Play and Record - Podcasting in the Classroom

I like to think of myself as an early podcaster. A pioneering podcaster, if you will. In middle school, my two best friends Tal, Lara and I huddled around a top-of-the-line tape recorder in Lara's unfinished basement. Sitting on a concrete floor, amidst boxes of Christmas decorations and old sweaters we became journalists, talk show hosts and traffic reporters - all with distinct accents and personalities - as soon as we simultaneously pressed the magic buttons of "play" and "record". In fact, our show created spin off characters that we explored further through our individual mediums, circulated by email: Tal's Talk Show, Kristin's Kolumn and Lara's Lyrics. Looking back, we were essentially one very nerdy, self-educating team.

It's that kind of enthusiasm, creativity and effort that I believe podcasts can bring to a classroom. Many schools are doing very similar things with great success (see what Southfield Christian Middle School is doing for a great example of this). Schools are using podcasts as a way of teaching new technology and conveying announcements and information to their middle school.

There are even programs that let you podcast with pictures - such as Voice Thread . I'm already imagining assignments perfect for social sciences and art. Why not have students create their own "museum tour" like one finds in so many museums? Or they could narrate a battle like it was an NHL game.

Apart from all of the creativity it encourages, I think that knowing your voice is being recorded is a great incentive to present your best ideas and reading voice. The ability to re-record encourages students to revise and re-do until they're happy with their complete product (I think Nancie Atwell would approve).

Podcasting also scores big points for flexibility - it's something that can be shared widely and not so widely, and is very controllable unlike some other forms of online communication (blogs, email and social networking). It can be a finished product, or the launching point for a written assignment.

Bringing in podcasts from "experts" is another great use for podcasting in the classroom. Sure, you probably can't bring in Robert Munsch to read his books but you can find a podcast where he reads it and maybe even talks about why he wrote it. For younger kids, you could even simulate it as a phone call to one of their favourite authors. It's a great way to bring expert voices and opinions in to your classroom, and at little to no cost.

Besides overuse, I can't imagine why we wouldn't try to incorporate podcasting in to the middle school. It's a dynamic, 21st century tool that connects to our kids sense of play, curiosity and mastery.