Week 9- Response to readings: There's Something in the Air: Podcasting in Education

In his article, There’s Something in the Air: Podcasting in Education, Gardner Campbell reflects upon the many educational virtues of the podcast. When Gardner wrote his article in 2005, podcasting was still a relatively up-and-coming phenomenon. Five years later, less from the point of view of creation but certainly from that of consumption, podcasts have become quite commonplace. I myself enjoy listening to a variety of programming via podcasts on my i-pod while I run. As with most of my interactions with technology, however, my personal use of multi-media tools has not often translated into my professional life. Gardner’s article is giving me a great opportunity to reflect upon how I might use podcasts should I find myself in a library setting, but more immediately, how I might use podcasts in my current practice.

I think the first time I really considered the power of the podcast was when Joanne used one to introduce herself at the beginning of our course. This being my first on-line educational experience, I was nervous about feeling cut off and depersonalized. Gardener speaks of the voice as being able to “connect with the listener on a profound level” (2005). What I experienced on hearing Joanne’s words was instant relief that I was in fact dealing with a real person, who was going to be open and responsive to my needs as a student. It’s amazing what a difference that little bit of voice contact made to my comfort level.

Gardner uses post-secondary examples of podcasting but many of the stated benefits could be applied to my Grade 1 French Immersion scenario. He speaks of “the explaining voice” (2005) as a conveyor of “microcues of hesitation, pacing and inflection” (2005). These are very important aspects of second language instruction. Gardner also states, “When we hear someone read with understanding, we participate in that understanding, almost as if the voice is enacting our own comprehension” (2005). Parents of students in French Immersion often struggle when providing at-home support to their children. They often cannot read the books that their children bring home and, if so, are not equipped to model appropriate pronunciation, pacing and inflection. I could imagine using a classroom blog to provide a “library” of teacher created podcasts to accompany books that are going home. Not only would this support students and parents, it would also provide an additional point of connection by bringing the teacher’s voice home. I know it would be quite the project to create such a library but what a wonderful resource you’d have in the end! Podcasts could incorporate such activities as weekly “dictée” words”, the sound of the week, listen and repeat, real tempo listening and comprehension and many more. French Immersion teachers often deal with a paucity of resources and are quite used to creating their own. With podcasts, these would no longer have to be restricted to the written word.