David Allibon of Nextbyte has organised some PD and as far as Western Australia is concerned the information is as follows:

Next Byte has planned a number of short professional learning opportunities for West Australian teachers during term four. All courses are free, but please register your attendance by emailing Ashley Staring at ashleys@nextbyte.com.au stating your name, the course(s) you will be attending and contact details.

Introduction to OS X 10.5
Apple has just released some details of its next operating system OS X 10.5. This session will discuss and highlight many of the new and improved functions in 10.5 and provide time for discussion and questions
Location: Mt Lawley SHS
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Wednesday 18th October at 4.15pm
Presenter: Byron Rudenno – Apple Account Executive (WA)

Using iWeb to Support Classroom Learning
iWeb is a new application in the iLife 06 suite of tools. iWeb allows students to easily publish to the web, sharing their ideas, work and thinking. It also allows teachers and students to set up their own blogs and podcasts. This session will look at how easy it is to use the software and provide attendees with hands on experience with the software.
Location: Christ Church Grammar School
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Wednesday 31st October at 4.15pm
Presenter: Kyrne Holloway –Christ Church GS staff member)

The Power of Atomic Learning
Atomic Learning meets a wide variety of training needs including just-in-time support, help desk functions and structured training courses for staff and students. The tutorials can be embedded into the school’s own material.
It offers a very cost effective web-based software training and support resource. Currently there are over 20,000 video tutorials covering 100 software applications and growing all the time. Participants will be given trial access to the website to test its usefulness and benefits.
Location: To be advised
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Thursday 9th November at 4.15pm
Presenter: Bryn Jones ACPD

Technical talk
This session is aimed at the more technically minded people in schools. It aims to answer your questions about the what/ why and how of managing macs in a school environment. Designed within the session there will be a time set aside for questions and answers as well as an opportunity to share ideas and knowledge.
Location: PLC
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Thursday 9th November at 4.15pm
Presenter: Brett Clarke – IT Director at PLC

Taking Podcasting To The Next Level
While still using podcasting as a base the world has already evolved and vodcasting (video) has logically provided the next step. In this PD while still looking at the merits of podcasting we will look at evolving to vodcasting and techniques used to achieve required outputs. Some of the peripherals looked at are midi input, camera use in class, sound recording and also the merit in editing for student evaluation as well the provision of task analysis tools and student evaluation tools related to outcomes in WA. Hope you can make it.
Location: Kinross Middle School
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Tuesday 21st November at 4.15pm
Presenter: Steve Adcock – Staff member at Kinross Middle School

Podcasting and iPods in the classroom
Many educators are currently Podcasting work and activities within their schools. This session will explain what a podcast is, the educational benefits of podcasting and give participants time to take the first steps in creating their own podcast.

This session will involve the use of Garageband, iPhoto, iTunes and iPods to complete Podcasts as well as providing support materials to assist them as they venture back to Podcast in their own schools.
Location: Oberthur PS
Afternoon tea provided
Date and Time: Tuesday November 28 at 4.00pm
Presenter: Larni Rettalack

MynoteIT is yet another web2.0 online tool for students that allows them to organize their class schedule, class notes, and group their work. It does so quite cleverly in such a way that it can be easily shared and referred to in a few mouse clicks. Potentially it could be used by students of any level. As more eLearning services come out as part of the now famed web 2.0 (”Are we there yet Dad?”) such as Nuvvo and Chalksite, it seems with mynoteIT they are getting more specialised.

Postbubble has a favourable review here as does Lifehack here. If you are interested, it is worth downloading this .wmv screencast from Screeniac.

What will these digital natives get up to next! This is a good lesson on the importance of logging out of websites for digital learners of all ages (via BBC):

Jack Neal’s parents only discovered their son’s successful bid when they received a message from eBay about the Barbie pink Nissan Figaro.

Rachael Neal, 36, said her son was quite good at using the computer.

Link to BBC article.

I find it amusing that some colleagues are loathe to call syndicated XML enclosed media files by the populist name ‘podcast’. Like ‘Polaroid’ for the noughties perhaps. Others claim that podcasts are just mp3 files. The association with Apple is a difficult pill to swallow for some PC only users. In fact podcasts are any media to which you can subscribe and read/watch/listen using a feed reader, and if you choose a portable player - of which over 70% just happen to be iPods. RSS is the the corner stone upon which web 2.0 delivery is based and is here to stay - just like ‘podcast’ I’m afraid. Ironically, it was the open-source community that developed the podcast code/RSS enclosures and coined the name.

And now to the reason I am making this post. I came across this handy piece of PC only freeware - MP3myMP3 Recorder. The blurb says:

Record internet radio and save to mp3 or wav. Record streaming audio from the Internet, microphone, or any other source for that matter. MP3myMP3 Recorder works directly with your system sound card - if you can hear it, you can record it! Use the scan tool to list all mp3, wav, aif, swa, or sun au audio files on your computer - then play and record portions of any of these files.

Handy for recording mp3s for students or for them turning into podcasts. And back to the rant. Wikipedia tells it like it is. From Wikipedia’s definition:

“Neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts requires an iPod or other portable player, and no over-the-air broadcasting is required. The name association came about simply because Apple Computer’s iPod was the most marketed and the best-selling portable digital audio player when podcasting began, and was used by early practitioners. However, the use of the “pod” name in 2004 probably played a part in Apple’s development of podcasting products and services in 2005, further [cleverly] linking the device and the activity in the news media.”

I try to explain podcasting to students by saying, mp3 players are to audio and video files what a postbox is to a magazine subscription. Podcasts aren’t just audio files, they are ‘home’ delivered personal choices.

Topic: Podcasting in the Classroom.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a discussion about podcasting in the classroom. We looked at both pedagogical and technical aspects of using podcasts for student learning. We may have to revist the topic as there was so much to cover.  When we have a chance on the upcoming school break we will invite interested teachers to join the conversation again and ask those of you who have used podcasting to share your experiences with us.

We had some problems recording the live webcast and are still trying to find time to salvage and edit the well recorded bits to combine into a podcast format.

For information on how to join the webcast click here.