Do your students realize that television used to be called radio?! Beyond the historic value of such a brief lesson in media literacy, students can produce rich and lasting creative audio works using old time radio dramas as the catalyst.
Major Mark Rea at the United States Military Academy at West Point is making use of video technology and Wetpaint Wikis to engage cadets in their learning about Military Movement. Today at noon, I had a brief conversation with Mark about how he's leveraging these technologies to teach aspiring military leaders.
Educators can learn a lot from the messages crafted by Lee and Sachi Lefever at Common Craft. This team is very effective at explaining the hows and whys of evolving web technologies, through the manipulation of simple hand-drawn paper cutouts, choreographed to a 'plain English' voiceover. The power of the explanations, lies in the fact that the hosts use common real world situations in order to make the tools relevant for the audience.
I'd love to see similar videos produced specifically for teacher and student audiences, and I think this chore is best left to the learners themselves. While most would be prone to mimicking the Common Craft technique, I'd recommend that students develop and implement their own styles using live action, animation, or photography. Tune in to 'Learning in Virtual Worlds, 'today's Teacher 2.0 podcast for ideas about how to engage students in this type of work.
If you'd like to see more Common Craft explanations in Plain English, or if you or your students would like to contribute your own explanations, take time to visit the Web 2.0 Wiki-Dictionary.
As a teacher; learner; consultant; speaker; and collaborator, I'm on the lookout for opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with others who see themselves as learners. Professional development; project based learning; and Creative Commons are topics that are always on my radar.
Do your students realize that television used to be called radio?! Beyond the historic value of such a brief lesson in media literacy, students can produce rich and lasting creative audio works using old time radio dramas as the catalyst. 
