Are Student Podcasts worth the time?

I learn so much from podcasts. One of the best things about them is that you can listen to them anytime and anywhere and there are so many different topics to suit the kind of listening you are in the mood for.

While I see how Podcasts work well as teacher products to frame learning, reference outlier issues, draw attention to different applications,  and  the list goes on, I was more interested to explore student podcasts because of the heavy time investment in the production process. Are they worth the time they take to produce? 

Aside from producing content, I think what sets podcasts apart as a medium of production is that in making these, students are actively gaining better fluency with software as it informs technology use today. In developing a podcast, students  learn about formats, converting abilities, file sizes and capacities, audio and video characteristics and compatibilities- all excellent foundation for users who will need to know this intuitively if they are going to be optimally functional and/ or transform the digital software landscape for their generation.

The podcast creation process may seem arduous and even daunting at first, but we know how quickly digital natives take to technology challenges. A 'hole in the wall'  project in india found that with no instruction whatsoever, a computer in a hole in the wall in a slum community, quickly drew in children who  taught themselves how to use it -with all its myriad functions. I love this example because it speaks to the ingenious spirit of the learner. And as a teacher it tells me that my students are capable of stretches that I may not imagine possible. 

Make time for student podcasts and start  working on that next technology that will stretch them.. :)

Hole in the Wall Ted Talk

Encouraging the Einstein and Edison in Everyone | Edutopia

Encouraging the Einstein and Edison in Everyone | Edutopia

So who wants to blog?

I have only ever blogged via a parent newsletter format every fortnight.  I think blogging my views on the facets of early childhood education  as they informed our practice, was important in establishing the preschool as an intellectually active- and therefore robust and progressive environment. Part of my rationale to blog was to showcase how policy and curriculum interact and while both of those were shared objectively, this space allowed me to explain where we were coming from and what drove us as a school. As a blogger, this process involved synthesis ( you can only go on for so much) and refinement, and gave me more clarity, and raised deeper questions even as I wrote on familiar subjects. A very interesting journey if the author is keen on the subject matter.

With the  role that sharing plays in learning environments well established, we turn towards how to do this effectively for our digital citizens. Are we doing enough to keep students motivated to share electronically via blogs?

We want our students to traverse this learning trajectory that possibly begins with observations but quickly morphs into how they interpret what they see. Blogging can take this sharing via discourse and discussion online, extending the  topic laterally in a way. I like the idea of students continuing to reflect and share what they have experienced in class in an ongoing forum that is then analysed to reveal plots and patterns on where students are on a  learning curve for the teacher.
In fact, the formative aspect of blogs is probably what I am most drawn to because I see them as an alternate way to record gains, deficits and dispositions.

So far so good. But how do we make blogs motivational? Why would a student be inspired to write about something in addition to all the other tasks they have to get done? Assuming that the technology is going to be motivational may hold some water but will this be enough to sustain the higher order thinking we are aiming for? With the best of intentions, we run the risk of over kill of the blogs are not supported in a way that allows them to evolve so that students have choices in how they respond and what they use to make their point. So yes, I see a parallel between providing  varied
response mechanisms ( strategies and representations) in a classroom and in the online format. I think in giving more opportunity to express authentically, we could be adding a necessary punch to blogs for middle school students especially.

A challenge here could be that depth of response gets compromised for the 'fun' ways in which  the response is related or shared especially if  the class is younger.  Can the skills we give students to effectively communicate via blogs interfere with  the original intent of the blogs? Will these communication scaffolds take away from thinking deeper because of the energies spent on deciding how they will blog rather than on what they will say for students? Questions  that I continue to probe  as I explore effective ways to blog in a middle school classroom..

Can Blogging build excitement for Middle School Science?

Does blogging chip away at the excitement  of an inquiry based learning class?  I argue that it could, if left to a singular kind of response ( comment) because the repetition would make that a chore, and that yes, then it would  negatively impact  what students feel about the science they are learning. 

But it could be a very different story if the instruction is a little more diverse, not different than  teaching response writing in a traditional class format. The variety of  strategies in  that assist them in making cognitive connections are the same that can be used towards more   effective ( responsible, purposeful) blogging. Short answers, 3-2-1, KWL,  a link that supports their view, a concept sketch using a tech tool, etc. would all help establish how students can access and respond to the material, without taking away from its inherent appeal. Science talk, like math talk, is about students actively voicing their understanding by stating what they know, how they feel about the topic, why they see this as important of not important to their lives, and what they are curious about finding out next- all great cues for a science teacher who wants to preserve  excitement  and do much more towards creating a more dynamic relationship between the science and the student. Blogging complements science learning by creating a parallel space that bridges content- instruction- student. 

Science Friday: Fodder for Student Blogs

Science Friday

Why blogging works better than traditional writing responses

The joy of blogging

Leading Education Trends & The Future Of Edtech – The Edublogger

Leading Education Trends & The Future Of Edtech – The Edublogger