Saturday, February 25, 2006

Brief overview of K-12 podcasting

At PETE&C this past week in Hershey, PA, there was tremendous interest in podcasting. For my keynote, I created a simple podcast of a few technology-savvy educators which is posted on our district's podcast page.

Today I have put together a very simple introduction to podcasting. (I have not added sound, which obviously ignores the richness of the podcasting), but have created a online PPT presention, WMV movie, MOV movie, and PDF handout so everyone should be able to see it! Let me know what you think and any other resources you find useful for podcasting.

-Online PPT presentation
-PDF handout of presentation
-Quicktime (MOV) version (3.44 MB)
-Windows Media (WMV) version (1.07 MB)

Kathy Schrock

Audio file of this post from Talkr.

I'm it!

Joyce Valenza has "tagged" me to be part of a meme (a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another/dictionary.com) created by Alice Yucht, to expand information about those of us in the "edubiblioblogosphere", that is, librarians that blog about education.

Here are the questions and answers:

Four non-library jobs I have held:
Worked in the medical records department of a local hospital while in high school
Worked for the housing department while in college at Rutgers
Worked as a preservation microfilmer in a large public library in Morristown, NJ
My current job, as Administrator of Technology, does not specifically deal with libraries

Four authors, books, or series I read over and over again: (like Joyce, I do not re-read books so some current ones that I have read are:)
The World is Flat (Thomas Friedman)
The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture (John Battelle)
Good to Great and the Social Sectors (Jim Collins)
The Singularity is Near (Ray Kurweil) (Okay, this is a really BIG book and I am in the middle of reading it!)

Four movies I can watch over and over:
American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti

Four TV shows I love(d):
Days of Our Lives
Brady Bunch
I Love Lucy
Knots Landing

Four places I have lived:
Denville NJ
Crofton and College Park MD
Wilton NH
Eastham MA (current)

Four sites I visit/use daily:
Weather.com
Google.com: advanced search page
Amazon.com
XM Radio online.com

Four foods I yearn for:
Banana creme brulee oatmeal
Any bold, robust coffee flavor
(I don't yearn for many foods...)

Four inventions I am grateful for:
Personal computer
The Internet backbone and TCP/IP
TiVo
Telephone

Four musical choices for my personal soundtrack:
Christine Lavin
Any oldie song
The Saw Doctors
Any song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Four nouns that describe me:
Mother
Wife
Talker
Educator

One EduBiblioBloggers I am Tagging (I mostly read technology blogs):
Doug Johnson

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Informing Parents about Online Social Networking Sites

I did a random poll of an 8th grade class last month. All but one student in the class knew about the popular social networking site, all but she had visited this popular teen hang-out, and five of the students in the class had their own accounts. I did not ask if they were over 14, the magic age for use of the site.

One of the middle school guidance counselors came to see me and wants to set up an informational workshop for parents to let them know how these social networking sites work, and, more importantly, how much information about their child could potentially be being shared with the world. We have already drafted a letter to the middle school parents and sent it home, and are in the process of creating one for high school parents.

The parent education piece is not new for us. We have held instant-messaging workshops, to help parents keep their children safe, and also host a district safety page for parents.

The Hartford Courant has been covering the online social networking sites in a series of articles that are interesting, informative, and disturbing to read. As a parent and an educator, I applaud their efforts to educate the public. Here are links to a few of the articles:


  • Risky Spaces
  • How Parents Can Monitor Postings


    Here is another good article from a Lehrer Newshour Special with students which aired this week.


    Does anyone have any material they have developed for their school or district which they would like to share?

    Kathy Schrock

    Audio file of this post from Talkr.

  • Thursday, February 02, 2006

    Google Stuff

    I happen to be a Google fan-- I love visting Google Labs and trying out their new products as well as using sites that take advantage of the Google search technology to make things easier.

    Who ever thought, when I was spending time in junior high on Friday nights watching my favorite television program, The Brady Bunch, that, thirty-six years later, I would be able to spend $1.99 and watch it on my computer? Ya gotta LOVE technology! This is my first try at using Google Video, and, although some of their programs run using Macromedia/Adobe Flash Player, some, like the Brady Bunch episode I downloaded, required an install of the Google Video Player.

    My other favorite (and useful!) Google hack site is Cookin' With Google. Simply choose the type of recipe you want (General, Vegan, Crockpot, etc.), list the items you have in th cupboard, and you are presented with a recipe for dinner!

    Kathy Schrock

    Audio file of this post from Talkr.