Merry Christmas & Happy Vacation!

Merry Christmas to all my students! I hope everybody has a fun-filled Christmas with family and friends.

Safe travels to all, and Happy Vacation!

See you back at school on January 7th, 2008...

Our First Podcasts!

Today was an awesome day in computers! We recorded our first video podcasts and it was up to Mr. Dooley to put the video together and up on our host (comp17-8.podomatic.com).

Are you ready for it? You sure? You really want to see our first podcasts? Well...here you go!

Just kidding! Looks like we had a HUGE error with the webcam, and we did not capture any audio to go with the video. We'll be working on this again next class...

Podcasting - Episode 1

Class - I am out sick today, but I want you to begin preparing for podcasting! Start to think of a topic that you would like to cover in a podcast and discuss with some friends in class.

If you want to comment on this blog post about your interested topic(s), that will give me a head start so that on Thursday we can assign groups and begin working on Episode 1!

Want to embed music into your personal blog?

For those of you wishing to embed music or audio into your blog, it's easy!

Go to your template tab and 'Add a Page Element.' Select the 'HTML / Javascript' option and then copy and paste the following text:

<embed src="replace with your link" type="audio/mpeg" autostart="true" loop="true"> </embed>


This will only work when you find a song or mp3 file that is ALREADY on a website! Replace the link inside the quotes with the link to the audio file you want to include.

This is what it will look like:

What is Podcasting?

Watch the following video on podcasting so we are ready to introduce it for our next class. I want every student to post a comment and in *your own words* tell me what a podcast is. This will help us all understand podcasting really well, so help each other out!

Did you know you can get FREE podcasts, and you DON'T need an iPod to listen to them!?
We'll discuss this in class!

Do NOT Drink Near Your Computer!

Any comments?

Free Blogging & Search Blogs

Any student wanting to create their own blog, remember to discuss this with your parents first due to the age requirement of 13. Feel free to visit the following sites to create a FREE blog with your parents and/or older siblings:

http://www.blogger.com
http://www.wordpress.com

To search other blogs out there on the internet, check these out:

http://blogsearch.google.com
http://www.technorati.com/blogging

Web 2.0 Introduction - Successful?

Today I introduced Web 2.0 to the students. I defined Web 2.0 as the 'newer version' of the Internet. Interacting with the so called old Internet was a one-way street. This newer, 2.0 version, is a two-way interaction - people access content and respond with their own opinions, comments, questions, etc.

It is this new interaction that helps change the way the Internet is now being used. Students can blog about their day-to-day life, podcast about their favorite subjects, join wiki spaces to collaborate with other students across the globe - and receive feedback from their audience which is automatically embedded into the Internet!

With the discussion under way, I have posted another video below that does a great job explaining one part of Web 2.0 - Blogs!

Web 2.0 Video

Here is a copy of the "Web 2.0 - What is It and How do we use it?" video shown in class.

Please comment about the video to start a conversation about why it is important for YOU to help change the internet!

*Edit* Updated video with an audio remix from freeplaymusic.com

*Content is courtesy of Michael Wesch from KSU - edited by Mr. Dooley*

Comp I 7-8th Blog!

With the introduction of Web 2.0 in my Comp I classes this week, I have started a blog for my students to visit.

I will be posting a blog for each class so that students can comment on what we are doing in class and collaborate on projects!