Uses+of+Podcasting+in+K-12+Education

=Uses of Podcasting, Vodcasting and Screencasting in Education=

A review of literature regarding implementations of podcasting and screencasting in the classroom reveals applications that can be classified into major use categories: supplemental or remedial instruction, recording of class lectures, student created projects and the teaching of step-by-step procedures. These uses occur in higher education as well as in K-12 settings (White, 2009; Young and Kajder, 2009; Brown-Sica, Sobel, and Pan, 2009; Heck, Houwing and Cor de Beurs, 2009; Fahlberg-Stojanovska, Fahlberg and King, 2008; Call, Swan & Hofer, 2009; Kerstetter, 2009). At present, it appears that more use occurs in higher education than in the K-12 setting. A n extensive review of the literature was conducted by Hew (2009), searching specifically for use of audio podcasts in education. Thirty original, empirical studies of podcast use were reviewed. Of the 30 studies, only two were conducted in the K-12 setting. (Hew, 2009)

Specific uses were noted in the literature:

College Biology
White (2009) studied his students use of podcasts of recorded lectures in a college General Biology class. The study found that most students in the course downloaded a few (7.2% of the total podcasts available), but not all of the lectures. An analysis of the timing of the downloads for each lecture showed that students preferred to listen to the lectures after they were given, perhaps because they did not fully understand the material the first time they heard it. The ability to selectively replay portions of the lecture that were not understood is an advantage to using podcasts. Additional analysis of download patterns showed that the majority of the podcasts were used to review for exams; students did not listen to the lectures in lieu of attending them, but in addition to attending them. (White, 2009)

English Language Arts
"Composing digital video - creating digital stories, book trailers, music videos, screencasts, and more - requires us to examine how we produce, distribute, invent, explore, persuade and create impact texts written for specific audiences. Doing so alongside participatory media such as Web 2.0 tools allows us to leverage audience participation in ways that yield authentic collaboration and feedback." (Young and Kajder, 2009) Using screencasting, students can create video book trailers that persuade viewers to read a text. Students must carefully read text, develop storyboards and images depicting the content of the book and write a script that coveys the message within the trailer. To be fully literate, students must know how to use tools, and know which tools will best support their purpose given their audience and content. (Young and Kajder, 2009)

Teaching Students, Faculty and Staff with Screencasting
Three academic librarians use screencasting to teach students, academic faculty and colleagues. It is used as an essential, creative technique to instruct all users. Screencasting is used to provide an immediate response to on-campus and distance learner needs by providing short, quickly produced online tutorials. (Brown-Sica, Sobel, and Pan, 2009)

Math/Science/Technology
In a secondary school in the Netherlands, 16 to 17 year old students were provided with a blended classroom environment in which instructions for learning how to use software and equipment were mainly given using screencasts. This relieved students of the need to scour long manuals or separate instructions on how to use tools. (Heck, Houwing and Cor de Beurs, 2009) Screencasts are ideal to support learning where step-by-step instructions need to be learned. They perform their function better than user manuals or help pages. Screencasts are ideal to use to learn and practice problems. A teacher can record a screencast with the step-by-step solution to encourage students and provide necessary scaffolding for them to carry out mathematical tasks and to practice skills. (Heck, Houwing and Cor de Beurs, 2009)

Mathcasts
A mathcast is a screencast that explains mathematical concepts and problem-solving steps. Both teachers and students can readily make mathcasts. Teacher-made mathcasts are perfect for on demand instructional help. Student created mathcasts promote collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. Students can develop mathcast portfolios to demonstrate their mastery of problem solving. (Fahlberg-Stojanovska, Fahlberg and King, 2008)

Economics
News sources such as NPR and The Economist have begun to use podcasting to disseminate information about the global economy. However, these are often at too high of a level for the typical K-12 student, and the passive nature of students' listening to podcasts may not be very effective as a teaching practice. //Econocast// is a website which hosts a project for 9th grade social studies where students create podcasts. (Call, Swan & Hofer, 2009) More than one half of American teens view, comment upon, create and share multimedia content on the Web, and express frustration that they do not have these types of experiences at school. (Levin & Arafeh, 2002 as cited in Call, Swan & Hofer, 2009)

Music
Uses in music include providing instruction on how to play the recorder, where students can see fingerings while hearing notes and hearing instructors descriptions. Sending recordings of music class to parents or administrators to convey what is occurring in the music room is one way music teachers can showcase student work, especially if public performances are infrequent. Showcasing a student of the week or class of the week is one way of sharing with the school community some of what is happening in the music room. Podcasts are also useful for supplemental instruction. However, music educators must remain cognizant of the fact that only public domain music may be used in a podcast. To relate music to history and culture, students can create podcasts about the life and music of famous musicians. There is also a wide array of podcasts that have been published, these are great resources for teachers. (Kerstetter, 2009)

====(Swan & Hofer, 2009) Podcasting provides teachers with new sources of information including interviews with historians, press briefings and conference presentations. According to Swan & Hofer, podcasting is "a substantive and practical reinvention of existing teaching strategies - the guest speaker, the field trip and the primary source." The authors rate these sites using five key dimensions: (1) Credibility of source; (2) Engagement; (3) Applicability to classroom; (4) Content of podcast; and (5) Functionality of site. A wide range of quality was found among podcasts, and very few catered to the K-12 audience.====
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