Digital Blog Post #E

Sometimes when I am driving or cooking or even reading, the sounds of outside or food is just not enough to help me feel like I am doing something or really focused. To combat that I will put on music or play a movie in the background. Rarely I will put on and listen to a podcast. I did not know until recently that a podcast is a combination of the words iPod and broadcast(Maloy p.234). A podcast is basically audio that is given out online. The podcasts I listen to are usually music related and what gets me is that it is real, meaning it is really what a person is saying almost as if they were with me in person. Podcasts are a great learning tool for both student and teacher. For teachers who make podcasts, they can listen back and find ways to make a podcast better. For students: listening is a big help but I think it would be very educational and fun for say, as a project, a student makes their own podcast. Listed below is a podcast on music education in Australia. In my senior year of high school there was what the school called an "auxilary" period(or something like that) where we gathered in an assigned classroom to put our highest grade test, quiz, or homework assignment. Even to this day I still feel like it was a bit of a wasted 30 minutes but the point of the class was to help build a portfolio so we could present it to colleges. My portfolio was a binder with a few "B" quizzes(in which case I lost the folder) but now there is such thing as digital portfolios. In essence a digital portfolio is the same as a paper one. A few differences between digital and paper portfolios are it is more easily accessible(paper pages being sent vs electronic transporting) and it allows an avenue for creativity(if you think about it all paper portfolios are a bunch of papers put in a binder of sorts). Digital portfolios will require a bit of a learning curve like learning how to use computers and cameras and such. Another drawback is that the way the portfolio is presented is seemingly more important than the content(p.285). Digital videos tell stories and capture moments and memories. From home movies to Snapchat, digital videos can be used for all ages and in particular, students. The creation process of digital videos can be exciting in the academic world. Even in the non-academic world, making videos can be fun. The thing about cameras is, as cliche as it sounds, they do not lie. So by watching a video, students could deduce answers from real life events caught on tape(p.231). It is one thing to take photos of a class doing a science experiment but capturing the movement and different steps of a science experiment can be used as documentation(p.233) and thus furthering the scientific conclusion. References: Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.