Adventures in Podcasting

Podcast #1: Profiling the Students of Today

I think most teachers today would agree that our profession is becoming more challenging with each passing year due to the technologically-evolved student populations in our classrooms. The majority of our students are what Marc Prensky (2001) refers to as “digital natives” or “‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet” while many of today’s teachers are considered to be “digital immigrants” who “were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point…become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology” (p.1). In an effort to learn more about these digital natives, I interviewed a young man who is soon to be a junior in high school. I asked him an assortment of questions relating to his digital abilities and interests, and while I did not have access to any other students his age, I believe that his responses seem typical for his age and grade level.

Furthermore, I have created a podcast based on my questions and the student’s answers. While I had never produced a podcast before and felt somewhat apprehensive about the process, I wanted to gain some experience with this type of technology so that I can begin utilizing it in my classroom next year. In regard to the use of podcasting in the classroom, Will Richardson (2010) writes, “Before you get your students podcasting, I would urge you to try it out first…I think you need to experience what you are asking your students to do—not only so you can support their technical use, but also so you understand what Web publishing really feels like” (p. 117). Thankfully, I found podcasting to be extremely simple and can imagine my students having a lot of fun creating podcasts for our class. After creating my very first podcast, I now have a better understanding of both podcasting and the average day in the life of a digital native.

References

Prensky, M. (2001a). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Teaching for Tomorrow: A Review of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website

Due to the current global economy, the learning of 21st-century skills has become a significant focus in today’s educational setting. Fortunately, there are resources designed to aid educators in the teaching of these essential skills. One such resource is the website of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21. Upon reviewing the website, I found it to be an excellent source for teachers who recognize the need to address 21st century skills in their classrooms.

According to the organization’s mission statement, the group’s goal is to “serve as a catalyst to position 21st century readiness at the center of US K12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). It is for this reason that such high-profile companies as Apple Computer, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and AOL Time Warner Foundation were instrumental in establishing P21. More specifically, P21 aims to “align classroom environments with real world environments by fusing the 3Rs and 4Cs” (P21, 2011). The 3Rs refer to the academic subjects and content areas that are already addressed in schools, such as English; science; and the arts; while the 4Cs include critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity (P21, 2011). To bring all of these areas together would prepare students to be effective citizens in the future.

One reason why I found the website to be a terrific discovery is due to the numerous resources that are accessible on the site. For example, under the State Initiatives tab, one can find separate pages dedicated to the sixteen U.S. states that have adopted plans to “ensure 21st century readiness for every student” (P21, 2011). I was pleased to find that the state in which I live, New Jersey, is one of the states that has committed itself to this endeavor. Upon selecting ‘New Jersey,’ I was redirected to another website. This site, titled Route 21, includes an abundance of information referring to 21st century skills, state standards, professional development, and more. However, I was surprised to find that this particular site does not seem to be updated. Based on the language used and dates given in the text, I do not believe the information has been updated in quite some time. While the site was published in 2007, I could not find a date for the most recent site update. In addition to state initiatives, one can click on the Tools & Resources heading to find separate pages for educators, policymakers, and parents, among others. By clicking on the Educators link, I discovered a 21st Century Skills English Map, which was designed with the National Council of Teachers of English. While I am a member of the NCTE, I was surprised when I stumbled upon this map because I had never seen it before. The map, which focuses on the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades, seems to be a great source; not only does it give definitions of each skill to be taught, but it also provides sample students outcomes and examples of lessons to use in order to teach these skills. I will absolutely be using this map during my curriculum planning in the future.

While there is a plethora of information available on the P21 website, I did not come across any information with which I disagree. However, one area that I believe is lacking is the page for Parents and Communities underneath the Tools & Resources heading. If these 21st century skills are truly as valuable as we educators are led to believe, then our students need to be practicing them in all areas of life, not just in the school setting. I would have liked to have read information for parents about what they can be doing to support these ideas and teach these crucial skills in the home so that our students are given as many opportunities for success as possible.

After reviewing the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website and gleaning many sources of related information, I can confidently say that I will be accessing this site again in the future, and I highly recommend it to others who are interested in incorporating these skills into their own courses. After reading the organization’s mission statement and inspiration behind this initiative, it would be nearly impossible for one to ignore the positive concepts and possible outcomes that would result from integrating these skills into the curriculum. Contemporary teachers might have more on their plates in regard to the additional skills they are now expected to teach, but to ignore the significance of these skills in our future societies would be doing our students and our communities a disservice. If we truly care about preparing our students to be the best citizens that they can be, then we simply must utilize resources such as the one described here to assist us in our goals.

References

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. (2011). The partnership for 21^st century skills [Website]. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org.

Blogging in the English Classroom

This past school year, I taught 9^th grade world literature classes for both College Prep A and College Prep B level students. Typically, I teach freshman students. Because my high school includes 9^th-12^th grade level students, I consider it my responsibility to help ease the transition of my students into the larger, often more stressful high school environment and prepare them for the next few years of required English courses. I have found Weblogs to be a great technological tool for my classroom, although I would like to incorporate more use of them in the future.

One advantage I have discovered in using a class blog is that of a homework reminder for my students. For the past few years, I have kept a weekly blog to write down the homework assignment for each night. Although the weekly homework is written on the board in front of the room and we review the homework together each day, of course there are students who forget to write it down in their school-provided planners or forget these agenda books in their lockers at the end of the school day. Therefore, all students need to do is access my blog to help them remember what is required. It is also very beneficial for parents who wish to know whether their children have work to complete at home. As the parents of freshman students, it is often difficult for them to know when it is time to allow their kids to be fully responsible for work that is either completed or unfinished. Some 9^th grade students do not need any assistance from parents while others still require a great amount of guidance and homework supervision.

In addition to homework, I post a very brief overview of the lesson or activities to be completed each day. Therefore, when students are absent, they may visit the blog to review what was missed. If they have the necessary materials at home with them, they will know what needs to be done so that they do not fall behind in class. Again, parents may also find this beneficial when they are checking due dates and assessing student progress toward the completion of a paper or project. I agree with the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms when he writes that “having a place to publish the course curriculum, syllabus, class rules, homework assignments, rubrics, handouts, and presentations makes a Weblog a powerful course management tool” (Richardson, 2010, p. 21). While I plan to continue managing a class blog in the future, I would like to expand my use of Weblogs by requiring my students to create their own Weblogs for different purposes.

Two years ago, I assigned my students to create their own blogs as another means of classroom participation. In addition to sharing their thoughts and questions about the texts we were reading during class discussions, students also posted comments and responses to prompts I gave them through the class blog. This opened the doors for a different kind of interaction between classmates. Instead of just handing in an assignment for the teacher to read, students were able to read and comment on each other’s work. This idea appealed to me because as a major advocate of classroom participation, I am always looking for more opportunities for student involvement. I know that some students are not willing to participate due to shyness and introverted personalities, so I thought that participating on a blog would help alleviate some fears and anxiety. Similarly, Richardson (2010) believes that a blog “supports different learning styles” and that students “take ownership of the space” which “can lead to a greater sense of participation” (p. 27). However, I did not assign my students enough prompts to make the blogs truly worthwhile. In the future, I would work harder to give the blog a more significant role in the curriculum.

Another aspect of blogs that intrigues me is the opportunity it affords for working with a larger community. Students take more pride in their work when it is viewed by a larger audience. Therefore, I would like to enable my students to share their work with an extended community by posting it on their blogs. For example, during the Shakespeare unit, students write their own sonnets or create a comic strip to summarize Act 3. If they knew that they would posting their work to the blog upon completion, students might put more effort into their work since many more people would have the chance to view and comment on their projects. Moreover, my students can actually work with students from a different environment altogether. In Web Literacy for Educators, Alan November (2008) suggests that teachers use blogs to “create a forum for collaboration with other students” through the use of “online projects with students around the world” (p. 84). This exciting endeavor would certainly enrich my students’ learning experience and open their eyes to a world of possibilities that would be nonexistent without the Internet.

Overall, I believe that the use of Weblogs enhances the experiences of students in the classroom in addition to the quality of work produced. I am eager to discover new uses of Weblogs and to incorporate them into a language arts classroom in various ways.

References

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

My name is Rena Mills-Little and I am a high school language arts teacher in North New Jersey. I am currently pursuing my master's degree in an attempt to advance my own education and learn different ways of incorporating new and exciting technology into my classroom. Any suggestions are welcome!