Talk the talk: Learner-generated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation
Lee, M.J., McLoughlin, C., & Chan, A. (2008). Talk the talk: learner-geberated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation. British Journal of Educational Technology. 39, 501-521.
Background and Introduction
The purpose of the article was to allow a group of undergraduate students create digital audio clips, weekly, in the form of a talkback radio "show" with their peers though podcasting. The podcasts are part of an effective solution to help learners listen before class so participation in class is greater andmotivation and confidence inthe discussion becomes greater as well. The digital literacy allows the students to work as a team and express their knowledge of the subject area. The podcasts include two or more students engaging in informal discussion about issues related to the unit and its content. DALO (Digital Audio Learning Object) which is a digital audio file the can be used and reused for different learning situations where students are engaged. This article focuses on knowledge-building and the constructivist methods that students produce podcasts and are expected to work individually as well as collaboratively as a team.
Educational Podcasting: an Overview
Podcasting is known as the combination of two terms iPod and broadcasting. A podcatcher, which monitors certain podcasts for updates and downloads new information, allows the user to experience broadband. On the other hand, streaming is like a click and wait method that plays media as it downloads. TiVo is comparible to podcasting in that it can be downloaded and listened to at a time that is convenient to the listener.
Using podcasting to support learning in higher education
The increase of the use of podcasting is due to the increased uses for the Internet, increased growth in broadband, increased availablity of the multimedia personal computer, the uncalrity between streaming and downloading media content, and the rapid increase of MP3 capable devices. Georgia College and State University have various courses that are iPod enhanced with audio material. Some enhancements include lectures and audio books, language study material, and music. Duke University distrubuted preloaded iPods to beginning college students with orientation information, administrative, and academic information in an MP3 format.
Beyond recorded lectures
The use of iPods is mainly in higher education to deliver instructional content such as lectures. But, that can lead to questions about the quality of the education due to the fact that the student can just listen to the material. Podcasting can enhance learning by actually engaging the learner and adding another part to learning. Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation (IMPALA) project stores a collection of online activities and podcasts that supports teaching using molbile learning technologies. Prelectures were available, through podcasting, for the class to review hard concepts before attending the class. An audience response system with handsets allowed the answers of students from the in-lecture questions to be recorded. Podcasting was used to expose the students to foreign culture and dialogue of the native speakers. The potential of podcasting depends on the intellectual creation and creativity of the designer and uses the podcast as learner-generated material.
Digital audio learning objects
Digital audio learning objects (DALO) puts together the reusable learning object theory with the theory of the use of digital audio to enhance e-learning. Podcasting has the potential to enrich those learning objects. Using the podcasts in conjunction with the learning objectives can enhance learning. A well designed DALO must be simple to produce and the final product is immmediate. The DALO is educationally focused and reusable. Lastly, the DALO is engaging for the students.
The student-producers team: products and processes
The majority of students wanted to podcast for future students taking a particular course in college. The students broke up into teams and had different skill levels using podcasts so they had to collaboratively create the podcast. The podcast went through phases as follows: scriptwriting and editing, presentation, audio recording and editing, and publishing and distributing.
Theoretical underpinning of the study
Cooperation is known as a division of labor among participants and collaboration is known as participants engaged in a coordinated effort to complete the task. Creating and recording podcasts use both cooperation and collaboration.
Knowledge building and creation
Knowledge has many meanings, which include expertise and skilled performance. Students create content for an audience and take the role of the cocreator of the knowledge.
Three metaphors of learning
The acquisition metaphor is acquiring chunks of information from a teacher. Participation metaphor is when the learner participates in different practices and activities and sharing the knowledge with others. In the knowledge-creation metaphor learners engage in collaborative tasks and knowledge building conversations. A knowledge building community is created when all three metaphors are placed together.
The study: methodology and data-collection procedures
Focus groups were created to have differnt viewpoints on a particular topic. The focus groups allowed participants to feed off each other's thoughts and ideas to create a more natural setting. The first focus group was held after the first podcast was created to determine the outcomes of the podcasts, the processes of the activities, and allows the students to determine if the podcasts aligned with the knowledge-building principles. The principles are as follows:
1. real ideas, authentic problems
2. improvable ideas
3. idea diversity
4. Epistemic agency (articulation of ideas)
5. Community knowledge, collective responsibility
6. Democratising knowledge
7. Symmetric knowledge advancement
8. Persuasive knowledge building
9. Constructive uses of authoritative sources
10. Knowledge-building discourse
11. Embedded, concurrent and transformative assessment
12. Rise above
Each team consisted of five members. The data was collected qualitatively and quantitatively and in four steps as follows: transcription (complete transcript), coding (categorizing the themes), summarization, and reporting.
Results and Discussion
The students had much evidence to prove that there was a high percentage of knowledge-building principles. The students reported reading books and searching the Internet on their own time to learn about different areas such as digital audio production and Web server technology. Collaboratively creating the podcasts resulted in knowledge-creation.
Conclusions
Collaborative knowledge building took place when creating these podcasts, which includes inquiry based and project-based learning. The students found the creation of the podcasts challenging and motivating. The authors believed the creation of the podcasts gave more control to the students learning and ownership as well.
Reflection
The ideas used in this article based on podcasting align with my thoughts of the use of podcasting inthe classroom. I have notices that through the other readings that most students using podcasts are higher education students. My next question would be why is podcasting mainly used for higher education students? Would it be a skill that would also create knowledge building for younger students?
Impact
I plan on using podcasting in my proposal. I also plan on using Language Arts Young Authors' Books for the script for podcasting. The children have already wrote the books and the skill will focus on the use of the technology. I plan on publishing the podcasts on the siue website so others can hear all the great creativity the student has used in the writing of the book. I believe in the future when the students become more familiar with podcasting then we can move to a more knowledge building experience.
