Podcasts and VCasts

I have really enjoyed learning about the process of podcasts and vcasts lately. They can be a lot of use in the classroom when it comes to lesson plans and just developing a visual for students. It hasn't been to hard developing a lesson idea off of the information I have found; in addition I am assuming that it isn't too difficult to find media to enhance a lesson. One thing that an educator has to be aware about is the differences in websites being restricted in some places as opposed to others. So the validity of the website you are receiving the podcast from should be of a higher standard. For example...

I have a friend who is student teaching and she made a bunch of slides using famous speeches from youtube.com. When she went to present her material before her co-op, the site was banned because it was not a legitimate site to use on school properties.

I think this poses a solution more than a problem, because then you have to pay attention to where the information is coming from and whether or not it is trustworthy.

In addition to many of the good found on the internet, it can also lead to many bad situations. On a comment about bullying...it has been taken to a new level. It seems that our systems haven't even found a good way to control bullying in the real world...so in addition we have to worry about cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying can be very dangerous because of the ability to access people. However, it is also easier to catch a predator because of the trail that person leaves behind. How do we control or diminish the problem of cyber bullying? The concepts written by Hummel discuss the no tolerance rules under being caught bullying. Though it might always be a problem, at least there are rules and regulations on how to deal with the victim to make them feel safer on the internet. However, knowledge seems to be an occurring theme in using technology. The more informed a person is about the uses and missuses...we can have a safer environment.