“You can’t know where you are going, if you don’t know where you’ve been”
Posted on | December 4, 2009 | No Comments
If you are a photography instructor or student and you haven’t already checked out Jeff Curto’s podcasts on the history of photography, you really owe it to your self to do so. He has a terrific voice, great presentation, and keeps things moving at a good pace. Perhaps most importantly he manages to be very informative, while also being entertaining. Jeff Curto is a professor and the Coordinator of the Photography Program at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he has taught since 1984. He is also a very passionate and accomplished photographer. All of these things allow Jeff to bring a whole lot of insight, energy, and enthusiasm to his classes/podcasts. I often find myself listening to them as I plug away on my computer while sitting on the plane. The use of these podcasts is an excellent example of using technology to further your efforts in the classroom- something that Jeff has been on the leading edge of for quite some time. Jeff often presents programs about using technology and social networking in the classroom. I had the pleasure if sitting in on one such presentation while at Photo Plus East in NY in October, and got a whole lot out of it. If you get a chance to catch him you should!
Below is a very good description of his podcasts and how he uses them, as described on his site, photohistory.jeffcurto.com.
The Podcast
This podcast is recorded during class lectures for History of Photography, Photo 1105 at College of DuPage. The podcasts are intended as review for students in the class, but thousands of people around the world have found them useful to their education as photographers. Please be aware that there are many links to relevant class information on the class’ main web page, as well as a course syllabus.
Listening, Watching & Subscribing
You can listen to and watch the podcasts from these pages or you can subscribe to them using a podcast reader. The most popular podcast reader is Apple’s iTunes. If you subscribe using this link, each time there is a new class session posted on the internet, the software will automatically download it to your computer.
Enhanced Podcasts
The podcasts are presented in what’s called the “enhanced” podcast format. This means that they are embedded with still images that change along with the audio, sort of like an old filmstrip or synchronized slide show, but better because they have random access to the entire class. They can be viewed on a computer (using QuickTime or Apple’s iTunes software, both free to download and use) or they can be viewed on any video-capable iPod. The files are .m4a files, so they need QuickTime to view them, or an iPod that can show video.
Tags: COD > College of DuPage > History of Photography > Jeff Curto > podcasting > podcasts > Technology in the Classroom
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