A few weeks ago someone emailed me asking if Murphey Hall - the location for PodcasterCon - was wheelchair accessible. I’m happy to report, YES it is! 
Also here is a link to UNC’s Disability Parking Map.
Originally posted on 2¢ Worth, Jan 3, 2006
I’ll be facilitating the Podcasting as a Teaching/Learning Strategy session at PodcasterCon on Saturday (January 7). If you haven’t registered already, and are within driving distance of Chapel Hill (which a good part of the U.S. population is), please consider coming.
The education session will be especially interesting for two reasons. One is that there will likely be equal mixes of participants from the K-12 arena, from higher ed, and folks who are not directly involved in education at all. The perspectives are varied, and I hope that an open and lively sharing will be beneficial for all communities of interest.
The second reason is that Podcasting, like so many technologies as they are initiated in education, is a solution without a problem, a hammer without a nail. In June, I attended Apple’s unveiling event for iTunes 4.9 at the National Educational Computing Conference in Philadelphia. Andy Carvin (Waste of Bandwidth) and I (Connect Learning) recorded a co-podcast while in line (with hundreds of educators), waiting for admittance to the way too small room. We interviewed many of the people who are in line, and not one could comfortably describe what a podcast was. None had ever produced a podcast and only a couple had heard one. But they were all there, because it was the buzz of the conference.
In preparation for this session, I ask a couple of education technology mailing lists for some essential questions that we might tackle in the Saturday session. Leslie Simonfalvi, a teacher educator in Budapest, put it very well as she asked how we might utilize podcasting and other emerging technologies when “…quite a few students, especially gadgetophiles, think about modern learning modes as escape routes.” She continues with some typical alibis, which I included on the sessions wiki page.
In my opinion, students view technology as an escape route because they see such a vast distance between the learning experiences of their classrooms and the information experiences that they have invented using IM, text messaging, blogging, networked video games, etc. We’ve left it up to them to meld these new technologies into their lives while we have been too cautious about adapting our classrooms and curriculums to the changing information environment.
I have some ideas and most of them come from a handful of innovative educators who have invented new teaching and learning strategies around media production and narrowcasting, and I’ll share them on Saturday. But I think that the real value of this session will be a mixing and remixing of perspectives that we will all learn from.
Hope to see you there.
Check out the Map page on the PodcasterCon wiki. You might need some of this info once you’ve parked so you can walk to Murphey Hall. For directions from your hotel to parking I recomend Google maps.
If you would like a ride from the airport (RDU) and/or you’re staying in a hotel and need a ride to and from the event email me. info (at) podcastercon (dot) org. We can pick you up. Parking on the campus of UNC isn’t very good. On top of that there is a Carolina Men’s basketball game the same day versus NC State.
Thanks to Ruby for putting this map together.
We just received a donation from Brad Pendergraph. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!
We just received a donation from Myron Pitts. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!
We just received a donation from Wayne Sutton. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!
We just received a donation from Ruby Sinreich. Thank you for helping to make PodcasterCon happen!
As of today, 60 of the 187 people who have registered are coming from out of state! Thank you all so much for traveling to attend our small one day conference. I realize that it’s not cheap to get here.
The fact that so many will travel so far illustrates the uniqueness of podcasting. It can be useful to so many people with very diverse backgrounds. I’m seriously amazed at how virtual communities can overlap our physical ones and transcend boundaries. To say that I’m excited is a HUGE understatement!
I’m working away on the final details of PodcasterCon. Check out the nifty name tags I’ve been making. They are made out of old floppies, orange twine, green tape, silver marker, and hot glue. We should have two hundred of these suckers when I’m done. When you receive one of these you’ll be able to write your name, url, or what ever else you want on them. I hope you dig the D.I.Y. reuse aesthetic.
Cutting and applying the tape.
The first batch is done and ready to go.
Two sizes of name tags, big floppy and little floppy.
We just received a donation of books from O’Reilly! Specifically we have the title Podcasting Hacks. There are approximately 50 books to give away to PodcasterCon participants.
I’d like to clarify the fact that I do not consider these books to fall under the category of swag. The original description of PodcasterCon included the sentence, “The event will not have traditional speakers, commercial product pitches, or bags full of conference swag.” I truly believe that well-written books are a valuable tool and many people will benefit from them.
In an effort to keep overt product promotion out of PodcasterCon AND to provide a useful tool to participants I’ve decided to give away the books at another location just after PodcasterCon. Another very important motive of this sub-event is to promote a wonderful non-profit organization in Chapel Hill, The Internationalist Bookstore and Community Center. (Please see the PodcasterCon schedule for time and location.) Plus I’d like to encourage people to go out into the Town of Chapel Hill and have a good time. (Thank you Justin for giving me the contact at O’Reilly.)
Thanks O’Reilly for helping us make PodcasterCon even better!
