Blog Juice for Educational Technology

David Warlick gets down with another podcast at the Apple Podcast Marathon

Even though podcasting was barely on the lips of anyone - let alone educators - when the NECC conference program was planned early last autumn, somehow the conference organizers managed to jump on the bandwagon with surprising success. With assistance from Apple and a team of Apple Distinguished Educators, NECC organizers have posted a series of podcasts from the conference, including recordings of sessions, an interview with the mayor of Philadelphia, and a podcast tour of Philly. Apple also hosted a podcast marathon last night in conjunction with the release of their podcast-friendly iTunes 4.9. They reserved a room that was supposed to fit only 120 people. When I showed up last night about 45 minutes before the session, there was a line out the door and around the corner. So many people showed up that they had to schedule a repeat session the following hour. Both were standing-room-only. I don’t remember the last time I saw so many educators psyched about a new tool that didn’t even have a classroom track record yet.

The excitement was palpable; Dave Warlick and I recorded simultaneous podcasts as the crowd waited to go inside, talking with people and learning about their interests in podcasting. Inside the room, Barnaby Wasson led a team of Apple Distinguished Educators giving an overview of podcasting and a demo of the new iTunes. He also introduced participants to mobile podcasting, encouraging them to set up a Blogger account so they could use Audioblogger for recording podcasts from their phone. One thing he neglected to mention was the need for a Feedburner RSS feed, since Blogger’s feed isn’t podcast-friendly; I made a note of it during ther Q&A session and Barnaby promised to add the info to their presentation slides so participants wouldn’t accidentally leave out this important, albeit technical, step in the podcasting process.

Meanwhile, there were probably at least half a dozen podcasting educators wandering the halls of the conference, posting recordings left and right. Now that I’m heading home I’ll definitely check out the various feeds, including Dave’s and Steve Dembo’s, so I can live vicariously through their podcasts. They’re both off to a great start, so I can’t wait to see what else they’ll be doing there.

Last but not least, here’s an overly excited podcast I recorded a few moments after the Apple podcast marathon. -andy

From NECC 2005 Registration Catalog
Authentic Learning Tasks for Preservice Teachers, Part II: The Spiral Curriculum
Tracy Wilson, Wake Forest University with Ann Cunningham
Appropriate and meaningful technology use in the elementary classroom is fostered in a learning environment where authentic experiences scaffold the development of skills and dispositions.
:: Tuesday June 28 - 02:00 PM - 03:00 […]

From NECC 2005 Registration Catalog
Preparing Preservice Teachers to Use Technology: Are Authentic Experiences Enough?
Kara Dawson, University of Florida
We will discuss the relationship between prospective teachers’ meaningful integration of technology and engagement in teacher research within a field placement practicum course.
:: Thursday June 30 - 08:30 AM - 09:30 AM ::
Objectives and Purposes
The […]

From NECC 2005 Registration Catalog
The following event is presented by ISTE’s Professional Development Services department:
Technology Leadership 2005: Road Map for Systemic Change
:: Thursday, June 30 - 08:30 AM - 12:30 PM ::
Administrators and technology coordinators: expand your leadership capabilities while working toward systemic school improvement with technology. You will hear how educational technology leaders develop […]

From NECC 2005 Registration Catalog
L. Michael Golden, Pennsylvania Department of Education
Join this panel discussion on how all educational enterprise levels in Pennsylvania are collaborating to support effective technology integration into quality teaching and student performance.
:: Tuesday, June 28 - 11:00 AM–12:00 Noon ::
Pennsylvania Showcase Summary
Overview & Objectives
By participating in this panel discussion, attendees will not […]