Ok so this is the first episode of the podcast since I renamed the blog.

Sorry it’s been so long. Ok, well not really, life gets in the way.

This episode is an interview with Dr. Scott McLeod of Dangerously Irrelevant. He is a PhD and JD and all around impressive guy. He responded to my request for an interview subject and we were able to hook up this morning.

I want to also thank Prof. Larry Gillick for being willing to be interviewed, I apologize that my schedule got so crazy, and I would still like to chat!

 Crucial Thought Podcast - Episode 18: Download

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This is the third in the series of sessions I presented back in March at the SC ETV Teachers Technology event, the actual name escapes me now. I just wanted to drop this on you if it might interest you.

To save you some time, I end up supporting Wikispaces the most, although PbWiki has really been making some strides lately. If I could combine the two services, I would be one happy teacher!

It’s a bit long, be warned, and still bears the old name (Open Source Classroom).

Chris

 

 Crucial Thought Episode 17 - Wikis: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This continues my series from ETV. When I present on podcasting, I spend most of my time on Gcast, which I personally think is the best choice for busy teachers. From embed code to telephone recording, Gcast has it all! Let me know what you think!

 

 Open Source Classroom Podcast # 16 - Podcasting: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This podcast is a bit of a downer, I have to admit.

This is a recording of a session I did at the SC ETV Technology Workshop. I had a room full of teachers interested in blogging with their students, having heard so much about it.

I have a draft post called Students should not blog, that I will post some time soon, and ultimately the conclusion that I draw is that there is not a widely available tool that enables student blogging with appropriate levels of teacher involvement. I think Class Blogmeister was on track (and could still be), and I certainly this DrupalEd is there, but it’s not for everyteacher.

So take a listen, you can subscribe in iTunes if you like, or listen/download here. Enjoy!

 

 Open Source Classroom dot com Podcast Episode 15 - Blogging Presentation: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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This is the audio that accompanies the slides you see on the previous post. Enjoy!

 

 Standard Podcast [39:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Bill Fitzgerald sure is a nice guy! I had a great time chatting with him this morning in what turned out to be the first recorded Open Source Classroom dot com Interview! We talked about OpenAcademic which I have posted about recently. There aren’t a whole lot of details available on the inner workings of the project so I went to the source. The project centers around OpenID which particularly interests me since I have had to prune Drupal out for my kids to prevent having to enter that many user names and passwords. OpenID would solve all that, although there are still a few practical questions lingering in my head. That’s a later conversation, though. Towards the end of the interview, he even gives a potential release date!
Let me know if you like the interview and whether or not you think I should continue these!

 

 Standard Podcast [35:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Loudblog is a content management system for publishing media files on the web. It does not claim to handle all your blogging needs, but in fact specializes in media files of many different flavors. In this podcast I walk through the wonderfully easy install (web-based) and some possible uses for this software. It is fully open-source and I really liked it.

It claims to integrate with Wordpress, but I have not tried that as of yet. I am currently using podpress to handle my podcasting needs, and have found it to be robust, but I will investigate this further just for kicks.

You can see my little Loudblog install here. I must say this, I posted a need for help to the forum and received a response within minutes (13 minutes to be exact). I cannot say how impressed I am with this software, I just wish I had more of a need for it.

I am almost tempted to create a need for it, just to be able to use it.

One of the cooler features is that it can capture an audio file via HTTP only, meaning that if I had a file hosted on another server, it would copy the file without any further effort on my part. Nice!

Next in the batter’s box, Sakai. I am a HUGE fan of Moodle but I want to learn as much as possible for my own personal knowledge so I figured I ought to give Sakai a try. We’ll see how that works out.

Any other open-source software you think should be in my dugout ready for the batter’s box?

 

 Standard Podcast [16:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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I’ve been listening to podcasts for some time now. They seem to fall into one of a few categories. The first category is the one with Educational consultants, folks who present, write, and listen to this stuff for a living. Podcasts/Netcasts/Webcasts seem to come with regularlty and come often. One might posit that it is good or business, another might posit that we teachers need a steady flow of information from those that sit in the watchtowers.

The second category are podcasts from teachers, intending to share what they know or how they feel about a particular topic. These shows seem to start strong, and then eventually fall by the wayside. Then, on a stroke of feeling guilty, the show’s creator does another good show, and mentions how he or she will try hard to do better in the future.

I have been debating the future of the open source classroom dot com podcast simply because life got in the way. If you’ve read my blog, especially my post about the nature of relationships, you’ll see that my God is my first responsibility, followed by my family, and then comes the rest of this fun stuff. That’s why I am writing this before the sun has even peeked out of it’s slumber.

So I have come up with a new format. Hear it in this episode. Like it? Comment. Something I can do to improve it? Tell me in the comments.

Thanks for being faithfully here with me, I appreciate you all very much!

 

 Podcast Episode 10 - The obligatory show [4:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Now before you call me crazy, let me explain the circumstances.

I have recently been given ten computers that range from 550 Mhz to 750 Mhz. They are all Dell and they were headed for the surplus heap to be sold for pennies on the dollar. I headed them off at the pass and directed them towards my classroom to be resurrected. I set about resurrecting them and was successful using a variety of Linux distros. I have posted on this before. I thought I had a great solution lined up in that Edubuntu works wonderfully on most of the machines, Xubuntu works on the ones that Edubuntu won’t load on, and I even have a few thinner client distros like Puppy Linux and Darn Small Linux for the oldest of machines.

I just can’t connect them to the school network.

Our district has a very strict policy that only district owned (these are) PC’s that have been “ghosted” with the district’s image can be connected to the school and district network (these aren’t, obviously). So there is my trouble. Part of me wants to connec tthem anyway noting that it certainly would not do any harm. My issue is integrity. If I am going to ask my students to maintain an impeccable level of integrity in my class and throughout life, I cannot blemish my integrity by circumventing district law. I am called to be obedient to the authorities over me. While I think Linux is in the best interest of my students, I cannot disobey the authority placed over me of my own accord (I took the job, after all).

So, I think I will put Windows 98 back on these machines. As much as it kills me to do it, so much of what I am doing these days is web-based. It doesn’t matter if it’s Windows or Linux, my students will not notice a difference when they access the wiki or their blogs. Frankly, so much of what I do is Internet based. I had given thought to creating a network reminiscent of old school token ring networks where everything connects to itself with no central server of any nature. Then I would use one of the peer computers as sort of a KEduca server but only to host the test file so that students could take tests and quizzes in class.

My problem is that I see no major benefit to that as opposed to the current system I have in place of an Internet-based quiz and test center. Once my kids master the login info, they figure the test and quizzes out in no time. So here again, I am having trouble justifying Tux machines that I cannot connect. I am learning that connectedness is becoming more important than hardware.

I suppose more than that, even, I can’t risk connecting a machine and toss myself into the abyss of disobedience. I do not want to take my family down the road that leads away from blessedness. All too often the deepest questions of life are asked in the context of regret. Hopefully not here.

So I need help, faithful audience. Help me justify Linux in my classroom! Here is a refresher as to my circumstance.

1. I teach Spanish and Latin to sixth graders in South Carolina. I have kids for roughly 22 class meetings total, with a new crop of students each 9 weeks.

2. I am currently working on a Wiki with my students, which they are enjoying greatly.

3. My students are also bloggers, although the semantics of this may change next nine weeks. Maybe a class blog instead of individual blogs. More on that later…

4. All of their tests and quizzes are taken online. See the Online Quizzes link on the left.

So I maintain that I cannot justify using Linux in my situation. Windows 98 works fine, these machines don’t fuss and I can still use Firefox as opposed to Internet Explorer. And Audacity runs on 98 with no issues as best I can tell.

So here I sit, hurting after having written all of this, especially since I am playing with a new copy of Dreamlinux with XGL which is particularly cool. It looks remarkably like my newly updated Mac with 10.4.8! Dock and all.

It’s your turn now. Any good reason to keep a few machines in a local area network without Internet connectedness? Or should I just give in and secretly use Linux and my Mac to power my classroom from home? I had thought about a local Moodle server in class, but see no reason to.

Do you have any good thoughts on the matter?

 

 Open Source Classroom dot com Podcast Episode 9 - Switching back to Windows [11:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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I am getting asked a good bit these days how my learning communities are going. I would say they are going swimmingly well. My kids have embraced the new technlogies and are blogging and podcasting away! They have been more excited about coming to class than before, and sad when they leave. In this podcast I discuss how Audacity works now, but at the same time doesn’t. I also talk about the various Linux distros that I am using in the classroom. Enjoy, and as always please leave me comments and suggestions!

 

 Open Source Classroom dot com Podcaast Episode 8 - State of the communities [5:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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