When
we hear the word, podcast, as educators there are so many
possibilities to explore. As an auditory
tool, it can be heard by anyone with access to a computer or a MP-3
device. Programs such as Audacity have made the
creation of a podcast very simple and quite inexpensive. This semester is my first experience using
Audacity and creating a video podcast.
As I continue to create podcasts, I'll be quite apt to be able to
instruct students in the library on podcasting.
In my promotion of the School Library Media Center, I would create monthly podcasts with library news for students, parents, and administrators. The excitement of my own voice (compared with a written newsletter) would allow the listener to get a bit more out of the information than a written format as sound and music add to any presentation. Students would have opportunities to create their own podcasts in K-5. From a Common Core standard to a personal hobby, students who invest interest in their subject tend to research more and retain more knowledge from what they learned.
Using
Book Talks and Story Time via podcasting is also imperative to the busy
lifestyle of today's youth. Librarians
could keep their podcasts on the school's website to be retrieved when
necessary. Similarly, teachers or SLMS
could save student podcasts and post them to the school's website. However, copyright laws require the author,
illustrator, and artist (music) to agree to using the royalty-free products.
Professional
development podcasts could be created for themes that the School Improvement
Committee has named as urgent.
Nevertheless, if music is added
to the podcast, it must be credited as well. This is something of which I need to be more careful in handling!
-ASD
Like you, this semester is my first experience with podcasting. I was familiar with the word itself, but until recently was unaware of all of the possibilities they could be used for. Using podcast for library news, book talks, and story time are great ideas to integrate this technology into your School Library Media Center. By uploading these podcast to a school website, it also makes the information more accessible. Working in a K-5 setting, it is so important to utilize sound in order to reach the students who cannot yet read, but also to reach the auditory learners. As you said, it is also important to consider the busy lifestyles of our students (and teachers if uploading professional development podcasts!).
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really good point regarding copyright laws with podcasting. After listening to the podcast made by K-5 students on the WillowWeb website, I felt excited about utilizing this tool in my classroom of first graders. I was amazed at what the students were capable of doing to share the things they were learning about, but also felt that podcasting is simple enough for the youngest of learners to be able to contribute. The more I listened, however, I started hearing more and more music. I started thinking about copyright laws and needing to find and follow the guidelines for fair usage. The NETS for students include a standard regarding teaching students about the legal use of information, so I suppose it could be a learning opportunity in responsible usage.
Reading that podcasting has been around for a number of years is hard for me to grasp especially when thinking in terms of use in schools. My school has been using audacity a little bit but it certainly isn't in use across the school. We even created a sound room but it isn't used much at all. Creating a quiet space for recording podcasts is a great idea but the practicality of teachers being able to use the space with their entire class is the problem. The room is rather small and is best suited for 6 students. This assignment has reignited a spark in me to problem solve and find how the support staff at my school can help teachers use the sound room.
ReplyDeleteUsing podcasts for library news has been brought up by several students. I like the idea of sharing news and using the excitement in my voice to help spread excitement with the happenings in the media center. I might just have to give this a try in the next month and see what response I get from the faculty at my school.
An idea I am going to propose to my second and third grade teachers is to have students interview a "famous" person they have been studying in class. In groups of two or three, one student could act as the famous person while the other(s) ask him/her questions. The podcast could then be posted on a blog or Wiki and shared with other students and parents.
This was my first time using Audacity as well. I have really enjoyed learning about how to create a podcast and can see myself using this knowledge as a future media specialist. I think your idea of creating a monthly podcast to promote the media center is great. Another great advantage is the ability for both students and parents to “get to know” you a little more through the process.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, McKenzie, has a teacher that creates podcasts for her math lessons. McKenzie can view these as often as she likes and it has helped her greatly with learning her math lessons. This is homework that she actually enjoys doing - now that is something that is hard to find!
As you pointed out, there is also the need to make sure copyright laws are followed carefully when creating and showing podcasts. It is very easy to just create something without giving credit where credit is due. That is why it is so important for media specialists to know and enforce all copyright laws.