Tactics - Podcasting
Introduction
We wrote this section on strategies for classroom use of podcasts and vodcasts after writing sections on the classroom application of several other participatory web tools. While we recognize that because of the greater freedom granted to readers of hypermedia you may not be experiencing the material we offer here with this same background, we will begin here by suggesting that many of the tactics we suggest for other tools might also be applied with podcasts (blog tactics). We want to explore some different suggestions here.
Our approach here will reference different analogies others have used to explore multimedia authoring as educational experience. We have two such examples:
- Nikos Theodosakis' model for adapting the filmmaking process as an approach to cooperative learning (e.g., The Director in the Classroom), and
- Digital story telling - crafting stories from images, narration, interviews, and other media components (e.g., Center for Digital Storytelling; Digitales - Bernajean Porter)
Examples: Documentaries and Digital Storytelling
Nikos Theodosakis
We became aware of Nikos Theodosakis and his argument for the educational benefits of the filmmaking process some years ago. The Director in the Classroom was published in 2001 and focused on the potential of digital video rather than vodcasting. The emphasis at the time was on readily available products such as iMovie (Theodosakis later contributed material to Macintosh iLife '05 in the Classroom - Heid). Theodosakis outlines a concrete model in with a team of five (e.g., writer, director) work through a five phase sequence to create the multimedia product. For educators looking for a place to begin, responsibilities are outlined for each role within each of the five phases. We have adjusted the more complicated filmmaking model to a three role by three phase matrix we feel is suited to the creation of less complicated vodcasts and offer an extended description of this model. This approach is suited to the development of documentaries - think nonfiction and informative presentations of content (historical events, political issues, science demonstrations).
Extended discussion of filmmaking model.
With increasing access to inexpensive equipment and software, the opportunity to capture the stories of our lives is available to all. Many have become interested in preserving oral histories and other personal stories and these efforts are being supported by several nonprofit organizations. Digital storytelling fits easily with language arts and social studies curricula and offers opportunities in other classroom situations as well. The information we provide here is intended to assist teachers in initiating projects that encourage students to collect, crate, and distribute digital stories.
Extended discussion of digital storytelling.
Comment on models
We find these models helpful and the concrete examples and strategies offered by other authors very useful in offering classroom teachers a place to begin when working with students. However, terminology and processes adapted from commercial environments or specific genres (e.g., documentary film) can also be confining. We encourage educators to meld useful ideas and techniques they identify in the consideration of such "systems" with personal insights and an understanding of local curriculum priorities.
If you have experience with podcasts, say through the iTunes store, and perhaps vodcasts, you may find the direction this section is taking a bit bewildering. What is this talk of documentary filmmaking and digital stories? The tools section did not seem oriented toward projects of an epic scale. While this is true, projects of a larger scale offer interesting options for collaborative project-based learning and involve more advanced planning, research, authoring and editing requirements. We will explore approaches associated with more complex projects here, but components of these approaches can always be used in simpler ways.
If you are having difficulty linking what you may have learned from our tool tutorials (e.g., Garageband) with what you have just read, here is another perspective that may help you generate some connections. We are betting you have viewed the documentary work of Ken Burns (PBS site summarizing Ken Burns work). Perhaps you have viewed the PBS series on baseball or Jazz (my favorite). Perhaps you viewed the Fall, 2007, series on "The War". Try imagining creating a simplified version of one program from any of these series with Garageband. For example, one of the first episodes on the Jazz series considered the origins of jazz and the connection with slavery. The content consisted mostly of a few images, diagrams, songs, and narration. What actual video would have been available? Consider how one might combine such resources in Garageband - perhaps the entire thing might be tied together by a narrator, songs could be added to another audio track, images could be placed in the "podcast" track. If the digital content and transcript were available, a reasonable approximation could be created. Of course, this software is also capable of integrating video, but much can be accomplished with images and audio. As an exercise, examine several documentaries and identify some that rely more heavily on audio and images. Imagine creating a similar product as a vodcast.