What’s interesting to me about the notion of, “This is cool! It saves time and it’s kinda fun,” is that whenever I try to introduce/entice teachers to consider -casting, they tend to say things like, “too complicated and not worth the time”.

It’s only after I tell them that the aforementioned skills are what really matters that they then begin to consider trying some new end product.

I’ve read Keen’s tome and it’s obvious that the Silicon Valley he references is not Silicon Valley High School.

He shoots fast-moving, but ultimately dull-pointed arrows at a system of education that his tiny frame hasn’t been around in quite some time.

That diligence is supplanted, instead, by the blithe optimism I found in Scott’s piece. “This is cool! It saves time and it’s kinda fun.”

Which, awesome, but whether you’re into Keen’s message or you aren’t (have you read his book?) that’s some low-hanging fruit right there.

For what it’s worth, I don’t subscribe to many podcasts – I get the BBC’s 606 (soccer call-in show), Savage Love, by Dan Savage, and two from UK newspaper The Guardian: Islamophonic (which broke my heart when it went from weekly to monthly to whenever Riazat feels like updating it) and Football Weekly.

As for finding time to listen to them, they keep me company on the 50-minute 1-way commute (and the occasional extra hour to and from grad school).

Do I get my English teacher credentials rescinded because I don’t subscribe to Grammar Girl? (not that it’ll matter in 6 months, anyway…)

Giving students and teachers another outlet, another means of demonstrating meaning and understanding, is what all the techy stuff is about.

Markers made things more colorful, but let’s be honest, a whole lot more opening and closing of markers had to take place…time wasted when simple pencil would have sufficed.

“let’s teach proper shading!” exclaimed the advocates of the pencil.

Andrew Keen’s message only goes so far with me.

I would add, however, that I think many blogs are just as bad. I skim a lot of the blogs I read (yours is a rare exception) because I think many folks don’t spend the time revising and editing. (I’m guilty of this sometimes as well.) One the double edged swords of all of these web 2.0 technologies is the ability to get information out there quickly. We don’t have to make sure it meets anyone’s standards. So, we need to hold high standards for ourselves.

I also show the students the editing so they can see how to do it themselves. By the end of the year, I hope to have them doing the audio editing in audacity.
When I do my “adult” webcasts on Ed Tech Talk, we do not have a script, but we do have an outline and timetable. On some shows we have not follow this well, and have not been as tight. On others we have not followed it well, and it’s been magical. I’m more an improv style teacher. I like a plan, but I like to adjust on the fly. My podcasting style is similar. Bottom line you need a plan, but you also need to be open to the moment.

Looks like my written communication skills need work, too.

Podcasting provides a potentially more meaningful vehicle for honing rhetorical and public speaking skills, with the added bonus of accessing an audience outside the classroom. The 25 kids in your class might not care about your stance on issue X, but post it to a class blog, and maybe you’ll get some engagement.

I do agree, however, that these things need to be scripted and rehearsed. I just finished a project involving podcasting with my sophomores, and they were required to write, revise, read, revise again, then do at least two dry runs before they got within five feet of a mic. Even as they recorded, I was pleased with the critical ear they used as they did take after take until it didn’t suck anymore.

i think you’re dead right. i think it’s what bugs me about a lot of the technology advocacy that i see – half of the time it’s sold as being easier for the teacher rather than as clearer for the students.