Category: Blogging

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, Computers, COVID-19, Education, Exploration, inspiration, learning, Libraries, Media, Media Literacy, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, Read/Write Web, social media, Teaching, voicEd Radio

It’s another Friday and a chance to celebrate some of the great writing from Ontario Edubloggers.

How Will They Remember You?

Teachers have all kinds of Wow! experiences, both in and out of the classroom.

In this story from Aviva, she had one outside story to share that I think that so many of us have experienced. She’s out for a walk and had a former student recognize her. That started a conversation and a reflection about what you might want to consider as you teach the human and not just a body in a seat.

We all remember things – so how do you want your students to remember you?

Her list:

  • How will kids remember you?
  • Be in five years, ten years, or many more years down the line, will they stop you to say, “hello?”
  • Will they share their lives and stories with you?
  • And will they believe that you care?

To that, I would add one more.

  • How did you make them feel?

In Aviva terms, it’s a relatively short post but will get you thinking.

Overseas Visitor and Defining Your Ed Philosophy

Of course, any post that has Diana dressed up for Cosplay deserves a look. I still remember her dressed up at a conference, remaining in character, and wouldn’t talk to me but I did get a wave.

The bigger topic this time around was interesting. She got the opportunity to take Professor Yoshimi Uesugi from Tokyo Gakugei University in Japan and give her a tour of the school thanks to her connection to Neil Andersen from the Associate for Media Literacy.

It was interesting that the request and subsequent tour didn’t include the principal. As I mentioned on the TWIOE show, that might have got a different view of the school as we all have an eye that’s trained on our personal perspective and experience.

It was amazing to walk with Diana as she did the tour. It was after school so there were no students. I’m sure that we all know that the place becomes something different without students. As a result, Diana noticed new things and saw her philosophy come through in other areas.

This was a lovely post and I can’t help but think that all teachers would benefit from. So, if you get a chance to give a tour, take it.

Planning #SOL23 19/31

Amanda is on fire with social media as of late.

She’s a regular poster of images on Facebook and she sees some really wonderful things as she’s out and about and we’re fortunate that she shares them with us.

She’s also participating in the Slice of Life Monthly challenge where she’s trying to write once a day. I can tell you that it’s a huge deal when you start. But, once you start to do it, it does get easier and becomes part of your routine.

As a result, I had a lot of blog posts to choose from and I chose this one.

She talks about two instances of planning; one where a colleague needed her expertise and thoughts on media literacy. The other was her own planning and how she does it. It felt good to read about how much technology plays a part in what she does.

All of this leads me to think about this blog and how I approach it and the planning. My best thinking happens while dog walking and you’ve read about that ad nauseam if you’re a regular reader.

As I thought, I realized that I don’t typically write for an audience.

  • For blog posts, they’re mostly “Memo to self” which are easy to write.  The hardest one to write are Friday’s TWIOE and my Sunday Summary post since they are written for others

Not everyone is as open and candid about their planning process. It was a delight to pull back the curtain and take a peek at her process.

3 Big Ideas to amplify student voice in your Library Learning Commons

I was struggling to think about how I would respond to Jennifer’s post. My initial thought was “Why should libraries be different from any other learning space?”

But then, my wife needed a train ticket so we drove into Windsor to the Via station. I always go in; the new building is interesting to look at but there’s one display on the wall that gets my attention EVERY TIME.

It’s an advertisement for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Growing up, I knew the stories behind each of the masks. As I stand there looking, I realize that I’m in the presence of greatness.

No matter how many times we go into that place, I’m hooked and always stop to look.

Then, I got the point of Jennifer’s post!

I had a teacher-librarian friend at Talbot Trail Public School and I would visit people at the school but would always drop into the library, just to see what was new. There always was something and it truly was the gathering place for students and staff.

Jennifer is approaching her own area and using student voice to craft it into THE PLACE where people want to go. Let’s be honest; you can succeed in education these days online and don’t need a physical library. Teacher-librarians get that and are morphing into different things. This is a great story as she shares her thoughts about it and her planning. Inclusive student voices are everywhere.

Redneck offended by physiotherapist

I typically find blog posts for Friday on the weekend and will have them read a couple of times before doing the show on Wednesday. You can see from the WordPress URL that Doug published this on the 19th.

As we normally do, on Tuesday evenings, my wife and I watch This Hour Has 22 Minutes. My neck snapped when they mentioned this incident of a person from British Columbia.

Beyond this happenstance, both This Hour and Doug’s blog are always filled with some humour and insights that make me smile and feel good about things.

I’m glad that I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read the reference to removing boots and wearing underwear for these formal sessions. Doug has such a unique sense of humour and that makes all of his writing a must read for me.

The post brought a great smile and, when coupled with This Hour really made a nice blogging experience.

International Long Covid Awareness Day

It wasn’t until I read Marie’s blog that I knew that there actually was such a thing as a Long Covid Day.

The disease is still with us and Marie reports some of the scary numbers.

I have a friend who has Long Covid and I read regularly of the challenges that she has. It’s sad to think that she’s not alone.

This day didn’t hit the news that I’m exposed to regularly so I’m guessing that the reporting on the state of Covid is still on the back burner.

I thank Marie for making me aware.

Showing, not telling 22/31 #SOL2023

Another Slice of Life blogger! Yay!

I had to smile at the process that this blog post took. Melanie’s time got hijacked a bit but she did end up remembering it.

With me, it would probably have been gone forever. I have an instance of Google Keep open on my computer at all times should I get an idea and don’t want to forget it. Because, forget it I will. However, if I get an idea when I can’t jot it down … it’s quickly forgotten.

It was a writing prompt and she dropped in on a group of girls wondering about identifying best friends. For me, it’s meeting up by accident or by choice and the conversation continues from the last meetup. If Melanie’s goal was to inspire conversation, it sounds like she was successful.

In the bigger picture, she shared the theme of sadness, anxiety, … All that you have to do is watch the news to see how important this is these days.

I’m glad that she didn’t lose her inspiration entirely. Well done, Melanie.

Please take a moment to click through and enjoy these wonderful posts. Then, follow them on Twitter. All of the previous copies of this regular Friday morning posts can be found in the link in the header.

  • Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
  • Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
  • Amanda Potts – @Ahpotts
  • Jennifer Casa-Todd – @jcasatodd
  • Doug McDowall – @dougzone2_1
  • Marie Snyder – @MarieSnyder27 
  • Melanie White – @WhiteRoomRadio

This Week in Ontario Edublogs voicEd Radio show

Opening Song

Closing Song

Peace Playlist

Since the incident in the Ukraine, we have opened and closed our Wednesday morning show with songs of long and peace. They appear in this playlist.

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This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, coding, Computational Thinking, Computers, Education, inspiration, learning, Mathematics, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, Read/Write Web, Teaching, technology, voicEd Radio

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Forget the other thing about today.

To All The Things I Should Have Done…

We started the voicEd Radio discussion with this song from the great John Anderson.

I don’t ever recall talking about work/life balance at the faculty. It was something that I came to learn as I entered the profession. I’ll be honest; for the most part, it was just talk because of the nature of the job. It will eat you alive if you let it.

Elizabeth recognizes that there are other important things in life along with teaching and addresses it in this post. To be truthful, she doesn’t belittle the profession; she does a great job of sharing where she is with her class and her philosophy.

Like so many of us, she has a wonderful family that deserves part of her time and attention as well. It’s the condition of teaching that we’re forever balancing this.

A teacher’s life is like no other. She captures so much of it in this post. And, it’s just not home/work; there’s all the professional development that an educator needs and couple that with being an educational leader in the province, there are so many things competing for your time and attention …

Enough. Enough. Enough. 

Another AI Post, but about Math

I like it when Cal takes on a topic and takes it in an interesting direction. I came to the post ready to argue because ChatGPT is notorious for getting things wrong at times. I misjudged what this post was going to be about.

Cal notes that he’s worked with interactive bots for a long time as well as many of the popular Mathematics applications. One thread through all of this is that getting the answer right is important.

But, what about the process?

Cal introduces us to a new application (well, new to me anyway) called MathGrader and how it could be the solution to having Artificial Intelligence do some marking for you along with understanding the process that students go through to get their answer.

It’s an interesting read and it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that Cal sees it being integrated into OneNote some day.

I’ve marked this “stay tuned for more”.

Creating Dynamic Content

This is one of those “Wow” posts.

If you are using Brightspace/D2L or there’s a chance that you will be, this is definitely worth the time to read. Actually, I’d recommend bookmarking and reading more than once.

Lynn certainly takes a deep dive into using this resource in your classes.

By default, often LMS systems are boring text interfaces and the activities often aren’t similar at all to good classroom pedagogy.

Lynn tears this apart with all kinds of ideas to make the interface more appealing and the content more engaging with the hopes of better success and interaction with your content.

She addresses:

  • Environment
  • Active Learning & Engagement
  • Stress Management

It’s a huge affirmation that teaching and learning online doesn’t have to be completely different.

Coaching The Destreamers

I suppose that if you’re at Ministry, it’s easy to say “let’s destream Grade 9” and make the transition from Grade 8 to 9 a little more friendly.

Ultimately, it may well be. Right now, it’s an ongoing process.

In this post, Brad takes a look at what is required on the teacher side to make it happen.

  • Don’t do it alone
  • Your team matters
  • Experience is not always best
  • Not everyone is ready

And, as a department head, what he plans to do to assist his department in their implementation.

  • Make a plan
  • Take baby steps
  • Be the coach
  • Get the team together

It’s a nice reminder that any implementation isn’t as simple as just flipping a switch.

What was lost 8/31 #SOL2022

Melanie shares a writing prompt that she has used with us.

A writing prompt that I used recently asked students to consider a time when they lost something important. 

I had two reactions to this post.

The first one was the one that I shared on the This Week in Ontario Edublogs show. It was personal about something that I had lost – my wedding band (twice). Recovered once from a museum in Ottawa and secondly, I’m still looking for it. In that respect, the prompt let me have fun with my misfortune.

What I didn’t talk about on the show was that Melanie followed up her prompt with personal experiences of her own. I didn’t mention it but in passing because it’s the sort of thing that would make me tear up and choke.

She shared her story and her very emotional, personal take on the writing prompt.

I couldn’t help but wonder if her writing prompt might have generated similar stories from her students.

Oculum Echo: Guest review

Bronte L, a Grade 9 student, writes as a guest poster on Helen Kubiw’s blog.

She shares a review of Oculum Echo, a followup to the first book Oculum.

Bronte indicates that she didn’t read the first book but got connected to the characters, nonetheless.

“I would recommend Oculum Echo to any sci-fi loving kid that enjoys adventures.” 

I love the fact that a student wrote a review for the book and that Helen provided the platform for it. We should see more of this.

Cynthia Solomon: Computer Science Pioneer and Equity Champion

Peter is my best “way back” and “way forward” thinking guy. He knows and has made so many connectors with people who have made significant changes in the use of technology in education.

In celebration of International Woman’s Day, Peter takes us on a trip back and looks at the work of Cynthia along with Seymour Papert.

The programming, of course, was Logo. So often, these days, when you mention Logo, it’s poo-pooed. “We introduce kids to Python, a real programming language.”

I’ve always maintained, and I still do, that that philosophy completely misses the point. My first programming language certainly isn’t in vogue these days. But, the problem solving, thinking, and collaboration has lasted me a lifetime.

I miss meeting up with Peter; just chatting with him is so powerful. This post will have to serve as a proxy.

Thanks, my friend.

And here we are at the end of another week. Please take the time to click through and read these posts. You’ll be that much smarter for doing so. And, share them with colleagues.

Then, follow these folks on Twitter.

  • Elizabeth Lyons – @mrslyonslibrary
  • Cal Armstrong – @sig225
  • Lynn Thomas – @THOMLYNN101
  • Brad Dixon – @TeachingMrDixon
  • Melanie White – @WhiteRoomRadio
  • Helen Kubiw – @HelenKubiw
  • Peter Skillen – @peterskillen

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

Opening Song

Closing Song

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in artificial intelligence, bing, Blogging, Canadiana, Computational Thinking, Computers, Education, Equity, inspiration, learning, Media, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, podcasting, presentation, Read/Write Web

Would the winning Exactor be last day of classes before the Break and buses not running? That might give you more time to check out these wonderful blog posts from Ontario Edubloggers.

Not a soccer mom #SOL23 6/31

When I saw the title to Amanda’s post go flying by on Facebook, I knew that I wanted to talk about this on the voicEd Radio show and share my thoughts here.

Like Amanda, I played soccer in school as it was an Autumn sport and I didn’t know anything about football at that time.

I will say this positively about soccer – the practices were great for activities/exercise and running and learning to play a sport where only the goaltender could use her/his hands.

Other than that, the games could be deadly if the ball didn’t come your way.

Then, you graduate to being a parent and grandparent watching the games. I had to smile when I read Amanda’s thoughts about games.

  • I often take walks during the outdoor games. 
  • I often do crosswords during the indoor games.

Nailed it!

This is a wonderful grown up perspective on this sport. Prove me wrong in the comments.

And, the picture of her child in a ball bag makes clicking through worthwhile!

Incorporating Tech in FSL Presentations

This was such a refreshing post about technology in the FSL classroom.

I suspect that computers, if used at all, are used as word processors or players for YouTube videos in the FSL classroom at your school.

The activities that Arianna describe would be perfectly placed in an English classroom so why not FSL? Absolutely!

We do presentations in English so why not in French?

I saw Google Slides coming but I started shaking when I heard her make reference to Scratch. Wow!

Add on to that recording a presentation in advance moves those students closer to podcasting and if Mom and Dad can enjoy it over the internet, that puts it over the top.

Well done, Arianna. FSL teachers, here’s your inspiration to raise the bar in your classrooms with technology.

Computers Are Like Pizzas

When this guy learned to program, we were so far removed from our computer that it wasn’t funny. Our programs took a one hour trip to London every afternoon and were returned the next day. There were a couple of days when the commuting teacher was sick and we truly had nothing to do in class.

We learned that computers were a black box. When I started teaching, it was still a black box only the trip was shorter (although they were still run overnight) I remember a field trip once where we actually went to the computer and saw the program being run first hand. Still a black box.

We’re so far removed from that these days. Who doesn’t have hands-on access to a computer, Smartphone, Raspberry Pi, or a smart home device that can actually be programmed? Or taken apart and upgraded? With the appropriate screwdriver, you can actually open that black box. (You can see that mine is indeed a black box)

Tim draws a nice picture of the metaphor of a pizza with all the various layers and what they might be the equivalent of on a computer.

It’s for a learning unit about how computers work and I was delighted that he included the reference to Computers for Schools.

Stephen and I had fun talking about this on the show and wondered where the network might come in. Is a computer a computer these days without network access?

AI IN THE CLASSROOM: THE NEW, NEW NORMAL?

These days, I find myself reading all kinds of stories about Artificial Intelligence and particularly, how it might fit in the classroom.

John starts with reference to a blog post written by Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna which made a TWIOE post last December. I thought it was well written, as does John.

He adds to the discussion with three thoughts that he fleshes out nicely.

  • Teacher’s Assistant
  • Potential Challenges
  • Digital Citizenship and ChatGPT

Basically, I think we all know this, you can run but you can’t hide. As long as technology is available and in the classroom, it needs to be included and well thought through.

I think that this is important – individual teachers can’t be left alone to deal with it in among everything else that goes into their job. School districts need to have a competent educator or more working centrally to help shepherd teachers though all this.

Challenging Perceptions: The Unseen Struggle of Living with IIH #RareDiseaseDay

Reading Larissa’s post had me wondering about the reason why I started this Friday morning blog post and why I continue to do it.

My philosophy has always been that if I can help amplify someone’s voice in any way, that it helps the cause.

I first met Larissa at a Bring IT, Together Conference and have been the beneficiary of being in sessions led by her and/or the resources afterwards. Like great presenters, she gives back to our learning community. We are all smarter by the generosity of people like her.

This whole post and her explanations was one of the most important learning experiences that I’ve had in a while or ever, forever, perhaps.

I had never heard about https://www.rarediseaseday.org/  much less knowing someone who might have a disease like IIH. It was so sobering to read that she has felt that she has had to distance herself from her own learning and networking as a result.

You need to read it in her words so click though.

Women In Action

Things like this are important to understand in this day and age. Originally, when I read the title, I thought this was going to be something about International Woman’s Day. I was wrong.

Sharon had the opportunity to join with other women as activists.

Women in Action is designed to inspire attendees to think more broadly about their roles as activists and unionists. Learning and setting goals for yourself is an important part of the time you spend together

The program is actually a three part one and Sharon encourages people to attend all of the sessions.

More information is available through your local ETFO affiliate.

CHEATING OR CREATIVITY? HOW AI TOOLS LIKE CHATGPT AND BING SEARCH ARE TRANSFORMING ASSESSMENT IN K-12 EDUCATION

There is a strong message almost everywhere about how Artificial Intelligence and the like will destroy education because teachers aren’t prepared for it. I like to think that good educators have their eyes open and are listening to voices like Mike’s.

Assessment is the biggy – how can student achievement be trustworthy if students can fire up one of these tools and just go ahead and cheat?

Old school thinking.

Mike addresses four areas quite nicely in this post.

  • AI-assisted project planning
  • AI-assisted brainstorming
  • AI-assisted feedback
  • AI-assisted reflection

I’ll repeat my message above. These strategies are not easy and teachers shouldn’t have to go it alone. Fortunately, there are people like Mike already in place and thinking about the possibilities.

Please take some time to click through and read and enjoy these wonderful posts.

Then, follow these folks on Twitter.

  • Amanda Potts – @Ahpotts
  • Arianna Lambert – @MsALambert
  • Tim King – @tk1ng
  • John Allan – @mrpottz
  • Larissa Aradj – @MrsGeekChic
  • Mike Washburn – @misterwashburn

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

This week’s show

Opening Song

Closing Song

Peace Playlist

Early in the Spring of 2021, the opening and closing music from our live TWIOE broadcast have centred on the theme of peace. Here’s a special playlist of all the music featured since April.

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in artificial intelligence, Blogging, Computers, COVID-19, Education, Equity, inspiration, learning, Media, Media Literacy, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, podcasting, Read/Write Web, Teaching, technology, voicEd Radio

Apparently, we’re going to get another serious storm. I haven’t cleaned up since the last one. Geesh.

Here’s a collection of great reading from Ontario Educators that crossed my desk last week.

some chat about ChatGPT

In a world of all kinds of stories of doom and gloom and how education is going to hit the dumpsters comes this refreshing and I think, important, post from Will. It’s well-written and he’s obviously been doing some serious thinking about this.

I just want to note that I can remember when this Google thing came along and the end of education was predicted because kids didn’t have to learn how to use encyclopedias anymore. How did that work out?

Education embraced the concept and adjusted accordingly.

Like so many of the other articles, Will does share his thoughts about what happens when students use it to create markable content. I think I’d be less worried at the elementary school panel as my experience shows that ChatGPT does write with a certain level of sophistication. I can’t help but wonder about those who predict that students doing this stuff will go unnoticed by good educators. There’s that whole writing process thing, you know.

What really stood out here was what Will thought ChatGPT could do to make his life easier. He tried a couple of queries with success.

  • “write a comedy for 4 performers that is based on electricity, physics, time travel, and renewable energy.”
  • “Write a 10 question math quiz with some word problems for grade 6 students who are beginning to learn patterning and algebra.”

Teachers also wouldn’t be prepared to use it directly but could modify it to recognize their own classroom and student realities.

A Few Hopes for Today’s Teens

Anne-Marie shares part of her message with the students at her school as inspiration. It is a school where the students live together and so the concept of community wouldn’t be different than others. They’re going to be closer to each other, by design.

There’s a really strong message of kindness to each other running through her address. I hope that it was received with the intent of the delivery. I would encourage you to read the whole blog post because there is so much packed into it.

A couple of big takeaways for me…

“You can’t make old friends”

Of course not but I’d never heard it put that way.

My hope is that we are a community who practices “calling-in” with kindness and curiosity, so we can maintain an emotionally safe community

Shouldn’t we all be doing this on a regular basis?

And, I had this running all through my mind after I read the post.

“we tend to judge others by their behaviour, and ourselves by our intentions.”

This was so well written. Thanks for sharing it with us, Anne-Marie.

To the heart

There is such a simple message in this blog post and Diane summarizes her thoughts with a quote from Nelson Mandela.

In that sense, it seems only fitting to close with Nelson Mandela, who observed that when you speak to someone in a language they understand, it goes to their head; but when you speak to someone in their language, that goes to their heart.

You have to read and appreciate the post to know the significance of that quote and why it is so dead on.

Diane tells us a personal story that includes humidity, chalk, trains, friends, and more that really puts everything into perspective.

This is a story that would be nicely shared with students and could quite easily make a life change for some of them. I’ll bet that it makes you think about how you’re going to handle the next time the opportunity to do something so simple, and yet so powerful comes along.

Slice of (Indoor) Life

I love these Slice of Life reflections from Lisa. I’m guessing that they might now necessarily have become a blog post in any other situations.

It’s been a bizarre winter in places in Ontario and, at Lisa’s new school, there have been ice challenges on the playground that have ended up with indoor recesses.

I’ll confess that, as a secondary school teacher, I’ve never had the joy of supervising an indoor recess.

But, if I ever did, I would hope that I would have the space that Lisa has – a combination of abandoned library and computer room – space allows for storage of ongoing major projects and one came as a result of the indoor recess.

Read the post and see what happened!

Course Artifacts

You’ve got to love it when someone comes along and just gives away wonderful resources. In this case, Jennifer shares some infographics that she’s created with Canva for her AQ course.

Infographics have come into our regular use as artifacts that demonstrate things. Usually, though, they’re created by someone else. Not so here. These are her original creations.

  1. Copyright Matters
Thanks, Jan Aston – https://madameaston.edublogs.org/2023/02/23/course-artifacts/

And this is just the beginning. Click through to her blog to enjoy these other infographics.

2. Health and Media Literacy

3. How can I help you online?

4. Tips for Teacher-Librarians

Hey ChatGPT, When Should I Take CPP?

Trust Peter to take new technology in a new direction. In this case, if you’re old enough to think about retirement, there are options that you have for taking the Canada Pension Plan.

In the post, he asks for financial advice…

With $xx in an RRSP and a current pension of $yy per month, when is the best time to take CPP? I am zz years old.

It was an interesting read and, as Peter notes, it does give some pretty sound advice.

I actually remember an activity in an Accounting class where we worked out how long the difference would be in years for scenarios like this.

My father also did some estate planning and I remember a couple of other variables just as if he was sitting next to me

  • how healthy are you? How long do you plan to live?
  • what if you got hit by a train on the way home?

Getting hit by the train was generic enough to be used in many scenarios.

But, ChatGPT as a retirement planner? I didn’t see that one coming.

Thanks, Peter.

This Is Leadership – EP13: T. J. Hoogsteen

Those who aspire to leadership should be reading Joel’s blog and listening to his podcasts. They’ve been a favourite around here and I highly recommend them.

Joel makes his work available on so many different platforms so there’s no excuse for missing it.

I typically will fire up a podcast as I’m working on something else and listen while working. It works well for me.

When all else fails, there’s always good old YouTube.

I hope that you can find some time to enjoy all of these terrific resources.

Then, follow them on Twitter.

  • Will Gourley – @WillGourley
  • Anne-Marie Kee – @AMKeeLCS
  • Lisa Corbett – @LisaCorbett0261
  • Jen Aston – @mmejaston
  • Peter Beens – @pbeens
  • JOËL MCLEAN – @jprofnb

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

Introductory Song

Closing Song

Peace Playlist

Podcasting – and cheating

by dougpete, posted in bing, Blogging

It’s Wednesday morning and time for This Week in Ontario Edublogs. I also got a notice from Microsoft last night that I had access to their new Bing search with ChatGPT. Lots of provisos like I had to use the Edge browser and I had to be logged into Microsoft in order to talk to it. I was using my Chromebook at the time so I had to go in later.

Getting the browser and logging in went well. I did some trivia conversations like the weather, etc. Then, I thought I would get it to create something for me. That’s what people are all talking about and what people are fearful for in education – this thing could maybe write essays?

My essay writing days are long behind me but I do like to sit down and write a blog post every now and again. Since I’ll be preparing for the show later this morning and it will be available later as a podcast, I asked it to create a short post about Podcasting – history and why someone would want to actually create a podcast.

It’s also important to note that one of the blog posts that Stephen and I will be chatting about will deal with ChatGPT in education and so we make reference to this post. Well, at least I will.

So, unedited, here is its response. What do you think? Is it well written? If I hadn’t had this introduction, would you have thought that I had written it? Should I give up my keyboard and just ask Microsoft’s AI to write for me?

Have you ever wanted to share your thoughts, opinions, or stories with the world? If so, podcasting might be the perfect medium for you.

Podcasting is the act of writing, creating, and publishing audio-based content[^1^][2]. Podcasts are typically released as a series of episodes that listeners can download or stream on their mobile devices or computers[^2^][1] [^3^][3].

Podcasting has many benefits for both creators and listeners. For creators, podcasting can help you:

  • Express your passion and expertise on a topic
  • Build an audience and a community around your niche
  • Grow your brand and authority in your field
  • Generate income from sponsors, ads, or donations
  • Have fun and be creative

For listeners, podcasting can help you:

  • Learn new things and gain insights from experts
  • Be entertained and inspired by stories and conversations
  • Stay updated on current events and trends
  • Discover new perspectives and opinions
  • Connect with like-minded people

If you are interested in starting your own podcast, there are some steps you need to take:

  1. Choose a topic and a format for your podcast. What do you want to talk about? Who is your target audience? How long will each episode be? Will you have guests or co-hosts?
  2. Get the equipment and software you need to record and edit your podcast. You will need a microphone, headphones, a computer, an audio editing software (such as Audacity), and a hosting service (such as SoundCloud or Libsyn) [^3^][3].
  3. Plan and produce your episodes. You will need to research your topic, write a script or an outline, record your audio (either solo or with guests), edit out any mistakes or background noise, add music or sound effects if needed.
  4. Publish and promote your podcast. You will need to upload your episodes to your hosting service (which will generate an RSS feed for you), submit your podcast to directories (such as Apple Podcasts [^4^][4] or Spotify), create a website or a social media page for your podcast (where you can share show notes, links, and feedback), market your podcast to potential listeners (through word-of-mouth, ads, or collaborations).

Podcasting is not only a fun hobby but also a powerful way to share your voice with the world. Whether you want to educate, entertain, or inspire others, podcasting can help you achieve your goals.

Are you ready to start podcasting?