Podcasting

Podcasting is a wonderful way of allowing children to share their work and experiences with a potentially huge audience over the Internet. Schools are increasingly using the internet to promote what they do, and to celebrate the achievements of their children, and podcasting is an excellent way of doing this.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is like a radio show. However, instead of being broadcast live, a podcast is recorded and then distributed over the internet, so that you can listen to it whenever you please. There are thousands of podcasts available, ranging from general interest entertainment shows to those which focus on specific topics (e.g. computers / music / education).

How do I listen?

You can usually listen to podcasts directly on the websites of those people who make them (see below for some examples). However, you can also "subscribe" to podcasts using software like iPodder and iTunes. These programs will automatically download the latest shows, and you can then listen to them on your computer and / or mp3 player. To subscribe to a podcast, you need to know the RSS feed (this information should be on the podcaster's website). iTunes has its own directory, where you can subscribe to a show, simply by clicking the "Subscribe" button.

How do children benefit from making a podcast?

• It gives them a potential audience of thousands for their work.
• It's great for developing literacy skills (writing scripts, setting up interviews etc), allows children to develop and practise their speaking and listening skills, and they also learn some amazing ICT skills.
• Podcasts can be interactive, and the audience can be invited to send their comments, giving valuable feedback to the children about their work.
• I've found that making a podcast is also great for developing teamwork skills. The children always work together really well, as they're always keen to make a great show.

How do I make a podcast?

A school podcast can range from a single recorded story which is put onto the school website, to a weekly radio show with music and interviews which visitors can subscribe to using an RSS feed. How you make up your podcast is up to you.

The basic equipment you need is a computer with some kind of recording ability (an internal or external microphone) and some recording software. Audacity is free and allows you to record your show and then export it as an mp3 file. You can then upload this to your school website.

You could then develop your show by trying some of the following:

• Jingles - Use software such as eJay (PC) or Garageband (Mac) to create jingles. These can be used to introduce particular features to the show.
• Try an outside broadcast - Use an mp3 player with recording facilities to record a feature "on location" around the school, or on a school field trip. You can then download this to your computer and add it to your show.
• Adding podsafe music - Let your DJs introduce some copyright free music into your show.
• Promote yourself - Register with the various podcast directories (see below) to get more listeners!
• Use more sophisticated software - Mixcast Live (PC) is specifically designed for podcasters, allowing them to set up playlists and record their podcasts directly to MP3. I use a combination of iTunes and Nicecast on the Mac for my school podcasts.

What can I put in a podcast?

• School news - a great way of telling children and parents what is going on at your school.
• Children's work - children love sharing their work. Ask them to record their own stories, or write reports about an activity they've tried at school.
• School songs.
• Interviews - with members of staff, children, members of the community, and visitors to school.
• Music - Please be aware that you will not be allowed to use commercial music in podcasts for copyright reasons. However, some artists allow their music to be played in podcasts. You can find this "podsafe" music in special directories (e.g. music.podshow.com)
• Jokes.
• National / International news - be aware of any copyright regulations when finding sources of news.
• ... and whatever else you feel may be appropriate!

Seven social media trends that can get you ahead of curve - Vanguard News

By Agbolade Omowole

Looking ahead to the future is not a walk in the park and you can’t
feature effectively in a future you don’t picture. The core of this article is
to provide you with the top seven social media trends that will get you ahead
of the curve.

SocialMedia

Why social media? The way to grow
your business is exponential not linear. In the linear marketing model, you
have to get your messages across to consumers numerically – one by one. If for
instance, you send an email to 100 persons, only the intended recipients will
get

the message and that’s all. But that
model is slow and unfit for the 21st century entrepreneur. Social media can
help your business marketing campaign get to customers in lesser time and
produce more result. That’s an exponential curve. One out of every seven person
in the world is on Facebook and each one of them has at least 150 friends.
This means

that your sales pitch, through
social media, can get to their intended person, their friends and their friend
of friends. The possibilities are just endless. Investment on social media
is a must: For serious entrepreneurs, allocating a reasonable budget for social
media marketing is absolutely necessary.   It’s no longer an option.
Every business, no matter how small or big, should have a Facebook business
page.

Benefits of social media marketing
are: increased exposure, increased traffic, provided marketplace insights, generated
leads, developed loyal fans, improved search rankings, increased business
partnership, reduced marketing expenses, improved sales.

*. Tell Stories: The art of
story-telling when implemented across all platforms will engender exponential
result and increase return-on-investment. There will be rise in visual story
telling by increased use of micro videos and info-graphics.

*.Content is King. Content has
always being king and it will be fuelled by 3 core pillars – creativity,
context and care. On social media how you say it is more important than what
you say. When building content for social media marketing, target basic passion
points: fear, anxiety, love, and fear.

Context is about adapting your
content to your audience and ‘care’ refers to showing others how your
‘offerings’ will solve their problems. People are only interested in the
solution to their problems, not how beautiful your products/services are.

*. With the increase of instant
messaging and chat-based social networks WhatsApp, Snapchat, Line and others
will be the new competitor of facebook. It is therefore reasonable to include
the aforementioned chat-based social networks in your social media campaigns.

5. Content Marketing Mastery: build an effective content
   marketing strategy by giving valuable information away. Attract clients by
   inviting them to your blog, create viral content, and provide value to the
   client.

* Image is everything: creating
great information with high quality graphics is a great way to reach your
target audience. Use comics, memes, infographics, photos, videos and visual
note-taking.

Seven social media trends that can get you ahead of curve - Vanguard News 

Seven
social media trends that can get you ahead of curve - See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/seven-social-media-trends-that-can-get-you-ahead-of-curve/#sthash.7DpaYbiP.dpuf

By Agbolade Omowole


Looking ahead to the future is not a
walk in the park and you can’t feature effectively in a future you
don’t picture. The core of this article is to provide you with the top
seven social media trends that will get you ahead of the curve.

SocialMedia

Why social media? The way to grow your business is exponential not
linear. In the linear marketing model, you have to get your messages
across to consumers numerically – one by one. If for instance, you send
an email to 100 persons, only the intended recipients will get


the message and that’s all. But that model is slow and unfit for the
21st century entrepreneur. Social media can help your business marketing
campaign get to customers in lesser time and produce more result.
That’s an exponential curve. One out of every seven person in the world
is on Facebook and each one of them has at least 150 friends. This means


that your sales pitch, through social media, can get to their
intended person, their friends and their friend of friends. The
possibilities are just endless. Investment on social media is a must:
For serious entrepreneurs, allocating a reasonable budget for social
media marketing is absolutely necessary.   It’s no longer an option.
Every business, no matter how small or big, should have a Facebook
business page.


Benefits of social media marketing are: increased exposure, increased
traffic, provided marketplace insights, generated leads, developed
loyal fans, improved search rankings, increased business partnership,
reduced marketing expenses, improved sales.


*. Tell Stories: The art of story-telling when implemented across all
platforms will engender exponential result and increase
return-on-investment. There will be rise in visual story telling by
increased use of micro videos and info-graphics.


*.Content is King. Content has always being king and it will be
fuelled by 3 core pillars – creativity, context and care. On social
media how you say it is more important than what you say. When building
content for social media marketing, target basic passion points: fear,
anxiety, love, and fear.


Context is about adapting your content to your audience and ‘care’
refers to showing others how your ‘offerings’ will solve their problems.
People are only interested in the solution to their problems, not how
beautiful your products/services are.


*. With the increase of instant messaging and chat-based social
networks WhatsApp, Snapchat, Line and others will be the new competitor
of facebook. It is therefore reasonable to include the aforementioned
chat-based social networks in your social media campaigns.

5. Content Marketing Mastery: build an effective content marketing
   strategy by giving valuable information away. Attract clients by
   inviting them to your blog, create viral content, and provide value to
   the client.

* Image is everything: creating great information with high quality
graphics is a great way to reach your target audience. Use comics,
memes, infographics, photos, videos and visual note-taking.

- See
more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/seven-social-media-trends-that-can-get-you-ahead-of-curve/#sthash.7DpaYbiP.dpuf

Seven
social media trends that can get you ahead of curve - See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/seven-social-media-trends-that-can-get-you-ahead-of-curve/#sthash.7DpaYbiP.dpuf

ICT- A Boon for Classroom Teaching

 Whether you are starting as an elementary student or are going to a college for higher education, use of ICT as a new mode of classroom teaching has emerged as an advantage. For teachers in particular, this mode of teaching has proved to be helpful since children have found it far more interesting as compared to the conventional techniques. With access to numerous interactive and appealing technologies, education has become entertaining.

One of the best and the most positive effect on students in that with ICT in schools, they have become familiar with the technology. Testifying this, the students have become pros in both writing and speaking with the help computers and audio gears like mic. Not just this, the information is also easily available over the internet.

ICT as a new means of learning when applied in the right way in teaching lessons and come out to be the most efficient technique in teaching the students along with motivating them. Students can now easily get over with or find answers to their queries via direct interaction with different modes of ICT teaching like whiteboards.

Information and communication technology in classrooms has every possibility of enhancing the standards or quality of education for the students. Not just the students, even the teachers are benefitted since their work is simplified. The time required to prepare the lessons apart from the additional time required to follow up the students is reduced. As a new approach towards teaching, the students can now see videos of the course, borrow them from the library and watch them when they get time. Not just this, the information on the internet can also be easily accessed even when their teacher is not there.

The new mode of teaching, ICT proves a boon for the language teachers since technology can be used by them for making learning easy. The software can be used for learning new languages and for practice, they can use cassettes. Computers as ICT equipment provide the students with an access to undergo a detailed analysis of the information.

For teachers who are dedicated for making their students succeed in their field, ICT can be of perfect assistance.

Advantages of Using ICT in Learning-Teaching Processes

Advantages of Using ICT in Learning-Teaching Processes

Information and Communication Technologies have recently gained

groundswell of interest. It is a significant research area for many

scholars around the globe.  Their nature has highly changed the face of

education over the last few decades.

For most European countries, the use of ICT in education and training

has become a priority during the last decade. However, very few have

achieved progress. Indeed, a small percentage of schools in some

countries achieved high levels of effective use of ICT to support and

change the teaching and learning process in many subject areas. Others

are still in the early phase of Information and Communication

Technologies adoption.

Blanskat, Blamire, kefala (2006) conducted a study carried out in

national, international, and European schools. With the aim to draw

evidences regarding the advantages and benefits of ICT in schools

achievements. It seeks to measure the impact of ICT on students’

outcomes. The study also tried to establish a link between the use of

ICT and students’ results in exams. The findings are interesting: ICT

has positive impact on students’ performances in primary schools

particularly in English language and less in science.  Schools with

higher level of e-maturity show a rapid increase in performances in

scores compared to those with lower level.

In addition, schools with sufficient ICT resources achieved better

results than those that are not well-equipped.  There is a significant

improvement on learners’ performances.  Finally, teachers become more

convinced that educational achievements of pupils are due to good ICT

use. In fact, high percentage of teachers in Europe (86%) states that

pupils are more motivated when computers and Internet are being used in

class. Many pupils consider ICT tools very helpful in that it helps them to

do assignments teachers see that ICT enables students with special needs

or difficulties. It also helps to reduce the social disparities between

pupils, since they work in teams in order to achieve a given task.

Students also assume responsibilities when they use ICT to organize

their work through digital portfolios or projects.  In addition, the

study showed that ICT has significant impact on teachers and teaching

processes.

By virtue of government Interventions and training seminars organized

in this regard, ICT tools stimulate teachers. Indeed, an absolute

majority of teachers in Europe (90 %) claim to use ICT to do tasks, such

as preparing lessons, sequencing classroom activities, etc. Therefore,

teachers plan their lessons more efficiently. ICT also help teachers to

work in teams and share ideas related to schools curriculum. There is

also evidence that broadband and interactive whiteboards play a central

role in fostering teachers’ communication and increasing collaboration

between educators.

The ICT Test Bed evaluation (Underwood 2006) provides an evidence

that many teachers use ICT to support innovative pedagogy. It states:

“New technologies that provide a good fit with existing practices, such

as interactive whiteboards are first to be embedded, but others like

video conferencing, digital video and virtual learning environments are

now being incorporated, providing evidence of ongoing learning by the

workforce. Training needs to continue to support innovative pedagogy.”

Both examples show that ICT is being integrated in a continuous process.

Therefore, ICT can improve teaching by enhancing an already practiced

knowledge and introducing new ways of teaching and learning.

Transforming teaching is more difficult to achieve. “Changes that take

full advantage of ICT will only happen slowly over time, and only if

teachers continue to experiment with new approaches.” (Underwood 2006)

This evaluation came from a teacher training seminar in IT during the

ITMF project. It showed that teachers have not fully changed their use

of ICT in education; however, most of them changed their way of thinking

about the application of ICT in education. Teachers have increased

their use of ICT in lessons where students look for information on the

net and use it afterwards for subject specific areas, but hardly any use

of ICT for class presentations. Nonetheless, teachers do not make use

of ICT to engage students more actively to produce knowledge. Similarly,

the e-learning Nordic study shows an increase in the use of ICT to

teach but not to innovate teaching methods: “ICT generally has a

positive impact on teaching and learning situations, but compared with

the ideal expectations; the impact of ICT on teaching and learning must

still be considered to be limited” (Ramboll, 2006).

Many teachers use ICT to support traditional learning methods, for

example, information retrieval in which students are ‘passive learners

of knowledge instead of ‘active producers able to take part in the

learning process. In a document entitled teaching and learning with ICT,

G. Galea (2002) explains how ICT can promote teaching and learning. 

According to her there are two main reasons behind increasing the use of

ICT in education in UK.  Firstly, ICT can change the lessons’ pace: she

stated that children in modern society need to develop sufficient

potentials and skills that enable them to take full advantage from the

new opportunities that ICT offer.  Second, there are groundswells of

interest of academic researches in UK in how technological tools can

enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools, and so help

learners to achieve better outcomes.

Furthermore, it has been proved that new technologies have lots of benefits on the students.

ICT allow for a higher quality lessons through collaboration with

teachers in planning and preparing resources (Ofsted, 2002). Students

learn new skills: analytical, including improvements in reading

comprehension (Lewin et al, 2000). ICT also develop some writing skills:

spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting (Lewin et al,

2000). Still new technologies encourage independent and active learning,

and students’ responsibility for their own learning (Passey, 1999) ICT

proves that students who used educational technology felt more

successful in school they are more motivated to learn more and have

increased self- confidence and self-esteem. It is also confirmed that

many students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more

stimulating and much better than in a traditional classroom environment

(Pedretti and Mayer-Smith 1998).

Education: Still A Potent Force By Richard Udeh | Sahara Reporters

Education: Still A Potent Force By Richard Udeh | Sahara Reporters

Podcasting

Podcasting is a wonderful way of allowing children to share their work and experiences with a potentially huge audience over the Internet. Schools are increasingly using the internet to promote what they do, and to celebrate the achievements of their children, and podcasting is an excellent way of doing this.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is like a radio show. However, instead of being broadcast live, a podcast is recorded and then distributed over the internet, so that you can listen to it whenever you please. There are thousands of podcasts available, ranging from general interest entertainment shows to those which focus on specific topics (e.g. computers / music / education).

How do I listen?

You can usually listen to podcasts directly on the websites of those people who make them (see below for some examples). However, you can also "subscribe" to podcasts using software like iPodder and iTunes. These programs will automatically download the latest shows, and you can then listen to them on your computer and / or mp3 player. To subscribe to a podcast, you need to know the RSS feed (this information should be on the podcaster's website). iTunes has its own directory, where you can subscribe to a show, simply by clicking the "Subscribe" button. 

How do children benefit from making a podcast? 

• It gives them a potential audience of thousands for their work.
• It's great for developing literacy skills (writing scripts, setting up interviews etc), allows children to develop and practise their speaking and listening skills, and they also learn some amazing ICT skills.
• Podcasts can be interactive, and the audience can be invited to send their comments, giving valuable feedback to the children about their work.
• I've found that making a podcast is also great for developing teamwork skills. The children always work together really well, as they're always keen to make a great show.

How do I make a podcast?

A school podcast can range from a single recorded story which is put onto the school website, to a weekly radio show with music and interviews which visitors can subscribe to using an RSS feed. How you make up your podcast is up to you.

The basic equipment you need is a computer with some kind of recording ability (an internal or external microphone) and some recording software. Audacity is free and allows you to record your show and then export it as an mp3 file. You can then upload this to your school website.

You could then develop your show by trying some of the following:

• Jingles - Use software such as eJay (PC) or Garageband (Mac) to create jingles. These can be used to introduce particular features to the show.
• Try an outside broadcast - Use an mp3 player with recording facilities to record a feature "on location" around the school, or on a school field trip. You can then download this to your computer and add it to your show.
• Adding podsafe music - Let your DJs introduce some copyright free music into your show.
• Promote yourself - Register with the various podcast directories (see below) to get more listeners!
• Use more sophisticated software - Mixcast Live (PC) is specifically designed for podcasters, allowing them to set up playlists and record their podcasts directly to MP3. I use a combination of iTunes and Nicecast on the Mac for my school podcasts.

What can I put in a podcast?

• School news - a great way of telling children and parents what is going on at your school.
• Children's work - children love sharing their work. Ask them to record their own stories, or write reports about an activity they've tried at school.
• School songs.
• Interviews - with members of staff, children, members of the community, and visitors to school.
• Music - Please be aware that you will not be allowed to use commercial music in podcasts for copyright reasons. However, some artists allow their music to be played in podcasts. You can find this "podsafe" music in special directories (e.g. music.podshow.com)
• Jokes.
• National / International news - be aware of any copyright regulations when finding sources of news.
• ... and whatever else you feel may be appropriate! 

Examples of Podcasts...

	The Downs FM The Downs FM is my own school podcast. The children always work really hard every week to write their own scripts, create jingles, record news and interviews, and much more. The show has been featured on BBC television, our local BBC Radio station, on the Apple UK website and in many more exciting places. For more information about how the show is made, click here.
	Radio Sandaig This team of primary children in Scotland produce a fantastic podcast with news, jokes, stories and competitions. The team try to get lots of other children from around the school involved in the show, which makes it a real treat to listen to.
To find more education podcasts, try Ipodcast and the Education Podcast Network. For more general podcasts, take a look at Podcast Alley or Podfeed.net

A few other tips...

• Let your children listen to a few other podcasts before they start. This is a great way of finding out what podcasts are all about, and discovering what it is possible to do. You may discover some great ideas which you could try to yourself.
• If your children don't have internet access, copy a few child-friendly podcasts onto a CD and let them listen at home. Get them to think about how they could make their own versions of each show.
• John (the man behind Radio Sandaig) occasionally posts podcasting tips here. Take a look!
• Bill Ferriter has offered this advice:
  • Introduce web feeds and aggregators to your students while creating your podcast: Feed readers are becoming one of the most essential tools for internet users simply because of the almost overwhelming amount of content available online. Unfortunately, many people haven't gotten "hooked into" subscribing to a site's content yet. This is a skill that is easy to teach along with a classroom podcast, and it is an essential one to our kids' ability to navigate and access information on the web.
  • Discuss good blogging practices while creating your podcast: Because many podcasters post their work in a blog anyway, blogging practices can be introduced through podcasts as well. Emphasizing the importance of including links and responding to content found in other places are skills that show children how to "connect" the information that they are discovering and to continue conversations with others. The skills necessary for effective participation in threaded conversations can be taught while commenting on blogs/podcasts as well.

Phyllis Kepp has contributed this idea for podcasting:
Have children write stories in groups on a theme (we used fractured fairy tales). Have them list all sounds that would be occurring in the story if it really happened. Have them think about popular music or other songs that they know that would be funny or appropriate, or use tracks in GarageBand. Write a list of cues for each song and / or sound effect. Record story into GarageBand (podcasting), adding sound effects and song tracks. Share the podcast into Keynote or iMovie. Create a Powerpoint presentation or movie with saved pictures and photos. Even better, record movies of the children acting out their story and put the GarageBand creation to the movie.
Do you have any more tips? Have you tried podcasting? I'd love to hear your experiences, so let me know all about your own podcasting!

The use of Emerging Learning Technologies to enhance teaching and learning

The use of Emerging Learning Technologies (ELT) 
 

It is difficult to work out when a technology is mainstream and no longer emerging.  As a working definitions if people on your staff have not heard of the term  (s), if they have heard of it and don’t know what it is it is and if they don’t know how to use it then it is an emerging technology for your school – even if it is mainstream elsewhere.  This is unlikely to be the case if you keep up-to-date. There are a few ELTs to consider using.

1.      Blogging

Blogs are like online journals with posts that date based, archived and enable a degree of interaction though the use of comments, pingbacks and trackbacks. You can either use blogs to search information using blog search engines and manage the updates using software such as Bloglines. There can be individual blogs and group blogs and the content is determined by the writer.  Accordingly they can be official blogs of organizations or be developed and used for the teaching and learning of certain topics in a variety of subject areas.  They are in the public domain and for their use in schools they can be developed internally through the school’s network protected by the firewall.  It is up to you if you want to create your own blog,

2.      Integrated learning modules

Open source software has enabled the development of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and content management systems such a Moodle which have to capacity for forums, instant messaging, and online submission of work and the marking of such work.  There is a lot of potential to assist teachers with the management of their own work by using such a system.  These will require a greater involvement of the technical support of your school such as the network manager in order to get such a system operational and stream lined for teaching and learning. 

3.      Wikis

A lot of people have heard of Wikipedia and increasingly students and teachers are aware that you can create you own and use them for teaching and learning.  A wiki can be set up where groups of students can add information on a topic and different students writing their own chapter. Here is a capacity for everyone to edit and add to other students work with different levels of permissions.  There is wiki software that you get your network manager to install or you can make use of numerous public wikis such as wikispaces.com. 

4. Podcasting

The use of audio files is not new but with the development of digital recorders, ipods and mp3 players it has become easier to create, stream and listen to audio files.  Podcasts are actually the broadcasting of audio files using software supported by RSS feeds.  When the audios have been made they are broadcasted by RSS feeds. Often a web page is associated with the podcasts and you can get them manually.  Students can use these audio files for revision, part of project work and integrated into units of work.  There is some more technical work to do to convert the Wave files from digital recorder to mp3 and get them to a suitable size to use them on the internet.

5. Online photo galleries

These galleries are often used if you want to integrate all your blog online.  Photos on blogs need to be on the internet as well.  You can have private or public galleries in internet based storage such as Flickr.  With the addition of automatically generated scrip you can also have a little gallery on our webpage or blog.  His would be very useful for adding an extra dimension to web pages constructed by students.  Also galleries can be use to share photos.

6. Enhancements for Browsers

Increasingly web browsers are adding functionality for their users.  Del.icio.us is a programme which enables you to store your Favourites online and then access them from what ever computer rather than having them stored on a dedicated computer.  The value of this is in students being about to move around different computers and have access to their Bookmarks/Favourites. Then there are all the additional Plug Ins that add functionality to your browser