The future. . .

I made it!

My nine weeks of Web 2.0 exploration are complete.

I have forwarded my recommendation to my colleague, Pam, for her upcoming blogging adventure with the Grade 9s. The winner of the hotly contested Edublogs vs. 21Classes blog platform debate can be found here.

Pam and I are meeting tomorrow to create the student blogs with the Pro Account I purchased. It will be interesting to see how Edublogs works around the usual requirement for an active email account. In my initial attempts to set up the additional student blogs I see that an email account is "required", yet a few lines further down it instructs, "If your users do not have email addresses you can use this Gmail method to add your users!"So far, clicking on this Gmail method hyperlink takes me in a circle. Hmm! I will have to investigate this further. The details of this dilemma will not be known before this post's publication deadline - further evidence that a Web 2.0 exploration project never really ends!

This is Jessica Levitt, mum, wife, reader, tl, and BLOGGER signing off!

Battle of the Books

I have to credit two colleagues for showing me the value in podcasts. Firstly, Steve, our Information Technology teacher and my "office" mate (you have to see this combination of library workspace/home to 40 laptops/computer repair/circulation desk/weekly school newsletter publication hub to understand the need for quotations) steered me toward CBC's Canada Reads contest. I mean really, I call myself a Teacher-Librarian and I have hardly paid any attention to this annual battle of the books! Well, that's about to change. For those readers who may not be as tuned in to Canadiana as we all should be, this year's theme is non-fiction:

"We want stories. Books that are page-turners with captivating narratives, memorable characters and vivid prose. Books so riveting you forget they are non-fiction. Books that introduce readers to a brand new world and bring them wholly into it. While we love the work that Canadian essayists, academics, chefs, decorators and self-help gurus do, those books aren't quite right. We want the final five to have stories that captivate the country.

They also have to be in English, in print and Canadian"(CBC Radio-Canada, 2011, para 7).

The conversation then included Pam, one of our senior English teachers (faithful reader of this blog and Canadian author expert), and within minutes a promising unit took shape.

• The Grade 11s will be introduced to the Canada Reads contest and learn of past finalists and winners here.
• The Grade 11s will gather on November 23rd to hear the live reveal of the Top 5 titles and the celebrity panel.
• In some format, to be determined, the Grade 11s will read at least one of the five titles.
• They will listen to previous Canada Reads events found in the archives from 2002-2008, 2009, and 2010. (Finding these archived podcasts required quite the journey through the CBC website!)
• They will choose a book from the Top 5 titles that they want to defend as the non-fiction book that Canada must read. 
• Each student will prepare a passionate speech defending their chosen title, to be recorded as a podcast and shared publicly on the Internet.

I will put my new skills to the test in guiding the Grade 11 students through the podcasting experience. I will advise the students to use Garage Band to create their podcasts, as we have MacBooks available at school. I will explain to them how they can then upload their podcast to iTunes, as many of them have an account. From iTunes, they can upload their podcast to Podomatic, the free site I used to host my first podcast. From Podomatic, they can share their podcast by emailing a link or capturing the embed code to place it somewhere yet to be established.

I am really excited about sharing the podcasting experience with the Grade 11 students. I hope to encourage them to subscribe to a few RSS feeds for podcasts I will recommend in our podcasting workshops. I am impressed with the introduction to podcasts provided in iTunes. I have already set myself up with subscriptions to "Q" with Jian Ghomeshi and I am downloading TED Talks like crazy. My favourite to date has to be "Learning From a Barefoot Movement" by Bunker Roy.

Perhaps some of these students will join me for a piece of humble pie?

References
CBC Radio-Canada. (2011, September 27). Introducing Canada Reads: True Stories [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2011/09/introducing-canada-reads-true-stories.html

The Conundrum. . .

Eating crow
I do not like to argue because I often get too passionate about the issue being debated and find myself short on facts. It is not a situation in which I am comfortable, and it can be a very frustrating experience. Generally, I state my opinions after carefully considering all sides and ensuring I can defend myself against opposing viewpoints. Occassionally, I find myself having formed an opinion that is weakly supported; once I have sorted through my misconceptions and misunderstandings, I am prepared to admit that I was wrong.

Well, it has happened. And publicly, right here on this blog. This post, this quote:  "I have said before how insufferably boring I find podcasts."

It's time I made myself a podcast pie.

Or, an audiocast pie? Or a blogcast pie?

There is some discrepancy in the academic world as to the correct terminology. Richardson (2010) calls it podcasting, "the creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple" (p. 112). Berger & Trexler (2010) agree partly: "in its simplest form, a podcast is an audio file recorded on a computer and later shared with others over the Internet" (p. 128), yet, then state that "podcasts come in three types: audio, screen, and video" (p. 128). Lee LeFever (2011) adds another definition in his video, "Podcasting: In Plain English":

 This screenshot on the left is the end of a demonstration of the difference between "broadcasting" and "podcasting". The point being made is that podcasting allows for "personalized, time-shifted content for your consumption whenever you feel like" (Richardson, 2010, p. 113).

To minimize confusion, and to contribute to Apple's quest for world domination (for all you conspiracy theorists out there), this blog will use the term podcast for audio files created and shared.

Now, let me unpack my previous thoughts on podcasting, because I cannot ignore the fact that I labeled podcasts as "insufferably boring". Perhaps Richardson (2010) can help with this caveat: "Be prepared: This is not the highly polished professional radio you might be used to. Cracks and pops, obscure music, and "ums" and "ahs" are all a part of the podcast genre. . . .Try not to let production value overwhelm what might be really interesting content" (p. 113). I confess, I am rather judgmental. I have felt, at the end of some podcasts, that the knowledge I gathered from them could have been better delivered, and more quickly delivered, via the written word. I think it is time I lightened up a little and lowered my expectations. After all, I have yet to make a podcast. . .

I'll take a scoop of vanilla ice cream with my podcast pie.

References
Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 Tools for Learning and Teaching in a Digital World. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Common Craft, LLC (Producer). (2008). Podcasting in Plain English [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.commoncraft.com/video/podcasting
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.