My Podcast Assignment

The Show From Zefrank


So i finally got around to tech task #7 where you have to listen to a podcast. It has been super busy with other assignment that I kept putting it off (opps!) So I started looking for a good podcast to listen to about a week ago. I did find two and I added them to my Itunes, they were about the new gadgets, that are being sold and how they work. Well, to be honest, I totally didn't get what they were saying and I was getting very bored. I wanted something that I could relate to and enjoy watching. Then after class, i went to the ZEFRANK show website that Alec had shown us in class. I just went to the website to check it out and I really enjoyed it. Then I left it for a while . so today I found some time to work on it and I thought I would use one of his vodcasts/ videoblog to use for the assignment.

I listened to his July 28,2066 show, where he talks about "just playing with [things]" to figure out how they work. He mentions that if he wants to figure out how to photo show pictures, he just does it, by playing with it, without reader the manual. He states that reading the manual is a waste of time and by the time you read it and become an experts on it, the technology you are using is obsolete. This just reminded me of the presentation our Math class had on Math makes sense. The speaker stated that students need to become problem solvers and not be told what to do all the time. This is outline in the material from Math Makes Sense program. At the beginning of each lesson their is a part where the students are presented a problem and they work together to solve it, without any prior teaching from teaching.

This idea was also, brought in class by Alec, who suggests that we live a society where education like technology is taught in time, meaning you learn what you need to know at that particular time. If the child knows it then why explain it to them.

I complete agree with all of these perspectives. I believe, as teachers we should be teaching your students to not be dependent on the teacher. The Speaker from Math Makes Sense, is a classroom teacher and he explains, when it is math time in his class the students know what is expected of them and he says, he doesn't even have to be there for his students to work on the problem solving procedure. I found this amazing. I would love it for my students to be this independent!

As for the assignment for listening to a podcast, I think it could be a great resource to use in the classroom. I know sometimes the voice of the teacher can get very boring and when you get a chance to listen to someone different then it is a great thing.