Podcasting!!! What Is It GOOD For?
Drs. Elizabeth Bennett, Dawn Putney, Phyllis Snipes (University of West Georgia),
and Craig Coleman (Mundy’s Mill Middle School, Clayton County)
Absolutely great things! There are a variety of ways audio and video podcasting can be used to excite students and support learning, encourage reading, promote library media and school programs, and communicate with faculty, parents, and the community. Audio and video podcast production and distribution can be accomplished using MACs or PCs. And while iPods are NOT required to create or play podcasts – they sure are fun!
The proliferation of iPods over the past few years has been phenomenal. Subsequently, podcasting has become a hot technology with the potential to support learning outside the physical confines of the school building. While early podcasts were strictly audio, the newest technology incorporates video along with the audio to make podcasting a multimedia experience. These audio and video attributes create interest and make podcasts particularly attractive to special needs populations, such as those who have limited reading proficiency. Many students own iPods and can download podcasts for viewing anywhere and anytime, but the true beauty of podcasting is that it does not require an iPod. Anyone with a computer and Internet access can produce and distribute podcasts, as well as download and play them – no iPod required. Even better, computers can be set to automatically download newly posted podcasts to the computer desktop and/or iPod, making it easy for students, faculty, parents, and the community to keep up with the latest school podcasts.
Using Podcasting to Support Teaching, Learning and AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner
Podcasting offers media specialists and teachers new strategies to help them in their quest to help students achieve and succeed. Teachers and media specialists can develop podcasts to support independent student learning. Student podcast production can support authentic information literacy growth and achievement. Additionally, podcasts can be used to encourage reading, promote media center and school programs, and support communication with parents and the surrounding community.
Strategies for integrating podcasts into instruction include finding and using podcasts produced by others that relate to targeted curriculum objectives -- as well as producing podcasts that present information, provide practice, or review and remediate specific skills. Craig Coleman, media specialist at Mundy’s Mill Middle School in Clayton County, developed a video podcast of a virtual field trip to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam to introduce a unit on Anne Frank and the Holocaust. Weekly spelling word podcasts provide students an effective way to practice and review spelling words. These can be produced as audio podcasts where the spelling words are dictated, followed by the correct oral spelling of the words; or developed as video podcasts that show a picture representing the spoken word, followed by the written and oral spelling of the word itself. Both formats support independent student practice and review, and if distributed through the web are easily accessible to the student (and parents!) at home. Foreign and sign language vocabulary reviews also translate well into the podcast format.
Student production of podcasts supports the development of information literacy and communication skills as students plan, research, and create their own podcasts. Exploration of ethical issues such as plagiarism and copyright are easily incorporated into this type of learning activity as students determine how existing materials created by others can be legally used in their podcasts. Podcasts also provide an ideal way to extend field trip experiences beyond the actual event and allow others to share the experience. For instance, students going on a field trip to the aquarium could research and pre-plan a video podcast on the aquarium, take pictures or shoot video while they are actually visiting the aquarium, and then produce the podcast when they return to school. This requires students to review and actively reflect on what they experienced during the field trip, as well as connecting the field trip to subsequent classroom content and instruction. Other student developed digital stories, e-books, and multimedia/video projects are easily converted into podcasts using software such as Camtasia (PC) or iMovie (MAC).
How do these activities connect to the Standards for the 21st Century Learner?
- Standard 1: Inquire, think critically and gain knowledge.
Students who develop podcasts are creatively demonstrating what they have learned about specific learning objectives. For instance, students might develop a video podcast that shows how the social, political and cultural events of a generation were reflected in its literature and arts.
- Standard 2: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.
Students who create and develop news podcasts about the school and/or community become intimately aware of the importance of information and access to that information.
- Standard 3: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
Students who develop podcasts must practice ethical behavior in the production of the podcasts (for instance, recognizing an individual’s right to privacy) and must adhere to copyright regulations. Copyright is particularly critical since podcasts may be accessible to the general public (although access can be controlled). The development of podcasts, particularly video podcasts, lends itself to group work, so students learn to collaborate in the planning and production of the podcast.
- Standard 4: Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.
As students learn about podcasting, both as podcast producers and consumers, they will be able to access and retrieve podcasts independently that relate to personal interests. If students develop podcast booktalks, book reviews, or digital stories, they will be sharing their appreciation for literature, and, as they access similar podcasts created by others, they will be independently expanding the scope of their literary interests.
Podcasting and Public Relations, Community Connections, and Professional Development
Finally, podcasts can be used to promote your school and media center with faculty, parents, and the community. The daily school news could be posted as a video podcast to keep parents and the community up to date with what’s happening at school. School orientations, parent teacher organization meetings, and other informational meetings could be taped and converted to audio or video podcasts. Podcasts can also highlight upcoming media center programs and new materials, demonstrate how to search the online catalog from home, or provide just-in-time professional development for teachers (imagine a quick video Podcast on how to use Discovery Video Streaming or how to hook up a laptop and LCD projector!). Some media centers include podcasts of student produced digital stories and book reviews on their media center web page to encourage reading and creative writing.
In short, podcasting is a great tool for 21st century media specialists to use with students, faculty, and the whole community! Podcasts can be posted on classroom and media center web pages for use at school or home, or can be uploaded to podcast servers for widespread access and distribution. The critical element for successful podcasting is a clear vision of what you want to accomplish – whether it be support of student learning and achievement, general dissemination of information, public relations, or professional development. The opportunities are endless!
References:
American Association of School Librarians (2007). Standards for the 21st-century learner.
Retrieved May 1, 2008, from http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm