1.Professional Development Activity Undertaken, Including How the Need Was Identified
1.Professional development activity undertaken, including how the need was identified.
The focus of this professional development activity was ‘Podcasting within a Year 7 Context’ and included an emphasis on story writing and telling. As it turned out, however, many more skills were developed as a cross-curricular approach evolved naturally.
Children began by discussing and evaluating what made a good story and finally agreed on the best characters, setting & plot for their own storyline. This was then researched, scripted, edited and recorded with the ultimate goal of creating a series of podcasts taking the listener through a swashbuckling adventure. Mini-tasks were set for the children to help introduce and practice particular ICT skills. These came in useful for creating our podcasts.
I wanted to introduce podcasting for two main reasons; first, children move with technological advances and therefore so must teachers if they are to motivate and challenge their pupils. Technology has much to offer learners and teachers alike but I needed time to see how this specific technology could be used to its best potential. I didn’t want a gimmick, I wanted a tool to add to my teaching skills and to motivate, challenge and inspire my pupils. Podcasting did this and more. Second, I thought that being involved in a process of podcasting would help to develop children’s skills of story writing and telling and I wanted to see if this was so.
2. The outcomes in terms of improved practice by the teacher.
Although I am aware of the fact that children’s work and creativity can be celebrated online and have seen how this can have a positive impact upon their motivation and sense of achievement, I have never had the opportunity to do this by myself for my own class. I wanted the pupils and I to be able to do this by ourselves, in our own class and whenever we wanted. I now feel that I have the necessary skills to do this.
I have learnt, used and refined ICT skills of podcasting (including how to incorporate audio, still image and video within various programmes).
I am more aware of how script writing and story telling can be taught at a more advanced level through podcasting.
I have begun to explore how podcasting can help to facilitate many of the aspects covered in the revised curriculum, e.g. independent and collaborative learning, researching and communicating ideas, personal development and critical and creative thinking skills.
3. The outcomes or benefits of the activity in terms of improvements in pupils’ learning experiences.
Children have had opportunities to:
a) develop storytelling skills – as evident in well written scripts that show appreciation of audience, correct use of narration, well defined characters and that illustrate an original and imaginative storyline.
b) create imaginative and original work.
c) understand and engage collaboratively in the podcasting process.
d) develop skills of critical and creative thinking – as evident in children evaluating their own earlier podcasts and Garageband compositions and wanting to return to them to refine their work.
e) develop their own individual strengths and talents, e.g. making a character come alive through speaking clearly and expressively; creating, performing and recording songs and soundtracks; designing, painting and detailing treasure maps; researching, consolidating and communicating ideas for use within the storyline.
f) learn from each other in an attempt to improve their own work, e.g. listening to podcasts made by other children their own age, identifying what made them successful (or not), and what can be learnt from them.
g) develop self-esteem – through realising their part in creating a successful end product and also through reading listeners comments added to the website.
4. How the success of the professional development activity has been / will be evaluated.
The success of this activity has been evaluated by myself in various ways:
a) Children’s ability to pick up new skills, e.g. editing audio recordings.
It became apparent (as I had expected) that children were excellent at picking up all ICT skills taught and also that they were able to peer tutor others who needed support. It also became clear that children could often use programmes intuitively and creatively without having to be teacher directed.
b) My ability to pick up new skills, e.g. incorporating image, video and audio within various programmes.
I developed new skills necessary for podcasting but I also began to see potential for how podcasting could be used in a multitude of ways. This requires further skills but the level of ability that I have already achieved means that this potential is now achievable and within reaching distance.
c) Children’s levels of motivation, interest, participation and whether or not they would rise to the challenge.
This was as high as I had expected.
d) Whether or not I perceived the hard work to be worth all the effort – has the time spent learning various skills actually resulted in a higher standard of learning? A child learning through the process is just as important to me as the final product. Do I have hard evidence to illustrate this, e.g. ideas for stories, the standard of scriptwriting before and then during the podcasting process? As it turned out, there was a difference mainly due to the fact that children were highly challenged and motivated and also that they realised that their work had a real purpose beyond the classroom. It had a real audience who could comment on their stories.
The success of this activity will also be evaluated within the PRSD process this year. This will give me the opportunity to consolidate what I have learnt so far and also to take things a step further.
5. How the experiences, skills and knowledge gained have been / will be shared with other teachers.
During one of the training days with a group of children I was able to bring another member of staff with me. She was released by the school to explore how this technology could be used to develop new opportunities, skills and creativity through music. Her enthusiasm and ideas for what could be done in school is encouraging.
My pupils will have the opportunity to share their podcasts with other classes and to describe the process. Skills will be shared within my own year group and with others who would like to know more. Teachers have already been trying out story telling through digital video and podcasting their children’s work would be a great place to start sharing skills.
6. Reflection by the teacher on the value and effectiveness of the activity.
Podcasting is not about replacing the written word – it is about grasping hold of all that is exciting and worthwhile in language and literacy and combining it with technology in a way that motivates children, engaging them in critical and creative thinking. Nothing is forced but the process is highly structured. Opportunities for learning are set within clearly defined boundaries of a teacher’s planning, professional understanding and experience and can be easily integrated into schemes of work right across the curriculum but the teacher must be prepared to be flexible and work alongside the children. They must run with children’s interests and ideas. Once children become more aware of the skills of story writing and telling; skills of teamwork; and of podcasting, they can begin to harness the technology and its potential in order to help them develop their skills and understanding and to celebrate their creativity.
Podcasting is an exciting way to learn and teach. It really celebrates the children’s work and they get an immense sense of pride and achievement. Will I do it again? – Absolutely! I can’t wait to see what the children come up with next – their ideas about how to take podcasting a step further. Collaboration between schools and also incorporating a bit of GPS technology would be great. What if...let’s see!
This bursary has been just what I needed to start me on a new path and I look forward to the challenge, and excitement of it all. I would strongly encourage other teachers to be involved in this bursary opportunity – without it I could not have developed the skills to the extent that I now have. It has been a fabulous opportunity to gain professional skills which are tailored to my own specific requirements, interests and pedagogical approach.
7. Future plans / suggestions for further development.
Podcasting in the primary classroom, specifically in relation to the revised curriculum seems to me to be a perfect focus for research. I believe that we have only just begun to see the potential for such technology in the classroom and also in learning beyond the classroom.
I now hope to continue podcasting by first, completing the final chapter of our Pirate Podcast Adventure and; second, collaborating with another teacher and his class in Scotland who have already produced their own podcasts. Having seen how children in my own class work together to produce exciting work, I am convinced that collaboration between schools can also produce great results. This is all new territory for me but I look forward to setting out on a new adventure!
Signed: Joanne Murray (Teacher) Dated: December 2006