Research Project

My research project will be on why, as educators, we should integrate podcasting into all levels of secondary and post-secondary education.

I am extremely intrigued by the use of podcasting in the classroom. As we know, the use of the Internet is pervasive, as is the use of personal audio devices. These devices are seen being used everywhere and by everyone, no matter what gender, race or age the user may be. Just enter an elevator in Pray-Herald and you are surrounded by students plugged in to their portable mp3 players.

When I attended an orientation for parents of high school freshman last fall, the principal stated he was going to have to create a school policy concerning iPods, because they are so prevalent in school hallways. The principal referred to it as a safety issue. He would try getting the attention of a student, only to discover they were plugged in and zoned out on their iPod.

In my beginning research, I have found Will Richardson seems to be well-versed on the subject of podcasting. Richardson is supervisor of technological instruction at a New Jersey high school. He has a new book out titled “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.” It is listed in EMU’s library but is checked out till April, so I hope to purchase it via the Internet.

Richardson also hosts a blog entitled “weblogg-ed.com” where he discusses integrating not just podcasting but blogs and wikis into the classroom setting. He focuses on high school education but I think what he proposes easily translates to the college level.

I’m also very excited to have discovered a college professor who has integrated podcasting into her classroom activity. Barbara Ganley is a lecturer in the Writing Program and English at Middlebury College.

Ganley proffers the idea that by having writers integrate podcasting into their lives helps to make a connection with writing and other parts of their lives. Richardson seems to agree with Ganley to some extent, as noted on his blog.

“So much of our traditional thinking about personal learning and classroom practice is being challenged by our ability to publish and connect and collaborate primarily because of the opportunities afforded by the Read/Write Web. For instance, in a world where literally any place can be a classroom, we have to unlearn the comforts of four walls that we’ve become accustomed to. When we can share our work with wide audiences, we need to unlearn the idea that student writing and projects are simply ways to assess what they know. http://weblogg-ed.com/

As we’ve seen in ENG 516, podcasting also is a way for students to listen to lectures at more convenient times than a traditional class time offers; it allows for listeners to play back the lecture again and again; and to take notes in a slower, more meaningful fashion.

The use of podcasting in the writing has great potential in at least two ways identified so far. Firstly, reading one’s writing aloud has been documented as an effective tool for helping in writing revision. Students may be apprehensive about their reading aloud ability in the classroom. But with podcasting, they could record in private and then post the reading for others to hear. Or, after recording their writing, they would then listen to their writing and revise from there.

Secondly, I think podcasting would provide an interesting mode to insert into Web texts, or classroom blogs, or I supposed even into wikis. Students could insert their own voices and writing, or perhaps that of people they have interviewed or are discussing in their writing.

As part of my research project, I hope to learn how to create a podcast. There are at least two websites that promote free tutorials and so I plan on exploring those. Perhaps this project is a good excuse to purchase an iPod as well.
Some type of history outline is important to include in the project in order to fully understand podcasting implications. But from a few podcasting blogs I’ve skimmed, the history of podcasting is debated in the podcasting community.
Here’s one view of the history of podcasting from a tutorial on podcasting at http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/history-of-podcasting.htm
The next step in the history of podcasting was audio blogging. The ability to transfer larger pieces of information and faster connection speeds led some bloggers to start audio blogs.
Instead of writing their thoughts, they recorded themselves speaking and posted it to their blogs as an MP3 file. The spoken word added a new personal element to the media of blogging. Some audio blogs naturally evolved in to the first podcasts history.
It is the responsibility of teachers for meeting students half-way and integrating what they use in their lives into the classroom, i.e. iPods. We also are responsible for teaching students to how to learn on their own. The podcast can be an invaluable tool for students learning to “self-direct their own learning.” (The Steep Unlearning Curve, Robertson, webblogg-ed Feb. 7, 2007)

Using podcasts in the classroom isn’t just an educator being lured by technology. I hope to offer specific ways in how to use this amazing technology directly.

You should be thinking about this even before you produce your podcast. The key is to tightly integrate a podcast into your course content and learning activities. If you make it optional, most students will not listen to it. Try to make your podcast part of a required learning activity instead of an ancillary content resource. At a minimum, make sure it is perceived as valuable for at least 50% of the students in your class. http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/podcasting/teachAndLearn/#five