Learning and Leading - September/October 2008

Continued from page 33.

site. Or if you have Quick Time Pro on your computer, you can convert it to an iPod format through Quicktime.

8. At Zamzar, upload your movie file. Then select Convert to iPod or 3pg format. Enter your e-mail address. Click on Convert. The converted file will be sent directly to you.

9. Open your e-mail and download your podcast.

10. You can upload your podcast (mp4 file) to a variety of free podcasting sites, including Gcast ( http://gcast.com) or Podomatic (http://www. podomatic.com). You could also upload to your school Web site, blog, or server. To upload your movie (3pg file) to your cell phone, you can use a variety of Web sites. One free site is Cellfish ( http://cellfish.com), which uploads to most cell phones. You receive the video in a text message to your cell phone and save it by selecting “store” or “save.”

Enhanced Photo Albums Using an enhanced podcast, your students can create a narrated video photo album of a school field trip, yearbook, and other special activities throughout the year. Use them for weekly “week in reviews” that can be e-mailed home to parents. Include pictures of the students’ activities throughout the week, narrated by different students who participated in the activities.

Making Podcasts Public

In many cases you may want to upload the enhanced podcasts to your Web site to share with parents or to make them available to other students to help with review and practice.

If so, you need to be careful about the information you are publishing, such as student’s names, school identification, student pictures, or student work with their names attached. You also need to make sure the images published are free of any copyright infringement. One easy solution is to publish enhanced podcasts to a school intranet or protected Web site. This a wonderful opportunity to talk with your students about issues of copyright and the World Wide Web as well as issues of online privacy. Or you may want to view your slide presentation on any mobile phone that plays video.

—Liz Kolb taught high school and middle school social studies and was a technology coordinator/integration specialist in Ohio. She is currently an adjunct assistant professor at Madonna University in Michigan as well as a doctoral student in learning technologies at the University of Michigan.