Tag Archives: Podcasts

EdTechCrew podcast says ‘Farewell’

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edtechcrew

Since their first podcast as the EdTechCrew seven years ago, Tony Richards (@itmadesimple) and Darrel Branson (@ictguy) have opened the eyes of educators to the possibilities of ICT integration into the classroom.  I say ‘educators’ and not ‘Victorian educators’ because over the course of the 250 episodes of EdTechCrew, Tony and Darrel have woven together a worldwide network of listeners, collaborators and conversations from the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada as well as Australia-wide and places in between.

Having mentioned them in a recent post on recommended Australian education podcasts, it is now disappointing to report that EdTechCrew Podcast 250 was the farewell presentation from this great team.  Darrel and Tony have a chemistry that many would envy in their ability to share news, ideas and discussions in such an easy going manner.  Their individual expertise has not been worn as a badge of honour but has been used to build a community of learners who are now better able to bring about the transition to technology integration in the classroom.

Over the past seven years we’ve listened to the rain on the roof of Darrel’s Mildura shed-studio, felt the summer heat and listened to the crickets while hearing of his growing family and his changes of career along the way.  Tony has also shared the growth of his family, moved house and been stuck with dodgy internet.  He now resides in beautiful Ocean Grove but clocks up numerous air-miles consulting around the country, most recently with the support of his number on trialer, Patrick.  In the meantime the weekly podcasts have rarely skipped a beat.

Straddling both the primary and secondary sectors, with no discrimination between Government, Catholic or Independent schools, Tony and Darrel have been an example of what can be achieved through an open approach to education.  Distance was no barrier as they used the technology available to create a podcast from their locations at opposite ends of the state.

School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) members are familiar with Tony through his involvement in the Web Elements Engaged Project and presentations at numerous conferences.  The EdTechCrew Diigo Group, through which the community have shared recommended resources will remain active.

Thank you Tony (@itmadesimple) and Darrel (@ictguy) and good luck with the activities that are now demanding your closer attention.  You’ve left a rich resource of 250 podcasts.  I encourage every educator to take time and listen, you’ll learn to much.

Education podcasts with an Australian touch

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TER_image

School holidays are a good time to slow down and catch up on what others are doing in the world of education.  Podcasts are an important component of my PLN, they’re easy to access via iTunes and are available for anywhere/anytime listening.  The podcasts to which I subscribe are a broad range of international presenters and topics ranging from education to history, literature and contemporary debates (Intelligence Squared being a favourite in this regard).  Your personal options are unlimited.  Here today, are three specifically Australian education podcasts for your interest.

EdTechCrew
http://www.edtechcrew.net
Australian educators have tuned into the EdTechCrew podcast hosted by educators Darrel Branson (ICTGuy) and Tony Richards (ITMadeSimple) as they’ve discussed all things digital in education since 3 May, 2007. WOW! Such dedication.  If this is news to you, don’t miss out any longer, go to their website The Ed Tech Crew Podcast for links to all their podcasts and associated show notes.

The EdTechCrew podcast also has community of supporters who contribute links and ideas through the EdTechCrew Diigo Group.

EdPod
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/edpod/
Presented on ABC Radio National by Antony Funnell, EdPod updates on the first Friday of each month.  It is a selection of education stories from early childhood to Year 12 that have aired on Radio National in the previous month.  The range of topics are broad as can be seen from this selection for June:

Teachers Education Review
http://terpodcast.com/
Hosted by Cameron Malcher and Corinne Campbell, this fortnightly podcast has a strong focus on educational practice.  It presents teachers from primary and secondary schools who explore the implications of educational policies, teaching practices, and international events that impact on teaching and learning in Australian classrooms.
Included in each fortnightly podcast are the topics:

An interesting conversation on a recent episode was a discussion with  Ewan McIntosh from Scotland (and NoTosh.com) about the origin of Teachmeets, the professional learning model that has now spread worldwide.  He encourages teachers to join local teachmeets but also to collaborate with teachers in different countries under the ‘teachmeet’ banner.  Adopt a teachmeet that’s not your own and create a global connection.

Show notes provide links to conversations and associated resources.  I like to download podcasts via iTunes and listen while commuting but you can also access TERPodcast online at Soundcloud.  Have a listen.

If you have other Australian education podcasts you would like to share, please let us know via the comments option.

Talking Reading

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With a recent study indicating that approximately 44% of Australian adults have a literacy level below the minimum required for everyday life, promoting reading and literacy has never been more important. The Talking Reading project on ABC Pool is a wonderful resource for anyone with an interest in developing literacy skills and promoting reading.

The project brings together interviews with literacy experts, librarians and authors. The episodes were recorded during the National Year of Reading and are hosted by Tony Wilson, Paula Kelly and Sally Rippin. One episode features the fabulous Miffy Farquharson, who talks about her love of reading and reveals that she has read close to 15,000 books!

Other episodes explore young adult literacy technology (featuring our own Kelly Gardiner), apps for literacy (with Dan Donahoo) and author profiles with authors such as Leigh Hobbs, Cath Crowley and Alison Lester.

You can view all of the episodes and find out more about the project at the Talking Reading site. It’s an excellent resource full of ideas about promoting this critical skill and fostering a love of books in young people.

Bialik College Futures Forum

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David Feighan, the Director, Libraries and Learning Resources at Bialik College has kindly shared the following information:

I can confirm that the podcasts of the Bialik Learning Futures Forum, which we promised to share with the wider school library community, are now available.

The Learning Futures / Learning Spaces Forum focused on the changes to the physical and online learning spaces in Australian schools. The forum considered:

  • How the new school libraries being built in Australia work within current and emerging education pedagogues.
  • How the physical library and online library and learning spaces work together to best meet the needs of schools.
  • The rise of learning / information commons in universities and schools, and
  • The rise of social media platforms in education settings.

Screen shot 2010-10-26 at 11.43.20 AM

Speakers include:

A. Professor Leon Sterling, Chair of Software Innovation and Engineering, Swinburne University

B. Jon Peacock, General Manager, Learning Environments at University of Melbourne

CoLABorateC. Dr Scott Bulfin, Lecturer, Monash University Faculty of Education

D. Jenny Luca, Head of Information Services, Toorak College

E. Mary Manning, Executive Officer, School Library Association of Victoria

F. David Feighan, Director, Libraries and Learning Resources, Bialik College

Screen shot 2010-10-26 at 11.44.56 AM

If you are involved in planning a new library or wanting to revamp your resources and services, this forum is a must listen source! Thanks David and Bialik for sharing this wonderful information and to the speakers for their knowledge and ideas.

Adventures in Library Instruction podcast

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This is a great idea! Adventures in library instruction is a monthly hour long podcast (available in mp3) “about teaching information literacy in libraries.”

Screen shot 2010-07-15 at 4.38.43 PM

School and University librarians are often interviewed and a range of topics including technology and assessment are discussed.

Listeners can gain access to podcasts via the blog, or by subscribing to the podcast in iTunes. A really great idea and very relevant for those of us in the library field.

Ed Tech Crew

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Producing podcasts on educational technology, the Ed Tech Crew are Victorian based educators.

Ed TEch Crew

Darrell Branson and Tony Richards produce weekly podcasts on a wide variety of topics and have hosted a number of interesting guests such as:

and many more.

Listen to the podcasts on the way to work or while you are doing the ironing, but make sure you don’t miss them!

Celebrate Change: Conference and Blog

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On Monday 22 March, the School Library Association of Victoria hosted a conference entitled “Celebrate Change: Let’s Make the Whole School a Library“.

Now the presentations, links and podcasts from the day are freely available to everyone via the Celebrate Change blog.

It was an extremely stimulating and informative day and delegates and other interested people are welcome to visit the blog to add comments and access presentations.

“School Libraries Seek Relevance Through Virtual Access”

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The article “School Libraries Seek Relevance Through Virtual Access“, in which US school libraries are the subject, appeared on the Education Week website a few days ago and is certainly worth a read.

Some readers may know of the funding issues that have hit US school libraries in the last few weeks. This article, which quotes Buffy Hamilton and Joyce Valenza, outlines how some proactive school librarians have been changing the use and vision of school libraries and as such, how libraries are viewed by students, teachers and parents.

The advent of Web 2.0 tools and the way that some school librarians have embraced them are discussed, particularly with the view that these school librarians have kept their library relevant to their students:

In addition to teaching students and teachers how to navigate information, libraries have now become a place where students go to create and produce, said Carolyn Foote, the district librarian who works at the 2,500-student Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.

“Students are producing all sorts of products—YouTube videos, PowerPoint presentations, online slideshows, podcasts—and so as librarians, we need to have the skills to work with all those different formats and help students learn how to produce in those formats,” she said.

Consequently, it’s increasingly important for librarians to be familiar with new technologies and Web 2.0 tools, she said.

“There’s a lot of debate in the library field about whether you can even be a 21st-century librarian if you aren’t willing to embrace some of those Web 2.0 tools and be very proficient in them,” Ms. Foote said. “There’s a real need for us to be participating all the way through the [creation] process, and we need the skills to be able to do that.”

The library as both a place and a service, or a state of mind is discussed; the importance of a flexible, attractive physical space as well as the Web 2.0 tools which can connect students to the world through the library are vital. A great article advocating the excellent work many school librarians do.

Will Richardson podcasts

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The podcasts from Will Richarsdon’s presentations at the  SLAV Perspectives on learning v2 – March 23, 2009 are now available:

– “Network literacy: leveraging the potential of a hyper-connected world” – Conference keynote

(Link to weblog
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 1 – 14Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 2 – 16Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 3 – 16Mb approx. )

Prepared by Will Richardson (Connective Learning)

– “Podcasts, vodcasts, screencasts, livestream nation ” – Featured address

(Link to weblog
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 1 – 14Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 2 – 11Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 3 – 13Mb approx. )

Prepared by Will Richardson (Connective Learning)

– “Weblogs in schools ” – Plenary session

Link to .mp3 audio file Part 1 – 15Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 2 – 16Mb approx.
Link to .mp3 audio file Part 3 – 17Mb approx. )

Prepared by Will Richardson (Connective Learning)

Feature blog – Fict.it.ious – Sacred Heart College Geelong

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Maree Macdonald and Heather Carlin of Sacred Heart College in Geelong have created a wonderful blog called Fict.it.ious.

Fict.it.ious home

Fict.it.ious home

Maree says, ‘We have always recorded every book read by every staff member (believe  it or not!) giving an abstract, reading level, score out of 10 and a  critical comment.  So, when it came to setting up a blog for book reviews, the process was relatively easy – we only used those books that scored 8.5 or above.  We launched the Blog during Book Week this year, promising prizes to any students who left a comment or recommended a book for review – not a great response, but the next target will be teachers.’

She continues, ‘Humanities is, at the moment, studying Medieval History, and one of their activities is to read a book about the period and review it.  Perfect!  So, at the moment we’re putting a good selection on the blog and we’ll email the site to the Humanities teachers.  We also plan to put our High Interest/Low Ability books on, with a tag to Learning Enhancement so the books are easy to find.  Our Literature Circle books are also going on, so the students involved will be able to comment on their books online.’

Maree and Heather have set up links to reviews by genre, with clever titles such as: 3 hanky reads, Action aplenty, Girl meets vampire, Good sports, Horror!, Love and other adventures, Medieval mayhem, Mysterious ways, Nail Biters, Out of the past, Out of this world, Private lives and Side-splitters

The page below can be found under the Girl meets vampire genre link.

Girl meets vampire page

Girl meets vampire page

Maree and Heather also put together a brilliantly designed Book Week page, which outlined activities and competitions for the week, enthusing students to join and celebrate Book Week. Maree says, ‘We used the site for Book Week as well, creating a page outlining all the activities running throughout the week.
Book Week

Book Week

‘We also plan to make up some posters and bookmarks (maybe using the image generators we learned about in the Web 2.0 program!) promoting the site to students and staff alike and, of course introduce it to staff at the first available staff meeting.  We have decided to  purchase glow in the dark wristbands promoting the site and will be distributing them to Literature Circles students and students who review books on the blog.’

‘We see lots of potential for the blog.  The great thing about these web 2.0 tools is that they can be unpredictable and lead you in directions that you never envisaged.  I would love to see students reviewing their books via podcasts on the blog, or maybe writing a collaborative novel!  Who knows?’

As Maree says, ‘Libraries and Web 2.0 are a marriage made in Heaven!’

Please see photos of Sacred Heart College’s fantastic Beijing Olympics display in our Picture Gallery page as well as photos of the terrific library layout and design. Congratulations to Maree, Heather and all of the library staff at Sacred Heart College Geelong!