Podcasting

As an iPod user, I am more than familiar with podcasts. I have subscriptions to podcasts from every corner of the web—from Stanford to Comedy Central. However, despite my own love affair with having radio shows immediately sent to my computer, I was really unsure as to how it could be used in education. Sure, it adds a technological dimension to any given lesson, but does it really enhance learning or is it merely education keeping up with the latest buzzword?

I have to say that I am beginning to revamp my views on this. I do think that podcasts can be a valuable part of a classroom experience, as long as the teacher implements them in a way that is meaningful. As far as classroom management is concerned, podcasts can be a great way to recap the week. Parents who may not have the time to sit down and read a newsletter or check a blog can easily press play and listen to the audio while cooking dinner.

They can also be useful for some ELL or LD students as a means of differentiation. Studies have shown that second-language learners can reach verbal proficiency in as little as two years. However, this can be deceiving for teachers who think that their language skills are on track. While verbal proficiency comes quickly, it usually takes about 5-7 years for ELL students to reach written proficiency. Podcasts can be a means of alternate instruction for these children. If your goal as a teacher is to ascertain a student’s knowledge of science, giving the student an audio file of someone reading the text may be more beneficial than forcing them to struggle through a long script. LD students can also benefit; for example, it may be imperative to use podcasts for any dyslexic students in your class.

Finally, podcasts can be a way in which students can share their learning. This is the area that I am a bit leery about, because I worry that teachers may use this as a form of assessment at times when it really doesn’t add anything to the lesson. For example, having children work in groups to produce a historical radio show discussing “current events” of the day could be a really authentic and meaningful way to interact with history. However, having students verbally answer a question about history in a 3-minute long podcast is hardly effective. A podcast is really a social activity; people become involved in your thoughts and your life. They subscribe to your show. I doubt that many people would subscribe to 25 different podcasts on the same topic any more than they would ask to have a collection of the classes’ essays sent to them via email. In other words, podcasting merely for the sake of podcasting will have little meaning for students, and teachers must be careful when integrating this technology into their classrooms. Many lessons can be integrated with podcasting, but I feel that often, there are other approaches and technologies that could be more effective.

Interested in hearing a “podcast”? Click here.

Steal This Blog Post!

Google Images has done for photos what Napster did for music back in the early 90's. If it's this easy to get, it really can't be stealing right? Last week in class we discussed copyright law along with the new Creative Commons License. I have decided to share my blog under this new license, meaning that you all are free to share, remix, and reuse at your discretion, provided that you follow the neat little rules I've laid out for you: you have to give me credit; you can't make money off of it; and if you use anything, you've got to share it the same way that I do. Fair? Yes. I just wish more people knew about it! In my opinion, Creative Commons brings the internet back to its initial purpose: the free exchange of knowledge and ideas. I feel like an entire critical pedagogy lesson plan could be developed around this very idea. What does it mean to "own" something? What does a person gain by excluding others? What could happen if you open this product to the people? From photography to co-ops to language codes, this could be a means of accessing some powerful ideas about social justice.

Back to the topic at had, however. Photography. It packs a punch that is unrivaled, with its ability to quickly and effectively evoke a strong reaction in its audience. For example, the following photo:



My boyfriend, who has never been to Pittsburgh, saw this photo and immediately felt an emptiness that he couldn't explain. I will always consider Pittsburgh my home and remember driving down this very street every morning. I took one look and felt homesick. The photo, despite our differing prior knowledge, elicited a fairly similar response in both of us. Photography is rad. The trick to using it in lesson plans and projects is to make sure that you're not unwittingly stealing anyone else's work. This is where Creative Commons comes in. There is a website where you can safely search for images that have been shared under this Creative Commons License. Happy searching!

Another option is to upload your own photos to a photo management site (which, since they're yours, can obviously be shared). I have tried Flickr, Picasa, Ophoto, Webshots, and Shutterfly, among others, and I have to say that Picasa is my favorite. If you already have a google account, there is nothing else needed to sign up for. Your friends don't need to register in order to view your pictures, and it is integrated with many of google's other services. For example, since Blogger is a part of google, any picture that I add to my blog automatically gets added to my blog album in picasa.

Another cool feature is the integration with google maps. Check this out to see what I mean. The photos are integrated into a map depicting where they were taken. I'd really like to do this with the photos I took on my trip to Europe. This could be a valuable tool to take children on "field trips" without leaving the classroom.

Google Maps

Related technologies:
-map quest
-google moon
-google mars

Possible uses:
-community resources for parents
-extra credit opportunities for students
-show students street-level locations for remote locations

Cons:
-most images are at least a year old (some go back to 2001!)
-some areas blurred due to government security reasons
-not all areas can be used at a street view

Sites to check out:
-http://www.googlelittrips.com