Why I want to be a VIP BbWorld Blogger

Sharing - that's my platform. As bloggers, we share our thoughts and reflections and sometimes opinions with the world as it flies past on its high-speed Internet connection. As an Iowan, I know what it means to be flown over. Visits are rare, so when they happen, take advantage! Share experiences and knowledge and make connections with people.

At BbWorld, users, developers, administrators, vendors and executives gather to share an experience and make these connections. I want to capture these intersections of passion + excitement + ingenuity + intelligence and share them with a larger audience.

I like to blog in ways that entertain and inform. I'm an aspiring visual note taker and often post these doodles on this blog. Doodles like this one:

Doodle from Distance Learning Conference. Madison, WI
(Click the image for a larger view)

As an Angel administrator and trainer for Kirkwood Community College, I publish the KirkwoodLMS blog. As an instructional designer for Distance Learning, I join Emily McWorthy in creating our video blog: Technology for Learners and Teachers. And as a teacher, I speak with Nicole Forsythe in a new audio podcast/blog on EducationIS.us. I'm a blogger.

See you in New Orleans!

Podcast, Vodcast?

Naturally there have been a few sessions on the subject of podcasting, vodcasting, vidcasting, or the generic "netcasting." Call it what you will, many educators are intensely interested in this technology/term/stuff. And yet the conversation is plagued with warnings of tech driving pedagogy. It's a good warning, but I've heard them before. Let's move on. Remember, no significant difference.

Briefly, whatever-casting allows you (the producer) to push media content (video or audio) to subscribers (students). The types of outcomes you can hope to address by pushing media to students include review of materials, slow down of speech (nice for ESL and disability students), preview of materials, maximizing class time for more interactive activities, reaching multiple learning styles, delivering in a mode students enjoy, portably available content and probably many more.

The tools necessary to whatever-cast are readily accessible. The presenter suggested a 4th generation iPod with Belkin mic input and a lapel mic for creation. Another presenter suggested the Sony hard-drive video camera with the Sony wireless mic - pretty neat, but certainly not without some investment.

If I understood Dr. Jackson correctly, at the heart of podcasting in education is a paradigm shift from "learn this" to "learn to think" or from "cover material" to "uncover knowledge." It's compelling, but maybe there is a bit of biased spin in there.