Podcasting

Podcasting is a new way to communicate information. They are used to record and play messages similar to songs on an iPod, which where they got their name. Podcast can be accessed from many different devices including iPods, the internet, palm pilots, and laptops. Podcast can be created in many different formats, which allows them to be viewed on such a variety of electronics.
Podcast can be used in teaching to communicate with students outside of school and reiterate lectures. For instance, a teacher can record a lecture or the main points of a lecture in the form of a podcast and post it online so students may refer to it at any time. This would allow students to go back and access information that may help with assignements or just their overall comprehension of a particular topic.
I believe that podcast are a great new way to communicate. I like the idea of being able to go back and listen to a lecture which would help to retain information and allow one to make sure he or she fully understood a lesson.
I would like to see further research done to investigate how easy it is to create a podcast and how easy it is to access them. Also, do podcast require special software to create or are their websites available for this process?

Article Link: http://www.learninginhand.com/podcasting/

Web Based Multimedia/Animation

My article focused mainly on the benefit of web based multimedia and animation as it pertains to science. Basically, by utilizing web based multimedia students are able to view science experience that would otherwise not be possible due to low school budgets and not having the proper equipment. Therefore, students are able to see more in depth experiments which would hopefully broaden their knowledge outside of the limits of their textbooks. Another advantage to using web based multimedia and animation is that they target a wide variety of learning styles. As it states in the article, animation encourages student interaction while videos stimulate visual senses to encourage interaction, no more than 5 minutes in length. Sound alsstimulates the auditory senses to encourage interaction and student Interest concepts are conveyed quickly and effectively to students.
I think that web based multimedia and animation sound like a great tool to help teach students. The more resources a teacher has, the better. Also, the more angles a student views a particular topic, the better chance he or she has of having a complete understanding of that particular topic.
I would like to see more research done about which websites are the best at providing valid multimedia. I would imagine that there is a large variety of these websites that are not very scholarly.

Article Link: http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/multimedia_advantages_in_teaching_k12_science

Digital Imagery

Digital cameras have been around for many years and are becoming less expensive each year that goes by. It used to be that few people had digital cameras of their own, for personal use. Now it seems like every family has at least one, if not more! The world we live in today relies on attaining information quickly and efficiently. A few decades ago, for instance, fliers for shows or important events were mostly covered with writing and maybe a few pictures. Now, everything from billboards to movie posters to special events are advertised using pictures. The quicker someone can understand something, but better. It would take me about 30 seconds to read about certain type of animal and try to understand it. On the other hand, show me a picture, or perhaps a short slide show of pictures, and I will have a pretty good understanding in almost half the time it would take if I read the same information.
For this reason, schools are beginning to incorporate the proper use of digital cameras into their curriculum. Some schools are now able to have a class set of digital cameras due to the drop in cost which allows students to learn how to use a camera the right way. As a result, students are learning many different advantages to having digital cameras. For example, students can take those digital cameras on field trips and take pictures for future reference when writing a report or just reflecting on the experience. As you can see, many more lessons can then be based on these pictures. For instance, teachers can then show their students how to make collages, or put pictures into a word document. The possibilities are endless.
I believe that utilizing digital imagery by means of digital cameras will definitely benefit students. Not only will it enhance the knowledge of these children, but it will also enhance their creativity as well. Many kids these days are interested in doing some sort of graphic design when they are older, and this is a great start for them!
I would like to see further research done to see what type of cameras these students are using, and how much they are learning that they did not know already just from personal use with cameras.

Article Link: http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17145