The summer is usually full of events for educators. This summer is no exception and you can find me at these upcoming conferences:

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The National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) is in San Antonio, Texas June 29-July, 2008. I'll be presenting in three ways:

1. The Special Interest Group for Handheld Computer is sponsoring a forum, Mobile Devices are Shaping the Way We Learn, on Monday, July 30, 2008 from 10am-12pm. Mark van ‘t Hooft is moderating and presenters include Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway, David Whyley, and me. We'll be presenting smaller breakout sessions during the forum. $20 registration is required. Here's the description of my Web Apps To Go mini-session:

There are many tasks that used to require software that you can now do from inside of your Web browser. Web applications are great for students and teachers because they are usually free and you won’t install software. Web apps don't require a specific operating system and so many of them work perfectly fine on ultra-compact and inexpensive laptops like the XO and Eee PC. Because Web apps and their data are stored online, students and teachers can access the apps and data from anywhere. They also tend to facilitate online sharing and collaboration. Tony will share some of his favorite educational uses of web apps, including word processing, text-to-speech, and cartoon creation. The group will even use a Web app to share their favorite ones.

2. I'll have a poster session (where you just drop in) Tuesday, 7/1, from 1pm-3pm and the title is Meet the Mobile Web: Internet in Your Hand. "Explore Web sites and services designed for tiny devices. Leave with a great list of online destinations for teachers and students."
3. I'll have a lecture session Wednesday, 7/2, from 12pm until 1pm and the title is Audio is Great! Video is Cool! iPods Can Do More! "More than mere music players, iPods can make for motivating learning tools. Learn about interactive texts, dictionaries, news feeds, flash cards, quizzes, and more!"

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The Mid-Atlantic Handhelds & Emerging Technology Conference (MAHETC) is July 24-25, 2008 in Salisbury, Maryland. The conference will have a mixture of hands-on workshops and breakout sessions. I'll be teaching I Didn't Know You Could Do That with an iPod, Doing It Without Software: Web Applications, and Education Image Sets for iPods and other Mobile Devices. I also have the pleasure of presenting the opening keynote presentation, Then and Now:

A lot has certainly changed in the last few years in technology. Laptops used to cost big bucks, but today ultra-portable and cheap laptops can be had for $200. Websites are more interactive and fully encourage participation. There's little need to know HTML as online services now allow easy and instant publishing. Some software no longer has to be purchased and installed because we can do the same tasks online for free. iPods are physically smaller but storage capacity and capabilities have greatly increased. The pace of change only seems to be increasing. Let's examine changes in technology and society so that we can leverage these exciting trends in education.

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The 6th Annual Successlink Technology Innovations Conference is July 17-18, 2008 at the Tan Tar A resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. Sessions at this conference are hands-on and I'll be conducting ones about handhelds, podcasting, and blogging. The resort is always fantastic and the conference features so many great topics in educational technology!

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I do hope I get to see you this summer!

Labels: events

Mobile phones can be useful tools for accessing information--even phones with no Internet access. There are some interesting free services for mobile phones I'd like to tell you about that don't require the Web on your phone.

First, search giant Google has a voice service at 1-800-GOOG-411. Dialing this number will give you a voice prompt to enter a city and state. Then you say a business name or category. Google's computer at the other end will verbally tell you some nearby businesses. It will give you a location and even offers to connect you to the business's phone number. GOOG-411 is really aimed at finding local companies, shops, and restaurants. You can't use this to get other information, like weather, definitions, or calculations. For those kinds of information, you'll need to text Google.

Google can be accessed by SMS. SMS is Short Messaging Service and is commonly referred to as text messaging or texting (or tex-mexing as an older friend of my calls it). Here's how it works: send a text to 466453 (GOOGLE spelled out on your keypad). For example, if you want current weather conditions in Phoenix, send weather phoenix. Additionally, you can use this service as a glossary. Send define typhoon and you will receive a text back with the definition of typhoon. Send convert 30,000 feet to miles will produce the message "30,000 feet = 5.681818 miles." To learn more about Google's SMS, check out this page. It has a chart listing the search features and sample queries.

Unfortunately, Google's texting service is limited in the kinds of information it can send back to you. Suppose you want to know which fruit has the most calories? Google's text service can't answer that question. But, ChaCha can. ChaCha employs actual human beings, so you can send all sorts of questions. In response to my fruit question, ChaCha replied with this text message: "The avocado is the fruit highest in calories with 276 per fruit, and 27.6 g. of fat. http://chacha.com/u/jxr5zexi". That link directs me to a webpage where I can view the source of the information, which happens to be http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/69480.html.

Once I send a text to CHACHA (242242), it usually takes about 5 minutes for answer to arrive on my phone. Unfortunately, ChaCha's human guides have not always provided me with accurate answers. When I asked "Who won Big Brother 9?" ChaCha replied, "Adam won the show and 25,000 bucks." While Adam did win the show, he won $500,000, not $25,000. I asked ChaCha to tell me about the training the guides receive. The reply was, "Guides are given very little formal training. We prove ourselves as information gatherers before being hired."

Since ChaCha is actually paying people each time I use the service, I wondered how long ChaCha will remain free of charge. When asked how long the service will remain free, ChaCha replied, "Umm... FOREVER!" That's good news because I am really enjoying ChaCha and I can see many classroom uses. (Note that standard text messaging fees apply to texts to and from ChaCha.)

Obviously, ChaCha would be a great field trip resource. I know when I go places like the zoo, I have tons of questions. For instance, why do flamingos stand on one leg? It would be wonderful to get an answer on the spot from ChaCha. And then, it would be great to verify the answer as part of the post-field trip activities. Oh, and if someone isn't so good at sending a text message, he or she can call 1-800-2CHACHA. The toll-free number allows you to say your question and then the answer will be texted back to your phone.

Verifying ChaCha's answers could be an activity in itself. Try asking ChaCha questions that you don't think it can find the answer to...or maybe something that has more than one answer. When asked to name the planets in our solar system, the ChaCha guide was thorough enough to inform me that Pluto was recently denounced as planet.

With Google and ChaCha, even Internet-challenged mobile phones can be a link to all that information the World Wide Web holds. Keep in mind that text messages can be up to 160 characters long, which can limit how much information can be sent back to you.

Labels: mobile phone, mobile web

Wesleyan Academy has posted the first two episodes of its podcast! The school is on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. These first episodes were written and spoken by fourth graders. They share segments about several topics they have learned about this school year.

To prepare for their podcast, the students listened to various podcasts from elementary students. They even sent video feedback to some podcasters. I'd love for you or your students to listen and leave a comment on the podcast's blog--it would mean so much to these budding podcasters.

By the way, I used the free Blogger.com service to publish the Wesleyan Podcast. Blogger works in combination with Feedburner.com to create a podcast feed that works really well in iTunes. Unfortunately, these services do not host the audio files themselves. For that, I used my regular web hosting service. Read more about how to Publish with Blogger and Feedburner.

Another item podcasters may be interested in is the Subscribe with iTunes link I placed on the page. I simply replaced the http at the beginning of the feed's address with itpc. When clicked, an itpc link automatically opens iTunes and subscribes to the podcast. Yup, just one click and iTunes starts downloading the latest episode and will download future episodes. The podcast doesn't even have to be submitted to the iTunes Store for this method to work. If a podcast has been submitted to the iTunes Store, you can link to its iTunes details page using these directions.

But, I don't want to stress the techie part of all of this. The important piece is that students knew they were producing something special when they started taking notes and writing scripts. The fourth graders weren't focused on the technology; they were concentrating on their audience and purpose. They made this podcast for other students, so if you get a chance, have a student you know listen and comment on the Wesleyan Podcast blog!

Labels: blogging, podcast, podcasting

Registration is now open for Handheld Learning 2008. The conference takes place in London, October 13-15, 2008. The event is open to everyone. I'll be there along with 1,000 other international delegates.

Handheld Learning 2008 will address items such as 21st century learning, handhelds, iPods, game consoles, affordable laptops, and more.

I've reviewed Handheld Learning 2007 and Handheld Learning 2006 if you'd like to know more about what I think of past conferences. While it is expensive for those of us in the USA to attend, the expense is worth it. The conference just gets bigger and better each year!

Labels: events

Third and fourth graders in Mrs. Adams' class at Albertville Elementary School in Alabama were teased with "The Surprise is Coming" on their classroom website. The surprise was a class set of iPods, a charging cart, and accessories! Diane Adams' gifted classroom is one of the first in her district to be outfitted with technology from $750,000 worth of funds that will be spent on technology over the next three years. I read about Diane Adams' class in the Sand Mountain Reporter.

One of the first things the iPods were used for was sharing enhanced podcasts. As I've commented before on newspaper articles like this one, it seems that the iPods are not necessary for the enriched learning taking place. However, if the iPods weren't there for students to consume each other's great productions, those projects may not have happened at all or may not have been as "cool" and exciting to do. There's extra motivation when students know what they create on a computer will end up on an iPod. But, those same products can certainly be consumed on a computer--teachers don't need thousands of dollars worth of iPods to have their students create podcasts, movies, and slide shows.

As you probably know, iPods can do much more than just play music and videos. Diane Adams' students are discovering just what iPods are capable of. As one Albertville's students explains:

"When we first heard about the iPods, I thought, 'why are we going to listen to music in class?' I never knew you could do stuff like this!"

Labels: handhelds, ipod

Search for "how to cheat" on YouTube and you might be surprised on how many student-produced videos are online that show exactly how to cheat in school. Methods range from dozens of ways to hide cheat sheets to increasing the length of a term paper. There are even multiple videos showing how to remove, scan, and replace text on a Coke bottle's label. Watch some of the videos below to see for yourself.

Learn how to use an innocent-looking Coke bottle for cheating. The label is scanned, information is replaced, and a new label printed out and attached to the bottle.	This student shows how to hide answers in a skirt. She shows how to make your own skirt that can hold many cheat sheets.
This video shows how to stretch out a rubber band to write down answers. When the band is unstretched, you can't tell that answers are written on it.	Lots of advice and techniques are shared in this video, including becoming friends with the professor, writing on the inside label of a water bottle, and more.
Increase the length of a report or paper by replacing periods with larger ones. A nine page paper can turn into a 10+ page paper with this technique.	See how to make a tiny cheat booklet using paper and a stapler.
This video has insights from interviewed cheaters. "The Buddy Method" is demonstrated in the last half of the video.	This "Cheating Documentary" interviews many students who share ways to cheat, including taping answers inside of one's bangs and writing on various body parts.

Yes, we would rather our students not watch these videos. But, the information is out there and easily accessible.

One concern I hear about inviting mobile devices into the classroom is that students will use them to cheat. Perhaps. While many teachers seem to be focused on iPods and cell phones as cheating tools, they may overlook more prevalent methods of cheating. Watching these videos shows you there are lots of ways to cheat nowadays--and barely any of them involve mobile computers.

Of course, it is possible to store cheats on iPods and other electronic devices. There are videos that demonstrate how to do that too. This one uses the Notes function of iPods. Another video encourages students to record their answers and listen to earbuds in their sleeves while leaning on their hands to listen.

The "Cheating Documentary" above ends with the voiceover, "So students cheat. It is something that will never die. The question is, can teachers keep up in the race against students and their ever-going creativity?" The answer is not keeping up--that will never happen. One answer is creating assessments that students can "cheat" on. Rarely are people without some device that they can use to look up a formula or definition. It doesn't make sense to have school assessments so incredibly focused on memorizing information that is accessible anywhere and anytime. Unfortunately, emphasis in education is on "playing school" instead of learning what's important for today's and tomorrow's society.

The Los Angeles Times recently ran the story Exam Cheating Goes High Tech, But Its Causes are Nothing New. Here's a quote:

There is an increasing body of opinion among educators that cheating may be an expression of the way schools approach teaching and learning. And as schools and teachers come to face more high-stakes standardized testing, the worse it will become, said Gary J. Niels, who has studied cheating behavior and wrote a 2003 paper on honor codes.

Studies found that when teachers were vague in explaining the relevance and importance of curricula, students perceived the lessons as a waste of time and were more likely to cheat. Fact-driven data that had to be "regurgitated," said Niels, also correlated to higher incidents of cheating.

The article also addresses the ethics of cheating:

"It's a mistake to talk about school cheating without referring to society at large," said Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics, a nonprofit consulting and training firm. "We need to connect these dots and ask what is our attitude toward cheating, because kids are going to absorb that attitude. . . . And cheating learned in school is habit-forming."

As I was writing this post, a great question was posed on Weblogg-ed: When are we going to stop giving kids tests that they can cheat on? Many extremely astute comments have been made about "cheating" in schools.

As an aside, I am completely offended and disappointed in the comments on the YouTube pages for the videos above. YouTube doesn't moderate comments and it certainly shows. I'm actually glad YouTube is blocked in schools, not necessarily because of the video content, but because of the nasty, nasty comments.

Labels: ipod, mobile phone, video

I visited Richland County School District One in South Carolina in February. MaryAnn Sansonetti wrote about my 24 hours in her district. Richland One does great stuff with technology and it was such a pleasure to visit. One thing they do is make READ posters. They take photos of visitors, principals, teachers, community leaders, and even beauty pageant winners. The photos are put into a background and the word READ is spelled across the top. They have a printer that prints out large posters in full color and you can see these posters throughout the district's buildings. I have the honor of being featured on one of these READ posters!

For more about the posters, read MaryAnn's post, READ Posters...You Can Be on One Too!

Labels: presentations, tonyvincent

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #11: Artwork & Lyrics is online and is all about giving audio files cover art and accompanying text.

Artwork and lyrics are two things you can easily add to an audio file to make it more useful on iPods. While most all references you'll find to artwork and lyrics on iPods deal with music, the audio files do not have to be songs. They can be recordings from a voice recorder, ripped from a CD, podcasts, files from Audacity or GarageBand, or downloaded from the Internet. Wherever you got the audio, we'll explore adding customized artwork and accompanying text to these files.

Listen to all 11 minutes of Episode #11 for tips, how-tos, and ideas for using artwork and lyrics on click wheel and touch iPods.

Labels: iphone, ipod, ipodtouch, itunes, learning in hand: ipods, podcasting

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #10: Photos Part 2 is available and focuses on various kinds of educational image sets.

First, learn about commercial sources of image sets, like iPREPpress and Raybook. Explore many different kinds of image sets, including visual books, study aids, flash cards, matching games, math manipulatives, converters, response cards, and more. In fact, you can visit learninginhand's Gallery of Educational Image Sets and download lots of great learning tools and resources for the Photos section of an iPod.

Although teachers and students can download pre made image sets, the real value is using software like PowerPoint or Keynote to make your own image sets. Creating your own study aids really aids your study of a topic!

Listen to all 18 minutes of Episode #10 for great tips for using and making educational image sets. Refer to Photos Part 1 for basic information about Photos on iPods.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods, mobile phone

I wrote an article titled 10 Years Later: Cheaper, Easier for February's StarTeaching Features for Teachers. Here it is:

In 1998 not many people could publish on the World Wide Web. Sure, big companies like Yahoo! and CNN had websites. But, the typical Internet citizen was limited to being a consumer of the Web. As a fifth grade teacher at the time, I was really excited about the possibilities of students distributing their work online. Before I had access to a classroom website I had students write book reviews and post them on Amazon.com. Students did indeed love publishing on the World Wide Web. They took their work more seriously because they weren't writing book reviews for only the teacher's eyes--they had a real-world purpose for writing.

Eventually my school district made it possible for me to have a classroom site. My students named it Planet 5th. Planet 5th was full of student writing, artwork, photos, and videos. In fact, my students and I started to think of our classroom as a Web publishing organization. We took great pride in building Planet 5th over the course of the school year.

One of my favorite year-long projects was The Daily Planet. It was our daily log of the day's events, written by a student who was the "roving reporter" for the day. The reporter's job was to write an article about that day's activities and learning. Each of my students were fortunate enough to have a Palm handheld computer with attachable keyboard so the reporter could type the article at school or at home. The next day I would get the reporter's article off the handheld and put it up on Planet 5th. I would also include photos the reporter took with a digital camera. Students loved being the roving reporter and their writing certainly improved over the course of the school year.

My fifth graders left with Planet 5th on a CD-ROM, giving them a evidence of their learning and preserving memories of their final year in elementary school. Their collection of work became a digital portfolio and each student made a page for Planet 5th to show their growth as a learner.

As much as students loved Planet 5th, they loved those Palm handhelds even more. We began using them in 2001. At that time, handhelds did not have Wi-Fi (and schools did not have wireless networks). We used the handhelds primarily for drill and practice activities, word processing, and organization. Without Internet access, the uses for the handhelds were somewhat limited.

Fast forward ten years to 2008. While I have left my own classroom to empower students and teachers with technology as an independent consultant, I am thrilled that my vision of technology in the classroom has become much easier to realize for typical teachers.

The Web has moved from being published only by companies to everyone having the ability to be online content producers. Anyone can post a video to YouTube, a podcast to iTunes, or a blog on Blogger. In fact, blogging has made the roving reporter activity a manageable one in many classrooms. Unlike years ago, blog services make publishing a snap. No knowledge of Dreamweaver, HTML, or FTP is required.

Today, almost all handheld and portable devices are Wi-Fi enabled. With access to the Internet, these devices can get to those online videos, podcasts, and blogs. And for about the same price paid for our Palm handhelds in 2001, schools can buy a complete laptop. The ASUS Eee PC and the XO are two in the growing list of ultra-small and ultra affordable laptops. Additionally, according to Apple, the iPod touch is becoming a "mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform." A bevy of applications are on their way for the iPod touch and there's no denying it has a powerful Web browser. And we mustn't forget handheld computers from the likes of Palm and HP are packing lots of useful features nowadays.

There's no denying the Internet is essential for teaching and learning. It's important that every student can access the information, tools, and social interactions the Web offers. I'm pleased that 2008 brings affordable, portable computers so the Internet can be in the hands of students. I want to see more schools invite these devices into their doors with the goal of each and every student having the educational benefits of a computer and the Web. An extraordinary classroom experience can be a reality for teachers and students!

Labels: blogging, handhelds, tonyvincent

It time to start working on your submissions for GoKnow's Spring 2008 Students and Teacher Sketchy Contest. Sketchy is software for Palm handhelds, Pocket PCs, and Nova 5000s that lets you draw directly on the screen. Drawing on multiple frames and playing them in order creates an animation. While teachers are responsible for sending in the submissions, students are encouraged to enter one Sketchy animation into one of these categories: Science, Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, or Other Curriculum. Teachers can enter and have their own category.

Even if you haven't purchased Sketchy, you can enter the contest using the 45-day free trial of the software. Sketchy is one of my favorite handheld applications ever and students absolutely love it. Be sure students examine the Past Contests Archives for examples and inspiration.

Submissions are due April 22, 2008. Good luck!

Labels: handhelds, palm, ppcket pc, sketchy, windows mobile

If you're an iPod user, you're familiar with sources of audio and video content (namely iTunes). But, you can fill your iPod with other media, including images. Viewing images on an iPod doesn't sound all that glamorous. After all, you can view images on just about any mobile device. However, some innovative companies have sets of images they'd love for you to sync to your iPod. The image sets can be surprisingly educational.

iPREPpress.com offers content from a variety of publishers and formats it for iPods. Much of what they offer can be viewed as text files in iPod's Notes. Additionally, iPREPpress has been adding content that you view in iPod's Photos. The company has a section for graphic biographies and histories. Each biography or history is currently on sale for $1.99 each. I bought The First Moon Landing. Once purchased, I downloaded a folder containing 71 jpeg images. At 320 x 240, the images match the resolution of iPod classic and nano. I synced the photo of images to an iPod. The First Moon Landing reads like a comic book. Once done with one frame, I just press the Next button to continue.

Raybook.com also offers image sets. My favorites are Brain Quest. Yes, that Brain Quest--the set of question cards that are often used in classrooms when there's a few minutes to spare. Raybook offers seven different version of Brain Quest, one for each grade up to seventh. Like The First Moon Landing, you view the Brain Quest cards in Photos on your iPod.

Raybook's content is installed differently than how you're used to syncing photos to an iPod. Instead of mucking up your desktop's iPhoto or Photoshop Elements albums with hundreds of images, Raybook has its own installer. The installer works great on Macintosh and Windows computers. I'm pleased to see that the Raybook installer is careful not to interfere with the other images I have stored on my iPod.

Raybook has done something special with their image sets. They have manipulated the thumbnails so you can easily skip to a different section of the photo set. The also have unique ways of interacting with the images. For instance, Brain Quest for Grade 5 has a listing of animals on one side of the screen and a listing of their collective names on the other. You go through one by one, trying to mentally match each animal with its collective name. Pressing the next button will draw a line on the screen to the correct answer.

Raybook also offers CliffsNotes on popular literary titles like Beowulf and The Red Badge of Courage. Scrolling farther down the page, you'll see flash cards for math fact. One card has the question and pressing Next will reveal the answer.

Raybook offers demos of Brain Quest, but you'll pay $19.99 for the full version. CliffsNotes and Math Facts cost about $5 each. Contact Raybook for school licenses.

Note that image sets from Raybook and iPREPpress may only work with certain models of iPods. Be sure to check that whatever image set you're interested in works for you before purchasing.

iPREPpress and Raybook are just two of a growing number of companies providing learning materials for iPods. Online Education Database just posted 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better. The list includes some familiar resources and many that are new to me. Unfortunately, many of the resources are not free. But, you might just find something worth paying for.

My next episode of Learning in Hand: iPods will be all about image sets and ways that teachers and students can create their own.

Labels: ipod

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #9: Photos Part 1 is online and gives information about getting images and slide shows on an iPod.

You probably know that you can sync photos to an iPod. After all, it’s an option in iPod’s Main Menu. Photos of your children, pets, and vacations are fun to show off on iPod’s screen. Episode 9 covers the basics of putting photos on an iPod and then tells you about viewing PowerPoint and Keynote slide shows on an iPod.

Listen to all 9 minutes of Episode #9 for a how-to, valuable tips, and useful information. Part 2 will feature surprising and innovative educational uses for iPod's Photos.

Labels: ipod, ipodtouch, learning in hand: ipods

I've spent much of my time lately on the island of St. Thomas. The Palm handhelds we're using are a suitable educational tool for schools in the Virgin Islands because:

• Many teachers are not tech savvy. Handhelds are easy to begin integrating into the curriculum. Having a simple device is a great way to hook them into using technology.
• The schools I'm working with do not have a technician on staff. Handhelds are easy to troubleshoot. Teachers are capable of dealing with most problems with handhelds--little technical expertise is required.
• School buildings are multilevel with no ramps or elevators. Getting a cart of technology from class to class is impossible because of the stairs. A class set of handhelds can be transported in a small tub.
• School building do not have much storage space. Handheld can easily be stored in a filing cabinet.
• The buildings are not air conditioned. Handhelds have no hard drive nor heat-sensitive components. The island's heat and humidity is not a issue for handheld computers.
• Shipping broken laptops off to the mainland to be repaired can take many days and comes at a very high price. Handhelds are relatively cheap. Broken ones are just replaced with a substitute handheld.
• School building have a very limited number of power outlets. Handhelds can charge quickly. It just takes 20 minutes to get a useable charge from a handheld.
• The island encounters many electrical surges and outages. All electrical equipment is plugged into line conditioners, but electronics can still be affected. Handhelds and their chargers are inexpensive to replace.
• Theft can be a problem. Handhelds are concealable and ultra portable, helping to detour theft when transported away from school.

Handheld Computing in St. Thomas is the website for the 2007-2008 project in the Virgin Islands. It details some of the activities and projects students have been doing this school year. There's also plenty of photos so you can see the handhelds in action. The site will of course be updated as the school year progresses.

learninginhand.com/stt

Labels: handhelds, palm

Matt Villano wrote Building a Better Podcast in January 2008's T.H.E. Journal. Matt sought helpful hints from various podcasting educators who shared nuances to making worthwhile podcasts. The article focuses on simple tools that can empower teachers to "turn run-of-the-mill podcasts into compelling educational exercises."

Here are some takeaways from the article and some of my thoughts and suggestions:

The first part of the article focuses on preparation. The preproduction is indeed the most important and most educational part of podcasting. Different from report writing or speech-giving, podcasting students need to keep their audience in mind--an audience that can come from all parts of the world thanks to the Internet.

After hitting home the importance of preparing, the article focuses on sound quality. It mentions $50 microphones. I don't find microphones that expensive to be necessary, It's very difficult to hear the difference between a $25 Logitech microphone and more expensive mics. Recently there has been a fantastic discussion about microphones on Wesley Fryer's Moving at the Speech of Creativity blog. The comments to the post contain great insight from teachers and podcasters.

Filtering out the background noise is important. We know how noisy schools can get. I suggest taking students into a quiet room to record. Sometimes a room is not available. According to the article, "The best way for technology coordinators to do this is to go low-tech and fashion a recording studio out of a wooden box and egg-crate insulation." I have not seen this solution in action, but I'm guessing it would have to be a pretty big box to keep out the noise. If you really want to keep out all noise, a parked car provides excellent noise-reduction (but this is probably not a choice location for students to record).

One of the best tips I can give podcasters is to use Levelator. Available free for Macintosh and Windows, Levelator will smooth out the volumes throughout your podcast. Listeners won't have to adjust the volume as all voices will be adjusted to the same volume level. It's a little tricky to use because you have to first export the audio as a WAV or AIFF in order for Levelator to do its thing.

A postproduction tip is to use transitional music between segements. Music signals to the listener the conclusion of one segment and the beginning of another. It also provides time to reflect on the previous segment before moving on. I caution podcasters not to overdo the music. It's easy to include long musical interludes, but that is probably not why listeners are tuning in--they want to hear the content, not GarageBand's music loops. Also, I advise you to have absolutely no more than 20 seconds of "theme" music at the beginning of your podcast. Save the music for transitions so listeners have something to think about while the music plays.

Next, "Building a Better Podcast" tackles the issue of editing. I happen to disagree with this statement about editing podcasts:

As tempting as it might be for teachers to edit speaking errors as their students are recording a podcast, it generally is better to record first and edit later, keeping disruptions to a minimum and forcing students to stay on task.

Now, this assumes that the teachers (not students) are in charge of recording, which is often the case. I have tried recording both ways--editing on the fly while students are sitting with me recording and I've tried editing afterwards. The times I've saved all of the editing for afterwards, the audio becomes a big mess. It takes a long time to listen to the entire recording, find mistakes, and fix them. I find it faster to edit while the students are recording. I simply have students read a paragraph. We stop and I check to see if students are happy with what they recorded. If they are, we move on. If not, I just delete the last recorded portion and we rerecord. This way students are involved in the editing process and it's not such a daunting task for me when I do the final editing.

The length of a podcast is also addressed. I agree that 10 to 15 minutes is the maximum time that a K-12 audience will have for listening to a podcast. If your recording is too long, considering dividing it up into two or more episodes.

Besides advice about length, the article addresses the name of the podcast. Here's a good point about capturing prospective listeners' attention, as podcasts are often listed in directories by just the name:

Because most listeners search podcasts on the internet, a clever name can be the difference between catching the eye—and then the ear—of a prospective audience member and, well, losing that person to something else. Good names usually incorporate the school mascot or something special about a hometown. A podcast about New York City, for instance, might be called "Bytes of the Big Apple."

After you have a name, I recommend having a slogan or catchphrase for each individual episode. You've probably noticed the slogans for Radio WillowWeb episodes like "Can You Hear Us Now?", "The Willowcast Heard 'Round the World," and "Know More about Nebraska." Each episode of Our City Podcast also has a slogans like "Outstanding Omaha" and "Sensational St. Thomas." Some sites I suggest for inspiration are Sloganizer and Slogan4u (check to see that the slogan generator you use with students is school appropriate).

To measure their audience size many podcasters use Feedburner. It's a free service from Google that tracks the number of subscribers. It can be a little tricky to set up, but the statistics are worth the effort.

The end of the article mentions that podcasting requires consistency. Episodes should be produced more than once a year. Podcasts are meant to be a series of episodes, so doing just one isn't taking advantage of the medium. Though, I would rather have teachers try just one, and if successful, continue with more episodes. One of the reasons I started Our City Podcast is so that classrooms can produce just one episode and yet still be part of a series. The article suggests, "The easiest way for educators to weave podcasts into the curriculum is to commit to recording a certain number of them during the year, and to include them with lesson development. "

For more advice for podcasting educators, read the entire article Building a Better Podcast.

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Labels: podcasting