Audacity? Yes!

I had a good deal of experience with the basics of Audacity due to working with foreign language classes at the high school, but had never considered all of its affordances.  Podcasting is not something I've been very familiar with - I knew the concept, but hadn't really listened to any or thought about how to make them.  Since last week, I've thought of several ideas to share with teachers - an "interview" with a person (or character from literature) that they are studying is one that has gotten some interest.  I'm looking forward to helping develop the idea and work with the class on the project.

The Wild World of Wikis

From the days of the USENET newsgroups to the present, users of the Internet have attempted to create spaces where knowledge on specific topics could be pooled and shared. Wikis are a powerful tool in this quest for knowledge spaces.  


I think it would be great for a history or science teacher to set up a wiki for the class to develop over the school year.  Students could be assigned to add, update and edit over each unit and the final product could be viewed as a study guide.  With the ability of the teacher to see what each person has done, it would be another assessment tool.  


Another interesting use would be to create a dictionary for ELL students.  As the students came across a word they didn't know, it could be added to the wiki.  Students could be assigned to add examples or sentences using the word.  The teacher could add academic words (analyze, contrast, etc) for the students to use as a reference tool.

Blogs

I have read blogs, and the first semester we were supposed to blog regularly, but I've never been good at keeping up with any sort of "journal" activity. I feel much better after having read that two-thirds of blogs aren't updated more than every few months. 


I can, however, see the appeal and their use in education.  


Some teachers use them as a way for students to share projects and get comments with less embarrassment than standing in front of the class.  In order for this to work teachers need to ensure that students are equipped to give constructive criticism and respect others efforts.  The ability to give (and receive!) such critiques is an important skill.  Too many adults take them as personal attacks, rather than how they are intended.


Other teachers use them more as discussion boards.  The teacher will post a prompt and students will respond - first to the teacher, then each other.  


I think a neat use would be to have a class come to the computer lab and all do a blog posting at the same time (as a timed writing) and then respond to several other posts during the rest of the time. Teachers could not only use the writing as a writing sample, but could assess students understanding of the topic based on their responses to their peers.

I’m Lori Rothman – I taught special education for nine years then stayed home for a couple years with my kids.  I came back to the schools as a Technology Assistant at Park View High in Sterling.  I decided I really enjoyed the technology thing, so I looked into graduate programs that would allow me to become a Technology Resource Teacher.  I found the IITS program at George Mason University - a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Integrating Instructional Technology in the Schools.

My husband, Daniel, and I have known each other since high school (does it count as being high school sweethearts when I was already in college when we started dating?) and are halfway through our 22nd year of marriage.  We live in Sterling and our oldest child attends Park View, while the two younger ones are at Sterling Middle.  We also have a bonus child this year – Viktoriya, our exchange student from Kazakhstan.