13th February 2007

Podcasting KWL and Adoption-level Podcast Uses

posted in podcasting |

I led a fun workshop at Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma City today, working with seven lead teachers who already integrate technology into their curriculum in various ways and assist other teachers with digital teaching methods. We did a KWL activity halfway through our workshop on podcasting with Garageband, and did the last part (what we “learned”) at the end of the workshop. These were the results. (Click the image for a larger version.) Based on this product, it looks like participants learned a lot!

Our Podcasting KWL Chart

We had a lot of fun creating an enhanced podcast together, complete with some vocal transformations! :-) It was nice to do a six hour podcasting workshop rather than just a three hour session, which tends to be more common for me. I think everyone walked away with some good skills with Garageband and at least a few ideas for using podcasting in their instruction.

One of my own takeaways from the session was to remember that we need to understand and respect the technology integration “stage” each teacher is in. ACOT research from the 1980s indicated five distinct “stages” of technology integration development for teachers in immersed environments:

ACOT Technology Integration Stages

Although my own bias is to encourage teachers to embrace student podcasting and podcasting for student projects, it should come as no surprise that many teachers (particularly those at secondary levels) first see the value of podcasting in recording their lectures so absent students can get that information more easily. Rather than be frustrated by this, I was reminded that this sort of “adoption stage” perspective when it comes to technology integration is quite natural. The key, I think, is not remaining “stagnant” as a teacher or a learner. Hopefully these teachers will continuing growing in their instructional uses of technology, so they utilize podcasting not only as a means of content transmission, but also as a modality for student expression and remixing of their understanding of studied content. Additionally, I hope the teachers will embrace podcasting as a powerful assessment option.

I added quite a few links to my podcasting workshop curriculum in advance of today’s workshop. I was struck, as we were working together, how counter-cultural it is in education today to suggest that students should regularly CREATE CONTENT and SHARE KNOWLEDGE with their peers and others via the web. One question that came up several times today was, “Are there lots of classrooms out there doing podcasting?” The answer I gave was there are some, but not many, certainly not many relative to the large numbers of classrooms we have across the nation.

The idea of encouraging students to appropriately re-write and remix their learning, in addition to “receiving” knowledge through a traditional, read-only “transmission” based teaching mode, remains a novelty in the vast majority of classrooms I continue to work in and around here in Oklahoma. There are tremendous instructional possibilities for podcasting, but I have to remind myself that each workshop is an opportunity for participants to take “baby steps” forward in their digital pedagogical development. I am not writing this with the assumption that I somehow “have arrived” and have all the answers when it comes to digitally infused teaching methods– I certainly don’t. Each time I teach I have new opportunities to learn and grow myself. We’re all learners, although in certain contexts some people have more “expert learner” skills in particular areas. That was the case today, I know I learned right alongside the workshop “participants!”

The bottom line today, I think, was that we HAD FUN together learning some new skills and creating some new knowledge products in the form of enhanced podcasts. Learning is a journey, and today was an engaging and personally satisfying leg of the trip. Hopefully it was for the other participants as well! :-)

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 10:41 pm and is filed under podcasting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

There are currently 8 responses to “Podcasting KWL and Adoption-level Podcast Uses”

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  1. 1 On February 14th, 2007, Patrick said:

    Wes,

    Thanks for the post and especially for the two visuals. I also teach a podcasting course for the staff in the two buildings I work in. The class as it exists now, is long on teacher-created material, what you call entry-level or adoption. The materials you provided will help me move in a direction that will give the class more depth and get the students behind the mic.

  2. 2 On February 14th, 2007, ETTC Podcast Demonstration » Podcast Resources said:

    [...] Podcasting KWL and Adoption-level Podcast Uses [...]

  3. 3 On February 14th, 2007, Pam Shoemaker said:

    I created a podcasting visual that has been helpful when I work with teachers - it might be helpful to others. It’s posted on my blog, http://shoemap.edublogs.org/2006/11/12/podcsting/

  4. 4 On February 14th, 2007, Andrew Boatman said:

    Wes, I see the benefit of the Podcast in the classroom and do think it would be highly beneficial for many of our teachers and classrooms and students. I think the main problem we have is access to the technology and then access to learning how to use the technology. Between Internet blocks and mental blocks the hurdles are high.
    I think the use of technology in the classroom is finally taking root. Many teachers use what they know very well. Getting them hardware, software, plans and ideas is daunting.

  5. 5 On February 14th, 2007, Wesley Fryer said:

    That is great Pam, thanks for sharing that link! I added a link to it at the top of my podcasting wiki curriculum.

    I agree Andrew. The opportunities are great but the resources and learning opportunities seem quite limited. I am reminded of the saying, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” I think the challenges highlight the importance of getting our students on board formally in providing both technical and instructional support for teachers and their peers in schools. The GenYes session I saw at TCEA last week was all about that, and I think the premise is solid. Our schools are understaffed now for tech support, with 1:1 projects looming on the horizon there is no way we are going to be able to keep up if we don’t think different and work together (including working with the students) to address all the challenges. I don’t think the old, traditional ways of pushing out technology and trying to support it will work, especially in 1:1 learning environments.

    Thanks for the comments.

  6. 6 On February 15th, 2007, Open Resource Centre : The stages of integrating technology into the classroom said:

    [...] Thanks for the reminder from Wes Fryer's post Podcasting KWL and Adoption-level Podcast Uses   KWL = What we KnowWhat we Would like to knowWhat we have Learned see Wes' chart   Thursday, February 15, 2007 7:01 PM miketemple123 Filed under: ICT information, Other stuff, Learning information, Tutorials [...]

  7. 7 On February 25th, 2007, How’s your relationship? » EDUC 554 said:

    [...] Wes Fryer recently posted a “KWL on podcasting and levels of adoption and integration of podcast”, but it really applies to all technologies that you are in the process of learning. Being at different stages is a good thing and we can learn from each other. [...]

  8. 8 On March 7th, 2007, Leonardo said:

    It’s very important to provide the students with the best possible learning podcasts. You can find a lot of education podcasts links in a new site Learn On The Go - education & learning podcast directory. It contains carefully selected educational and instructional podcasts covering wide variety of topics and aims to promote the use of audio and video podcasting learning materials for personal and professional development. Very recommended for students, teachers and everyone interested in spending his/her spare time for learning.