Free music resources for your podcasts

I came across this post today with a list of sites you can use to find music with a permissive license that you can use in your podcasts.

2013 Resources for Educators List

This Google Document is a list of the resources that we heard about in our class this summer. During class, you can edit the document to add to the list. After class, I'll mark it as read-only so it can be an archive of the year.

Edit with us!

New Media Requirements, 2013

Class requirements: (Every item should have a blog post of its own)

• Create a new blog post for each segment of instruction
• modify the settings, layout, and template
• create a photographic header
• create a new post with a new Google form
• create a new post with an embedded video
• create a new post with pictures
• Fill out four classmates' forms (choose the four classmates above your name on the Google Doc list)
• Comment on two classmates' blog (choose the two below your name on the Google Doc list)
• Create a podcast with intro/outro music
• Create a screencast instructional video (~30 secs long), and embed it in a blog post using YouTube

Amazing Features of Google Apps

This presentation from the 2013 ISTE conference is chock-full of great scenarios where you can use the Google tools in your classroom! Here is a link to their slides: http://delivr.com/2e6zb 

Free Photo Site

I just discovered a new site to add to the list for free stock photos you can use in your classroom or other projects. It is called Morguefile.com and they have pretty favorable license terms. I discovered them via this blog post.

Where do I find...?

We covered many different programs in our two-day class.  It might be hard to remember where to find everything.  Use the following list to jog your memory.

Online resources
Class notes - Google Documents
Class wiki - Wikispaces
Videos to embed - YouTube
Forms & Quizzes - Google Documents (forms)
Publishing podcasts - Upload file to your wiki, use Minus
Create/Edit/Write Blog - Blogger
Edit pictures, create headers - Fotoflexer, Google + (on your Google Account)
Maps - Google Maps
Learning videos - Khan Academy, Ted Ed
Social media - Google + (on your Google Account)
Screencasting - Jing
Fun blog templates - Cutest Blog on the Block
Fun word pictures - Wordle, Tagxedo

Free downloadable software
Sound recording - Audacity.com
Maps - Google Earth
Screencasting - PowerPoint (from Microsoft office)

Project Requirements

(*Requirements is a strong word. We want you to do these general things, but if there is something else you want to do, just let us know!)

Your blog will be your "home" project--you will link or post all your other projects to it so we can see them. At the end of the last day of class, you will just email me a link to your blog with your projects.

• create three wiki pages (introduction, nutrition, form)
• fill out five classmates’ forms
• embed your podcast onto one of your wiki pages
• create a podcast with intro/outro music
• create your blog
• modify the settings and layout
• create a photographic header
• post with links to wiki
• post with video
• post with pictures
• Two posts exploring/explaining classroom use of two of the tools we discussed
• Google Maps
• Khan Academy
• Ted-Ed
• Google Docs/Google Drive
• FlatWorldKnowledge
• Creative Commons
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• Screencasts
• create and link your own TED-Ed video (optional)

New Media 2012 Class Recordings

There are the recordings from the June 2012 class of New Media in the Classroom.

• Part 1
• Google Docs
• What are wikis?
• Part 2
• Royalty free photos
• Creative Commons
• Wiki practice
• Part 3
• Open Education Resources (OER)
• Podcasting
• Part 4
• Practice working on podcasts and publish to wiki or minus.com
• Part 5 (recording lost due to machine crash)
• Blogs
• Part 6
• Image editing
• Part 7
• Social media
• Khan Academy
• Ted-Ed
• Flipped classroom
• Part 8
• Screencast with PowerPoint

Technophobia 2012 Recordings

Here are the recordings from our 2012 Technophobia class.

• Part 1 - Word
• Part 2 - Word
• Part 3 - Review, PowerPoint
• Part 4 - Excel
• Part 5 - Excel
• Part 6 - Word
• Part 7 - Mail Merge with Word and Excel, PowerPoint

The Organic Spread of Classroom Tech

Converge magazine advocated a technology strategy that I also heartily endorse. Let technology initiatives start as small experiments and then let teachers clamor for the things that they see working, rather than trying to anticipate the way they will use technology. Here is how they put it. 

The first time the district made interactive whiteboards and document cameras available in the grant program, staff members expected to purchase between 10 and 20 devices. But only five educators applied. 

"What it really came down to was people didn't know what they were or what they were capable of," said JoAnn DePue, director of technology, data and assessment. 

But as other teachers saw what the five educators were doing in the classroom with the tools, they got interested too. The next time the grant option came up for the devices, all the teachers in one elementary school applied.

The reported a similar experience with the spread of podcasting.

Teachers weren't sure they had time to create podcasts, so technology staff showed a few students how to do it. Within the first year, half of the elementary school students produced at least one podcast that was tied to the curriculum. The next year, almost every student had at least one digital piece online.

The problem for most teachers is that they just don't have the time to figure out new things. But once they see how something new can make class better or easier, they are happy to spend the time to get up to speed.

Education Wiki Platforms

Although in class we used Wikispaces, there are other popular wiki platforms. Along with Wikispaces, PBWorks and Wikis in Education's WetPaint are free for K-12 educators. (Pro tip: Don't go to "wetpaint.com", though. That is decidedly NOT a K-12 website. Just warnin' you.)

Creating a Form (Quiz, Survey) in Google Docs

Google Docs, in addition to creating documents and spreadsheets, allows you to create "forms" that can then be embedded in other programs, such as Blogger or Wikispaces. A form can be a survey, quiz, or poll. It is simply a way to gather information. Because of the nature of the form, it is not very secure. Your students won't be stopped from voting more than once, putting someone else's name in, or other mischievous actions.

From your Google Docs homepage, click the "Create New" and select "Form". Create the survey/quiz/poll as desired. To add another question, there is a button in the left top corner of the page with a green plus sign "Add item".

When you are done with your form, you will need to get the "embed" code to place the form into your blog or wiki. Click the button titled "More Actions" and select "Embed". You will need to copy the code in the box by highlighting it and right clicking and selecting "copy".

If you would like to place this form in a blog, simply go to a new post and paste the embed code. If you would like to place the form in a wiki, you must add the code as the "Other HTML" widget. Just paste the embed code in the box that comes up when you select the correct widget.

If you want to edit your form after you've embedded it, but before people have started taking it, you must go back to the Google Docs form page and click the "Form" tab on the blue strip near the top of the page. You will have to go back through the embed steps and replace the revised in your blog or wiki.

New Media 2011 Class Recordings

These aren't a substitute for class, but perhaps they can help you remember the procedures that we did in class. There is a search function in the video that sort of works if you are trying to find when we talked about a specific thing. Hover your mouse over the video while it is playing and the search field will appear on the left side of the screen.

• Part 1 (Google Docs, Wikis, and Google Forms)
• Part 2 (Podcasts)
• Part 3 (More podcasts)
• Part 4 (Review of day 1, blogs)
• Part 5 (More blogs, image editing)
• Part 6 (More blogs)
• Part 7 (Google Reader, Twitter search)
  

Podcasting with Audacity and Min.us

Once you have created your podcast in Audacity (complete with intro and outro music from a place like Free Music Archive), you must save it as mp3 file.

First, you must download the right encoder (lame_enc.dll) if you haven't already done so. Select the edit menu, go to preferences, select libraries. On the libraries popup menu, click on the "download" button next to "LAME MP3 Library".

Once the encoder is downloaded, select from the file menu "Export". Name the file, and select "mp3" as your file type. You will be warned about the reduction in the file size; click "OK". Fill out as much or as little of the metadata song information as you want, and then click "OK".

Once you have your mp3 file saved, open a browser window to min.us. Click "select" and find your mp3 file and click "open". Voila! You are done. Be sure to write down the unique address in the address bar before you leave the min.us site.

Project Requirements*

(*Requirements is a strong word. We want you to do these general things, but if there is something else you want to do, just let us know!)

Your blog will be your "home" project--you will link or post all your other projects to it so we can see them. At the end of the last day of class, you will just email me a link to your blog with your projects.

• Create a blog
• Modify the blog layout
  
• Modify the blog settings
• On your blog, post a picture, a video, and link to other websites
• Create podcast with intro and outro music
  
• Link to your podcast
• Create and link to your wiki pages (personal page, vacation page (with external link and picture), form/survey page)
• Anything else that catches your fancy