Podcasting & Digital Storytelling

 Our world is constant stream of visual images coming at us in many different ways; be it YouTube videos, television, pictures, or movies.  It makes sense that we teach our students how to create their own way of communicating with the world through videos and podcasts.  I have just recently begun experimenting with making my own videos and movies as a means of social justice education.  I have created two movies using Windows Movie Maker on “Tolerance” and “Social Media’s Effect on Teens.”  I really enjoyed creating these movies with the mix of pictures, video clips, words, and music to really make an impact on the viewer.  Videos and podcasts can greatly influence an audience if done correctly.  Teachers can do a lot with videos in any subject with either teacher-created or student-created material.  When publishing videos to the internet, schools come across the problem of websites like YouTube being blocked.  To get around this, the book mentions, classes can post to TeacherTube.com. (Richardson p. 121)  I actually prefer schooltube.com because I have been able to find more of a variety of videos and higher quality as well.  Today I just used iMovie for the first time while I was subbing for a 9th grade class, and I really can see the benefits that will come out of the experience for myself as well as the students. Podcasts are not as familiar to me as creating videos, but after reading about them they seem easy enough to begin with students.  I would definitely start by listening to some podcasts at home and then in class.  We can compare and contrast what we like about different podcasts.  Then I would give students to chance to work in a group to create a podcast on a specific topic.  I love the idea of podcasting lessons and posting them on a teach website for those students that were absent of just want to review material.  Videos, screencasts, and podcasts all help students develop their reading, writing, listening, speaking, and presentation skills in a very interactive way.

- Chapter 8: Podcasting, Video and Screen casting, and Live Streaming

     These articles express the benefit of using digital media (audio, video, and images) in education.  In the “digital storytelling” article I really like the way that is set up so that the student still has to go through all the same steps to writing a story put the end product is a visual and audio experience.  I think students would really get into adding images to enhance their personal, historical, or informational movies. (Robin, p. 2)  In order to find appropriate images for their movies, students have to be able to analyze the information they have and think at a higher level than if they were just writing it on paper. I did like the section of this article that talked about making sure to review copyright laws with students for when they are using images from the internet, and even gave websites that offer free images to use without any issue.  In the “Digital Language Experience Approach” article it was interesting to see how each student, with varying abilities, worked with the storyboard to improve their learning.  In all three cases the students were able to highlight an area in which they thrived and really express themselves in a way that they weren’t able to do before.  Movies are a great way to get those shy, timid kids to come out of their shell and show their personalities through this “digital language.”
- “The Educational uses of Digital Storytelling” and “Digital Language Experience”

     This article really showed the extent to what we can do with podcasts.  Students can reach students from anywhere in the world with this technology. Teaching different languages can become something a lot more interactive if a foreign language teacher sets up session with a school from a certain country.  The student communication would benefit both the English student and the foreign language student.  The great thing is that whatever podcast you are listening to can be listened to as many times as you would want.  This is perfect for students that need the extra time to listen to a lesson and take in the information several times.  When it comes to review at the end of a unit, all a teacher needs to do is pop a podcast on their website and there is an instant study tool for students. 

- “Podcasting in the Classroom: A sound Effect”