Clif's Notes

Reflecting on Field Trip to an Assembly Line

Our oldest’s class went on a field trip to the Brim’s Snack Foods manufacturing facility to learn about assembly lines and mass production. As both a parent and a teacher I’m very pleased with what he learned from this trip. I assure you he can talk in much greater detail about the processes involved in manufacturing cheese puffs and popcorn than he is able in this short interview. He seems to have absorbed every word, action, machine, procedure, etc. that he heard and observed during their visit. Hahaha!

• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• 3 Questions with Drew Polly
• 1 Thing to Consider at the Beginning of the Year

Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser

Our kids and I have a lot of fun with AudioBoo. AudioBoo is a service that makes podcasting and audio blogging a snap and can positively impact your classroom (See previous posts1, 2, 3 and 4). Although the service has previously pretty much been limited to iPhone users it is now available to everyone. Here’s a screencast demonstrating how to use their recently released BrowserBoo feature which makes it possible to record to AudioBoo through any web browser.

Here’s the sample Boo that I created during the screencast above.

You can browse through my AudioBoo profile page to look through many other examples of boos that the kids and I have published.

I strongly encourage all teachers to take a look at AudioBoo. Whether or not you choose to use it as a teacher I believe there are students in your classroom that would enjoy using it and benefit from engaging this learning modality.

Sign-up for your AudioBoo account, friend me and other educators, and begin enjoying the valuable contributions this can bring you and your students.

• AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

Connecting the Classroom and Outside World (Feedback Requested)

Educators, what are some strategies for connecting the classroom with the outside world?

NOTE: I’d like to share responses in an upcoming workshop/presentation and on my blog and wiki. You can submit your ideas using the form below, share your text/audio/video reply in the Comments section of this post or respond via Twitter, Plurk or on your blog using the tag #thruwalls. You can also view the compiled database of suggested strategies on my wiki, Learning Telecollaboratively.

Share this post using http://tr.im/104.

Conversation tag: #thruwalls

• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World
• Students and PLNs (Feedback Requested)
• Educators and PLNs (Feedback Requested)
• Reply to Miguel Guhlin

Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology

These are the slides from my first Tennessee Educational Technology Conference presentation. Unfortunately the animations and effects were lost when uploaded to SlideShare. I’ve shared my notes and resources from this presentation over on my wiki, Learning Telecollaboratively. I hope to create a Vidcast or SlideCast of this presentation once I return home and things settle down.

I demonstrated that with freely available digital technologies students can demonstrate their understanding of course content in multiple ways (images, audio, video, presentations, artwork, and more). Each student’s end product (learning artifact) allows them to personally self-express their understanding of the content/mastery of the skills. Although teachers may not be comfortable using all of today’s technology it is important to consider allowing students to use it to communicate their understanding as they are often more naturally able to more fully express themselves with digital media.

View more presentations from Clif Mims.

Conference Tag: #tetc

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media
• Day 2: MECA 2010
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development
• Prezi

Free Educational Technology Workshops

The Instructional Design and Technology program at The University of Memphis is pleased to offer FREE workshops on Apple tools and applications. These will be conducted by Tim Matheny, a Senior System Engineer with Apple. Seating is limited and registration is required…but these top-notch workshops are FREE.

Use the links below to discover additional information and register.

Tuesday, November 10

First Session: iLife ‘09 and MobileMe
Register for This Session
Time: 4:00 – 5:45,
Place: Room 310, Ball Hall

Second Session, Apple Show and Tell (Quick demos of Leopard, iWorks, iTunesU, etc.)
Register for This Session
Time: 6:00 – 8:00
Place: Room 310, Ball Hall

Wednesday, November 11

First Session: Mobile Learning (iPhones, App Store, Apps for School, etc.)
Register for This Session
Time: 4:00 – 5:45
Place: Room 310 Ball Hall

Second Session, Digital Video
Register for This Session
Time: 6:00 – 8:30
Place: Room 310, Ball Hall

Thursday, November 12
One Session, Enhanced Podcasting
Register for This Session
Time: 6:30 – 8:30
Place: Room 310, Ball Hall

• Free Educational Technology Workshops
• Podcasting and Video Workshops
• Day of Discovery in Memphis
• Free Apple Seminar for Educators

3 Questions with Drew Polly

INTERVIEW WITH
Drew Polly

Part of the ongoing 3 Questions series.

• 1 Thing to Consider at the Beginning of the Year
• Write Elected Officials about Educational Technology Funding
• 1 Thing Teachers Should Know about Teaching with Technology
• EBC and NECC Preparations Underway

Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

In episode 3 of Thinking Out Loud I pondered ways that AudioBoo might be integrated with teaching and learning. I shared a few ideas that sprang to mind and invited you to share your ideas and examples. I want to share a couple of AudioBoos that our two youngest children put together.

It is important to note that these 2 kids are young. They selected their topics, identified the major points that they wanted to share, recorded their interviews without rehearsing, and selected the title and images for their boos. They did this with minimal assistance from me. They learned to use the AudioBoo iphone app, planned their interview, and recorded and published both boos in well under 30 minutes. It was a fun and educational activity for all three of us!

Educational Uses
I encourage you to join me in exploring the potential classroom uses of this technology. Please share your thoughts and examples as text, audio or video comments. Together we learn more!

• AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010
• Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser

AudioBoo in the Classroom (Thinking Out Loud #3)

THINKING OUT LOUD
Episode 003

• Announcing “Thinking Out Loud”
• What Do You Want in Professional Development?
• One of My Professional Pet Peeves
• Mobile Devices in the Classroom (Thinking Out Loud #4)

It’s Good to Be Back, Again!

I’m excited to be working with Kannapolis City Schools again. I spent 4 weeks here last summer and I’m back for the 2nd time this summer. I’m helping provide professional development for part of their grant funded technology integration initiative called IMPACT. I’ve been asked to facilitate the following workshops:

• Instructional Design and Higher-Order Thinking in the Digital Age
• Telecollaboration in the Classroom
• Web 2.0 in the Elementary Classroom
• Educational Podcasting
• Wikis for Kannapolis City Schools

Please share any resources, information, cases, scenarios, etc. that you think will help teachers learn more about these topics by clicking on the session titles above and adding your contribution to the Notes and Resources from My PLN section at the bottom of each wiki. Rest assured that I welcome your input in this endeavor.

Together we all learn more!

• It’s Good to Be Back
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development
• Greetings from North Carolina
• Summer Wiki Challenge

Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration

As I’ve previously mentioned AudioBoo is a service that makes podcasting and audio blogging a snap. Here’s my quick demonstration.

Your “boo” (That’s what they call your audio file) will be uploaded to your AudioBoo profile. You can take a look at my profile page to get an idea of what this will be like.

Now you can listen to the “boo” that you just watched me make.

• Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser
• AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010