Podcasting for Education

Lauren Pressley | pressllm@wfu.edu | 19 March 2009

PODCASTING IN EDUCATION

AGENDA• Types of podcasts

• Podcasting in Education

• Examples

• Design

• Making a Podcast

TYPES OF PODCASTS

Recordings

Audio and video files, distributed on websites, without the use of a feed.

RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds allow users to subscribe to your content. They can do so using a reader or iTunes.

Audio

Some podcasts are series of audio recordings only. These vary in quality and production value.

Enhanced

Enhanced podcasts incorporate slides with text or images to reinforce the spoken component.

Video

Video podcasts make use of the multimedia capabilities of many of today’s computers and networks.

Other Trends

New ways of adding media to websites are emerging such as Ustream and 12seconds.

PODCASTING IN EDUCATION

THREE TYPES: THOSE YOU FIND, THOSE YOU MAKE, & THOSE YOU ASSIGN

• Out-of-class listening

• Supplement course materials

• Provide expert voicesThose you find

• Specific Sites (ex. NPR)

• iTunes directory

• Podcast Pickle

• Podcast Alley

Those you find

• Out-of-class listening

• Review material

• Supplementary contentThose you make

• Develop communication competencies

• Research project: finding and evaluating information, developing ideas, and sharing information

• Scaffold assignments: one student’s project could be another’s review material

Those you assign

• “Whenever I hear myself on a podcast, I want to get better for the next time.”—Alex

• “Podcasting is very motivating because people from all over the world are listening to you. We are competing with all the other student podcasts to be the very best.”—Zach

• “Podcasting is motivating because it is just plain fun. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, podcasting makes all subjects enjoyable to learn.”—Kim

• “Podcasting motivates me to do better with my sentence fluency and my speech.”—David

Student responses

Quotes from students at Longfellow Middle School

http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17607/

EXAMPLES

Podcast Libraries

There are a lot of educational podcasts on the web, you can often browse directories to find good ones.

oculture.com/2007/06/podcast_library.html

Professional Websites

The BBC produced a video podcast, with footage from France, to help readers learn French.

bbc.co.uk/languages/french/mafrance

Study Cast

Audio segments created by a teacher for students to review.

http://www.mrcoley.com/studycast/

Cody’s Cuentos

Spanish fairytales designed to help learners with an unfamiliar language through familiar stories.

http://codyscuentos.com/

ColeyCast

Recorded by students, each broadcast highlights some of the things they’re learning in the classroom.

http://www.mrcoley.com/coleycast/

WillowWeb

WillowWeb is produced by students and teachers at Willowdale Elementary School.

http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/listen.html

Coulee KidsCoulee Kids is produced by a seventh grade writing class at Longfellow Middle School in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

http://wiki.sdlax.k12.wi.us/groups/couleekids/blog/

The Road She TraveledThis localized project evolved from the Coulee Kids Podcast.

http://wiki.sdlax.k12.wi.us/groups/theroadshetraveled/

DESIGN

• Who is your audience?

• What is the purpose of the podcast?

• What role will it play in the course?

• In student evaluation?

Things to Consider

• Audacity (audio)

• PowerPoint (slides)

• http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/ (photos)

• Point-and-shoot camera (photos and video)

• Windows Movie Maker (to pull together an enhanced or video podcast)

Tools

• CD or DVD

• Course Management System

• Website/Blog

• Hosted site (odeo.com, blip.tv, etc.)

• iTunes (anyone can add a podcast to their directory!)

Places

QUESTIONS?