dkravitzweb2.0: Podcasts, Vodcasts, and Streaming Videos in 21st Century Learning

Using podcasts and streaming videos in the classroom is a good way to provide flexible access to learning materials. For example, the teacher can create an audio or video a lecture and students can access it to prepare for an interactive class. Teachers can review their teaching effectiveness by reviewing their own audio podcasts. Podcasts can be used to interview guests on specific topics. Maya Payne Smart’s article in Edutopia explains how elementary school teachers can use Podcasting and streaming to publish and distribute student work to a Global audience on the Web. Students work in partners or small groups to create a script, and then read the script into an audio device such as a microphone and computer or iPad.

Streaming videos into classrooms is a common practice these days. Many teachers use YouTube to upload materials or to access educational videos for instruction during or after school hours. The problem is that YouTube has no way to filter inappropriate videos, so many school have it blocked. LAUSD allows teachers to bypass the firewall one hour at a time, providing that the teachers choose only appropriate materials. Alternatives to YouTube are TeacherTube.com and WatchKnowlearn.org. TeacherTube is appropriate for schools, but content is much more limited than YouTube, and when I tried to open the page, I wasn’t able to . The Watchknowlearn website has videos which are organized by topic, grade level, and Common Core Standards. I found one site called The We Do Listen Foundation that offers free animated books for children ages 3-8 to help them with life skills. It provides useful activities, including discussion topics and coloring pages. Unfortunately, this website uses Flash. Students would need to use Puffin on their iPads, or access it on device that uses Flash. It is important to check out all resources to determine how they might be used as part of a curriculum design, and also to make sure they are accessible on all devices. In addition, many of the videos on Watchknowlearn are hosted on YouTube, which may not be accessible on the school network. For higher education, iTunes U offers access to many higher level learning and university podcasts. Some of the podcasts are free, and some have a fee. Edutopia has a very useful iTunes U collection for teachers, including podcasts on Project Based Learning. Radio Willow Web offers free student made podcasts on iTunes.

Jacqueline Mangieri, in her article on using screencasting in online learning, explains that this is an effective tool to bring the classroom to the student. Online instructors can provide a welcome video, deliver instructional lectures, provide feedback to students in asynchronous time, and provide a place for students to post their own screencasts. The article includes links to free screencasting tools.

How would I use podcasts or vodcasts in my classroom? It would be important to plan and organize this in advance. It would need to be to be a part of my overall unit design. I am using Understanding By Design to plan instruction which targets Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions. We’ve been working on a unit that includes interview techniques, the holiday of Purim, and the concept of History. The Purim unit emphasizes creativity and communication, research methods, and problem solving. Here is a link to the Purim Unit.

Producing a Podcast or Video Production: We were coming close to creating storyboards for our Purim interview project. My students were planning a video or audio production. I had several formative assessment tools that I used to pace my instruction, including Google forms, observation, work samples, and so on. However, over the last week, it became clear that this project would not be realistic at this time. We needed to keep tasks simple, and reteach rules and procedures. The students wanted to create their own play, but they didn’t understand what kind of organization or work needed to be invested in this kind of project. My standards based expectations would require them to create the play with scaffolding and work collaboratively step by step to complete a finished product..

We will need to backtrack and take care of basic procedures and expectations before we will be ready to produce a play. We will be using Class Dojo. I will call a meeting with the class and discuss our change in plans. I have attached a podcast of the students sharing their opinions about Class Dojo to this blog article. I will ask the students to listen to the Podcast . This can be followed up by additional Podcasts with students reflecting on ideas for improving collaboration and citizenship.

Reflections: All the bells and whistles that technology provides can not be thrown in without careful planning and management. Educators must practice the science and art of pedagogy to support students. We must emphasize citizenship, ethics, literacy skills, meaningful learning, and formative assessment to adjust the process. There is no way to make this simple or to make this a quick fix. With implementation of these kinds of tools, we will have students who will be prepared for adult life in the 21st century.

Terms:

podcasts- audio programs on the Web which users can listen to any time, and subscribe to for future reference. They might include sound effects, music, presentation slides, and videos. Podcasts are created by

YouTube- the most popular site for publishing self made videos of all types. This might be blocked in schools because it is not easy to filter out inappropriate and biased broadcasts.

Teacher Tube- an alternative to YouTube, is monitored by educators, and accessible at most schools.

Screencasting- when users capture the activity on their computer screen. Teachers can use this for tutorials, support materials, or narrating presentations.

Live streaming- users can create online TV shows for use in the classroom.

References:

“7 Things You Should Know About Podcasting” Educause Learning Initiative, Published June 2005. For this, and additional resources, go to this link.

Jacqueline Mangieri, PhD, Using Screencasting to Engage and Build Community with Online Learners, in Online Education, Sept. 23, 2009

Maya Payne Smart, “Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom”, Edutopia, accessed March 2, 2014