Episode 6 New Literacies Makes the NEWS! Show Me the Money, Tech Knowledge Product Review (SRA)

New Literacies! New ways of being literate with plenty of teaching and student resources!

What more could we want for a feature-packed and fabulous episode?

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Live from the Media Literacy Capital of the world! Welcome to the digital era, literate beings! And PLEASE help Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus!

This week The Teachers Podcast covers a raft of items focusing and reflecting on the ways reading, literacy (and learning and teaching aimed at them) are ever evolving in the face of proliferating digital technology and the way it changes human intellectual activity!!!

Announcements

• iTUNES Newsblast >> Kudos to those who have brought Teachers’ Podcast into the New and Notable category and Featured cateogry on iTunes
• Congratulations to our Teachers’ Podcast Family!
• Next episode look for much news from the Teachers’ Podcast Family mailbag- much to catchup on!- we have had lots of good news coming in from around the world! Thank you!

Short Takes

• Low-cost XO laptops to be sold in U.S. For two weeks in November, U.S. educators and others can buy the machines for $400 apiece, with profits funding laptops in developing nations From eSchool News
  • Background Info on the XO Laptop (produced by the One Laptop
  • http://www.laptop.org
  • http://laptop.org/laptop/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XO-1_(laptop)
  • http://www.olpcnews.com/
  • http://olpc.com
• Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
  • Poll suggests ‘back-to-basics’ approach to education is not enough for nation’s citizens
  • From eSchool News

• Background Info – 21st Century Skills/Partnership for 21st Century Skills
  • http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
  • http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/skills.htm
  • http://www.metiri.com/features.html
  • http://www.thegateway.org/
  • http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/21stcentury/index.asp
  • http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=15202090

News Items Covered in this Podcast

• The New Literacies–Being able to read online is one of the many new literacies students will need to know.
  • From District Administration, October 2007

• Education Online: Bit by bit, computers alter how we read”
  • “Unlike generations before them who trudged to the campus library, college students these days can read a Shakespearean sonnet or an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel without ever cracking the spine of a book. With a few computer keystrokes in their dorm room, they can tap into more volumes than a scholar could finish in a lifetime, a vast reservoir of literature, history and scholarly journals, all of it online.
  • From: Pittsburgh Post Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07289/825800-298.stm

Product Review

• SRA’s TECH KNOWLEDGE Series on Basic Technology for pre-k through upper elementary levels (multiple components: software, student activity guides, teacher guides, etc.):

• In this era of stripped down budgets, back to basics instructional focus, and test-driven ‘accountability’, schools need resources to support them in providing basic instruction in computers and technology. Furthermore, for enlightened school communities who know they must give students a broad-based background in tech basics, but who can’t spare the face-to-face class time with which to cover it OR who may not have the ‘lab teacher’ or ‘tech teacher’ talent on hand with which to create their own course, the approach taken by this series may prove right on target. Our review covers the content and its presentation, as well as the importance, relevance, and organizational fit of this very well produced series.

Recommended Resources

• NASA Student Opportunities http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/education/ED_NSO.html

ANNOUNCING 2nd Annual Student Podcast Contest (closes January 2008)

http://www.explorationpodcast.com/about.php#rules

• Reading Rockets www.readingrockets.org

Thanks, Ashley Gilland (WETA Associate Producer, Learning Media), for speaking to us after our K-12 Podcasting in Education panel at the Podcasting and New Media Expo and making us aware of Reading Rockets, WETA’s very rich, well produced pod/vod/webcast Professional Development resources for educators!

• Financial Aid Podcast: http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/
  • http://www.fafsaonline.com/
    • Podcast by our good friend Chris Penn
    • SHOW ME THE MONEY! (for college!)

• Web Wisdom (Alexander and Tate) The Book
  • Video tutorial version at Widener University
  • Library Skills PDF to go with Video PDF worksheets

• PHENOMENA: …and before we go… here’s a raft of links on The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.
  • http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_tree_octopus
  • http://www.inklingmagazine.com/articles/
  • http://www.information-literacy.net/2005/02/pacific-northwest-
  • http://jkn.com/View?j=777215.480782856439

  Contact Us
  You can contact Mark and Kathy by
  leaving a comment here on the blog/site,
  emailing us at teacherspodcast@gmail.com OR
  leaving a text or voice message with MyChingo here on the website.

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(c) Transformation Education LLC, King and Gura, 2007