Podcasting is simply a means of distributing audio and video content over the Internet. It is a way for information to be more widely available. These podcasts can be downloaded to student and teacher portable devices such as MP3 players. For the school library, podcasting can be an effective means of communication with students, teachers, parents, and administration.
Podcasts can be a very tool for libraries for a number of reasons. The use of podcasting can enhance the media informational and instructional collection. One reason podcasting can be so valuable to the school library is because many podcasting resources can be found for free online. This is important especially in the economic times our schools are facing. Some examples of types of free podcasts include audio-book collections, current events, interviews, professional resources, instructional resources for science, languages, and literature, academic lectures, and music collections. When a school media specialist is considering which types of podcasts to include in the media collection, many considerations should be made. Learner needs and outcomes should be considered, content quality should be explored to make sure the information is credible with cited sources, and design quality needs to be evaluated for structure and length. In addition, school library media specialists can create podcasts to promote the library (tours, tutorials, story time hours, news, announcements for teachers, students, and parents), to support information literacy instruction, and to enhance professional development through book discussions, interviews with authors, and presentations for teacher instruction.
Once students see how valuable these podcasts are, they can begin using podcasts as well for their delivering their assignments. It is very important for teachers and library media specialists to teach students how to podcasts as a form of communication. Student podcasts can be used for school news, reports and research, reading their own stories that they have written, and for discussing book reports for stories they have listened to and read.
Podcasting is one more way that the school library media specialist can deliver content and aid students in delivering their assignments using technology integration. This is just one more tool that is essential for reaching students living in a technological world.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your post on podcasting. I have not ever created a podcast as a teacher (just two for course assignments at West GA) but think it would be really useful in providing extra support to students. I could record mini-lessons or review sessions and post them to my website so that students could access them at their convenience.
ReplyDeleteYour idea of using podcasts to promote the school library is also a great one. One way I could see this being done at our school is our media specialist can only attend one department meeting every month but she could definitely send a podcast to be shared at each meeting with resources tailored to that department. That way, she would have a presence in all of the meetings.
Your conclusion is a strong one, this is another wonderful technological tool that is easy to use and could really be beneficial to student learning.
Your post was very informative. I feel that teachers need to be taught how to use the technology in the classrooms. Schools can promote technology all they want and say they use it in the classroom, but are teachers really using it properly? So many students are hands on and need to be taught using those methods. Using technology will give the opportunity to use their skills and in a sense teach the teachers new ways to look at things. I’ve really enjoyed reading the posts this week. I hope, with a little time, more school media specialists and teachers will be using podcasts, as well as other technology, in their classrooms.
ReplyDeleteYour post really has my mind spinning in creative directions. I like that you discussed the potential for schools across the country and even the world. Podcasting could take cultural storytelling to a new height. One of the greatest ideas that I got from reading your blog was the suggestion for older high school students to create listening centers for younger students. At Cartersville High School, we have a teacher cadet program and a mentoring program. I feel that this would be a great task for these students. Creating podcasts will give the high school students a sense of audience, an ability to demonstrate technological skills, creativity, and will motivate them to read with fluency and feeling.
ReplyDeleteI also like that you suggested using podcasts for explaining difficult math problems. I know that our weekly math study halls are always packed with 30-40 students on average. With only two teachers in the room, it is difficult to reach all students. By having a podcast that could create a simple step by step walk through of math problems, the teachers could circulate the room less and read more students. This is a great idea!
I agree with you that booktalks are one of the best ideas for podcasts. I've mentioned this in other blogs, but my media specialist and I are teaming up for podcasting booktalks and book trailers for the students. We are hoping to upload them to the library media center's web page and increase usage in the library.
You had great suggestions!
I really found your podcast to be very informative. I have only done podcasting in my classes at UWG and I am always interested in ways that I can use it in my Media Center.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is the key to success and using it as a communication tool could only be beneficial to my teachers and parents. I especially liked the fact that many of the podcasting resources can be found online....free. With budgets as tight as they are you have to be careful about adding new things to the Media Center. The types of podcasts that are available would be such great assests to any Media Center.
It was very helpful that you included the considerations that a Media Specialists should look at before choosing they types of podcasts to include. Sometimes when there are a vast number of resources available people don't always know where to start. It is also a good idea to include some podcasts that you have created as Media Specialist to get the information out.
I feel I have a better understanding of how to use podcasts in my Media Center after reading your post.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is a number one issue for me. It seem that people are so busy that communication often times gets left behind. The more ways we can find to communicate with our patrons the better. I love the idea for using podcasts as a promotion tool for the media center. I can see having tours and toutorials available as podcasts on the media center web page. I also love the idea of doing book talks and story time with podcasts. I wonder if you are doing a whole story on a podcast and putting it out there for the world to view if there are any copyright issues? It would also be interesting to promote authors through podcast as well. I think these are all great ideas for using podcast in the media center. I have only used podcast with my assignments at UWG and would love to have the opportunity to play with it more. I also think that podcasts are a great tool for students to use for presentatins instead of the good old power point! My 13 year old son is better at power point than I am now, so I bet he would take off with podcasting.
ReplyDeleteI think that Podcasting is very useful in the field of education. However, as with most technology, there are some downsides to using Podcasting. Schools are serving more and more students with disabilities. Hearing impairment is one category for students with disabilities. Podcasting has no usefulness for some hearing impaired students. Student who suffers from deafness will not benefit from this assistant; however, students that are hard of hearing may be able to take advantage of this new technology.
ReplyDeleteAnother downfall is individual interaction. Podcasting does not have two-way interaction and does not involve audience participation. Although Podcasts are easy to create, library media specialist will need to keep in mind that the faculty may need training with audio and technology. They must also understand that although it is a viable teaching strategy, it is not flawless, nor is it a replacement for normal instruction – at least not yet.