A glimpse of our future

One of the best lines in the movie Broadcast News veteran reporter Aaron Altman, played by Albert Brooks, was at home prompting a rookie reporter over the phone during a special report. In the midst of this Altman observes "I say it here, it comes out there" as his suggestions are broadcast verbatim. I had a moment almost like that except Twitter was the median instead of a telephone.

Last night a thunderstorm hit Bluffton. In the midst of the storm the power went out in my house. About the only thing working was my Black Berry. I went to Tiny Twitter and Tweeted what was happening with the weather and what happened with the power. Not too long after this Tweet I got a message from a friend on Twitter saying she heard about me on the news again. Apparently, WSAV anchor Holly Bounds or producer Gabe Travers saw my tweet and passed it on to the meteorologist on the 6:00 news who relayed my plight to the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire. Since I am sitting in a house with no power I miss the whole thing. The power is restored in time for My Lowcountry 3. I had twittered my power has been restored. As I watch the show, guess what? The viewers of the local news show are assured that my power is back on.

As I tweeted here and saw it come out there (WSAV), I had a greater understanding of how disconcerting Aaron Altman felt. Except Altman was a professional journalist and I am an educator. Then it struck me, I and people like me are the future of the news media. Newspapers across the country are going out of business. Reporters are losing their jobs faster than auto workers. The news media industry is at the point it needs to change or die. The change? Find a cadre of citizen journalists (knowing or unknowing) and let them break the news. The professional journalists will then come behind and develop the story.

How better to do this than to use social networks such as Facebook or information networks such as Twitter. Follow what people are observing and see what could become a story. Major networks such as CNN and Fox News are inviting people to submit story ideas. Local outlets are doing the same thing. My Lowcountry 3 always has a question of the day on Facebook and relays the responses each night. This binds shows with their audiences which creates a loyal fan base while saving some money for the organization. Nothing wrong with that as long as both parties agree to the relationship. I did not mind my power outage plight being shared so no harm no foul.

Another example of how journalists are adapting to the new media is how Island Packet Sports Reporter Justin Jarrett uses Twitter. Justin used to cover my soccer team during my coaching days so we became as friendly as a coach and reporter can become. He did a in depth report on what area athletes were posting on social network sites such as MySpace so he understands Web 2.0 Out of respect for his talent, professionalism, and past history I followed him as soon as I saw he was on Twitter. He has not disappointed me. Not only does Justin give you short updates of the events he covers but he brings his personality into his tweets. He comments on just about anything with an insight you don't get by reading his stories alone. Justin's tweets make me want to read his stories in the paper because I will get a better understanding of what he is writing about. Another thing Justin does is he interacts with readers in a way you rarely see. This can only be done through apps like Twitter or Facebook.

Will the news media come out of this recession the same way it entered it? The answer is no. However, the news media will not die but must and will change and adapt to the new conditions. Holly Bounds, Gabe Travers, and Justin Jarrett are showing what the news media will look like in the near future. The lesson for educators? Journalism, like education, has been plodding along with its traditions and attitude of this is they way it is always done. Many educators have this same attitude. Education will change too. The big difference will be the pace of change between the two professions. Watching journalism change can teach us how to handle the inevitable change to come.

MySpace Means No Space for Studen-Teacher

A federal court rejected Stacy Snyder's argument that her MySpace page is considered free speech and should not be used to dismiss her from a college teacher-training program. A high school Snyder was student-teaching out had complaints about professionalism and content knowledge but asked she be dismissed after seeing a MySpace page which had pictures of her drinking and posts critizing her supervisor. Because Snyder was dismissed from the student-teaching program, she could not complete the requirements for an education degree. Because the judge considered Snyder's position with the high school more an aprenticeship rather than an educational pursuit, the school was within its right to dismiss Snyder over the MySpace page. Also, it probably did not help that Snyder told her student about the page too.

I always tell students two things about the Internet:

1. Don't post anything you would not want you mama to see.
2. What goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet.

ARS Technica article

So long Pownce

The troubling economic conditions hit a little closer to home today when I received an e-mail from Pownce announcing their decision to close as of December 15th. I earlier wrote that I thought Pownce would be a great tool for teachers to use to reach out to both parents and students because of some neat features such as document attachments. Fortunately, the team at Pownce have found positions on the enginering team at Six Apart so they won't have to worry about this Christmas season.

Unfortunatley, this may be the first of other Web 2.0 applications that would be beneficial in the classroom or have become teacher favorites. Hopefully, when we get out of this economic mess the surviving Web 2.0 companies will be able to offer exciting applications for teachers and students. Until then we will just have to weather the storm by supporting each other as much as possible.

Good bye Pownce, we hardly knew you.

Telementoring brings experts to the classroom

People attend education conferences to learn new things and share ideas that can benefit students in the classroom. Another thing that make conferences interesting is looking at vendor booths to mainly see what they have to give away which gives sales people a chance to talk to you about what they have to offer you that will cure your educational woes. Most of the time the products being pitched either are too expensive, don't fit your situation, can't purchase it because your district just purchased a competitor's product, or you don't have the decision making authority. However, there are rare times that you find something new, exciting, and you actually can procure and use. For me today was one of those days.

Cynergi Systems, a company that provides multimedia technology solutions for the education market, announced a new solution that could provide more expertise in classrooms, South Carolina EduSpace. South Carolina EduSpace, according to company CEO Neil Willis, is a telementoring system providing experts in business or higher education the chance to speak to classes in K12 schools via teleconferencing. While teleconferencing is nothing new, the fact that Cynergi is providing this service to schools for free had my jaw on the ground. In a breakout session on the product at 2008 South Carolina EdTech, Willis explained the service will be paid for by advertising. A brief ad at the beginning of a session will be shown. Willis promised the ads will be appropriate for schools to show.

To book a speaker teachers will go to the website and view available speakers in the subject area desired. Teachers will be able to choose the best speakers based on ratings given to speakers by other teachers. Once a speaker is chosen, the website will act as a go between to arrange a booking. One school and up to three different speakers can be used at one time. All the participants need is a video camera capable of steaming video over the Internet. Each session is recorded and teachers will be able to download sessions for further use.

Currently, Cynergi is beta testing South Carolina EduSpace in four Palmetto State school districts but Willis says every county and school district will be able to use the service after January 1st. Also, businesses and colleges are being signed up to provide both speakers and sponsorship funds. Another thing to remember is this service is only being offered to South Carolina schools. It is great sign that businesses in South Carolina are investing money into education with an uncertain economy. Hopefully, they will soon realize this investment will not go bust as Wall Street banks did a short time ago.

I'm Back

Earlier this year I announced my blog would move to Edublogs.org. However, due to some recent problems I have experienced and changes in my situation, I am moving back. It is good to be back home. You may still visit my Edublogs site for posts done in the interim.

Award Winning

Last week I was notified by the South Carolina Association For Educational Technology (SCAET) that my experimental class, Web Media Productions, won a Technology Innovative Program Award in the Middle School Category. I will have the honor of accepting this award for H.E. McCracken Middle School at the awards luncheon at SC EdTech on November 7th.

Although I applied for the award, I am still surprised when I got the notification we won because the impact was on the total student body was small. However, the lesson was not just for students. One course goal was to prove two things to teachers . First, web applications can be used in any subject. Students created projects using a variety of applications in Math, Reading, English, and Social Studies. These projects were shared with students' respective teachers. The second goal was for teachers to see these projects could be achieved in a timely manner without the use of a computer lab. Students worked on computers in other teachers' rooms. I wanted to prove technology-based projects could be done with some planning, recoginzing resources, and teamwork.

At first I thought my ideas did not take. Adminstration opted to create a much bigger web media class. However, a few teachers approached me about using web applications such as blogging and podcasting. Computer lab time will again be at a premium this year but hopefully teachers will be creative in using "out-of-the-box" ideas in doing technology-based projects. Maybe this award is deserved after all. Yeah Me!

The Other Side of Podcasting

I know this is a bit late coming since we are in the first few days of October but life has been hectic for me around school this first couple of months.

This past July my family went to visit a sick relative in Birmingham, Alabama. While we were there my son told us he had never been to a zoo in his life. I found that rather incredible but it was true. Fortunately, Birmingham is the home to fairly modest zoo so my son and I made plans to go. My first stop, as I do with all attractions I visit now, was the zoo's website. Naturally, the website had photos of the various animals, visitor information, educational opportunites for individuals and groups, and ways to financially support the zoo. There was also one other thing that interested me, a podcast tour.

I know that places like zoos, museums, and other places have been using podcasts to enhance or educate potential visitors for years now. However, I have either been creating or listening to podcasts about particular subjects of interest to me. The Birmingham Zoo's podcasts were designed to enhance a visitor's experience to the zoo, a first for me. Fortunately, they have an option to subscibe to the podcasts via iTunes which made uploading them into my MP3 player a snap.

When we got to the zoo, the first thing I checked to see if I had was my MP3 player then my camera. It was exciting as I walked up to view an animal and found out there was a podcast about it. The recording usually was just about a minute or two but during that time it told me way more than the brief written display near the animals habitat. I was able to learn far more about the animals than I would have without the podcasts yet it did not take much more time than normally walking through.

I looked at some other attractions in my area and unfortunately I found none of them did not have companion podcasts. Hopefully they will consider adding them. It is a great resource.

Moving On

This semester I will be teaching a course to 6th graders on Web 2.0 Media Communications. The students will learn how to use blogs, podcasts, webcasts, and online videos in their classes. For the blog part of the class, I have selected Learnerblogs for the students, Edublogs product. To keep things together I am moving Teacher Bytes over to Edublogs as well.

Here is the new link to Teacher Bytes: http://teacherbytes.edublog.org
Please update your news feeders and bookmarks.
Here is the first posting on Edublogs: http://teacherbytes.edublogs.org/2008/01/19/maybe-time-for-a-change/

See you on the other side.

John

New Year's Prediction: Laptops for Everyone

One trend we should see in 2008 is notebook prices will drop. Last year MIT's One Laptop Per Child group finally started shipping its XO to developing nations. This was supposed to be the $100 laptop marketed to help children of developing nations acquire technology. The XO wound up costing around $200 but it did prove functional laptops could be manufactured at a cheaper cost. Intel is also marketing its own low-cost machine to other countries and ASUS is selling low-cost laptops on the open market.

Well the genie is now out of the bottle. Engadget reported former OLPC Chief Technical Officer Mary Lou Jepsen has left the group to form her own company. The goal of her new start-up, Pixel Qi, is to produce a laptop with a cost of $75. While a $75 laptop might be a bit of a stretch for now, even producing one for $150 would be step in the right direction. Also, Pixel Qi plans to sell its machines on the open market, something both OLPC and Intel are not doing right now. If the machine works well new customers will be lured in by its price. This will force other manufacturers to produce lower cost machines as well and parents who have been reluctant to buy laptops for their children may start if the costs are below that of a Nintendo Wii or iPod.

OLPC is making a mistake by marketing its XO to other countries, although Birmingham, Alabama schools are making a large purchase. Schools districts wanting to start One-to-One programs but were afraid of the costs might be willing to take the plunge. This would lead to a lower cost of the XO because of economies of scale. OLPC will eventually realize they need to market to American schools to stay alive but will it be too late as the competition heats up?

Sony PSP To Get A Keyboard, Finally

According to an ARS Technica posting, Sony announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the PlayStation Portable (PSP) will finally be getting a keyboard. This is potentially good news for educators since the PSP already has wireless Internet capabilities. Students can now use online applications such as Google Docs to do assignments along with some Internet research. Other features of the PSP include video, audio, RSS support and newer PSP 2 models have video out ports to go along with its gaming function. Sony also said the PSP will also be able to use Skype which allows voice communications over the Internet which would be good to communicate with other classes. Camera and GPS support are also coming and could be useful classroom tools. The only thing the PSP will lack is a book reader which may not happen anytime soon because Sony already markets an electronic book reader. However, the fact that Sony sees the PSP as something other than a gaming and music player is a step in the right direction.

Remedial Gaming

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Leslie Mabry of Houghton Mifflin, who came to our school to teach us Skills Tutor . Skills Tutor is a diagnostic and remediation application for Reading, Language Arts, Math, Writing, Information Skills, Language, and Workforce Readiness Skills. Students take pretests which are used to prescribe activities and assessments to help student weaknesses. Teachers can create various reports of student progress which can be shared with students, parents, and administrators. Leslie did a great job showing us how this worked.

However, while she was showing us the various multimedia activities and other parts of Skills Tutor, I wondered what the product would be like if the problems followed a story line like a game. Students could have a hero whose mission is to save the world, civilization, etc.... During the course of play, students would have to solve various interdisciplinary problems to achieve objectives set for them in the game based on pretest results. Teachers could access reports on how well the student is solving problems during game play.

Purists might think this is heresy but this could be more engaging for the students while making the problems more realistic. I have observed this with my son who just turned 13. Two of his favorite games are Animal Crossing and MySims. Both of these games allow the player to build, tear down, and rebuild towns and communities. Other skills such as economics, money management, trade with other towns are also part of the game. Needless to say, a career interest inventory he took earlier this school year showed he had a aptitude in architecture. Maybe the games he is playing are giving him a head start.

Education: A Matter of National Security

According to a CNET News.com article, former Democratic Senator Bill Bradley claimed national security is "going to be won the classrooms" and "A train wreck is going to happen unless we wake up in this country. " Bradley was speaking to a group of technology elites about education's inability to produce enough skilled workers. To change the situation, the former New Jersey Senator called for national standards, doubling teacher's salaries, and pay schemes based on student achievement. Bradley further went on to say it is time for the federal government to enforce national education standards because of the to produce the qualified workers needed for the future of our country. Anticipating critics who would cry local control of schools would be taken away he responds, "Well, sorry. This is a national issue."

This is not the first time education was considered a matter of national security. The National Defense Education Act of 1958, a response to the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, provided the first federal funds for education. The purpose of the act was to increase math, science, and modern language abilities in students to counter a perceived education gap with the Soviets that threatened national security. In Senator Bradley's claim education is a matter of national security has validity. The ability of today's students to learn how to learn, problem solve, and work collaboratively is important. Considering the current war against a loosely organized terrorist group transcending the borders of sovereign nations, the argument that the future of our national security is in the classrooms has merit. The military is constantly reviewing its strategy and tactics and developing new ones to achieve its objectives with the constraints set by civilian authorities.

One of the biggest problems with the No Child Left Behind law is the fact that while every student is supposed to show they are learning according to standards, each state develops those standards and definitions of success. This inconsistency further hinders the ability to produce highly skilled and adaptable workers needed to meet the challenges of the future. National standards can be achieved with continued local control of schools. Adopting national standards could free school boards and district administrations to concentrate more on providing tools, training, and support for teachers to meet those standards.

While no teacher or administrator will ever claim to be overpaid, care must be taken when implementing pay scales based on achievement. There is an old story from the Soviet Union about a nail factory. The manager of the plant, whose position and salary was based on performance, was given a goal to produce one million nails in a year. The nails that were produced were too small and weak to be of any use for construction purposes and the industry suffered. However, the manager met his targeted goal. The next year, the central planners set the plant goal to produce one million pounds of nails during the year thinking the manager would correct the situation. The manager achieved his goal but the nails produced where like heavy spikes and proved to be too big for construction purposes. The industry still suffered and the housing shortage continued. If teachers are told their pay is based strictly on academic achievement based on test scores, then students will be highly skilled in taking tests but those skills will not help students in the real world. While their pay may be based on achievement, teachers must be assured they will have creative freedom to make learning more meaningful for their students without fear of economic loss.

No Child Left Behind Left Behind

Click on the following links to view the rest of Senator McCain's speech: Part 2, Part 3

In a November 2, 2007 article about the No Child Left Behind law, US News and World Report writer Eddy Ramirez wrote the law was "expected to be one of the most contentious debates of the political year...But as the calendar ticks into November, little has been heard since early summer...." I went to a meet and greet for Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain in Hilton Head Island recently. Here are the topics Senator McCain covered during his half hour stop: the war in Iraq (we are winning but the Democrats want to surrender), illegal immigration (backed off the amnesty program because we need to secure the borders first), Social Security (lady had a good idea and he would study it), beating Hillary Clinton (I guess she won the Democratic nomination but she is a liberal who voted to cut funds from the troops in Iraq), Iran is evil (Iranians are transporting powerful bombs that kill American soldiers), cutting back on pork barrel spending (drunken sailors don't like to be compared to Congress), health care (our system is the best in the world and government would mess it up, just look at Canada), and claimed to be the only conservative Republican running who has experience in national security affairs (invoked Ronald Reagan's City on a Hill). Other topics included not letting soldiers die in vain, close the Guantanamo prison for Enemy Combatants and send the occupants to Fort Leavenworth, forbid the use of torture because it is immoral and it could be used on American soldiers in future wars (McCain should know).

The one topic that was not covered was education, No Child Left behind in particular. In the Republican debate in Orlando, Florida (October 21, 2007), only Fred Thompson was asked if No Child Left Behind was it a mistake? Rudy Giuliani danced around the issue before finally saying parents should enforce the standards. No other candidates were even challenged. It is mid-November and No Child Left behind is supposed to be reauthorized before the end of the year. While our country faces serious challenges the the next president must face, education must be one of these challenges. Our economy is changing from an industrial to an information based economy. The War on Terror is a new type of war that will require new tactics and weapons that have probably never been thought of before 9/11. Attention to education will be very important if the United States is to continue leading the world.

Please let me know what you feel Presidential candidates should do about No Child Left Behind or education in general.

Movies to Flip Out Over! Teacher Bytes Episode 16

I never really could get into video blogging, vlogging, video podcasting, vodcasting, or whatever you called. The reasons included carrying relatively big camcorders, trying to connect them to a computer, or fooling with web cams that made me look like I was in a 1970's Kung Fu movie. Pure Digital Technology has created a simple video camcorder called The Flip which gives you all of the tools needed to create great videos in one small inexpensive package. With the Flip Video Camera you may be seeing more of my mug than you wish.

The model I recommend is the Ultra with 60 minutes of recording time. This digital camera is fairly well designed. The dimensions of this camera are 4.17" x 2.16" x 1.25" which allows you to carry it in your pocket and carry it anywhere. Whenever you want to record something just turn the camcorder on, point and shoot with one button. There is a 2x digital zoom to get a little closer to the action but not much. It has 2 gigabyte memory which allows for 60 minutes of recording so you don't have to worry about buying and carrying tapes or memory cards. The power source is is two AA batteries which is surprising since most electronic devices have rechargeable batteries these days. Yet, this could be a blessing in disguise since you could purchase rechargeable AA batteries but still purchase alkaline batteries if a back up power source is needed. The viewfinder is a 1.5 inch transflective TFT which should work in bright daylight. Video output can be done in two ways: a TV out jack which you can connect with televisions through RCA jacks or to a computer via a USB jack that pops out the side. Finally, the Flip Ultra has a tripod mount while the Flip does not.

The Flip has a good selection of simple video editing and sharing software built in. There are three different ways to save videos. You can save to a folder the built-in software can put into your computer, save on the camcorder to take to a retail store and burn a DVD, or save for e-mailing. There are some basic editing tools which can trim video on either end and you can create a movie. Muvee.com provides a limited version of its software which can allow you to create a movie in different styles with background music the software selects or you can upload (make sure its legal). You could create voice overs in Audacity, Garage Band, or other audio creation software and import them into your movie creation. Too bad Pure Digital or Muvee.com did not include title and end credit slides in the Flip which could make creations look much better but you can do that in iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. The Flip really shines with its online share capabilities. Finished videos can be uploaded to either AOL Video or YouTube with the push of a button. For more artistic creation you can create video greeting cards online and e-mail links to the site.

For teachers who are looking for a cheap (around $149 for the Flip Ultra) and easy way to integrate video projects into their classes they will be doing back flips over the Flip Camcorder.

Digital Voice? Who Should Be Listening?

Deneen Frazier Bowen led a preconference session at the South Carolina EdTech Conference entitled Engaging & Involving the Digital Mindset - Student Voices which was another talk about how today's students think differently than most teachers because of the impact of technology on personal lives. Ms. Bowen further talked about a generational disconnect greater than any in history and how students view the world around them through the use of technology and Web 2.0 applications. Most everyone here at the conference will agree with what Ms. Bowen said and then take the message back to their schools. I did this last year when I saw David Warlick give basically the same talk. Some teachers back home will even buy into this notion. However, this will really make little difference because the one group of people that needs to hear this message is parents.

The other day a couple parents called my school complaining their children accessed MySpace at school. I really don't know if the kids did or did not get into the social networking site. Yet, I am almost certain these kids are sneaking into MySpace because their parents have forbidden its use at home. School administrators are likely to defer to defer to the parents partially because they don't totally understand the technology themselves and, in administrators' minds, more important battles to fight. Deneen Frazier Bowen did tell us if parents forbid technology in their minds is a waste of time or dangerous then children (who view technology as necessary for daily life) will begin to hide their activities. This is when it hit me that someone needs to start explaining to parents about the technology their children are using to foster better understanding which will, hopefully, lead to more responsible use.

SC EdTech 2007

I arrived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the South Carolina EdTech conference. Over the next three days I will be giving updates at this blog or at twitter.com/teacherbytes or pownce.com/teacherbytes.

Things I am looking forward to:
Innovative use of Web 2.0 in the classroom
Dr. Jim Rex's keynote address
New web portal applications
Distance Learning

Things that concern me:
More podcasting
Non discript Web 2.0 sessions

It should be an interesting 3 days. Stay tuned.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

David Warlick said in his keynote address for the K12 Online Conference the walls are coming down. What he means is that technology has progressed to the point where boundaries set classrooms, offices, and other traditional places where people interact are disappearing. Two events that happened to me this week have proven him right. First was participating in the Fireside Chat with David Warlick and personally conducted an in service for the teachers at my school online.

I have participated in chat rooms before and talked to friends via instant messaging. Hey, I even had an interesting conversation with someone from Hong Kong years ago using ICQ. The event this past Monday was different for me. I was participating in an online event that had professional purpose with colleagues from all over the world. Just like physical conferences, I was able to interact and even made a friend or two. However, it was the side chat while David Warlick was fielding questions that impressed me the most. There was some interesting conversations going on and I learned more from this than David. I am looking forward to the rest of the conference which lasts for the next two weeks. If you want more information you can click on the link above or on the right of the blog site.

The other event was born out of necessity to inform teachers about their technology portfolio requirements for this school year. I had tried to do this earlier but could not get the time to do it after school approved. It was recommended I do it on a staff development day this past Tuesday but Teachers were going to be busy with parent conferences. I scheduled several sessions but I remembered hearing about an online conferencing application called WizIQ. I set up the sessions and informed teachers about the session times and how to particpate. Over one third of the teachers participated online. There were a few technical difficulties but overall the sessions went well. So well, I am planning to do it again Tuesday for a session on One-Computer Classrooms. This means any teacher can hold class but not have all the students physically present such as those who are too sick to come to school.

I have been looking out for other online meeting applications and three stand out and all are free. First, is Google Presentation which has a chat function when you share a link to a presentation. Next is Zoho Meeting which is part of the Zoho Online Office Suite. The drawback to Zoho is there is no voice unless you use Skype. The final application is UStream.tv which allows you to stream video live over the Internet. There are also several fee-based applications and I am sure there will be more to come which will break those walls down a little more.

Do your homework or your grounded Mom!

Every once in a while I threaten to write my Congressman suggesting the need for a Parent Accountability Act that would help give NCLB more teeth in helping schools meet Federal objectives. Basically, this law would help schools force parents to become more involved in their child's education, and hopefully produce better students. Of course that would never sit well with voters so it must remain a fantasy.

However, a New Jersey English teacher has come up with an interesting way to motivate parents into getting more involved with their child's education: he assigns parents mandatory homework. According to The New York Times, Damion Frye, an English teacher at Montclair High School, assigns parents the same reading list he gives his students and asks parents to write responses on a blog he setup. Students whose parents don't do their homework could have points taken off their grade. The idea is for parents to share in what is going on in class.

Some parents like the dialog it has created with their children and participate enthusiastically. Other parents don't like the idea of having homework but do it anyway or have creative excuses for not getting it done. Of course there are some parents who refuse to do the homework at all (I wonder what their child's grades, especially homework, are like). Only one child in three years has been docked points for parents not doing an assignment. This is because the parent did not communicate at all with Mr. Frye but it did not affect the student's overall grade.

Is Mr. Frye on the right track? How much would you like to see parents become involved in class?

What a tangled web we weave

Yesterday, our school had two non-related training sessions conducted by our district office staff. One was training us on the new professional development system, MyLearningPlan.com. The other was taking care of benefit questions and showing everyone how our benefit tracking has now moved to a website. It later struck me how more and more services are moving to the Internet and the Web.

Video Killed the Podcasting Star?

Yahoo will be shutting down Yahoo Podcasts on October 31st after two years. According to a Yahoo News story from Associated Press, the move is part of the company's cost cutting program to make the company more profitable. Other podcast listing services are also hurting as interest is shifting to online video according to a Tech Crunch article.

Most people, including myself , who jumped on the podcasting bandwagon are finding that keeping a sustained podcast going is a difficult task or they get bored and move on to other things such as video. Another thing is most commercially successful podcasts are done by those with broadcasting experience and better equipment which will attract and keep audiences. Finally, like all hot trends, the market gets saturated and cannot sustain 100 podcasts on a particular topic.

This does not mean podcasting is no longer useful in education. While sustaining a podcast on one topic can be tough, schools can always come up with fresh material as different students use their talents and personality in a podcast. Schools and teachers that use podcasts to showcase their school and its students will always fill a niche that no one else can fill. It still is a good exercise for students to open up or do something new to do for projects. It still opens the door for those outside of school to see what is going on. This audience can be from grandparents living miles away or local community members who want to know what their schools, for which they pay hard-earned tax dollars to support, are doing. Video production may be increasing but nothing beats podcasting for being a cheap, easy, and quick media for education.