Wisner Online Discussion

I was amazed at how well the Wisner discussion went in that medium. It started slowly, but picked up quickly to where I was really enjoying the debate. I think we heard a lot more views since some members of the class who tend to be less eager to speak up were able to type out their thoughts and responses and perhaps edit them before posting. Some people don't feel comfortable voicing a disagreement while directly facing their "opponent" (even in a friendly environment as our class tends to be.) I heard a lot of great thoughts and ideas from people who I never hear from in class.

However, I really had a problem with the simultaneous talking and typing. There seemed to be two conversations going on at a time, and as soon as I caught up on one I felt behind on the other. I felt like I probably missed a few good points in the discussion because of this. It was a bit overwhelming for easily distracted brain. I personally work best in a face-to-face atmosphere, but once again, I was rather impressed with how well that medium worked out overall, regardless!

Ipods have arrived...too late for my immediate project

The Ipods have arrived and they DO look amazing. However, it is Thanksgiving week, so there is little point in sending them to the classrooms yet. Also, I'm still not sure of an easy way to load the mp3s onto them that I feel would work for most teachers. So I will be working on that in the coming weeks, and I'll hold off leaving the Ipods with the teachers until after the holidays. I'll go around and let them have some hands on time, but they are still getting used to following the steps to correctly saving and storing the mp3s. The immediate playback portion is very useful, but they aren't quite comfortable with saving the files when I'm not in the room (for some reason). I guess I need to take it slow for a bit so that they are ready for the next step, when we are able to take it.

I've really lost steam with the Ipods myself after waiting for so long and now finding frustration with iTunes just as I had feared. I think building on what is already working will help me re-energize as well so I can make a fresh push with the new year.

Getting some bites already

I haven't even officially introduced my project to the school, and word has already spread that I am doing easy sound recording of the students. The 2nd grade was very interested so I have set them up to record in a similar manner. They won't get the ipods immediately (if they ever do arrive) but they will be able to have stations for the students to record and playback to listen to themselves reading! That will be over 22% of the school's classes using the process as soon as I get them set up! 6 classrooms down, only 21 more to go!

Action Project Update

I am rather concerned that the ipods haven't arrived yet. However, I have proceeded without them. The teachers are already using the headsets to record, store, and playback the students in mp3 format. The ipods may end up being a luxury in the end! The program I chose (Audacity) has proven very simple and non-imposing to the teachers despite its vast array of tools they can use as they get comfortable with the basic recording parts. The only issue is them remembering to save it as an mp3 instead of just an audacity project file. Both store the sound, but I had to show one teacher how to go back and export the audacity files as mp3 so it would be usable by other programs.

Laying the groundwork

The ipods are on the way, so I decided to move ahead and show the teachers how to use the recording software we have with the new headsets I acquired for them to use. Each teacher has a flash drive with a portable version of audacity on it so they don't have to worry about installing the program each time they use it (our computers have Deep Freeze.) They seemed really excited about the prospects of the children being able to record and listen to themselves read. My first grade teacher also plans to record some books for centers. She says she has a set which specifically allows teachers to do that. I told them to try it out when they had time in the next week and that I would check in after that to see if they were having any issues. They both seem excited, so I hope they will have something recorded by the time the ipods arrive so we can dive in immediately. I guess I will see here in about a week if the teachers really are ready to use them!

Strolling toward the starting gates

I am actually writing this post on a Linux operating system. It isn't applicable to my project, but does fit in quite well with the general try-it-out nature of the class overall. I am experimenting with putting Linux on my mother's spare computer that always seems to get sick with windows. It has been quite a trial as I've set it up, but I'm learning tons about the pitfalls of Lunux.

My project is waiting on me to pull the trigger and order the Ipods, however, I have been hesitant to do so. It is a leap of faith on my principals part to allow me over a thousand dollars with no proof that it will actually work in the classroom. That scares me. I've spoken to the teachers I will be working with in the last couple of days, so that makes me feel more at east with the project. I just have to depend on the teacher's ideas on what they want to do with the technology, and then work to make that happen. They know best what they want and therefor they know what they would actually use. I just know that I would typically prefer to take charge and set it all up on my own. That just didn't seem to be the best practice in this situation though, so I'm working to let loose the reigns a bit and just see where we end up.

I am looking forward to completing the "organizational" chart for the project. I think I may not be so overwhelmed at not knowing what I should be doing next. I need to set out some steps for the trial run, because if it works, I will probably be implementing it on a much wider basis. The fact that we are the first school in the county doing this could add quite a few more eyes on my little ol' project as well.

It's going to be interesting, but I know I am in my element, so I have faith I can see this through!

Back on track

Another principal meeting...and I'm once again feeling good about the project. I worked with him and our bookkeeper to find the state contractors most likely to help us out. We are going with the 8GB or 16GB Ipod Nanos. The size will depend on the price differences, but these are capable of recording video as well. That will open up additional options with these in the future.

We decided to just start with the 1st and 3rd grades, since they will be the ones who are ready to run as soon as the ipods get here.