Podcasts in the Classroom

I’ll be honest when I say that I have never previously considered the use of podcasts in the classroom…either for teaching purposes or for professional development purposes from a teacher’s standpoint.  However, there are many benefits of embedding podcasts into education!  First you need to take the time to find a good podcast, supportive of what you are looking for.  I searched the Education Podcast Network, which contains a wide range of podcasts useful for teachers. 

A podcast I found (but is actually a screencast because there is audio between two teachers and screenshot videos of them working on the Smartboard) is called Teaching with SMARTboard – Episode 30 – Algebra Tiles .

The Podcast, despite the fact that it may seem very long due to some “chatter” between the two teachers and from the notion of moving things around on the Smartboard applets while talking at the same time, is very informative on a professional development standpoint.  The screencast focuses on a Smartboard applet that has been created, and is available to download on the Teaching With Smartboards website page in which I found this screencast.  The application consists of Algebra tiles in which can be generated on the Smartboard screen, in which would help students to easily visualize numbers and variables (both positive and negative:  green for positive and red for negative), which would hopefully build a better understanding due to the visual representation.  The algebra tiles can be moved around in order to help simplify the expression into lowest terms.  I think the application would be a great asset for a teacher to gain access to, and the screencast nicely walks teachers through how to use the application, and even the Smartboard in general.

Many teachers today having access to Smartboards unfortunately are not educated well enough about how to effectively integrate the use of the Smartboard into their classroom.  One of the reasons this may be true could be due to a lack of professional development, in which schools can not afford to bring to their teachers.  Therefore, podcasts/screencasts such as this one can provide a wonderful source of professional development – free of charge!  The video aspect of this particular podcast may be even more effective than by taking a course of professional development where an instructor would use the Smartboard to walk through certain things, because this way, you will always have access to the video for future reference, and you can pause and restart the screencast as you please.  Therefore, teachers can’t go wrong with getting in the habit of looking for such podcasts and screencasts and using them to their full advantage!  Thanks to such educators in the field who take the time to create such informative podcasts & screencasts and wish to share them with the educational community!

ePaLs -- The World's Largest K-12 Learning Network!

ePals is “the leading provider of safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a protected, project-based learning network.”  ePals allows teachers to sign up and use this resource collaboratively, allowing for learners to connect not only locally, but also nationally and internationally as well.  Currently there are classrooms registered in over 200 countries and territories!

There are many available features apart of ePaLs.  Especially if you are a foreign language teacher or social studies/history teacher, there are many awesome opportunities of how you could integrate the use of this resource within your classroom!   In my opinion, those content areas would probably have the most benefit of using this website because having the ability to connect with other people from across the world can quite the learning experience!  One of the best ways to understand something can be to experience it firsthand…so how about working with students from another culture you are currently learning about, to really understand the heart of their culture and way of life?  Or how about learning the accent and pronunciation of a particular language – and having the ability to Skype with students that are fluent in that language?  Maybe the foreign language teacher teaching a classroom of students has not traveled to the countries of origin, so having the ability to connect with natives and rely on them for “primary source” type of information about culture and way of life can be very beneficial.  Or how about interacting with students who live in an area that has experienced natural disasters or inclement weather…talk about really being able to understand content?  It can be so much more effective than by just simply reading about something historical from a textbook or hearing about something in a lecture in social studies. 

Some specific features of ePaLs include “We Are ePals,” a monthly collaborative activity for available to the ePals Global Community.  If you as a teacher are thinking of a way to begin working with ePaLs and integrating it into your classroom, this looks like a great start!  Every month you could focus on the designated topic and get your students involved.  They would be able to learn from other participating classrooms across the world and be able to compare and contrast various responses!  Some of the most recent ones were:  How do we greet friends? What are we reading? What holidays do we celebrate?

Another feature is teacher collaboration.  If you are a teacher thinking of a certain project idea that would ideally involve another perspective…maybe from another culture or from a different location, this is for you.  You set up a profile regarding your location, classes you teach, ages of students you teach, number of students you teach, and what specifically you are interested in looking to collaborate with.  There is a search tool, for people to find your specific profile and contact you.  Or you can search for teachers that already established that they are looking for someone to collaborate with.  I particularly was interested in the involvement of teachers within New York State (because a lot of the curriculum would match up), so I decided to do a search.  My results found that there were 5,193 matches for meeting the criteria of being in New York State.  I could have even further searched using an advanced search to limit my results to be more specific…such to match the level of students I teach.   

I am still unsure as to ways of how I could integrate the use of ePaLs into my mathematics classroom.  I’m pretty sure with more exploration of the site and from looking to see what other math teachers have done, I will come up with some ideas.  I did a search to see how many profiles would match my criteria of being teachers within the United States, but also would have something to do with mathematics.  I found 230 matches for those criteria. 

Some ideas of a project I could have my students get involved with, related to mathematics, could be to find out how students of different cultures use math in their everyday lives.  I think that project would be pretty interesting and meaningful to students…especially because a lot of times students like to whine about "how they do not see math being important to them."   Through ePaLs, students would be able to learn a lot globally about mathematics.  Another idea has to do with currency…if I was teaching about rates and proportions I could have students interact with students of different cultures to find out about their currencies, and then have my students practice converting money amounts.  It would be very interesting to see how prices seem so different in areas with different currencies.  Also, I know that in many other cultures such as  Chinese and Japanese, students are a lot more advanced in their mathematics at an early age.  If I would have my students interact with students of those cultures, they would probably be in awe seeing how much more advanced those students are at such a younger age. 

Using Flickr Apps

I was very impressed to find out that there are various applications that use Flickr photos. These applications could be very beneficial for teachers to use in their classrooms...either by creating something to show to students while teaching, or for having students work with an application to create an assignment. The website Big Huge Labs has many applications to use with Flickr such as creating magazine covers, maps, movie posters, puzzles, etc. Bubblr is a tool for creating comic strips from Flickr pictures. And Bookr is a tool for using Flickr images to tell a story or illustrate a poem in a "virtual book" available online.

I decided to check out Bookr. I took this tool as being another way to present information, but I liked the fact that instead of just being a mere powerpoint presentation, the pictures can tell a story. I really liked this ability, especially for presenting mathematics content. A topic I decided to focus on teaching was the concept of slope. If you are just introducing this concept to students for the first time especially, a great way to explain slope is by using examples of slope that appear in the real world. Therefore, showing pictures of such examples for students to consider is a great idea.


I therefore created a bookr titled Examples of Slope in the Real World, including mutiple Flickr pictures depicting slope in various ways...ski slopes, mountain ranges, escalators...even roads and bathtubs! I think students would really enjoy seeing these images and viewing the bookr in a "story" format that has text descriptions at the bottom of each page. Check it out!

Flickr, and Creative Commons

Flickr is a great website for the storing, sorting, searching, and sharing of photos online!  Since people can share their own personal photos, they may not want everyone else on the internet to “steal” and reuse their photos without permission.  Therefore, many photos on Flickr carry Creative Commons copyright licenses, which allow for their legal use.

"Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright."  Using a Creative Commons license, photographers can indicate what types of uses they will allow for their photos.  There are six main licenses offered when you choose to publish your work with a Creative Commons license.

There are four licensing conditions in which creators can choose from to apply to their work.  Here are those four conditions listed from most accommodating, to most restrictive:

1)  Attribution –You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.

2)  Share Alike – You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

3)  Non-Commercial – You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for non-commercial purposes only.

4)  No Derivative Works – You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Here are the six main licensing types:

1)  Attribution – Allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially.  They must credit you for the original creation. (This is the most accommodating of licenses offered.)

2) Attribution Share Alike – Allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. All new works based on yours will carry the same license. (This license is often compared to “open source” software licenses.)

3)  Attribution No Derivatives – Allows for redistribution: commercial and non-commercial.  Must remain unchanged and given credit to you.   

4) Attribution Non-Commercial – Allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially. New work must acknowledge you and be non-commercial, but they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

5)  Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike – Allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under identical terms. Others can download and redistribute your work, but they can also translate, make remixes, etc. based on your work. All new work will carry the same original license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.

6)  Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives – This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the “free advertising” license because it allows others to download your works and share them with others, as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.


Here's a cool photo I found, that is licensed as Attribution-No Derivatives.
The image of this photo is helping me to "escape" from Buffalo's rain and cold temperatures!

Photo by Kathy Vitulano

Twitter...in the Classroom?

Twitter is something that is highly popularized in today’s society, but I personally have never had a Twitter account.  I’ve been trying to be open-minded towards the whole thing, but I was still really unsure of how it could be useful in the classroom.  Reading some articles about educators using Twitter was very helpful to me to get a better idea of the benefits of Twitter.  One article titled, Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter, by Laura Walker, obviously included some of those “top” benefits of using Twitter for professional development purposes.  With Twitter, teachers can form a professional social network to share thoughts, ideas, opinions, links to articles worth reading, and links to new technological resources.  Unfortunately, there is just not enough time during the school days for teachers to truly converse, collaborate, and share ideas.  Therefore, “Twitter can be like a virtual staffroom for me …I can access a stream of links, ideas, opinion and resources from a hand-picked selection of global professionals.”  Twitter can easily give teachers the opportunity to connect and “share these reflections and both support and challenge each other.”  Reading about other teachers’ experiences can give you great insight of what has worked for others, and can therefore guide your current practices.

One thing I think is most beneficial about using Twitter is that the act of reflection and sharing ideas extends towards helping teachers to be “smarter about their work.”  Teachers spend far too much time reinventing the wheel, when in actuality, there are options out there to research what other educators have used/done, to help guide your teaching and save time!  It’s definitely worth being apart of. 

Another great benefit of Twitter is that educators can always stay “up-to-date” with the latest educational advancements:  “users can stay right at the bleeding edge of innovation and creativity, and literally be among the first to know when a new product is launched, article is published or opinion is voiced.”   Tweets about such advances would come right to you to view as soon as they become available, instead of taking the time to search the entire internet for such advances.  In conclusion, educators can truly benefit from Twitter as a professional development resource.  “Following smart people on Twitter is like a mental shot of expresso.”

On the other hand, what are some ways that teachers can use twitter within the classroom, either during class, or as an additional enhancement outside of class?  Since I’m unfamiliar, I was unsure of how beneficial it could be as a classroom resource.  I found this article, Leveraging Twitter in Large Lecture Classes to Increase Participation, that includes a 5-minute video titled “The Twitter Experiment,” where Dr. Rankin, professor of History at the University of Texas at Dallas, wanted to know how to reach more students and involve more people in class discussions both in and out of the classroom. She had heard of Twitter but wasn’t sure how she could incorporate it within the classroom setting.  I was very impressed with this video, despite the fact that it was used within a higher-education classroom lecture hall of about 90 students…a classroom setting that I am not at all interested to teach in.  In a lecture hall of about 90 students there would not be enough ideal time for all students to make comments, and obviously there would be some shy, uncomfortable students not wanting to voice their opinion out loud.  However, this video showed me that there is great potential I was totally unaware of to engage students using familiar technology, and giving them more confidence with participating in class from having the comfort of tweeting their comments. 

Interesting Article

One article that I found to be beneficial was Month In Review - September's Most Popular Posts, via Free Technology for Teachers. Since I haven’t been checking this blog frequently enough from going to my Blogger and looking at my blogroll for updates until subscribing to my Google Reader account, I missed a lot of good posts within the last month. Therefore I was very grateful that the top ten posts for the month of September were recorded and linked for me to look at. Most of them were worthwhile. It also is nice that Richard Byrne takes the time to “recap” some of the best sites for anyone that hasn’t had time to check frequently in their very busy schedules.  I particularly found interest in the post, 47 Alternatives to Using You Tube in the Classroom, because many schools do not even have access. If a teacher finds something at home that is worthwhile to show to their students, they may not have the opportunity. Therefore, I was shocked to see SO many alternatives…I had only really thought of just simply using Teacher Tube or School Tube, the first two suggested, but not the other 45!  I did appreciate viewing some of the other sites as well. In this post, Julie Greller's A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet, is also mentioned and I took the time to check it out and it is a really nice site! Byrne quotes in another post, “a well organized resource that all K-12 educators could benefit from. Julie has organized her site into three sections, one each for elementary, middle, and high school.” Definitely worth checking out. When I clicked on the page, the 2nd most recent post was a great blog for math teachers, Mathematics and Multimedia! I love how I’m always finding more and more blogs/links/resources online from others in the field as I surf around the internet.

Using Ning: Classroom 2.0

I’ve actually heard of Classroom 2.0 before even though I didn't know it was apart of Ning, so I decided to check it out.  Classroom 2.0 is “a social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education.” I liked that I saw the description:  “We especially hope that those who are "beginners" will find this a supportive comfortable place to start being part of the digital dialogue,” because I’m new to this whole Ning thing.  There are links to articles and other sources, events advertised, online events to participate in, and a forum with multiple threads created, to name a few.  One of the things I particularly was interested in checking out was the groups.

A group has been created for High School Math Teachers to join a community.  There are is a discussion board with different threads, one of them I found perked my interest because it was about teaching Algebra 2.  Last year I student taught this course and found some challenges since it was the first year being offered after changes in the NYS curriculum.  Finding this page and discussion forum made me realize that if I find groups like this I can connect with other teachers experiencing the same things as myself, and I can get advice from more experienced teachers…I can also take the time to share any advice of things I have come across.

Another group I checked out was for Middle School Math.  From viewing this group I was very impressed!  This man David R. Wetzel posted links of articles to his page, Teach Science and Math:  Dedicated to encouraging & supporting K-12 teachers.  I was very intrigued upon reading the titles of some of his posts, especially the most recent one on using Google Docs in Science and Math classrooms.  Apparenlty there are templates of already made documents that I could use; I had no idea!  In my one grad class my professor is very adamant on using Google Docs so I have been using it a lot lately, but I had no idea it could be such a resource for me to use as a teacher.  I’m excited to check this out!  If I didn’t click on this Middle School Math group apart of Classroom 2.0, I never would have found access to David Wetzel’s Teach Science and Math page!  I’m therefore very impressed with Ning and I’m sure after spending some more time checking it out I will find a lot more valuable information I can use in my future teaching!  : )

A Learner of Today...using Connectivism Theory

Using Connectivism theory, I came up with an analogy of a learner being a member of a food chain in an ecosystem.  Within the ecosystem, there could be many different types of animals, organized in a hierarchical form due to their ecosystem’s pyramid.  Each animal, which I am considering to be analogous to a learner, has the challenge of being able to survive.  The ecosystem is analogous to the ever-changing society in which we live.  Maybe the ecosystem has undergone many changes within the last few years:  changes in habitat due to construction of new homes, meaning trees cut down and intrusion of some animal’s original ‘home;’ changes of habitat due to possible pollution of water in which plants and animals reside; changes in climate/temperature maybe due to global warming over an extended period of time.  Obviously animals face changes in their environment and must learn to adapt to challenges that may arise (such as human interference, having to find new areas to be their ‘homes’ within the habitat, and having to alter eating habits if plants/animals lower in the food pyramid can no longer survive).  To me, we as learners of today have to adapt to societal changes, especially those in technology, just like members of an ecosystem have to adapt to changes in their surroundings and way of life in order to survive. 

Members of an ecosystem cannot live merely by themselves, just like learners are no longer merely learning through internalization of knowledge.  Members of the ecosystem are reliant on other members of their ecosystem:  connecting with their own species to plot for survival, along with relying on lower members for their food source.  To me, learning occurs in a similar way now in today’s society, where learning occurs due to reliance on other members of society.  Learning now occurs outside of people, and according to the George Siemens article on Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, “learning occurs within the nebulous environments of shifting core elements that are not entirely under control of the individual.”  Also it is stated within the article, “sensitive dependence on initial conditions profoundly impacts what we learn and how we act based on our learning.”  That to me is like survival in an ecosystem, adapting to challenges that arise due to changes in the environment.  Also I liked viewing Siemens’ video titled, The Changing Nature of Knowledge, because I think it thoroughly explains the concept of Connectivism and how learning is evolving in today’s society.  Starting at  time 1:32 in the video, he says, “…today because of the complex environment that we’re in, learning isn’t something that’s exclusively limited or occurs exclusively within an individual’s mind…knowledge is really about the distribution that occurs across an entire network.”  Once again upon hearing this part, I was able to visualize the connection to the analogy I thought of.  Learning today is like survival in an ecosystem because you can’t learn or “survive” without adapting to changes that are outside yourself in society that you cannot control.  The network becomes the learning, or as I can compare to my analogy, the ecosystem can yield survival.

Pay Attention--Reaction to Video

Digital Learners

Students, as we know, learn in different ways…there are many types of learners. However, now in the 21st century, students are of a new “breed”: digital learners. This video, Pay Attention, recalls how many hours an average college graduate spends watching TV, playing videogames, talks on their cellphones, uses the computer. I wasn’t really surprised by these statistics because these forms of technology tend to “run” our lives…but I think that now in 2010, only 3 years after this video was made, these number of hours have probably increased a lot. I think that this video is very intriguing, especially for teachers that maybe do not realize how important technology is in our society today…how they need to integrate technology to appeal to the digital learners.

I couldn’t believe the statistic where it said that on average, students in class only get to ask a question once every 10 hours! In most of the classrooms I have observed in the past two years, I did not find this the case. In my student teaching, I tried to call on each student every class period at least once! This statistic really made me wonder…but does encourage me to always try to integrate technology and create an “engaging world of teaching” that will appeal to the students of today. When I saw the montage of all the ways to consider using the internet while teaching, I felt a little bit of excitement/relief that I am taking this class to learn as much as I can about these resources, so that I will feel more comfortable trying to use them in my teaching. One thing I am not so sure about, despite the fact that I keep finding more and more research/information about it, is using cellphones in the classroom…I don’t even have internet on my phone! However I do agree that by the time I get a few more years into teaching, everything will continue to change, so I plan on getting as best accustomed as I can with such advances. As it says in the video, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

"Safe and appropriate"

I hope that my students would at least have some grasp on how they should be “safe” on the internet, but after hearing so many instances of negative things occurring on the internet, I would definitely take the time to remind them what they shouldn’t do. Hopefully I could present this content in an appealing manner by incorporating a video clip or two (particularly this one on cyberbullying that I couldn’t find to post its link), and maybe give students a fun-fact quiz of some of the internet safety statistics I would come across. I would give students an “internet permission slip” to inform students and their parents my code of conduct for working on the blog, which would go hand-in-hand with the school district’s policy. The expectations would be clear, and student and parent signatures are giving consent that they are agreeing to adhere to the policies. There will be serious consequences if a student uses inappropriate language, posts inappropriate content, talks negatively to another student, etc.  Things always need to be "safe and appropriate!"

There are many things that I would like to iterate/remind my students. I would encourage them to only use their first names if possible, but to never post personal information like their address, phone number, locations they plan on going to, etc. There is no need to put up specific information that could allow people they don’t know to find out too much about them. Students always need to think of who their audience is, since all information put up on the internet is there for anyone to see: There’s no such thing as “private” online. Students need to be reminded that their passwords need to be kept private and should never be shared with anyone, not even their closest friends.

Since I would be incorporating blogging as a form of assessment within my classroom, I need to nicely introduce students into what is expected of them. When we would first be starting out with blogs I would encourage students to have a “model” blog to measure up to, which could be either mine or another colleagues. The first few assignments will slowly ease students into the concept of blogging, where they would get reading other blogs first, and then begin responding. All assignments will have a rubric explaining their level of participation and quality of work, but as always, the whole “safe and appropriate” issue will always come to play.

Using the internet, particularly the idea of a blog, has such great potential from an educational standpoint. I really hope that my students will take things seriously when it comes to our course, as well as their outside social networking. The responsibility of teachers and parents definitely play a large role in reminding students what is “safe and appropriate,” compared to what is not.

Ways that I could use Blogs within my own classroom!

Once I become a teacher, I hope to integrate technology into my classroom to help engage and motivate my students. Since today’s students are constantly embedding technology within their everyday lives, like using their cell phones, using social network sites such as facebook, twitter, etc., they already will have a “blog” mentality. Even if blogging isn’t something I as the teacher am not used to just yet, I know my students will find it “second nature.” Therefore I plan on getting acclimated to the “world of blogging” now, getting some practice so that I will feel comfortable enough embedding this resource into my teaching.


At first, especially until I get used to teaching with the use of blogs, I will mainly use a blog for my sole personal use. As the teacher, my blog will be informational for students and parents so they can always know what is going on in my classroom. I really think it will be a great way to communicate information about the class! I will upload my classroom rules and procedures (“code of conduct”), a class syllabus, and information on the curriculum of the course. I also will develop an archive of class materials: copies of daily classnotes, handouts, presentations, homework assignments, any answer keys I give to my students, projects, rubrics for assignments, etc. I will have an informative calendar where each day will include what we do in class and what homework is assigned. I will have a page for important and useful websites that I come across in which I feel would benefit my students, especially if they are having a hard time with a certain concept, it would be a great resource for them to look at some of the suggested websites. This blog will definitely save class time trying to explain what absent students missed, or if they lose/misplace any class materials. There will be no excuse from a student claiming they “didn’t know what was going on, or what was due today.” I think the website will give parents a great “in” on their child’s time within in my class. They will always have a way to be informed about what is going on, and they will be able to access of the materials.

Secondly, aside from using my blog as a great source of communicate information to my students and their parents, I hope to eventually open up the blog for student use. Since research shows that blogging has positive results within students such as promoting critical and analytical thinking, I definitely would consider using it as a form of assessment. Since I am not an English teacher, I don’t really intend on asking my students to create e-portfolios, since I will not be assigning them large writing assignments. However, it is a common misconception that students do not have to read or write in a math classroom…even though it is an important necessity. Therefore I would really like to use a blog to get my students to read and write about math, without them even noticing it. Asking students to explain their mathematical thoughts of how they arrived upon an answer/explain what method they used, pushes students to go beyond simple computations. They are forced to actually think about their solving processes and are therefore gaining a deeper understanding of the material. This is a goal I have for students, instead of just being able to merely, rotely, arrive at answers. I want my students to become problem solvers and actually understand what they are doing as they work through a problem. This is why I think a blog will be a great asset to my math classroom. I would give students credit for posting a response to a question I post, pertaining to how they solved a math problem. It could be apart of their homework assignments each week to check the blog and respond, as a formal assessment.

Another way I think blogs would work great in my classroom would be as a form of informal assessment. Let’s say in class one day the students start discussing something at the end of class, but I realize that we are running out of time to get as in depth as I would like.  If we do not have time in class for a discussion, I can spontaneously tell my students that they need to take some time in the evening to put a post on the blog with their opinion – as a part of the homework assignment.  I think that a great discussion could evolve if every student puts one post. I would then take the time to read all of the posts and it would give me an idea of how my students are thinking/how well they were doing with a certain math concept.  Also if I had a closure activity planned for class and we ran out of time to get to it, I could try to put it on the blog for students to respond to. Either scenario would become a great instance of informal assessment, allowing me to see how well my students comprehended the material and to determine if I need to reteach/reiterate anything.  I could also continue the next day with the informal data I received by using it as an anticipatory set to get the student’s attention.  I am looking forward to personally learning more about blogging while in this course so that I will feel comfortable enough to live up to these high hopes I have about using blogs in my own classroom!