I don’t doubt for a moment that if a teacher had the necessary equipment and developed the “know how” for how to create podcasts, that it would be a fantastic way to get students actively engaged in the writing process. The possibilities seem limitless. I can visualize students podcasting poems, stories, news pieces, book commentaries, news, editorials … the list goes on and on. Because of the public forum of podcasts, it is would be a strong motivator for students to actively engage in the entire writing process to create quality products to podcast. In addition, because of the “real-life” feel of the medium (students are very familiar with news shows, radio, etc.) they would most likely be more interested in the work involved to create the podcasts. Or, as Richardson puts it, when work is “… done for real purposes, for real audiences,” they can have “a meaning beyond the classroom” (p. 122).
The video publishing component is, as we’ve found with many web-based resources, problematic because of the lack of control over what winds up on sites such as YouTube.com. I believe that because of how viscerally we respond to action film, particularly when it includes audio (even more so than still photos or printed words), I don’t imagine in the foreseeable future the younger grades having ready access to YouTube in the classroom, despite the fact that they get on it at home. However, screencasting might be a good alternative for these younger grades. For example, let’s revisit Flickr and now enhance that already wonderful tool by including voiceovers. I’ve already had students record over PowerPoint presentations, but it seems that student “products” can take on so many different layers, both visual and auditory. In addition, I can get especially excited about the prospect of live streaming with students from the different countries we are studying in World Geography, in the same way that I Skyped with my son while he was studying in Senegal.
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