Podcasting: Enhancing an Art Classroom!

I have watched podcasts put out by the Boy Scouts of America for Cub Scout leaders and commissioners for years.They have been very helpful in to me in many aspect of my volunteer activities so podcasting sounds like it could easily become a major technological tool to help keep kids involved in classes. A podcast is a video of some sort, whether for education or for entertainment. Anyone can create a podcast using a video camera and a microphone (“Podcasting in plain English”). People who want to watch/listen to podcasts then subscribe and add software or applications to allow a feed to automatically download new episodes (“Podcasting in plain English”). There is also an issue of how long a podcast will remain on a device. Some websites, like NPR , automatically delete a previous podcast when downloading a new episode  ("Npr: help – using podcasts," ). The Apple IPod allows the user to set defaults to allow automatic deletion or to choose item by item deletion (Dietrich, 2009). Some of the capacity to hold older podcasts depends on the software used, with Podcaster 3.0, the number of episodes saved can be set from 0-10 and as more than the set amount are downloaded, earlier episodes are deleted  ("Podcaster 3 manual," ). With Podtrapper, the maximum number of podcasts saved is four ("Podtrapper edit podcast," 2010). There are so may applications of podcasting in a classroom. In an art classroom, a teacher might demonstrate a new technique for students but often it takes more than one view to really internalize the technique. If a podcast of the technique was also created, a student could go back and watch it over and over again as well as try to follow the technique, see and do. It would also come in handy of a student was absent when a new technique was introduced. While I did not subscribe to a podcast, something similar that I have used is YouTube videos of throwing clay on a potter’s wheel. Watching the videos over and over has gotten me closer to having the motions down to throw a quality cylinder so watching a podcast multiple times could easily help cement knowledge in a student's mind and help with technique mastery. While teacher use of podcasts would be helpful, students could certainly grow by developing and using  podcasts in the classroom (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 161). By assigning creation of a podcast to students, a teacher can see if students grasp material as well as see what material students find important and how they use their knowledge (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page161). Creating a podcast could be an interesting addition to a film and photography class or even a general art class if the materials and tools were available for use, even just recording the verbal information could be an interesting project in an art class.

Podcasting is similar to other Web2.0 applications in that it is an alternate method of communication. Podcasts can be used to enhance learning situations. Since different students have different learning styles, podcasts, containing visual and auditory aspects can help learners who do need more than the written word or pictures. I see it as another weapon in the modern learning environment of today. 

I have a Creative Zen Vision-M Mp3 player. I use it in my studio art classes because I find that when I listen to music while I create I work more efficiently and creativity is enhanced. I would have no issue with my students using an Mp3 player in class while working on art as long as the volume was not interrupting the rest of the class. Listening to a podcast downloaded to an Mp3 player for study purposes would be acceptable, especially if the student was using it for the class they were attending at the time. If the student’s Mp3 player accepted video, I would have no problem with them going back and looking at an art related podcast during class, I would have no trouble with a student on a personal laptop looking at/listening to podcasts that way either. I think online communications is just another way for students to learn. In this class we are using many of the communication tools we are learning about so we have first hand experience when we get to a classroom full of students. Discussion boards and blogs are additional ways for students to communicate with a teacher and fellow students, and online discussion boards could help a student who is shy to gather and organize thoughts before entering a post so they can make a contribution to the class knowledge base. I know, in some classes when critique time comes around that there is often no way for more timid students to get a word in edgewise. Discussion boards could facilitate the process for these students. A teacher would need to know their students fairly well to make sure that posts are the work of an individual student. Another possible drawback of discussion boards is the implication is that it is for out of class use, so students could easily forget to make posts in a timely manner and it is another layer of work for a teacher to go into the discussion and read the posts.

References:

Dietrich, D. (2009, March 19). How to set podcasts to auto delete from your ipod [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.daleisphere.com/how-to-set-podcasts-to-auto-delete-from-your-ipod/     (Dietrich, 2009)

Jonassen, D, Howland, J, Marra, R, & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pesrson Merrill Prentice Hall.  (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 220)

Npr: help - using podcasts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/help/podcasts.html#older_content  ("Npr: help – using podcasts," )

Podcaster 3 manual. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://podcaster.fm/help/    ("Podcaster 3 manual," )

"Podcasts in Plain English." (2007) YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDLqu0d-z8o

Podtrapper edit podcast screen. (2010, September 18). Retrieved from http://versatilemonkey.com/wiki/PodTrapper_Edit_Podcast_Screen   ("Podtrapper edit podcast," 2010)

Using podcasts-oit help desk. (2007, March 16). Retrieved from http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/documents/4/4654/   ("Using podcasts-oit help," 2007)

Web 2.0...Sounds Cool as well as Useful

There are a number of times I think wikis and blogs would be useful for use in the classroom. Blogs would be easy to use, for instance, it could be a way to reinforce what was studied in class. If students were being introduced to the principles of art and design a blog that contained a principle of the week or of the day. Examples of the principle in art work, like Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase is a classic example of motion in a work of art or Franz Marc’s Foxes is an example of the use of color. A blog would also be a way to have class assignments posted online since we all know that instruction sheets do not always make it home for homework. An occasional post directed at parents might also be a way to keep the student’s family aware of what’s going on in class. Wikis would be helpful if a group project needed more time than allotted in class, especially with younger students who don’t yet drive. Another use would be for a group project that would go with an AP class summer reading list. With family travel and summer jobs it might be hard to get a group together very often while on vacation. Email could get complicated for everyone to stay on the same page while wiki would allow the process to be more organized,  posts to be made lists juggled as to who is doing what aspects of the assignment and on from there with many different pages ("Wiki's in Plain English").

Social bookmaking sounds interesting. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for myself but never having used this particular technology application, I don’t know how well it is policed. I would hate to inadvertently expose a student to adult content. High school students can do some things that are imprudent for grins and giggles, this could come back to haunt a teacher if a parent were to question what their child was doing. I think I would rather have a links list on a blog for a student to use. For me, it might open up many, many new websites with activities and other information to use for teaching. I think, in the right situation a voice thread might be fun. When working on a history of art project, a voice thread would be set up with each student choosing their favorite artist and going from there. There are so many ways to add the voice over that most anyone would have access to one method (Yuen, 2008). This could be used for critiquing projects as well with strict guidelines.

Tapped in sounds like a logical extension of the use of online learning, using it for teacher professional development does not sound far fetched. Students in college take online classes all the time why not use it for development? The website has message boards and discussions, places for document storage, resource searches, learning projects and much more. This sounds like a way to connect with other teachers and share experiences and learn from them, another way for professional networking (About tapped in, 2010).

References:

About tapped in. (2010). Retrieved from http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp

"Wiki's in Plain English." (2007) YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

Yuen, S. (2008, January 14). Voice thread. Retrieved from http://scyuen.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/voicethread/

E-Portfolios and Other Digital Assessments as Creative Testing Tools

If a teacher is to know whether a student is grasping a concept taught in class there must be some sort of assessment.  The assessment can be anything from an activity to a project to a test and anything a teacher might create in between.  Assessment activities seem to be a good way to ascertain a student’s skill set development and to determine whether a student can apply what they have learned to a set of problems. An assessment activity can help a teacher determine where a student is having issues with learning and to see what the student is understanding. With this knowledge, a teacher can review how material is being taught and pin point where the breakup in communication is happening. If a concept is being taught in multiple learning styles, oral, visual and tactile which method was being used when the student was able to master a part of the whole lesson? The answer to this question would allow the teacher to change from a lecture to perhaps a demonstration or some sort of a hands-on reinforcement activity.

An e-portfolio is a collection of documents in digital form that could include  samples of work, art work, pictures, and other presentations that are in effect an expanded resume (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 220). There should be more to the portfolio than just individual work, it can include reflections and journals as well as work that lead a teacher to more insight to a student’s thinking process and grasp of concepts being taught (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 220). The work picked by the student to include in the portfolio also can help the teacher understand a student better (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 220).  The use of an e-portfolio is more than a review piece created for a class or a project, it allows a teacher to see if a student can apply concepts learned to more real world applications if the teacher desires. (Lorenzo, & Ittelson, 10/2005, Page 1)

   Computerized testing in its simplest form allows a student to answer test questions online or on a computer, giving relatively fast feedback in respect to grades. It is also easier to get data on what questions were answered correctly and which were not allowing a teacher to go back and reinforce information that was not grasped the first time (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 236). Another aspect of computer based testing is there is now available software that adapts to the person being tested. It allows testing to be appropriate for the gifted student as well as a slower learner (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, page 237).  I would think that computer based tests would be as reliable and valid as any other test for the testing of basic knowledge of facts. I would think that using computer based tests would be more difficult to use for essay type tests, it might be very complicated to program a computer to take into consideration all the various permutations and ideas that might be expressed in a long answer question. That being said, if the questions are being written well there should be no difference between a computer based test and a test in a hard copy or using a scantron sheet for computer scoring.

            I can easily see using an e-portfolio for projects in an art class. Instead of using an internet based portfolio, a student could use MS Publisher to create an HTML document that could then be burned to a CD-Rom, which would be safer for the student. (Lorenzo, & Ittelson, 7/2005, page 2) It would allow me, as a teacher, to understand how a student comes to a conclusion about a project. It would also allow me to see where a student might be hitting an artists block and help come up with the kind of open ended questions that might help a student get the creativity ball rolling again. Including a journal, sketches, research on what ever topic the work was about and photos of various steps of the creative project might be used as steps and included in a rubric. This is really a wonderful idea to see how a student is progressing. It is hard to grade art work, there is no right and wrong so more criteria is needed to accurately assess how a student is doing.

References:

Jonassen, D, Howland, J, Marra, R, & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pesrson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Lorenzo, G, & Ittelson, J. (2005, July). An overview of e-portfolios. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3001.pdf   

Lorenzo, G, & Ittelson, J. (2005, October). Demonstrating and assessing student learning with e-portfolios. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3003.pdf