Sunday, November 1, 2009

Week 9,Things 21, 22, and 23

Well! Suddenly, I am finished with the 23 Things that 9 weeks ago I didn't know where to find them! This feels good. I have reviewed things that I had been exposed to , but had not tried, in other classes. Although I struggle with technology, I see that I CAN figure out many things that before seemed too overwhelming to attempt.
I located a group of podcasts created by an elementary school group, older than the second graders that I teach, but nonetheless inspiring to me. These kids sound GOOD! My class made a podcast last year, associated with an animal report, and I relied heavily on our technology support person for help. This year, I know more about what needs to be done. I will still use her help, though (let's be real - I want it to be done before the end of the school year!). Part of the issue for me is that I need time to both complete my graduate studies, do my regular job, and then I need time to learn how to use some of the new technologies and make them fool proof for my students and my colleagues.
This is true for the ebooks and audiobooks. I love the idea of choosing a book, downloading it to my ipod, and listening to it when I'm not reading something else or working on something. That doesn't happen in my life right now. I hope when I have free time (next Aug. before school starts again) that technology won't have changed too much that I can't recognize what to do!
Back to podcasts, I found one of my favorite radio shows on iTunes. I gave it us when school started because I didn't have time to listen to it in the car, where I can tune it in. I cant' get it in my house. Now, I can listen to it on my computer. Podcasts are not at all scary when I realize that they are radio shows. During the early decades of the 20th century, people broadcast radio shows from their homes regularly. Everything old is new again! Fannie Farmer has written one or two books about characters who did just that. Thanks to Chris Kretz's clear explanation of all that goes into a podcast and all the uses for a podcast in a contemporary library, I no longer feel a hollow feeling in my stomach when podcasts, or other types of technology, are mentioned. In fact, I really need to know what what I'm talking about, because I tend to be the one at my grade level in my building who knows the most about these topics. Now, that's a surprise.

Kretz, C. (2007). Podcasting in libraries. In Nancy Courtey's Library 2.0 and Beyond. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

1 comment:

Lesley Farmer said...

glad you realized the long life of audio files (but you'll have to admit that Apple does great marketing...)