I apoligize in advance: I plan to use this blog entry to "vent" and reflect upon a recent incident I had in one of my schools. I want to have my students create podcasts next week to show their understanding of American society at the turn of the 20th century. I understood the potential disasters I may have with podcasting, since I have never actually done this type of project with 5 full classes. Also, I am somewhat uncomfortable with using the Audacity program. But, I decided to go ahead with the idea. I thought that, although I have never used podcasting in the classroom, it would be a good opportunity to do so.
The first frustrating aspect of this process was actually getting the technology. The one school I teach at has a library with computers, and that is it. There are two laptop carts and they rarely work, I am told. When going to reserve the library, I noticed that the library was already reserved for almost three full weeks. Now, I was reserving one week in advance, so that may have not been enough time, but this is my first time teaching the 9th grade curriculum. Therefore, I rarely know what I am doing in class two days ahead, let alone three weeks. Fortunately, the librarian was extremely helpful and investigated the laptop cart, and e-mailed me later in the day saying that the laptops did have Audacity. Obstacle one- conquered! Now, let's just hope the laptops work...
The second frustrating aspect of my "pilot" podcasting project was the surprisingly lack of excitement from the students. Once I had computers reserved for next week, I told some of my classes that they would be using all of the research from this week to create a podcast next week. Only about 20% of my students have created a podcast before, but most of them showed little interest or excitement about doing one. This was frustrating because I could have easily just had the students research and study the material; but, instead, I wanted them to create something meaningful and fun. I am hoping that once the students begin recording, they will get more excited about it!
The last frustration that I have encountered with this project is the reaction I got from a few other teachers. When I told a few of my social studies colleagues what I was doing, one particular colleague said that he would "never spend so much time" on a project like this. He is a veteran teacher and his comment made me question how much time I would be spending on this project.
However, there is a positive side to this blog entry! I seriously considered abandoning the entire project idea, but then I read through Will Richardson's article "The Educators Guide to the Read/Write Web" for class tonight. I think that my reading of that article came at a perfect time in the midst of my "podcasting" frustrations. Richardson makes several good points about using technology in the classroom, but the one that stood out to me was the following: "...the potential enhancements to student learning that the new Read/Write web entails outweigh...the risks. The web has become a vehicle through which students and teachers share what they have learned in meaningful, purposeful ways." Yes, I may be spending a lot of time teaching the kids how to convert their research into a podcast, but, as Richardson said, the risks outweigh everything else. Students will be creating something meaningful, rather than simply memorizing material. Yes, I will spend a lot of time teaching "how to podcast" rather than history, but I believe technology is an important skill to learn in order to prepare students for the world today. The world today is constantly changing. Therefore, how are we benefiting our students if we, as teachers, stay the same?
Just to further add to my arguement for use of technology, I went online and researched what some people were saying about using technology in today's classroom. It was actually hard to find anyone saying that technology was NOT good for students! One site that I found gave some research and data on how technology impacts education. Specifically, this site said that: "when students were engaged in technology-rich environments, increased achievement in preschool through high school for both regular and special needs students, and improved attitudes toward learning and increased self-esteem." Wow. What inspiration!
So, I'll admit, I was frustrated, but I now see the "light" at the end of the tunnel. Technology may be difficult to incorporate, there may be countless obstacles and questions, but it's definitely worth it!
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3 comments:
You could create a sample for them to listen to....which might get them excited. Also, this probably won't be the last time your podcast w/ these students. So, next time, it won't take as much time. You're teaching them a different genre of publishing; one they listen to constantly on their ipods. Also, a genre of public speaking (for a public audience) that they will have to do constantly in the real world!!! I say go for it...was Tony Vincent's site/document helpful?
I think you made the right decision. As teachers you shouldn't abandon a project because it would be too much work for yourself. Is that an attitude of a good teacher? I think after you put in the hard work and see the results you will be glad you did it.
I also think that once the students start the project they will start to get excited. I have had similar experiences where I introduced a project and expected the students to be more excited but weren't. With such a bad reaction I thought the project was going to bomb, but once they started it you could tell they were enjoying it.
I can't even tell you how many times I have felt like abandoning a lesson because I personally don't understand the technology. I will say that the kids love teaching me the technology. So I have decided that it's okay for them to teach me as well. I'm very lucky that my school has the technology and it has very rarely ever failed us. My biggest problem is getting up the nerve to use it and change things up. So I figure I'm willing to incorporate the technology as long as my students are patient and willing to help. I've seen a new attitude from my kids where there seems to be a mutual respect. I lead them to the history and explain as needed, they show me the technology. Fun!
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