School 2.0 in SA

Podcasting can be a powerful tool to use in the classroom. Let me “count the ways”… (just a few…please add….)

• Storytelling. Let the learners record their own “stories” about whatever theme you are currently engaged with. eg instead of having to stand in front of the class to “do a speech”, they can record their speech , upload it as a podcast and the class can then go and leave comments, suggestions as peer review. (learner centred)
• Homework: Instructions for doing an assignment. The learners can download the podcast to their cell phones/ipods or access it from your class blog and use it to assist them to do their homework. Let them take “your voice” with them.  (teacher centred)
• Interviews with specialists: Get the kids to do the interviews, edit it (using audacity) and upload it to the class blog (eg careers in LO) (learner centred)
• School radio station. Now this is one that everybody can have fun with! Why not start a daily/weekly “radio station” for the school where the fun and spirit of the school can be captured in audio format and showcase some of the anecdotes? (uhmmm just make sure that their is some adult supervising) (learner centred)
• Capture field trips in audio format to feature on radio station……

So how do I do it?

There are quite a few nice tools that we can use….but let me start at the beginning in a step by step way (us older folkies did not grow up in the constructivist era!)

• Record the podcast (use a cell phone, which is the easiest, or a mike connected to a computer or a dictaphone)
• Download the recording onto your computer (bluetooth connection or USB)
• Depending on if it is in MP3 format (most podcast requires this format), first turn it into an MP3:
  • I tried Switch, which has a free easy to use version for download
• Create an account with Gcast (http://www.gcast.com/) There are very clear tutorials on how to set it up there.
• Create podcasting channel (eg, you can create a channel for each of your classes)
• Hit the Upload button!
• Embed you podcast in your blog/school website/Facebook/Myspace…where ever! Just copy the code given and paste it in your “code-html” on your blog.

This blogpost was inspired by a post by Wesley Fryer, where he gives other options of how to do it!

Some more resources:

• My Delicious podcasting bookmarks
• An Audacity tutorial (Audacity is a free programme that you can use to record and edit audio)

Here is my ICT4Campions channel embedded into my blog:

Subscribe Free for future posts  Add this player to my Page

And here is the quick option using the google player (see Wesley’s blog)

I am glad to see that all my favourite tools feature in this presentation! And there are a few that I need to go and play with as well!

As a parent I have been horrified at the level of addiction my children (3 of them) embraced virtual world gaming with. I have had numerous heated arguments about “what these games are doing to their brains”, not to mention the fact that it was turning them into anti-social maniacs. As a teacher I wondered about how we can channel such “addictions” towards learning. Then, after they turned out to be relatively well balanced, happy, socially adapted, achieving young adults, I was forced to re-evaluate virtual gaming as “not such a totally bad thing”. (Okay sure, my incredibly good parenting might also have played a role..;-) )

I tried to make the effort to spend time with them finding out what all of the hype, that is keeping them up weekends, is all about. Apart from the absolutely horrendous use of language, the endless violence, and people screaming and shouting at one another, there existed an incredibly fair team structure where everybody had an important role to play in authentic (though bizarre) virtual circumstances, for which they were valued and got rewarded. They have to think on their feet and work together or get killed (which is maybe one of the reasons girls are not such avid gamers as boys- we do not like being killed).

This made me think that, if we define education as preparing learners for real life, then surely virtual gaming has all the ingredients of a great educational tool ? Sitting there with the kids I definitely felt that they were using higher order thinking skills that left me feeling both intellectually and technologically impaired! I also realised that they were engaging in very involved social relationships based on not only friendships but skills and expertise that make my face to face bring-and-braai relationships look rather boring!

I was recently pointed in the direction of a blog article which really created a WOW moment for me. It was about how teenagers have used mathematical modelling to figure out how to defeat “the bosses” in their virtual online game. A definite must-read: “Videogames are becoming the new hotbed of scientific thinking for kids today….”

So maybe we need to rethink the role collaborative video games can play, before we go all out to protect our children from becoming “screen kids”. Or maybe we need to become even more pro-active and use video gaming as an essential tool to support our teaching efforts in our classrooms?

One such a virtual world environment totally dedicated to educational goals within the confines of a safe space is Quest Atlantis:

“Quest Atlantis is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-15, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. It allows users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities (known as Quests), talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. Over the last four years, more than 15,000 children on five continents have participated in the project. Students conduct rich inquiry-based explorations through which they learn particular standards-based content, and at the same time develop pro-social attitudes regarding significant environmental and social issues. Rather than just placing work and play side-by-side, QA strives to make learning fun and to show kids how they can make a difference. We have demonstrated learning gains in science, language arts, and social studies, and students have completed literally thousands of Quests, some of which were assigned by teachers and many of which were chosen by students to complete in their free time. Teachers have also reported increased levels of student engagement and interest in pursuing curricular issues outside of school”

You can learn more about the project at http://QuestAtlantis.Org).

They are currently looking for brave teachers, within the Southern African context, to emerge themselves and their learners in the virtual world learning explorations. So get more information. Go to our wiki for SA schools at http://saschools.wetpaint.com/page/Virtual+worlds+and+education