Media and technology serve a multitude of purposes and influence the lives of all of us. In society, these influences can either be positive or even detrimental especially in the lives of adolescents. In order to synthesize the topic I decided to look into Podcasts and its modality for student learning particularly because as a future language teacher I am curious about what podcasts have to offer in the world of education.
A vast majority of us and students are more likely to use some form of social media on a daily basis, so it is essential to include technology into our classroom and learning in order to adapt with the times. By doing so, one thing we have to avoid is the idea that our students (millenials, generation y or how ever one may choose to refer to our generation and the ones following us) are “digital natives (Phillips, 2017). If we choose to use any kind of technology, I would like to start by stating the perhaps obvious that as teachers we need to model and prepare students to utilize any platform that we may so choose to implement into our classroom.
So, podcasts. A podcasts is a digital audio file that is available as an app on phones or computers, and can also be found on websites. Podcasts generally have a theme, and the speakers create a series of episodes eliciting the theme and providing/discussing new information and topics for listeners. For example, one of the podcast channels I would use in my classroom is called “Radio Ambulante”. This is a wonderful podcast with speakers from various Latin American countries sharing their personal stories and experiences. The channel employs a mix of Spanish and English, although it is probably about 98%+ in Spanish- I believe. One can listen to personal stories relatable to many educational topics, that tend to stem from current events. Students would be able to practice their auditory listening skills and perhaps receive (at some point of instruction) a transcript of the episode with assignments that strengthen thinking and understanding. Podcasts can be versatile and adaptable to many lessons. Currently, I am student teaching and my coordinating teacher and I are going to ask our students who are High School Seniors with IB level advanced Spanish proficiency to listen to a podcast from Radio Ambulante titled “No nos compete” (It doesn’t concern us) as a part of our Education System unit. This unit is going to tie into other discussions (such as economic differences and racial and cultural issues) and activities about current events that allow them to reflect and think critically about what they know about and see here in the US and what they know and wonder about other countries.
The positive aspects of using Podcasts in schools is that there are so many types and styles of podcasts and channels that a teacher can listen to beforehand and use it to make and create connections that correlate with a unit/ lesson. Teachers can also use podcasts as an activity and ask students to create their own podcasts, which can give them a chance to have their own voices heard and exercise their creativity in how they would want their target audience (in this case, their peers) to receive the message. However, it could happen that some students may not favor the idea of making their own podcast because it implies having to listen to their voices and what they said in the target language a number of times (Phillips, 2017). It is also important to keep in mind the maturity level and ages of the students, which is why it is important for teachers to listen to the episodes prior to assigning them.
To facilitate differentiated learning teachers may need to figure out ways to adapt the material by either providing the text (transcript), giving them vocabulary/ terminology clues, or even finding another channel or episode that may be simpler to understand. Teachers could also create their own podcast series specifically for the class- but may run into issues regarding its authenticity. That is why using other channels that already exist could be the better option if one wants to assure the use of original material. Teachers also could turn to youtube videos and songs, depending on student proficiency level.
If one is teaching Spanish (or another language), using Podcasts as a tool in the classroom really gives students a chance to listen to bonafide information as well as variations of dialects that exist within language (in this case, Spanish).