Although podcasting has been in existence for many years, I am slightly embarrassed to say that I'm relatively new to its use in the educational environment. Podcasting can be an effective communication tool for the media center. It can be used in several ways. The media specialist can create book talks. Brief book talks can be posted to the media center's website via a podcast. They can be used as a great tool for providing a brief synopsis of a book or an upcoming title in a series. For younger students podcasts would be a great way to listen to certain characters or short scenes in a story and make predictions about what will happen in a story for coming to the media center for reading time. On her podcast Booktalks Quick and Simple, Nancy Keane posts daily booktalks she categorizes them in order of author; this makes them easy to locate for users to locate. Many of her booktalk podcasts are short averaging 1-2 minutes; she excites the readers' interest in a story prior to them being exposed to it. On many of her Booktalks she uses good instructional strategies by asking questions of the future reader. A media specialist planning to use this daily book talk idea could extend it by allowing the reader to respond by typing in an open blog space or on a wiki page.
Media specialist could also use podcasts and also vodcasts to advertise for the media center. If users had a brief video available or a brief recording available on how to use the media center and its resources that will be invaluable toward the media center's goal. How cool would it be to get a brief tour of the media center without the Librarians physical assistance? This type of podcast would be especially useful for students who struggle with finding books according to Dewey classification.
Willowdale elementary's podcast Radio WillowWeb was simply amazing! They included the input of several students. Each student had a stake in producing the podcast successfully. This will be a great alternative to a written research project. i'm sure students went to great lengths to conduct research most likely with the support of their teacher and the.... media specialist! Students were allowed to express their creativity by interacting with each other in a natural manner; they did not just read from a sheet of paper. Music and other special features were included within the podcast which made it more enjoyable for listeners. The audio podcast is so safe for students especially when posting the podcast to public websites. The teacher or facilitator gave credit to all contributors by using first names only. Safety is something to be especially vigilant of when creating podcasts for students.
I checked out the blog of Wesley A. Fryer. He gets several links to resources on effective podcasting in schools. He's created a very practical podcasting flowchart which can be used by beginners. It includes tips on how to make a quick note edit podcasts for musical choose a multipart podcasts. Some media specialist and teachers are posting their podcasts on iTunes. What a true definition of teaching students to be 21st-century learners.
I am new to podcasting so you are not alone. Good idea on the open blog space & wiki page. I also like how you elaborated on the idea of the virtual library where students or visitors can view a podcast to help them learn the media center or Dewey system. I was also amazed with the Willoweb podcast. These kids sure did a better job than I did. (Hopefully Ill get better with practice). I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteI am also new to podcasting. I do however, see and understand the need for it. Certainly everywhere, the push for 21st century learners is huge! You are accountable for incorporating it into the curriculum. Now, with that being said, I totally agree with how you can incorporate it. The examples given are great! Producing book talks through podcasts and vodcasts is an easy, interesting, and effective way to get your point across and the job done.
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