Soft Crack

It’s Wednesday August 31, 2011 and welcome to episode 123 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. It is the end of August and thousands of educators are going back to school all across the nation. This month we have some September 11 th resources to share with you as this year marks the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  Dr. Cindy Rich is back again to share resources from the Library of Congress that teachers may be interested in using in the classroom. But first I want to take a moment to recognize the many individuals that have worked very hard over the summer to prepare for the first week of school. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (27 minutes 03 seconds) Before teachers and professors return to school there is an invisible army of support staff that have been working away all summer to make the first week of back to school a successful one for students. From building service workers that have been doing maintenance, cleaning, and waxing of floors to the technical supp...

It’s Friday, July 29th 2011 and welcome to episode 122 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. This month we have a couple of special segments to share with you, first I have a debriefing with Brian Poulter, we had Brian on the show a couple of episodes ago back on Episode 120 when he was about to leave on a motorcycle trip to follow the Oregon Trail. Brian is now back from his trip and has some interesting stories to share with us. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (33 minutes 43 seconds) Following the Oregon Trail segment I will have an interview with Dr. Cindy Rich from the Teaching with Primary Sources grant here at EIU who I have invited back again to share more about digital resources available from the Library of Congress. In talking with Dr. Rich after last months show we thought we would try to make a new recurring segment called Teaching with Primary Sources to incorporate into the TechTalk4Teachers podcast to share the many things made available to teachers from the TPS gran...

It’s Thursday, June 30th 2011 and welcome to episode 121 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. We have another great interview lined up for you and this month we will be talking about using primary sources with your students and where you can find millions of resources to use with your classes. This episode mentions a few links throughout the interview so be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about all the resources that are shared. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (32 minutes 13 seconds) For those of you wondering about the adventures of Brian Poulter and his motorcycle trip following the Oregon Trail be sure to checkout his blog at brianpoulter.com Seems Brian has run into a bit of a snag and the best laid plans have hit a glitch. I hope to talk with Brian again soon so until then you can follow his blog to find out the latest. http://brianpoulter.com/ End of the Trail http://brianpoulter.com/?p=438 We have a lot of resources to share with you today so let’s get right ...

It's Tuesday, May 31st 2011 and welcome to Episode 120 of TechTalk4Teachers, I'm Tom Grissom. Summertime is now upon us and thousands of teachers will soon be on summer break but the learning never stops. On todays show I have an interview with Brian Poulter from the EIU Journalism department and we will have a discussion about sharing our passions and how teachers can challenge themselves to take on a summer project that will take their learning to the next level. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (33 minutes 25 seconds) Brian will be going on a summer adventure in June where he will be taking his motorcycle across the country following the route of the Oregon Trail and shooting photos and videos along the way. The ultimate goal of his trip will be to create a video production on the Oregon Trail using affordable technologies that fit into a backpack on his motorcycle. This episode has a lot of tips for those interested in sharing their experiences by using blogs, photos, and...

It’s Friday April 29th, 2011 and welcome to episode 119 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. We’ve got a real treat for you on todays show as we will be talking about ebooks. Ebooks have been in the news a lot lately and many schools and universities are considering their use on a wider scale in the classroom. While ebooks have been around for a number of years now many schools and universities are considering school-wide implementations. There are however a number of issues that need to be worked out before a successful ebook program can be implemented on a larger scale. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (40 minutes 58 seconds) For todays show we talk with Karen Whisler who is the Head of Collection Development at Booth Library here on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. On the surface ebooks look so easy to use and we educators often see articles extolling the virtues of ebooks, but there are also a number of challenges with implementing a successful ebook program. Gadgets ...

It's Thursday, March 31st 2011 and welcome to Episode 118 of TechTalk4Teachers, I'm Tom Grissom. We are a little past mid-way point through the spring semester here at EIU and faculty and students are busily working their way through their courses. Many educators are constantly on the lookout for new methods to be a more effective teacher and thanks to the advances in technology you do not have to look far these days. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (9 minutes 51 seconds) There has recently been a crescendo of interest growing in education circles regarding a former TechTalk4Teachers Pick of the Week. This former pick has received new funding and is helping students from all around the world learn new things by simply watching YouTube videos and all for free. I'm going to “flip” the format of todays show and you will see why in just a moment. Since I began TechTalk4Teachers I have made the Horizon Report a yearly technology pick and I have not yet had the opportunity ...

It’s Monday, February 28th, 2011 and welcome to episode 117 of TechTalk4Teachers, I’m Tom Grissom. A short month this month but an eventful one for the human race none the less, more on that later in the show. Right Click Here to Download MP3 (28 minutes 45 seconds) This month I had the honor of speaking at the opening session of the Students Involved with Technology Conference held here at Eastern Illinois University. This conference is held yearly in Illinois and also has concurrent conferences in other areas of the State for K12 students. In the past this conference was held in the Bloomington/Normal area and this was the first time to my knowledge that the event was held at EIU. The conference is setup by students for students and gives K12 students the opportunity to share their knowledge and skills with one another. We had several volunteer student presenters present on various technology topics as well as some adult experts presenting on topics such as making music on your ...