Free web server space

Several people asked me about places that provide free web hosting space (so that they can FTP their podcasts there and then link to them in a blog). Here are some places that do this:

GeoCities (part of Yahoo) - free package offers 15 MB of server space and 3 GB/month of data transfer traffic

Google Pages (a new service still in the "testing phase") - free package offers 100 MB of server space

If you have a personal account on Earthlink, AOL, or other ISPs, many of them offer free hosting as well.

Here are a bunch more. Note that I do not have persoal experience with these, so read the details. Many/most free hosting services include advertising, but that probably isn't a big issue if you're just linking to content on a blog.

I hope this is useful. If you have used another free hosting service that you like, please post the info here as a comment. Thanks!

Gabcast! Mobile Musings #5

For Gabcast users

Here are some numbers you can use to dial in to Gabcast, in addition to the 800# (which is listed here as well:

1.800.749.0632 - (USA only)
1.641.696.0518 - (Iowa, USA)
1.647.723.3682 - (East Canada, Toronto)
1.403.775.9947 - (West Canada, Calgary

Gabcast! Mobile Musings #4

Links to podcasts

Here are links to some of the podcasts I shared in my session today:

Colonial Williamsburg
Engadget
Room 208
LD Podcast
Hopkinton High School Book Talks

Thanks to the producers of all of these great resources. Your work is much appreciated.

These are just a few of millions of great podcasts out there. Go and explore!

Gabcast

For those of you who witnessed my first-ever problem with Gabcast in the session today (and the rest of you as well, I guess :), here's the word from Gabcast's team:

"It does appear that we have a service interruption with our toll-free number. We are in contact with our provider and are working to resolve the issue. If the issue is not resolved soon we will record a Gabcast News item to notify users."

They were extremely prompt in replying to my inquiry, and again, this is the first time I've had a problem with it. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. ;)

Digital audio recorder for the field

Several of you have asked me about a good quality, digital field recorder for audio. I'd recommend the Samson Zoom H4 Handy Digital Recorder. It is very mobile, and you can attached a wireless mic to it if you like. It is available from a variety of sources, including Sam Ash and Zzounds, for around $300.

If you're looking for a decent stationary USB condenser mic, try the Samson C01U USB condenser mic.

NCETC - Hello from North Carolina!

I'm at the NCETC conference in Greensboro, NC. I love this conference and have found more things to love about it this year. Here are a few:

- The people in NC are *so* nice (and I really don't say that about everywhere I go).

- There are a lot of sessions on handhelds here this year. (Sometimes, the way education is driven by trends drives me crazy. Each year, there is a new hot topic. This year it is "Web 2.0" -- podcasting, blogs, and wikis. I am happy to see some handheld faithfuls presenting interesting new stuff.)

- The tech support crew at this conference are the best! Thank you, David, Derwin, Smythe, Floyd, and everyone else, especially Gwen, for putting together such a great conference.)

Creative Commons content sources

Gabcast! Mobile Musings #3

Here are some good resources for content that is distributed under Creative Commons licenses:

Yahoo's Creative Commons search tool

Creative Commons - web site and search tool

Wikimedia Commons

Happy Thankgiving

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I have a job that I really love, that I get to work with so many people I enjoy, and that I do work that is meaningful (I hope). Thanks to those of you who help make that possible.

I hope that you are also engaged in work that you are passionate and positive about. (If not, maybe it's time for a change.:)

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.

NYSCATE presentation

Thanks to everyone who attended our presentation "Interactive Curriculum Resources to Super-Motivate Your Students" at NYSCATE on Monday.

Here are the handouts. Apparently, the last page of the handouts didn't get reproduced, which explains why some of the links that I thought were there seemed to be missing. Anyway, they're all here now.

Also, if you'd like to see more examples of the math resources we showed, they are available here. Enjoy!

Textbooks

I went to an interesting speech by the Director of the USDOE's Office of Education Technology yesterday. In the presentation, he contrasted textbooks and Wikipedia as information resources. He said that textbooks have "authoritative content," but face "distribution problems." ( I think he meant usability problems. He mentioned the heavy backpack problem.) Wikipedia, he went on to say, has wonderful distribution, but a problem with a lack of authoritative content. (He cited what I thought was not a very representative example.)

I had just presented a session at which I'd made the claim that textbooks aren't very useful to most students today. (And I worked in textbook publishing for almost 10 years, so you can imagine how much it hurts me to say that.) On the other hand, my view on Wikipedia has shifted over the last year or so. I now think it is a pretty good resource.

Then on my way to work this morning, I heard a piece on NPR called "A Look at How the U.S. Understanding of its Own History Changes." It traced the treatment of the Mexican-American war by textbooks over time. As you might imagine, it varied considerably. (Heck, we can't even agree on the cause of the war we're in right now.)

So, what does all this mean? Perhaps that no one source of information, including textbooks, should be considered to be "authoritative." Some of the most important things we can teach kids in this age of information are to be critical information consumers, to use multiple sources, and not to treat anything as unquestional "fact."

Great book

I have been reading a lot of books and research on differentiating instruction lately. Most of what I have read is interesting, but a bit academic, very oriented toward primary education, and lacking in technology-based ideas. The reason I'm interested in differentiating instruction (aside from believing that it is ESSENTIAL to improving educational effectiveness) is that mobile technologies seem to me to be a perfect way to accomplish this. (Maybe this will be the next book I write...:)

Anyway, I've finally found a really excellent book that addresses these areas; it is Differentiated Instruction Using Technology - A Guide for Middle and High School Teachers by Any Benjamin. *

This is a great read and is chock-full of great ideas that are well-suited to secondary classrooms. The author's underlying premise is that "We want computers to enhance educatio, not just parallel it." In other words, if technology doesn't somehow make it better (easier, faster, etc.), don't use technology. Ms. Benjamin talks about the tragedy of "workbooks on-screen." I feel the same way about online textbooks that are nothing more than a PDF of the print textbook. Why bother? There are so many great ways that technology can add to educational effectiveness especially in differentiating instruction -- let's make the most of that! (If more educational technology did that, technology would be much more prevalent and popular in schools.)

One great idea in this book is to use learning centers, but instead of the physical learning centers we use in elementary grades, use technology-based "virtual" centers. This book must have been published just before wikis and blogs became all the rage, because for the most part, the author doesn't mention these tools. However, the ideas she mentions are perfectly suited to wikis and blogs (which each provide an easier solution that traditional web page publishing).

I haven't finished this book yet, so stay tuned for most posts on gems of wisdom in it. In the meantime, get the book!

* This is weird side note, but don't order this book from Amazon. They apparently have their inventory mislabeled. I ordered this book three times from them and got the wrong book each time. After a very lengthy phone and email conversation with them, they finally told me they had no way to address this problem, but could give me a refund. Grrrrr..... I finally ordered from the publisher , Eye on Education, and got the book. I'm glad it was worth the hassle. :)

Text-to-speech blog-to-podcast tool

I just saw the Talkr tool on Will Richardson's great blog. It takes the text from a blog and converts it to an audio file via text-to-speech. I can see all kinds of applications for this in education to help differentiate instruction for a variety of learners.

Ripping CDs

If you are ripping CDs, you may find that software like iTunes or Windows Media Player puts your music in a format such as AAC (iTunes) or WMA (Windows Media Player), rather than the more univeral MP3 format. Here's how to change this. (This is generally recommended, because then your music will be able to be played on a broader range of devices.)

In iTunes:

- Under the Edit menu on Windows (the iTunes menu on Mac), choose Preferences.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Click the Importing tab.
- For Import Using, select MP3 Encoder.

(Note: After you do this, iTunes also lets you convert music already in your library to MP3 files. To do this, highlight the tracks, go to the Advanced menu, and select Convert Selection to MP3. Note, though, that this will not work with encrypted tracks such as those bought from the iTunes store.)

In Windows Media Player 10:

- Go to the Tools menu. (You may need to expand the window to full screen to see menus.)
- Select Options.
- Click the Rip Music tab.
- Under Rip Settings and Format, choose MP3.

Differentiating instruction through mini-movies

I am more and more convinced of the potential of mini-movies to differentiate instruction by providing a variety of small mobile resources for learners to use when they need them.

As posted previously, I'm experimenting with screencasting as a way to support professional development. I've created a series of mini-movies on various aspects of podcasting, including recording and editing audio, creating videos, and screencasting. Here is an example of one (WMV) or here for QuickTime. (One of the problems with video is that there is not a real "standard" format.)

I did my first podcasting workshop yesterday with a CD full of these movies. It was with a small group, which was a nice way to do a test run of this. Here's how it went. There was one person who was very tech savvy and already had some experience with audio and video editing. She wanted to jump right in to making podcasting without much instruction from me, and so she did.

There were a couple other people who were very motivated to begin creating podcasts but didn't have much previous experience. They wanted more explanation. These were the people I worked closest with in the face-to-face workshop.

There was another person who was a more methodical learner who was not as comfortable with technology and learned best with lots of step-by-step instructions. For him, the movies on the CD were great. He sat and watched them all start to finish, and that made him feel comfortable with starting to produce audio and video.

There was another participant who wasn't able to attend most of the workshop, because of a last minute situation that demanded her time elsewhere. For her, the movies would serve as a replacement for the workshop.

I see so many uses for using these kinds of movies with kids. In the workshop yesterday, one participant created a movie about using context clues in a book to predict. Another made a movie from a PowerPoint she already had about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Another teacher made a movie about the metric system and math. These movies will be resources that students can use in the way that meets their learning styles. Some may watch them over several times to gain an understanding of difficult concepts. Others may watch them as a quick review before a test. Still other may choose to create their own movies about the content to extend their learning even deeper.

Whether audio and movie clips like these are used with teachers to provide professional development or with students to supplement or deliver core instruction, they are a powerful tool.