  Students can also create musical tracks using this program in conjunction with the MIDI keyboard. I used the digital camera to take a picture of the City Scape/Soundscape they created and recorded the track as a comment .  The students were instructed to listen to the track by clicking on my avatar, view the City Scape and make their own comment. The first comment box is the actual music track that the students created as a group. media type="custom" key="3923633"

__ Student Podcast __ Students were first asked to answer the question "What is Creativity?" in the context of the discussion board on their wikispace. When the computer lab was not available during our class students created collages and drawings to answer this question. During the next class three students took pictures of each art piece with the digital camera. The teacher added each photo to a voicethread, embedded the thread into the wikispace invited students to comment. We also discovered that the comment feature was a good way to record the students ideas for songs or raps so that they could recall them and practice them at home for their promotion ceremony.

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// Reflection: The students really enjoyed using voicethread. I will definitely use it next year with other groups. The limitation I find with voicethread for a music class is that using audio files is not as easy. It is definitely easier to use if a teacher is focusing on visual cues and learning in their lesson. However, I did find that the students were more willing to sing when adding their comment than I thought they would be. Again, I was surprised to find the comment feature as a helpful tool for us to store and record ideas that the kids had for their awards ceremony songs. For this reason, I think that there are many more possibilities for song writing activities using voicethread as one of the challenges for songwriting with children can be actually notating and/or remembering what the group or individual came up with before! I would also like to experiment more with adding video to voicethread next year. //

Maryland Teacher Technology Standards: I. Information Access, Evaluation, Processing and Application I.3 Organize, categorize and store information for efficient retrieval. I. 4 Apply information accurately in order to solve a problem or answer a question. V. Integrating Technology into the Curriculum and Instruction V.2 Evaluate technology materials and media to determine their most appropriate instructional use. V.4 Use appropriate instructional strategies for integrating technology into instruction. V.5 Select and use appropriate technology to support content-specific student learning outcomes. V.6 Develop an appropriate assessment for measuring student outcomes through the use of technology. V.7 Manage a technology-enhanced environment to maximize student learning. VII. Professional Growth VII.2 Use resources of professional organizations and groups that support the integration of technology into instruction. VII.3 Continually evaluate and reflect on professional practices and emerging technologies to support student learning. VII.4 Identify local, state and national standards and use them to improve teaching and learning.

Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students: Grade 6:

Standard 2.0 Digital Citizenship A. Technology and Society 1.c Recommend ways technology can be used to meet the needs of societies (in this class the social network of the Sixth Grade class) B. Legal and Ethical Issues 1. Practice responsible and appropriate use of technology systems, software, and information. 1.a Explain the purpose of and follow the acceptable use policy. 1.b Work cooperatively with others when using technology 1.c Practice responsible use of technology systems Standard 3.0 Technology for Learning and Collaboration A. Learning 1. Select and use technology tools to enhance learning. 1.a Use technology tools, including software and hardware, from a range of teacher-selected options to learn new content or reinforce skills. 1.b Explain why specific technology tools were selected to support learning. B. Encourage Collaboration 1. Select and use technology tools to encourage collaboration. 1.a Use technology tools to work collaboratively within the school community. C. Increase Productivity 1. Select and use technology tools to increase productivity. Standard 4.0 Technology for Communication and Expression A. Communication 1.a Use communication tools (such as discussion boards and portfolios) to gather information, share ideas, and respond to questions. 1.c Evaluate the appropriateness of media formats for various purposes. B. Expression 1.a Select and use the appropriate multimedia and publishing tools to express original ideas with print, drawings, digital images, video, sounds and/or personal recordings. 1.d Evaluate student-created product design based on purpose, audience, and format.