Podcasts can be used in many different ways in the library
media center setting. I will highlight some of the different ways I found most
useful. But first I wanted to share some interesting facts I learned about podcasting.
The word podcasting comes from the words “broadcasting” and “I-pod”.
This is interesting to think about because it is truly incorporates the features
of a radio broadcast and the ability to download onto your personal device.
Another interesting thing I learned was that in order for something to be
considered a podcast, a RSS feed must be present. The podcast must be connecting
to an RSS or it is not a podcast, it is just an audio file on the Internet. Technically,
podcasts only contain audio information. If they contain more than they are
considered enhanced podcasts or vodcasts (video casts).
One way to use podcasts is to distribute library news. I
think this is a very good idea because it is practical for the classroom
teacher. Our media specialist sends out a monthly newsletter through email. I
will be honest, most people in the school do not read it. It is one more email
that they have to read the information is not high on their list when they are
going through email. If you created a podcast for teachers about different
aspects of your media program, they could turn it on and listen to it while
they completed other tasks. It would not have to be long, but if I could listen
to the new items in the collection while I cleaned up my classroom or got ready
for the next day after school was over, I would be more informed about what was
going on in the media center.
Another way to incorporate podcasts into your media center
would be by interactive podcasts. This is where people would listen to the
podcast and then they could go on a scavenger hunt or enter a contest. The
podcast could be used to excite students and faculty about something special in
the media center. By making it interactive, the students and faculty are able
to feel a part of podcast. Also, by creating a scavenger hunt, it might bring
students and faculty into the library. Having students create this type of
podcast might be fun. By incorporating students, other students might more
likely to come visit the media center.
Finally, one way you could use a podcast is by doing a
booktalk. Here you can highlight new books and materials in your library. By
putting on a podcast, young elementary students can listen to summaries of
different books online to help them chose a book. Also, as I said above,
teachers might be more willing to listen than read.
Overall, podcasts can be very useful in your media center.
However, there are a few things that to remember after I listened to a few
different podcasts from schools on the web. First, if you are using music make
sure the music makes sense and is not too loud. Having snippets of music in
between different parts of podcast is fine, but having the music come in
between every sentence is weird. Also, have some type of introduction. Just
starting in without any introduction is not very helpful because it takes the
listener half the podcast to figure out what this is all about. Finally, used
varied sentence structure. A podcast can get very boring if you use the same
type of sentences. With a varied sentence structure, the podcast is much more
enjoyable. Podcasts are a good tool to use in the media center. Good Luck and Happy Podcasting!
Claire, this is a really good post on podcasting. I appreciate the definition; I didn't know the difference between the different types of podcasts. I really liked the idea of having a podcast for students to listen to, on specific books. The hints at the end are helpful, since I am completely inexperienced with this type of media. Anytime we can use different methods to reach students, that is a good thing! Great job!
ReplyDeleteIn thinking about ways I could incorporate podcasting at my school, I loved your idea of using it to tell library news. It seems most schools are same. Teachers are busy and if the email isn't urgent, it gets moved to the "read it later" file. I love the idea of teachers just clicking on the podcast while moving around the room to do small tasks. Multi-tasking at its best. I might just give it a try and see what results I would get from podcasting my library news. Maybe I should hide a little "freebie" towards the end of the podcasts as a test to see who is really listening to it.
ReplyDeleteYour scavenger hunt idea is intriguing to me as well. Anything I can do to get more students down to the media center, I am always game for trying. Technology seems to be the ticket. The only problem I see if making sure there is a quiet area for the podcast to be recorded. In my 21st century media center, it is anything but like an old fashion library. Quiet can not always be guaranteed with all that we have going on at various times of the day. I definitely think it is worth giving it a try.
I agree with Vickie's comment that book talks would be effective with podcasting. Book talks give students a little preview of select titles. However, I don't think it would be time efficient to use podcasting for recording complete books. Perhaps small picture books might work but audiobooks are a better medium for entire book recordings.
Claire,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of interactive podcasting. As teachers and librarians, we all have struggles with student engagement. Interactive podcasting is great way to do that. Scavenger hunts are a great addition to that. Some librarians view scavenger hunts as a dated activity for students to become familiar with the resources in the library. Adding interactive podcasting can turn a library scavenger hunt into a big deal, especially if the librarian utilized multiple computers. Each computer could have a podcast on the next clue in the scavenger hunt.
Covering the history and background of podcasting was very insightful and interesting. You also covered some interesting ways that podcasts could be used in a school environment. I liked the idea of using podcasts for library news. This would be very helpful in promoting library upcoming events and programs that would be of interest students and staff. With the podcast being interactive, this would be a lot more eye catching than a newsletter. Also, the idea of a scavenger hunt or contest would definitely have students excited and interested on learning more about the library.
ReplyDeleteYou also mentioned that podcasts would be a good tool to use for book talks. I agree that a podcast would be a great way to promote new books and material in the library. This will get students engaged in wanting to know more about the books in the library.
Additionally, you gave helpful tips in ways to make a podcast more interesting. I like the idea of integrating music into the podcast. Also, I agree with your great idea of using an introduction in the podcast and using varied sentence structure to make the podcast more exciting.
I like your suggestion for using podcasts to deliver book talks. I love sharing books I have read with students. Podcasts would be a great way to do this and also allow others to add their comments. As a media specialist, I would like to have students create podcasts about books they have read. I remember seeing an elementary school’s website a few years ago with vodcasts of students talking about their favorite books. The students had drawn pictures to create their own little books which they read on the vodcast. As a science teacher, I have enjoyed a science fiction project with my students at the end of the year. Students would read a book of science fiction and share the book with their classmates. Many do not like to talk in front of their classmates, and a podcast or vodcast would be a great alternative. Not only could students share their book with their class but they would also have a digital record of their talk which could then be posted on a class or school web site (with parental permission, of course).
ReplyDeleteYour suggestion of using podcasts to deliver news is also a great idea. I agree that news through emails often gets pushed aside, but being able to listen to updates while completing other tasks would be beneficial.
I am glad you discussed the history of podcasting. I had no idea that the “pod” came from the iPod. I guess that shows I am not a digital native! I could understand the idea of broadcasting, and the downloading of information to a personal device also makes sense. I had wondered where the word came from, but I had not made that connection.