Podcasts: The New Teacher

Podcasting is a new method of communication allowing anyone to create audio files and post them to the Internet for others to download and listen to at any time. These audio files can be downloaded to a personal computer or handheld device such as an iPod. Podcasting has rapidly become a new medium for both commercial and home-grown talk shows on multiple subjects. The relative ease of production and low costs associated with the making of a Podcast has opened this new medium to the masses. Our students today are all now native speakers of the digital language of computers and the internet. It was only a matter of time that this medium will reach the classroom. The potential of podcasts as a teaching tool is limitless, so much so that there are fears that it can replace the teacher in the classroom. This of course will not happen, not under my watch at least. Mark Prensky describes teachers as “digital immigrants” who speak an entirely different and outdated language and who are struggling to speak an entirely new language. Well some teachers do behave as though it is impossible to learn this new language and some, who have learnt the language, lose it because of lack of practice. Well Mark I am proud to say to you that I am comfortably "bilingual"

Where are we going

Web 2.0 technologies have revolutionised the way I look at teaching and has turned my pedagogical practices on its head. This has become necessary and it was almost inevitable. It was bound to happen. But how ready are we for the revolution. There are many revolutions that has proven destructive to persons who were not prepared for it. They were somehow caught up in it and it spelt their demise. The entire scenario reminds me of a line out of a Michael Critchton novel. It goes "Sometime in the 21^st century our self-deluded recklessness will collide with our growing technological power" Are we so ignorant to think that this brave new world of the 21st century will somehow not be affected by our growing materialism and greed? Every revolution has a hero and liberator, teachers are to step up and be that sane and liberating force that will save our children from the corrupting influences that they are sure to face when they hone their already natural computing skills.

"Bookation" blues

Well the "Bookation" is almost over and how do I know how my kids felt about it? I ask them to write. My daughter who likes to write and for whom a pen or pencil is like an appendage on her right hand, got to the task immediately. My son however begins to complain almost before I am finished speaking. Well its vacation and I believe vacation time is their time so I don't insist. He is yet to work on the task though. Simply put: reading affects writing and writing affects reading. According to recommendations from the major English/Language Arts professional organizations, reading instruction is most effective when intertwined with writing instruction and vice versa. Research has found that when children read extensively they become better writers. Reading a variety of genres helps children learn text structures and language that they can then transfer to their own writing. In addition, reading provides young people with prior knowledge that they can use in their stories. One of the primary reasons that we read is to learn. Especially while we are still in school, a major portion of what we know comes from the texts we read. Since writing is the act of transmitting knowledge in print, we must have information to share before we can write it. Therefore reading plays a major role in writing.

Thank you Aisha Wood-Jackson

I am no prude but I am always wary of technology, it seems to me that it has become too pervasive and in too short a space of time. It has captured the imagination of the innovative, grabbed the attention of the distracted and provided a platform for the expressive. Just a minute, books have been doing that for centuries and quite frankly history have shown that when books were becoming as ubiquitous as computers in Europe in the late 17^th century, its detractors were calling it the devil’s tool. On the other hand computers and their applications can lead to crippling addictions, psychological complexities and the systematic “mushing” of brain cells. But wait alcohol has also been doing that for centuries and fact is both books and alcohol are here to stay. Another fact is both books and alcohol have been used and manipulated in good and not so good applications. The reality is the computer is powerful and in the hands of an innovative, imaginative and expressive teacher, it becomes the greatest thing that has happened to education. Thank You Aisha for making this clear to me during this semester and helping me to appreciate the “good” that computers can be used for. “Wikis’, “blogs”, “podcasts”, “e-books”, “digital stories” are now tools I intend to use on a daily basis.

Pedagogical adjustments

An effective pedagogical move as reading specialist will be the creative blend of what is considered a traditional lesson with new information and communication tools. Along with that students should be given the opportunity to practice in a media-rich and technologically supported environment. Blogs provide an ideal environment for the successful blending of the instructional goals with new technologies. Blogs (short for the term “Weblog”) are websites where users can add comments to the original content posted by individual author. The author only can modify or delete messages once they are posted. They are often typically used as an individual’s personal journal. The combination of reading strategies and online technology can provide a platform for students and teachers to develop their digital capabilities while strengthening the specific skill in which they are weak. Blogs will make teaching reading a personal and private event especially with teenagers who may not want their problem to become common knowledge. I can hardly wait to unleash the power of the blog on my students, the willing and unwilling ones

Motivation

It is Day 4 of the 'Bookation' and my kids are on their second book each. I am pleased that they are intrinsically motivated and challenged to read, so I asked my 10 year old what was her motivation to take part in the 'Bookation'. Her reply was almost textbook and on target with the research. Researchers have identified a number of factors important to reading motivation, they include self concept ("reading makes me feel good about myself"), value of reading ("You need to know how to read because it is important to life"), choice of books ("This library has some really cool books"), types of text available and the use of incentives ("Are we really going to the mall when we are finished here"). Children need to be motivated to do anything , especially those things they don't necessarily enjoy. When it comes to reading to reading my kids have a high self-efficacy. Albert Bandura (1986) defines self-efficacy as the beliefs we have of ourselves that cause us to make choices, put forth effort and persist in the face of difficulty, and I know it was difficult for them to turn the TV off and read.

Let’s go to the library

Well the annual vacation is here and being the parent of two rambunctious children, I have to come up with ways to entertain them and at the same time retain my sanity. I am not one of those parents who believe that the television should be used as a baby-sitter (sorry Disney) nor do I think I should be in the room with my children 24 hours a day (it's my vacation too you know). I decided I will make this vacation a 'Bookation' (I know it's a clumsy word but I'm opened to any other suggestions). The first step was a trip to the library. I announced this to the kids and they screamed with delight, for a moment I thought I said "let's go to the mall" . When we got to the library, several other children were there, some were browsing, others were reading, and some were looking at a movie ( I must confess I did not expect to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the library today). I sat at a table and surveyed the scene before me while my children ran to the shelves with yelps of excitement. When I was growing up, the library was a small, old, dusty place with a matching librarian who guarded the books with her life. Today it's a wide open space with plush carpet and colorful shelves, young teenage library assistants and a TV. My musings were interrupted with the return of my children showing me their choices. I looked them over, checked their readability by using the 'goldilocks strategy' and headed to the checkout. In all we borrowed 16 books, which I thought was quite ambitious and headed to the car and to what I think will be a most rewarding vacation. You can follow the 'Bookation' right here on this blog.