Many of these teachers share stories about the teacher or teachers who inspired them to join the profession, and why they have persevered as education professionals. These recordings were originally made using the free AudioBoo (Classic) app on iPads, and then imported into the free software program Audacity. A twenty minute video tutorial about this process is available and linked in the podcast shownotes, along with other referenced sites.

Rachel discusses what she enjoys doing in a Club Penguin, password issues she has learned about, safety issues, and some suggestions for kids who are new to the game. This podcast was entirely recorded, edited and published on an iPad using Voice Record Pro, DropBox, GoodReader, iTransfer, WordPress for iOS, a self-hosted WordPress blog, and an iRig microphone.

Scratch is a wonderful, FREE software program from MIT which allows students to create games, tell stories, create animations, and make many other kinds of interactive projects. Scratch is ideal for helping students develop computational thinking and problem solving skills, tied to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills. Chris and Wesley are co-facilitating a 5 day Scratch Camp over Spring Break for students in grades 2 through 6, sponsored by “The Div.” The Div is a local OKC non-profit based in Edmond, focused on empowering youth to gain digital literacy skills and learn about job opportunities in technology-related fields. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to the Oklahoma Scratch Camp curriculum, Scratch Club website, and other resources.

According to Dustin, "Narrable is for intergenerational stories that matter." Dustin is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Together with Narrable co-founders in Phoenix, Arizona, and the development team in Bangalore, India, Narrable is growing into a platform which empowers people of all ages and generations to share their stories with photos using their phones and web browsers. Narrable is currently a browser-based digital storytelling service, and allows users to record audio with both computer microphones as well as phones (cell phones and land line phones.) Narrable works GREAT on the iPad now! In this interview, Dustin previews some upcoming Narrable features including an iOS app to be announced in March at SXSW in Austin, and "Group Narrables" to be announced later this spring. Next week on Tuesday, February 26, at 4 pm CST, Narrable will be hosting a "Teacher Roundtable" Google Hangout On-Air to discuss Narrable for the classroom and the features teachers would like to see in future versions of the platform. Check the podcast shownotes for links to resources referenced in this interview, including the upcoming Teacher Roundtable.

...who took a virtual course in fall 2012 through the OKCPS Innovations K-12 Virtual Institute. The Innovations K-12 Virtual Institute is Oklahoma City Public Schools’ virtual school, provided at no cost to current students in the district. OKCPS has contracted with Connections Academy to provide a variety of virtual course options for students. In this 18 minute interview, Jackson shares his experiences taking an English class online last semester including a discussion of the benefits as well as challenges of taking the class online. Jackson is a student at Classen School of Advanced Studies in OKCPS, and took the English course for “course recovery” since he did not get an English credit last year when he was an AFS exchange student in France. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to iOKCPS and other referenced resources.

In the podcast Wesley discusses learning management systems including the free/beta LMS OpenClass from Pearson, Kuali open source solutions for higher education, badge-based learning initiatives and tools, open journals / open academic publishing, Wolfram Alpha, MOOCs and native mobile apps vs mobile websites. Check out the podcast shownotes for referenced links / resources.

...of professional development workshops to further develop their skills with and understanding of digital literacy. As a culminating activity for a two day workshop on “Mapping Media to the Curriculum” with Wesley Fryer, teachers collaboratively interviewed six of their colleagues about their “digital learning journeys” and the ways they are reflecting their learning about digital literacy in the online digital portfolios they have been creating in the past several months. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to the individual posts which teachers created to accompany each interview at the close of the workshop. Learn more on maps.playingwithmedia.com.

Participants in this two day workshop on “Mapping Media to the Common Core” with Wesley Fryer learned to facilitate lessons with student created-media including interactive writing, narrated art, 5 photo stories, and radio shows. Hat tip to Marco Torres for the term “quick victories” in the context of edtech professional development, used by some of the radio show participants in this combined podcast. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to the collaborative Google Docs, “sandbox” professional development blog, AudioBoo recordings, and other products created by teachers in this workshop. Learn more on maps.playingwithmedia.com.

In this excerpt, 8 year old Rachel Fryer shares about her experiences with Scratch software this summer in Scratch Camp. In addition, she tells some stories about how she co-created the eBook "Snowflake Gets Lost" last year in second grade, and demonstrates how she created an enhanced/multimedia eBook during "iPad Media Camp" this summer using the apps Story Patch and Book Creator. This is the first audio podcast I've attempted to create entirely on an iPad, using the free Hokusai Audio Editor along with other apps. Refer to the podcast shownotes for more information about other apps used, as well as websites Rachel referenced in her presentation. I'll write a post soon detailing my lessons learned trying to create a multi-track audio podcast entirely on an iPad.

... at the close of the UnPlug’d 2012 Conference at Northern Edge Algonquin in Ontario, Canada. Refer to the podcast shownotes for referenced and related links to UnPlug’d.