Photo by Siddharth Bhogra on Unsplash

Presentation day

It was nice to bring together our ideas for a short classroom presentation last week. What had we learned about podcasts in the classroom? I focused on the social aspects of podcasts – the fact that we share them with friends and acquaintances based on our own experiences.  We reviewed some ways to use podcasts in the classroom.

Purposes for podcasts in teaching

  1. Connect with students
  2. Share content
  3. Create our own podcasts
  4. Focus on oral storytelling form
  5. Develop ourselves professionally as teachers

Co-Creation

We used our presentation to have the class participate in two activities:

Compilation of favourite podcasts

Screenshot of the Google Doc where classmates listed their favourite podcasts and reasons they like them.

Compilation of podcasts series or activity ideas using podcasts, by subject area

Reflections on the inquiry

As I mentioned, a major realization is that people like to share podcasts in a socialized way. Relatedly, we enjoy sharing what we love (or like, or are curious about). Dave wrote a blog post after our presentation about the realization that we could use podcasts to connect with students. I’m glad that that idea came home (which we modelled with the first activity above). In Multiliteracies, we have recently been focusing on the importance of knowing our students in order to be able to assess them (or work with them in any meaningful way). In my first year of teaching, if I use podcasts in only one way, I hope I choose this one – as a way to know my students better.