Podcasting in the classroom - is it useful?

Hello everybody!!
I have done a recording of a brief Podcast that I intended to upload however Mypodcast.com is not accepting new Podcasters at the moment so it will have to wait. It's probably a good thing because I was having a heap of trouble with the microphone on my computer. No matter how loud I talked (yelled) the playback was bearly audible. Below is the script I used for my recording...

Podcasting in the classroom – is it useful?

I think that podcasting in the classroom can be very useful, IF it is set up and used correctly.

Podcasting will give each student the option to 'go back' and hear lessons again, to replay that tricky bit of information that they missed or didn't fully understand in class.

This would be particularly helpful for learners that are Auditory dominant learners.

Podcasting would also allow for further explanation of a topic out of the classroom.

Podcasting would also mean that the teacher does not have to continuously repeat themselves during class.

As long as the students' understand the 'basics' in the classroom they can seek further information and clarification online via the class Podcast.

I should point out that I myself am more inclined to use Vodcasting in the classroom as it combines images with the audio files.

Vodcasting would allow the teacher to further explain an image that was presented during class and would also engage Visual dominant learners as well as Auditory dominant learners.

Both Podcasting and Vodcasting would allow each student to work at their own pace through the unit.

This, of course, would need to be monitored by the teacher through a unit timeline or workbook that clearly sets dates for certain tasks to be completed by, and each task would need to be sighted and evaluated by the teacher and the teacher would also need to offer constructive, critical feedback to each student.

The major positive about Podcasting and Vodcasting is that they can be accessed online – the student does not need to be logged onto the school server to access them meaning that they can do their revision at home in their own time.

Although this Podcast did not go into much detail, I hope that it has stimulated you to look into 'new' technologies that can be used in the classroom.

So - Yes I do believe Podcasting can be very useful in the classroom. While the students are listening/watching their lessons online the teacher is free for one-on-one time with each student and is available to help in anyway possible, rather than offering a brief explanation and moving on with the lesson.

I also really do believe that if you set up a workbook that compliments the Podcast students will have the opportunity to show their understanding and application of the knowledge. Also, students will be able to show their higher level thinking in terms of mini assessment tasks that require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. As long as the workbook outlines a timeline and due dates I believe the students would be more likely to stay on task. As mentioned in the script, students can access the Podcast/Vodcast from any computer with internet access allowing them to complete the set tasks in their own time.

For the Podcast to be effective it does need to be engaging - and this is he tricky part for the teacher. How do you make an audio file about a mundane, 'boring' topic interesting and engaging? This is why I would be more inclined to use Vodcasting. Images and mini video clips can help create connections to information. As a history/english teacher, I believe images will play a large part in my teaching. As mentioned in my blog about using images in the classroom, it is far easier to explain where a country is if the student can see a world map. Although, as a teacher, it would not be very difficult to incorporate the images into the students' workbook making a Podcast more effective. This would mean however that the teacher needs to be very specific about which image they are talking about, and what aspect of the image they are talking about. For example: on page ... of your workbook, in the top left corner, there is a picture of ..... in the background of the picture just left of the centre there is ......

This can be incredible exhausting for both the teacher and the student.

Furthermore, allowing a student to submit assessment via an audio file may have many advantages. I have found through my own experiences that many students are capable of telling you the knowledge they are required to demonstrate but have a great deal of difficulty writing it down. This can be caused by a number of factors including low literacy, poor grammar and spelling, and also the fact that the student may never have been taught how to write an academic essay or report. Allowing the student to demonstrate the required knowledge via a Podcast can allow the teacher to address these issues. For example, making a deal with the student to allow them to submit their work via a Podcast in exchange for increasing literacy, grammar, spelling, and instructing them on how to compile an academic piece of writing. Of course, this would be subject to the approval of the appropriate administrative personnel in the school, but I do believe it could be viable if managed correctly.

Hopefully you will now consider using Podcasting in the classroom. Despite the minor inconveniences of using a Podcast it is a potentially very effective teaching/learning tool.

Images in teaching

Images in teaching can be incredibly useful. For example, when teaching history a world map shows the students where and what you are talking about. It is easier to see a country in relation to other countries on a map than it is to viualise their location when the teacher makes comments such as: 'adjacent to', 'adjoining', 'inbetween', etc.
In an English course images can also be useful. It is easier for students to get an idea of costumes for their Shakespeare drama if they can see what was worn in Shakespeare's time.
Images can be used in handouts, overhead projections, webpages, stories, and stimulus responses to name a few uses. I would definitely use images when teaching. They are engaging and work well for visual learners.

PowerPoint in the class room

Ok, so there is regular PowerPoint that I'm sure everyone has used at some stage and there is Interactive PowerPoint.
Both can use text, images, and video clips to convey information and concepts. The difference is that the interactive powerpoint works similar to a website - when you click on a 'hyperlink', the slide will redirect to another slide in the same way the internet will redirect to another web page.
An interactive powerpoint can be very useful in a classroom. For example, a teacher could set up an assessment task through powerpoint and save it to the school's hard-drive for students to access. The students can then work through the slides at their own pace to complete the assessment task but also have the option of clicking on the hyperlink to access additional information or ideas for the assessment.
Students can use powerpoint to present their assessment to the class as an oral presentation, or they can email it to the teacher as a research assessment - the method of presentation will depend on the task requirements.
Allowing students to add images and video clips to their powerpoint presentation can demonstrate their ability to use ICTs, as well as allowing them to present information in the form of a video clip or image that they would not be able to include in their submission of the task if it was required to be presented in a word document.
There are many step-by-step instructions available for using powerpoint. Allowing students time to work through these will increase their familiarity with powerpoint and decrease any 'fears' in using an unknown tool to complete an assessment task.
In my opinion, allowing students to become familiar with powerpoint, and providing options for assessment submission (word or powerpoint, oral or voice-over) will allow students more creativity and flexibility in their work and increase their knowlegde and abilities with ICTs.

Websites in teaching

Websites are different from both blogs and wikis. Blogs and wikis have already been compared so I will discuss the use of websites in teaching context.
A website is created by the user and cannot be edited by anyone, nor can anyone post a comment in response to the creator.
I have set up a website, and while it is a working progress, I intend to use it as part of my final assessment for this subject. The following link will take you to my website created using weebly.com http://manageelearning.weebly.com/
I think that a website would be very useful in a teaching context. The learning manager would be able to setup the website and modify it as necessary. All information would be accessable to students at any time.
The site could be set up to cover a whole unit topic or a smaller component of the unit. New 'pages' could be set up for each new concept and/or task. Guidelines for assessments could be added for clarrification as well as other useful tools such as work sheets.
Checking that work has been completed as well as te progress of the students would be relatively easy. The learning manager would just need to add some quizzes to the website and have the students complete and print them out for their portfolio once being checked by the learning manager.
Additional resources could be added to the website for the students that are 'zooming ahead' and for the students that may be struggling to grasp a concept.
The website would only be useful if it were setup in a user friendly way and as long as all of the necessary 'minimum' information for students was added prior to the lesson it will be covered in. Students would be able to work at their own pace, however the learning manager would need to make sure that students are on task during class time to ensure they 'keep up'. One way to do this would be to set guidelines for which topics are covered each week and the minimum work that needs to be completed. For those students that aren't on track, a hard copy of the lesson should be available so that they are not tempted to look at other websites while on the computer during class time.
Hopefully this has given you something to think about for your class room.

Blog Vs Wiki

Hi again,
I have been exploring wikis this week, and have even set one up. The following link will take you to my wiki, however you should note that it is a working progress. http://manage-elearning.wikispaces.com/
A wiki is different to a blog. A blog is created by the user and other people are able to post comments in response to the blogger. The creater of the blog has the option of deleting and even blocking posts from other people. Also, no one else is able to edit their blogspace.
A wiki on the other hand, while created by the user, can be edited by any and every one that chooses to do so.
I have included to following link to a youtube clip in my wiki (embedding has been disabled). This clip demonstrates how, as a result of unvalidated input from anyone, can result in mixed and incorrect facts, as well as going completely off topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaADQTeZRCY

I have already discussed the use of blogs in a teaching context and maintain that if properly monitered and implemented, a blogspace can be very useful. Included in our Uni course was a link to a website '50 ways to use wikis'. http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/
Even though I have reviewed this website, I remain unconvinced about using a wiki in a teaching context. I concede that there are some good ideas that may be applicable to group work, however there would need to be extra measures to ensure that all group members are contributing equally and fairly. As mentioned earlier, anyone can edit a wiki. As I am not entirely confident in my use of wikis, I would need to look into whether or not there is a way to see who has edited the page. This is for two reasons: to ensure everyone is contributing equally and fairly; and to ensure no one from another group is interferring with the wiki.
Also, many of the ideas listed in '50 ways to use wikis' can be easily applied to a blogspace created by the teacher for classroom use.
Hopefully this has been a useful comparison between wikis and blogs, and has opened up some new lines of thought in classroom practices.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's taxonomy is a catagorisation of lower and higher level thinking. Lower level thinking includes knowledge, comprehension, and application, while higher level thinking includes analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Each catagory has a list of assessment verbs that allow learning managers to create learning experience plans and determine the level of responses from learners.
For learning experience plans that intoduce and integrate new knowledge, lower level thinking would be applied. To evaluate learners' retention and comprehension, higher level thinking would be applied.
Bloom's learning framework can be applied to any unit topic in any way, and therefore there is no limit to the types of learning activities that can be designed to fulfill this framework.

This mind map is a basic demonstration of the elements of Bloom's taxonomy.







The following is a planning sheet that I obtained through a web search. It helps create links between lower and higher level thinking using the six catagories outlined by the taxonomy and also provides some of the assessment verbs to be used in the wording of the tasks, as well as possible end products to be achieved by the set task.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Planning Framework

Higher-order thinking		Actions	Products	Learning Activities
	Creating (Putting together ideas or elements to develop an original idea or engage in creative thinking).	Designing Constructing Planning Producing Inventing Devising Making	Film Story Project Plan New game Song Media product Advertisement Painting
	Evaluating (Judging the value of ideas, materials and methods by developing and applying standards and criteria).	Checking Hypothesising Critiquing Experimenting Judging Testing Detecting Monitoring	Debate Panel Report Evaluation Investigation Verdict Conclusion Persuasive speech
	Analysing (Breaking information down into its component elements).	Comparing Organising Deconstructing Attributing Outlining Structuring Integrating	Survey Database Mobile Abstract Report Graph Spreadsheet Checklist Chart Outline
Lower-order thinking	Applying (Using strategies, concepts, principles and theories in new situations).	Implementing Carrying out Using Executing	Illustration Simulation Sculpture Demonstration Presentation Interview Performance Diary Journal
	Understanding (Understanding of given information).	Interpreting Exemplifying Summarising Inferring Paraphrasing Classifying Comparing Explaining	Recitation Summary Collection Explanation Show and tell Example Quiz List Label Outline
	Remembering (Recall or recognition of specific information).	Recognising Listing Describing Identifying Retrieving Naming Locating Finding	Quiz Definition Fact Worksheet Test Label List Workbook Reproduction