I went to Podcampnyc and it was my first time attending a Podcamp event. I had such a great time. I drove up to Brooklyn early Saturday morning and got to Polytechnic University just in time for registration.
There were so many sessions to choose from, I was overwhelmed. I especially wanted to attend Podcampnyc for a couple of reasons. One being I am a podcaster and I wanted to meet other podcasters and learn more about podcasting techniques (both audio and video) and how to market them while building a community.
The second reason being the fact I’m truly trying to put my master’s degree to work. I have a master’s in instructional technology and Podcampnyc was also focusing on education & technology this year. So I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to attend sessions that were related to education and the integration of technology into schools and curriculum along with other educators and technologists. Turns out I was right. It was such a wonderful experience listening and sharing ideas with other educators and technologists. It was also very inspiring.
Panel discussion on Issues Concerning Eduction and Web 2.0 led by Chris Hambly (all the way from London).
Quick Notes from the Panel Discussion:
- Hilary Mason (another panel member) is a computer scientist and considers herself an accident educator. At the university which she works she has developed and incorporated: using wikis for curriculum changes and has also created courses in Second Life such as introduction to entrepreneurship and virtual Morocco.
- Session attendees talk about how afraid teachers and administrators are of learning new technologies such as instant messenger, blogging, podcasting, etc to communicate with students and other faculty members.
- There is a also a control factor. Using social media tools in education means you give a little control and independence to the student and many are not willing to do so. The perception has such been; teachers and administrators talk and students listen.
- Is it a cultural divide or is it just fear of change or does it all boil down to school systems not wanting to give up their control over what teachers and students can and cannot do?
- We also discussed how these same fears of learning something new and giving up a portion on control is found in corporations with higher level executives.
Session on How New Media Can Change Learning led by Chris Brogran and everyone else (Joel was unable to come and lead the session so Chris stepped up and did it)
Quick Notes from Session:
- Schools are still behind in technology. Many schools block services such as YouTube and Google related products like GMAIL, Google Docs, etc, which makes it hard for teachers who want to integrate these tools in their current curriculum.
- What can parents do to petition the need for the use of technology in the classroom? Many parents are willing to stand up and fight for this; they just need to know how to proceed.
- Although the challenge of using technology in the classroom to enhance learning is at the forefront, so is classroom management. Classrooms are still overcrowded, which makes it hard to manage the classroom. When teachers are spending majority of their time in class telling kids to be quiet, sit down, writing kids up and sending some to the principals’ office; everything else regarding learning gets pushed to the back-burner.
- With so many real estate developers building homes in neighborhoods and the state not building new schools to accommodate the number of new families that’ll be moving into these new homes; overcrowded classrooms will remain an issue.
Session on Podcasting Your Passion: if it works for sports fans (and it does) it can work for you led by Andrew Figgins.
Quick Notes from Session:
- We did an exercise where we broke into groups of 3, came up with a topic to podcast about and each group recorded a 1 minute podcast live on the spot. That was a blast!!!!! (tried to find the final recording of this, but no luck)
Session on New Media in the High School Classroom led by John Herman
- John is integrating new media technology trends into his media class.
- He has incorporated Google Docs where the students collaborate in research projects and write a thesis. John said using Google Docs takes away the “I can’t print my paper” or “I was absent so I didn’t do my work” factor.
- He is also using NING to build a classroom social network, which has been very successful thus far .
- His teaches 11th graders and he said they have really taken a liking to all of the new media tools he brings into the classroom.
References from the days sessions: (click on each reference to visit website)
Dana Boyd
Pew Internet: Teens and Social Media
WorldSavvy
Free Reading
Yugma
Globalgateway.org.uk
isquint
teachertube.com
iShowU
voicethread.com
Classroom 2.0
Having Our Say: Middle Grade Student Perspectives on School, Technologies, and Academic Engagement
