Random Quote
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
---- Mitch Hedberg
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
---- Edward Abbey
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
---- Terry Pratchett
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
---- M. Cartmill
A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats.
---- anonymous
Technology will not replace teachers...teachers who use technology will
probably replace teachers who do not.
---- Ray Clifford
To have another language is to possess a second soul.
---- Charlemagne
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
---- Evan Esar
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
---- J. Robert Oppenheimer
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
---- Albert Einstein
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.
---- Tenser said the Tensor
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
---- Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
As soon as I buy the moose head, I have to go pick up some KY jelly.
---- Mary Roninette Kowal
Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
---- Kelvin Throop III
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
---- Isaac Asimov
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
---- Albert Einstein
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
---- Terry Pratchett
Not Podcasting
A while back regular readers may remember that I was getting interested in podcasting. I was even interested enough to purchase two domains which are now pointing at this site and create a podcasting category. However after considering it further I have decided against podcasting. I think that it involves too much work and time for what I would get out of it. Additionally I see some critical flaws in the whole idea.
The biggest thing for me is the time involved in creating a podcast - it’s very time intensive and you cannot easily edit what you have said once it has been said. It’s also not something that is not easily done away from your own computer. Sure you can make recordings with an MP3 player or digital voice recorder but you still have to edit it on your personal computer and upload the file to your site. However blogging can easily be done from any computer with internet access. All I need to do is login to the admin interface and I’m set. I can easily write drafts or make corrections - both spelling/grammar and factual.
I"m not saying that podcasting is wrong or should end. I’m just saying that it isn’t for me, at least at the producer end of it. I am subscribed to 2 podcasts at the moment, but do not listen to every cast. I only listen if the title draws my attention. I think it would be good for podcasters to include text summaries (50-100 words) when posting thier podcast.
David (TEFL Smiler) wrote 307 words on Saturday Jun 11, 2005 at 07:04 PM
I haven’t been a fan of listening to podcasts for many of the same reasons. They take up a lot of time, and it can be hard to work out whether or not you can be bothered to sit through a whole ‘cast.
Well, I might be about to revise my opinion quite dramatically, if the Podcasting section of the next version of iTunes is as good as it looks on the Apple WWDC 2005 Keynote Address by Steve Jobs. It’s a long broadcast, so I’ll save you the time: from what I could gather, iTunes will contain a list of thousands of podcasts (indexed according to genre, I think), and you’ll be able to subscribe to these podcasts. iTunes will download them automatically, as they’re updated. And there was more, besides.
One very interesting feature, if it works like in the example, is ‘chapters’, which enables you to jump about between sections of a podcast. This would overcome part of the current problem that you outline, EFL Geek, about not being able to scan a podcast in the same way as you would scan a text. My guess is that this feature would work best with podcasts which had been recorded with ‘chapters’. But it certainly seems like a step in the right direction, providing us with more of the overview that we’re use to from blogging.
Having said all that, at present I still have no interest in listening to podcasts. But if iTunes really does make them a lot more painless to download and to search within, then I might change my tune.
And finally: if it’s possible to make a password-protected podcast which can be picked up with iTunes and which has chapter-sections that iTunes can read, then I’m already thinking of ways that it could be used in teaching and in private.
Sean. wrote 111 words on Saturday Jun 11, 2005 at 07:36 PM
David,
Itunes sounds interesting, but isn’t it just for macs? anyhow if chapters can be introduced and podcasters jump on the bandwagon then I can definitely see a big improvement and I may change my mind.
I’m not sure about making a password protected file/directory that would be downloadable by itunes. But it is very easy with .htaccess to password protect parts of your website so that only members would be able to download the files you choose. Actually with EE I can set that up with member groups and entirely avoid the whole .htaccess thing.
p.s. if you are online now, login to messenger - I have news for you.
Sean FitzGerald wrote 9 words on Sunday Jun 12, 2005 at 02:36 AM
FYI - iTunes is available for Windows as well.
Sean. wrote 84 words on Sunday Jun 12, 2005 at 08:05 AM
Sean,
Thanks for the pointer. I’ll have to check it out a little later. Hope to hear more from you in the future. I like the picture on your site - very entertaining.
I also see that you use moodle and do presentations on blogging & podcasting. That sounds very interesting. do you have a blog or or somewhere where you write regularly. If not, I’ll be sure to look through your presentations and moodle stuff in more detail after I finish with exams.
Graham Stanley wrote 283 words on Wednesday Jun 15, 2005 at 05:58 PM
I entirely understand your reasons for not podcasting. It is very time-consuming, but also (I’m finding) very rewarding. Podcating is ideal for me as I leave out of the house early in the morning and sometimes don’t get back until late in the evening. So, I load up podcasts in one of my mp3 players and listen to them while on the way to work, walking between schools or private classes, etc. I’ve always disliked radio because of the frustration of not being able to choose what to listen to, mainly. Podcasting for me has opened my eyes (ears?) to a whole new world of content, and I’m learning a lot about all sorts of things.
As far as production is concerned, the time factor has limited my production, and I’m not sure if that will change, however, I am preparing podcasts for a series of content-based EFL classes for the university that are starting in September/October and I’m quite excited about the ability of using mp3 audio with those courses.
The chapter feature sounds great too - it’ll make it a lot easier. I agree about skimming, although you can usually get the idea if you want to listen to a podcast or not after you’ve listened to the first minute or so. I think you also get to know which podcasts you like and become a regualr listener.
I think one thing which would be useful for the EFL/ESL world is reviews of podcasts - I’m going to try to do something like this as I’ve been able to listen to quite a lot of shows. That might make it easier to choose between the ever-growing number of podcasts out there.