While I'm thinking about it..

Since I was just harping on the Sunday school program, I had another small idea that may already be in effect.I'm not sure, but...
Why not use Skype for the calls to and from our missionaries? The software is free. It is a computer to computer telephoning device for relatively little money per call. Also, if both computers had the small camera attatchments, the caller and the callee could see each other as they spoke. This a a very inexpensive method for effective communication.
I was thinking how much it could broaden our Missions conference, even to those missionaries who cannot attend from year to year.

Making a newby Podcast? At church? with kids?

I just listened to a tutorial podcast from Great Britain titled "Assignment:Podcast".
It gave a great overview of how to create an interesting podcast and what equipment was needed to produce it.
I'm trying to think of ways to introduce podcasting to children in a Sunday School environment, because I feel it may be one economical tool we can use to re-engage the next gen.
For a long time, I have been unhappy with the traditional Sinday school format. It's not bad, but it doesn't engage many students.Typically, it involves a lesson, a game, a craft, and/or a snack delivered in almost the same way every week. YAWN! Like all teaching, the teacher can make or break a cirriculum, however, in a church setting, the teachers are volunteers and the children are not motivated by a grading system or a graduation achievement.
So how do we motivate and engage students in a better way, while imparting to them the beliefs of our Faith? Could we provide interactive atmosphere that encourages a more societal(social)approach the teachings of Christ? Can we teach our children to be outwardly focused as they learn? Perhaps each class could have a wiki and a blog! Perhaps, podcasts made by the kids could be used as outreach tools to their regular mp3 savy friends! Perhaps a program like Flicker could be used to integrate video into the learning/sharing format.
I believe kids would more readily take to heart the lessons if they had a vested interest in them.
The most fun I ever saw a group of kids have in a church setting-while learning, was when I had them write,direct,act and film a movie.
There are obstacles to this new techno-teach. Parents of children who regularly attend Sunday school tend to be more conservative than others. We need to help them to understand that technology taught well is an awsome tool! We would have to invest in equipment and training for the church volunteers. We would probably even have to educate the church staff.I'm sure many feathers would be ruffled, but I believe that with patience and a sense of humor, we could expand the church's horizons.
I have been teaching at the elementary age for about 10 years and I see the sunday school attendance steadily declining. My own son ,age 9, just attends for the after lesson football game. Are we inadvertantly teaching our children that learning about our Faith is boring? Let's wake up and smell the coffee. We need to make some changes for the better. I'm very new to this web2.0 world, but I believe it could vastly improve the learning experience for our kids.

How Do I Keep from Forgetting?

This fall, I have been learning Spanish, web2.0, and oil painting. My teachers have been great, but now I'm dreading the learning break because I know I will forget to remember things!
I've written on a wiki & blog. I've accessed,downloaded and listened to music & podcasts. I've tried to sing along with some of my favorite Spanish musicians. I've written a few short stories in Spanish and have read a few preschool level stories. I've painted everything from guard ducks to deserted trucks. I've even framed a few of the pieces of art.
I don't want to lose the information I have gained, but 'tis the season and I'll be busy with other things. So until January, I will probably backslide into middle age oblivion and be near panic when the New Year begins. Experts and my mom say "practice,practice,practice". Practicing and diets are 2 things I don't do well, so I've wriiten down some of the things I did do, so that when '07 rolls around hopefully, I won't have to completely restart myself. I can revisit this post and think it's not so impossible. I've already done it before.

Notes from K12 Online Conference

Where have I been?
I recently dove into the tech-wave and began swimming in the sea of ever-changing communications. Blogging is one of the many new waters I am exploring. When I first heard of this media, I thought it was nothing but a glorified e-mail package. I could not see a real need for this as, I already write to people via my internet mail. Now, I can see this is a multi-faceted communication tool. I can add photos and videos.(Not that I yet know how!) I can share my thoughts or keep them private. I can tell you all about me or I can remain a mystery. My choice. You can respond to my blog or you can simply read and follow my thoughts. I'm still not comfortable in the blog world, but like any new tool, you have to use it to learn how it best serves you.


iPods-iSpeak-iSing-iListen-iLearn
Conference speaker:Sylvia Tolisano

I found this audio presentation to be very newby friendly. The way she gave examples from her own life made the technology seem more accessable. Infact, I borrowed my daughter’s Ipod for the first time, and downloaded music and a podcast onto it.
I don’t recommend listening to an informational pod cast and trying to shop at the same time! I spent way to long in BJ’s because I kept stopping to concentrate on the information coming through the headset. I’m sure I scared several people.
I loved the explanations of how and why to use various accessories. I alos liked the pod casting Sylvia recorded while on vacation. What a great way of sharing with others about the places they may never get to visit, and what a great way to make an audio diary of the experience.
Sometimes, I feel as if my world is getting smaller because of family, time and financial constraints; but this new web2.0 world opens and accesses people, places, and events that stretch my learning and imagination.

Globally Literate audio session
Coutesy of Clarence Fisher in Manitoba, Canada
Literacy: What is that? How is it changing?
History of Literacy:
Always changing
Always about production of messaging, comprehension of messaging,& interactive messaging
Valuable
Text: stone tablets, scrolls, books, punctuation & spacing, left to right, top to bottom, alternating directions, meandering ladders, etc.
Literate in our times:
Faster level of change
Types of text are varied:
Photos & Videos
Print based
Spread sheets, & graphs
pod casts
Multimedia txt
Forms of representation
Need to give kids skills that can occur within electronic space
A snowball of communication
Editing takes place post-publication
Single source information is not enough
Competition for global recognition
New literacy Skills:
Access: Find text, locate information, looking for images, archives, audio
RSS, Aggregators, bloglines - current information & emersion
Content: skim vast amount of material & focus deeper: Rss
Videos, exterior links,etc. Text online in many different forms
Response: evaluation! How current is it? Does it have other links? Root sites?
Reliability??? Be critical!
Creation: Production - Print is not dominate
Blogging - interactive
Video, audio, plays, skits, etc.
Representation needs to fit:
AUDIENCE
Information
Atmosphere

This conference seesion was great for a newby because it used language I could identify with and then bridged over into the new web2.0 speak. Because of the gradual induction into rethinking “literacy”, I was able to understand uses for this new technology.

After listening to several of these presenations, I decided to re-classify myself in the techno-world from being a "newby" to really being a"nano-newby".