Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Podcasting, Etc

     This chapter was interesting and very awakening.  I see pros and cons with all the multimedia publishing that's out there on the web and have had some experiences with it.  With this being such an explosion of posting on the web, it will be interesting, as the author says," to see how all of it plays out in the next few years."

     Podcasting: Very informative section as I really didn't know what it was.  I liked how the author explained it, gave examples how different schools use it, who in the world uses it, and why Apple loves it.  Once again, the explanatin of how to set it up was understandable.  But, what knid of checks are out there to make sure what is broadcast is appropriate and not offensive?  I guess for school use, to listen to it, the teacher should pre-hear.

     You-tube: I didn't realize that it's been around for 6 years already.  My middle school students constantly tell me about what they see on You-tube.  Many times I've used you-tube videos in my teaching: great resource.  The problem I have with you-tube is that what the students see is many times not the whole story. 

For example: This fall I talked to all my students about the"Cinnamon Challenge."  Basically, this is a dare to eat a tablespoon of dry cinnamon without water in less than a minute. (Impossible to do.)  Many knew of this challenge from you-tube and some actually tried it.  The kids thought the videos were funny and people would cough up the cinnamon into a brown cloud, scream for water, cough, choke, etc.  The videos stop here.  No way does anyone learn that this could be a very dangerous dare.  People have had trouble breathing, gone to hospitals, had partially collapsed lungs, very burned throats and more as a result of this dare.  Asthmatics have had all kinds of problems.   Many people who put up these videos did so to see themselves on you-tube, and the kids are so impressionable at this age that they think it's ok to do.

     Screencasting and live-streaming:  More technologies that I knew nothing about that were interesting to read about.  Maybe some day I'll use them.