Podcasting Made Easy, Part II: Sound

As I go back listen to that first podcast I am overwhelmed with how terrible the recording quality is, especially compared to what I have today.  You will also notice that a majority of the first podcasts were audio, now I am dealing a lot more with video.  My development was purposeful, I started with audio technology developing my skill on Garageband to get the best possible edits.  I even developed my own theme song (yah, I’m that nerdy).  However, as time went on, I knew that the quality of my podcasts needed to improve or I would not be able to gain more listeners.  So, I set out to research and learn all I could about sound recording.

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Video on the iPad and iPhone

Film, and a technology, has only been around for about one hundred years, it is still relatively young.  Conversely, story telling, has been around for thousands of years and been the backbone of society and culture throughout that time.  Film takes story telling to another level and gives people a medium to share their interests, ideas and passions.  I recently had a chance to do a lot of work on my iPad as well as my iPhone to record and process video on a mobile platform.  My goal is to find what I can use personally and what I can teach my students to make them better story tellers using film.

My Next Scavenger Hunt

Try this with your camera, it's a great way to find my blog.

I love QR images on so many levels.  The are around us, some subtly some not so subtly, on bust stops, billboards, website, produce and even on some of the packages you receive in the mail from the postal service or UPS.  Founded back in the 1990’s by the Japanese Auto Industry, these images are being used by marketing companies for gorilla marketing campaigns to gain the attention of a tech savvy crowds.

I recently purchased some produce and on the inside of the label was a QR image to scan an enter a contest to see if I won the sweepstakes.  I was recently at a wine tasting  in Lodi where the winery was using QR images to download tasting notes.  I could scan the image and I was taken to a website with notes, pricing and ordering information.  I can then save the info in my scans and access this data any time I want.  “What was the wine I liked again, I will look at my phone.”  Jimmy Fallon used an image on his Late Show during one of his comedy bits that took you to a link of the video he was making. This technology will start to pop up more and more and in many different ways, so how can I use this in education?

My First Prezi

Great teaching tells you that along with verbal/auditory instruction, you should also use kinesthetic and visual instruction.  So, from day one I have been using PowerPoint.  What a great program that I can use to add effects, images, bullets, videos and all kinds of groovy things.  I used it for Jeopardy, Family Feud, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and all other kinds of reviews.  However, over time, I began to see PowerPoint abuse – slides with no pictures and too many bullets.  Slides with repeated format, each slide had a picture on the same side with writing on the same side.  Too much info, not enough info, poor color choices, bad video … the list goes on.  That led me to Prezi.  With some prompting from my friend MJ – thank you – I created my first Prezi.

iPad 2 or Laptop?

The debate is thick as to the type of niche that iPad fits in the technology world.  I love my laptop, I love my desktop at work, and I love my iPad.  So, which device is the correct one for a majority of my personal use? That all depends on what I will use the device for, and iPad keeps blurring that line every day.

Taking Notes in the Digital Age

My note taking preferences have changed over the years.  My favorite ways of interacting with speakers and lectures is to use Evernote and Twitter.  I like being able to save, share, and then re-live the topic that was discussed.  I love the interactivity of the note-taking and the power it gives me to go back and research the topic as I lived through it at the time.  Now, how do I convince my students there is a benefit to this process?