The Podcast Project

Podcast popularity has been increasing over the past few years, and podcasts are making their way into the educational world. I have entertained myself with many of these audio narratives but haven’t brought them into the classroom… until now. I believe they represent an appealing way for both teachers and students to blend project-based learning with digital media analysis and production skills.

I am developing a unit that will walk students through the process of storytelling, interviewing, and podcasting. The final product will be the original podcasts created by the students and myself.

I will prioritize the following ISTE STANDARDS FOR EDUCATORS in the Knowledge Constructor and Creative Communicator categories for this unit.

Knowledge Constructor

• 3a: Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
• 3d: Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.

Creative Communicator

• 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
• 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

As a teacher, I will be focusing on the following ISTE STANDARDS FOR EDUCATORS in the Collaborator, Designer and Facilitator categories.

Collaborator

• 4b: Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.
• 4c: Use collaborative tools to expand students’ authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams, and students, locally and globally.

Designer

• 5b: Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.

Facilitator

• 6a: Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in independent and group settings.
• 6c: Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.

This podcast project will allow me to put into practice my learning during COETAIL. I will plan this unit from scratch, using the Authentic Purposeful Learning Experiences unit planner (APLE) from COETAIL and considering one or more educational technology frameworks.

This project offers many opportunities to connect with related COETAIL topics such as research in the digital age, copyright, and intellectual property, and to give students the flexibility to choose tech tools and topics and, most importantly, create new knowledge.

As we are still in quarantine here in Panama and the future outlook does not look positive, I plan to carry out this project online. If meeting with the students in person is not an option, I will record our Google Meet sessions and ask them to keep track of their learning through a digital journal. The conclusive evidence of this unit will be the resulting podcasts.

This unit will require some shifts in my pedagogy, starting with asking students to be part of the planning process. For the duration of the learning experience, I will consciously try to be a learning peer instead of an instructor, and I will complete the majority of the tasks alongside the students.

Students will get familiar with the elements and techniques of podcasting and storytelling. They will research and practice effective interviewing techniques, record sound, edit audio, choose a topic, and produce their original podcasts.

I will improve this unit with the help of my PLN colleagues from different countries around the world. Ideally, the two homeschooled students who will experience this unit for the first time will have the opportunity to meet and learn from two podcasters (one in Panama and one in Laos). I have considered trying to connect them with one of the homeschool communities in Panama when they publish their podcast, to create connections and receive feedback from their peers’ audience.

So far, this is my Podcast Project Unit.