Screenshot :: http://advanced.aviary.com

I have a sense memory of where I was when my then-student teacher Raya said, “Have you seen Aviary?” I fell instantly in love with its online podcasting tools (named, like all of Aviary’s tools, after a bird: in this case, Myna).

With a built-in music library of introductions, loops, and closings and no software installation required, it streamlined the podcasting process in powerful ways. We used it for three summers in our ED 504: Teaching with Technology course.

For a while, there was even a teacher management tool where you could set up an assignment and Aviary would collect all of the students’ work in a single place to facilitate grading. Ah, heaven. That feature was disabled a while ago, but it sure was great while it lasted!

Now, as Aviary’s focus continues to shift, its Flash-based tools are being “retired” on September 15.

However, they’re making their photo editor more available, so all is not lost!

Screenshot :: Aviary.com

Image: ‘Pumpkin carving’

Used with a Creative Commons license
Found via my favorite CC image search engine

And for those of you who like a little less cute and a little more Neil Gaiman, here’s his Halloween message (via @donalynbooks):

Last week’s blog post about the National Archives (featuring Dorothea Lange’s photo of a migrant worker) reminded me of the Dorothea Lange photos collected by Calisphere showing the Japanese relocation to Manzanar, California during World War II.

I knew Lange best for this image:

We Are California – The Great Internal Migrations via kwout

So when I stumbled on the Lange/Manzanar photos a few months ago, I was really surprised.   The Japanese internment experience is rarely discussed during World War II, but when it is, it adds a powerful dimension and can provoke conversations about who is “really” American at a time when anti-immigration policies are ramping up again. The photos show folks who do what “we Americans” do, challenging the anti-Asian racism of the time.

As I browsed the images again, I realized that there is huge power in the juxtaposition of images.  One thing we can do with students regardless of age is tap into their visual learning preference by asking them to comment not just on one image but on two juxtaposed images.  For example, here are screenshots of two wash lines.  If you showed one and asked students to comment on the owners, then showed the other and asked the same question, how would the student responses differ? What if they were the same laundry line? What can we learn about citizens whose clothelines contain both Eastern and Western clothing? How could this connect them to a conversation about Japanese internment, pride in Japanese heritage, or the historical setting of Farewell to Manzanar?

Source: Calisphere

Source: Calisphere

You can view more of the Dorothea Lange photodocumentation of Japanese internment on the Calisphere Web site.