At the Tech Week Podcasting session, we discussed how to find music to use for a podcast (or screencast) without worrying about copyright issues. MusicRevolution.com has created a site of royalty-free music to celebrate its one year anniversary. Twenty-five tracks are available as MP3 downloads from http://www.musicrevolution.com/free_production_music/.
Here's some info from the website:
You are hereby granted a Standard License from MusicRevolution for the 25 royalty-free production music tracks on this page. You are free to use them in your broadcast, web, on hold, physical media or corporate video productions per our Standard License agreement. They are provided to you as a download in MP3 format (192 kbps).
In return for this free stock music license, we kindly request that you credit us somewhere on your website. For example “Thank you www.musicrevolution.com for providing music for our production".
Easy enough! Happy Podcasting!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What did you think of the session?
If you attended today's Blogger session, please take a moment to complete a brief survey about your experience!
Click here to take survey
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me at any time!
Click here to take survey
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me at any time!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Why are you interested in blogs or Blogger?
Why are you interested in learning about blogs and/or Blogger? Take the poll by sending a text message to the number below or go to http://tinyurl.com/5ssczeh to vote online.
Comment below to expand on your response or tell us how you plan on using a blog in your classes.
Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere
Comment below to expand on your response or tell us how you plan on using a blog in your classes.
Classroom Blog Examples and Resources
In the Tech Week: Blogger session, I provide a few examples of existing classroom blogs and other online resources for course blogging. I've tagged these sites with "rvcctech" and "blogging" through my Diigo account; below is a linkroll of these sites, so you can refer to them at any time.
If you start a blog for your course, let me know in the comments so I can add it to the list!
If you start a blog for your course, let me know in the comments so I can add it to the list!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Getting started with Blogger
If you can't make it to the Tech Week Blogger session, need a refresher on designing your blog, or would like to help a colleague get started, here is a brief video provided by BloggerHelp that walks you through the basics of setting up a blog.
In the Tech Week session, we will cover additional skills like uploading images, embedding videos (as I did in this post), and adding gadgets to your blog. For more information on these processes,check out the Blogger Help Articles.
In the Tech Week session, we will cover additional skills like uploading images, embedding videos (as I did in this post), and adding gadgets to your blog. For more information on these processes,check out the Blogger Help Articles.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Critical Thinking through Blogging
A fairly old (in the world of blogging) post on Weblogg-ed presented a sort of hierarchy of ways to use teachers and students use blogs. The author identifies posting assignments and "journaling" as the least effective way of using a classroom blog. Providing links takes advantages of the hyperlinked nature of blogging, but still doesn't really get to the heart of good blogging. For "real blogging" to happen, this author argues the posts should:
Mark Sample at The Chronicle's ProfHacker discussed a blog audit assignment that he has students complete halfway through the semester in this October 2010 post. His blog audit assignment consists of two parts. First, the students are asked to print out and re-read all of the posts they've done so far (it sounds like they do weekly blog posts). They are directed to critically read and evaluate their posts, "noticing what you notice," and then write a new "meta" blog post that analyzes and reflects on those posts. Sample reports, "Students are often quite surprised to revisit their ideas—ideas they frequently don’t remember even having or writing—and discovering the value of their own insights." Applying critical thinking skills to their own writing helps to foster self-reflection and reinforce general critical thinking and analysis skills. The second part of the assignment replaces a traditional mid-term assignment, and asks students to select two of their previous posts and develop them further into 1000-1200 word essays. Suggestions for doing so include substantially revising a post they are unhappy with, expanding a post that include an idea that could be developed further, or pushing a post they really enjoyed even further based on more recent class readings and discussions. In the best cases, Sample says, this type of self-reflective assignment makes students "cognizant of the limits or gaps in their own knowledge—and their self-representation of that knowledge."
Using a blog to supplement classroom instruction, when done effectively, can be an engaging way for students to reflect on their work, think critically about what they are learning and writing, and situate their ideas in a larger public framework. Educators who blog about educational blogging frequently identify the public nature of a blog as a motivation for students to think and write more clearly and responsibly. Knowing that others besides their classmates and professors can read and comment on their ideas fosters a greater awareness of "audience" and can encourage students to think more critically about their ideas and how they are presenting them.
How do you currently try to foster critical thinking in your classes? Could a blog be an appropriate venue for enhancing that learning?
- "Link with analysis and synthesis that articulates a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind."
- Provide "extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links and comments."
Mark Sample at The Chronicle's ProfHacker discussed a blog audit assignment that he has students complete halfway through the semester in this October 2010 post. His blog audit assignment consists of two parts. First, the students are asked to print out and re-read all of the posts they've done so far (it sounds like they do weekly blog posts). They are directed to critically read and evaluate their posts, "noticing what you notice," and then write a new "meta" blog post that analyzes and reflects on those posts. Sample reports, "Students are often quite surprised to revisit their ideas—ideas they frequently don’t remember even having or writing—and discovering the value of their own insights." Applying critical thinking skills to their own writing helps to foster self-reflection and reinforce general critical thinking and analysis skills. The second part of the assignment replaces a traditional mid-term assignment, and asks students to select two of their previous posts and develop them further into 1000-1200 word essays. Suggestions for doing so include substantially revising a post they are unhappy with, expanding a post that include an idea that could be developed further, or pushing a post they really enjoyed even further based on more recent class readings and discussions. In the best cases, Sample says, this type of self-reflective assignment makes students "cognizant of the limits or gaps in their own knowledge—and their self-representation of that knowledge."
Using a blog to supplement classroom instruction, when done effectively, can be an engaging way for students to reflect on their work, think critically about what they are learning and writing, and situate their ideas in a larger public framework. Educators who blog about educational blogging frequently identify the public nature of a blog as a motivation for students to think and write more clearly and responsibly. Knowing that others besides their classmates and professors can read and comment on their ideas fosters a greater awareness of "audience" and can encourage students to think more critically about their ideas and how they are presenting them.
How do you currently try to foster critical thinking in your classes? Could a blog be an appropriate venue for enhancing that learning?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Technology Week Registration is open!
RVCC Technology Week 2011 will be held from Tuesday May 10th through Thursday May 12th. Technology week events are open to all full-time and adjunct faculty. Each day will feature an introduction on Disruptive Innovation, followed by three hands-on workshops that will explore a specific technology. Participants will learn the logistics of using the technology as well as how the technology can enhance their classroom instruction or be used for personal or professional communication. The technologies covered will include:
Poll Everywhere & PB Works
Diigo
Blogger
Skype, Mikogo, Course Live
Facebook
Twitter
Prezi
Podcasting software
Screencasting software
Faculty will find a link to the schedule and online registration in their Lion's Den Personal Announcements. You are welcome to attend one or more sessions, or entire days worth of workshops! Your schedule and interests can determine which sessions you attend.
We hope to see you there!!
Poll Everywhere & PB Works
Diigo
Blogger
Skype, Mikogo, Course Live
Prezi
Podcasting software
Screencasting software
Faculty will find a link to the schedule and online registration in their Lion's Den Personal Announcements. You are welcome to attend one or more sessions, or entire days worth of workshops! Your schedule and interests can determine which sessions you attend.
We hope to see you there!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)