So thanks to Tim Wilson’s deepening interest in podcasting and his gentle prodding earlier this week, last night he got Tim Lauer, Steve Burt and me together on a Skype conference call and we did a 45-minute roundtable about Web 2.0 in schools a la the Gillmor Gang. And I have to say, that despite some issues with microphone levels and some pops and whirrs on occasion, it came out pretty darn good. About two seconds before we started recording, we lit on the “Coast to Coast” theme since Steve and Tim L. were in Oregon and I’m out here in Jersey. (The other Tim is in “flyover land” in Minn.) Tim W. lives up to his name as the Savvy Technologist with his smooth as silk intro music and voice over, and despite Steve calling me dead “wrong” at one point, what transpired was a fairly spirited and somewhat coherent discussion about the state of education in this new world.
As often happens, some disparate ideas came together while we were talking. The most interesting, to me at least, is the segment on providing online information to draw parents into a more active relationship with schools. I’m not going to give away the details, but the upshot was that there seemed to be a difference in whether to entice parents with access to grades and absence reports or access to content. You can probably guess what camp I fell into.
Anyway, the more meta reflection is about the podcast itself. I was really impressed by how well Skype seemed to work off my wireless connection at home. I didn’t realize how loud my mic was until I listened to the end result…we’ll have to work on that. But I guess I just really liked being able to talk about these issues with three smart, ed tech leaders out there who I’ve gotten to know fairly well over the last few years. Now the big question is whether or not potential listeners will find anything interesting in what we had to say. Please let me know what you think as we’re talking about trying to make this a regular event.
Download: STP-ETC2C (18.6 MB, 40:28)
So many ideas in this podcast. It’s a very interesting listen. As the podcast plays I am writing this. Uh- one idea that jumped out at me is the idea that the web helps to draw parents in. Another person mentioned that many parents expect to have online access to what’s going on at school. One motivation for me creating 120 student blogs this summer is to bring parents into the classroom. As the kids start to use their blogs on a daily basis to write parents will want to check it out. Then they will begin to talk with their kids about what’s going on at school. The web opens the door to the classroom in such a crazy way. I see it as a way of making me a more effective teacher. I am no longer the only one reading student work. And, I’m not the only one giving feedback. As more people read student blogs the more they talk to the students about the content. This is the first time I think I see the light on Internet 2.0. Great podcast- the audio is a bit bumpy- but it doesn’t matter.
http://www.mrmayo.org
Readers may also be interested in the EdTech Posse, a podcast on the same topic and in much the same format started by some Canadian bloggers several weeks ago. They are up to podcast number four. http://edtechposse.ca/
A very interesting podcast, and one that touches on some of the issues we’ve been grappling with at our school in Melbourne, Australia: how to incorporate blogs into teaching, moving from discussion forums to more user-produced content, looking at podcasting for students, and particularly how to allow parent access to assessment and reporting online.
I didn’t quite catch the suggestions at the end; moodle and blogs I heard, but the audio cracked up a bit on the third (droople?) If you could post a link, that would be great.
Will, having just been to your presentations in Boston with Allan November it was great to hear your thoughts and to put a face to the ideas being podcast – it reinforces for me my concern with the increasing emphasis on the technical aspects of communication – we mustn’t lose sight of the crucial element in gleaning meaning from the content – having a personal contact.
Your podcast was a fantastic medium though. Suggestions for future podcast – Skype plus web cams for effective mini conferencing at schools. (Could you add video to your podcasts too?) Discussions with educators who have been successful in getting blogs and wikis working in school settings to promote community involvement in the education process and talking about the basic practicals – starting points/success/failures/ suggestions to support those of us who are techno ludites but who are also very interested in making these new technologies work to full advantage for us.
I also must disagree with some of your content – you commented that giving grades for an 8 year old are too abstract, that they don’t know what they mean. On the contrary, they glean lots like – I am a failure, I am not as good as Johnny, the teacher thinks I’m no good at writing. What a way to knock down any spirit or love for learning that the child intrinsically has. Keep up the crusade!
Please Coast to Coast regularly, maybe you can go Hemisphere to Hemisphere or Lower 48 to Downunder at some point.
Robert from Melbourne.
Warrick, I would like to make contact if you are interested in having a chat about the same issues in my school in Melbourne. Anyone else wanting to have some local discussion about the issues I am happy to liaise. email miller.robert.rp@edumail.vic.gov.au
Thanks for a great podcast. I actually enjoyed my morning run, ran farther than usual because I was so caught up in your discussions. I appreciate your vantage point; you see farther than I can so listening to your discussions fills me with ideas and possibilities.
Will:
Great podcast – thanks for the ideas, wisdom and warnings. I just started an informal training group at the school where I teach to try to show other instructors the possibilities inherent in this technology. What is unusual about this group is that students are acting as mentors to technology-phobic teachers. When I first proposed this to my colleagues I thought I might get a handfull of teachers interested – but to my surprise over twenty-five (about 25% of staff) teachers signed up for this voluntary after-school program.
If anyone else is doing this type of project I’d love to hear from them at alt@cciu.org