Hello. Just getting everything unpacked from a great week in San Diego attending NECC 2006. It was a great conference with some amazing converstations centering around web 2.0, blogging, podcasting, web applications, etc. I will have more to report on NECC later this week, including some thoughts from the sessions I attended and the people I met. Today I want to share another adventure from the History Hits the Road Tour 2006. The teachers from our district who attended NECC stayed on the harbor and each day on our way to the convention center from our hotel we would pass by the USS Midway - an aircraft carrier which saw service from World War II through Dessert Storm. Before we returned to Kansas City on Friday, Marty Kelsey (another Liberty teacher) and I toured the ship. It was such a thrill to walk on the flight deck and think of all the amazing history that took place on this ship. Not only did this ship see action in war, it also picked up the astronauts as they returned from the moon. The Midway was in service for 47 years and was home to over a quarter of a million sailors in her career.
I took some audio from veterans who served as tour guides aboard the ship. Each person who pays for addmission to the ship also is given a small device that allows them to follow along with a self guided audio tour. This device is a product of Antenna Audio. It allowed you to listen to an audio tour of various parts of the ship. For example, if you were standing on the flight deck and wanted to learn more about the plane you were standing in front of you could simply type the number on the display into the device and it would load that portion of the tour. I realize that these devices are used at museums around the world but I thought this device was very well organized and easy to use.The podcast contains audio from some of the veterans onboard and a short clip from the preprogramed audio tour. There was a little wind so the audio from the flight deck does have a little "noise" in the background. The podcast answers some interesting questions, such as:
- How does a plane take off from the flight deck of a carrier?
- How does a fighter pilot go to the bathroom while in flight?
- What do you cook for the thousands of sailors onboard?
- How do you organize the planes taking off and landing on the flight deck?
- What happens if you try to take off from the flight deck and you left your parking brake on?
If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com
Direct link to listen to Podcast #34 - Touring the USS Midway in San Diego at NECC 2006 - MP3 Format (19:44 minutes)
Podcast #34 Show Notes:
- USS Midway - official site
- Antenna Audio - company which provides the audio tours aboard the Midway
- Stay a night on the Midway - how awesome would this be?
- Educator information from the Midway
- Wiki article on the USS Midway
- Online photo archive of the USS Midway
Technorati Tags: necc necc06 necc06prep
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI am a graduate student in Nashua, NH. I am going for my MEd and taking a technology class where our assignment is to browse different classroom webpages/blogs, etc. I hit paydirt with yours! This is an incredible use of technology in the classroom and I am anxious to share it as an example of what can be done. I especially love the Blog, Studycasts and Podcasts. Your students are very fortunate to have a teacher as creative as you. I have a question. How long do you spend on the computer in an average day? I am very excited about bringing all this new technology into my classroom, but are concerned about the time contraints.
Great work!
Debbie from NH
Debbie
ReplyDeleteHello. I'm so glad that you found and enjoy the podcast and blog. It has been a blast over the past year podcasting and trying out some of these new things with my students. In regards to your question about time - yes, I do tend to some quite a bit of time on the computer but beyond my required work in the classroom I also think of my computer related work as a hobby in some way. I also teach a grad class at Park University on using technology in the classroom so I really do enjoy sharing what I can find about new technology, especially web 2.0 tools. I also sometimes do presentations and workshops for other school districts. My advice for starting out using some of these things - like blogs, podcasts, etc. - is to start out small and then build as you get comfortable with the technology and you can produce the material with more ease. It is always harder just starting out and takes more time that it will when you are familiar with the tools. I would suggest starting with a class blog where you post your weekly assignments. Posting my weekly schedule at the start of the week on a consistent basis has been one of the most powerful things I've done in the last 5 years. Parents love the ability to see what is happening in the classroom and students really use it when they miss a day and want to know what we did. I would suggest that and then build from there. Please let me know if you have any other questions and good luck with your graduate work.
Eric Langhorst