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I feel like I'm discovering the internet all over again. First was the blog, now it's podcasting. When I think of podcasts, I think of NPR's "Moth Radio Hour." I think of sharing stories and experiences with strangers. I think of making listeners laugh and stay tuned, even after 20 minutes has passed. And I question, how do I create a podcast just as interesting and fun?
As a future teacher to 21st century students, I need to adapt my classroom to fit those students' needs. These students use technology everyday, in almost all aspects of their lives. To really connect with students, I need to embrace new technology and different methods to reach them. Podcasts enable both students and educators to connect outside of the classroom without disrupting the lives of either party. Students do not have an assigned time to listen to the podcast, and with most mobile devices, students can listen to the episodes anywhere they would like.
Podcasts allow teachers to step out of traditional educator roles. No longer do the school days need to be filled with lecture. With the help of podcasts, students can listen to the lecture in their own time and then practice application of the information in the classroom. The podcasts are also a great way for students with a fear of public speaking to make a presentation at home for the remainder of the class to view. The possibilities of options with podcasts are endless.
One of my serious concerns is the actual production of the podcast. Creating a 30-second recording and then publishing it was a difficult process. If I were to have my students create individual podcasts, time would be a serious issue. Because everyone has access to different technology, I cannot simply have my students follow the same steps. So while the benefits of podcasting are great, including generating creativity and enabling students to access information anywhere, there are also numerous issues that I need to address in the future. Some problems include students not giving full attention during class time because the information is available in the podcast, and students only using podcasts to prepare for examinations rather than use all material provided.
I think both students and educators can learn a lot through podcasts, including developing creativity and comfort with recording themselves. Public speaking also develops with podcasts because the creator of the podcast is aware of his/her audience and performs accordingly.
The following link is to one of my favorite podcasts. I find Science Friday to be extremely informative and entertaining. If students can listen to and enjoy educational podcasts, what is to stop them from creating one on their own?
Science Friday Podcast
Thank you!
I am a big fan of Science Friday too!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to respond to your concern about students' heavy reliance on podcasts to potentially, the detriment of classroom teaching or other material/media. I think once the overarching goals are shared with students, how they achieve these goals and what choices they make in presenting their responses matters less. By embedding learning objectives in different technologies, students hopefully see the myriad ways in which they can reach their goal. I am curious to hear your thoughts on this..
I really liked your idea of having recorded versions of lectures which our students can access and listen to at home, and utilizing podcasting as a means to organize and implement this form of recorded lecture. I know personally (being horrible at math) I would often get a problem or piece of information when I was sitting in class and having the teacher explain it, but as soon as I went home I reverted back to my confused self. Having access to the lecture at home allows students to quickly refresh on topics and information they might have lost in the process of their hectic day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post Emily!
I really liked your idea of having recorded versions of lectures which our students can access and listen to at home, and utilizing podcasting as a means to organize and implement this form of recorded lecture. I know personally (being horrible at math) I would often get a problem or piece of information when I was sitting in class and having the teacher explain it, but as soon as I went home I reverted back to my confused self. Having access to the lecture at home allows students to quickly refresh on topics and information they might have lost in the process of their hectic day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post Emily!
I agree with so many of your viewpoints. As educators we need to reach students differently than we were taught, grab them and help them to WANT to learn. Here at UC, I have observed students who are engaged and exploratory because a wise instructor has understood the necessity of "upgrading" their pedagogy. Tests are in forms of puzzles (yeah, EdPuzzles), collaboration is often via Skype, and podcasts are made instead of students' presenting in front of a room. Woozier! I too had issues with the technology of creating podcasts but I believe this generation of students understand the process -- they probably can teach me!
ReplyDeleteI think replacing in-class lecture with podcasts is one of the more useful ways of utilizing podcasts, but in fairness, it could be said that just about any aspect of being a teacher could be replaced with technology. If this is the case, why have teachers at all? Among the benefits of in-person lectures are the facilitation of discussion; this can only occur on a limited and essentially procedural basis in podcast comments, as opposed to organically in class. Further, my own personal issue of podcasts as opposed to reading text for content is that it can arguably take longer for me to extract relevant information from a podcast than it would be for me to use CTRL+F in a textbook PDF. Students of today evaluate and assess information at an incredibly rapid rate, immediately discarding what is irrelevant and moving on. So the question I have becomes: are podcasts truly conducive to the type of learning and information gathering that kids are doing today? I'm not so sure.
ReplyDelete