Digital Stories and Podcasts: Who Needs to Create Posters Anymore?

          When I was searchig for digital stories on YouTube, I wanted the one I used to relate to Social Studies. I searched 'digital stories social studies' and this was the third video on the list that came up. It was the only one that looked like it actually was created by students. As soon as I opened it I was impressed with the images, the information, and the epic music in the background. When the video finished, I had to see when it was created and at what grade level. I was astonished that this was produced by two sixth-grade students! I thought it had to be done by high school students when I first watched it. To me, this video represents the future of doing projects in a Social Studies classroom. If students are creating such impressive work that can be saved until the end of the Internet, my question still remains, who needs to create posters anymore? I suppose they are still a creative way to showcase artistic abilities and knowledge, but don't posters usually disappear by the end of the school year? The students who created this video will have a permanent reminder of their sixth grade Social Studies class so long as the video remains on the Internet.

         To switch gears momentarily, I wanted to comment on Richardson's (2010) chapter on podcasting and live streaming of videos. Richardson made an interesting point saying that "Basically, we're close to the point where every school, every classroom, every person, in fact, can own a television station," (pg 126). As I read the subsection on live streaming in the classroom, I my thoughts raced with possibilities of taking advantage of Web 2.0 literacy instruction, Social Studies content, and a cross-content collaboration with the technology department (that has all of the necessary video equipment). If we can run our own live feed with small groups from one social studies class streaming a lesson or conversation while another group or another teacher's class watches, we can create some exciting new ways of collaborating across curricula, across schools, across the world. It reminds me of the Cisco commercial where the American students video chat with the Chinese students across the globe. The possibilities are essentially endless with live feeds and with podcasts, as they can be interwoven into any content area.

          While reading the Labbo, Eakle, and Montero (2002) article, I has a flash of nostalgia that sent me back to my fifth grade Math class (that's right, math). When looking at their vignette and then their essential questions regarding literacy opportunities with digital cameras and computers, I realized that when I was in fifth-grade, despite that being roughly 15 years ago, I had many opportunities to build my computer literacy combined with my knowledge of math. Our teacher was (and still is) a man who is absolutely passionate about integrating literacy and content. He had us build houses of out miniature wooden beams as a contractor would. But before we could build, we had to design the layout of the house first on paper, then on computer using a Mac word document. We were gaining math content knowledge, computer literacy, and architectural literacy as we used specific vocabulary to a field that none of us at that age had any prior experience with. The Digital Language Experience Approach (D-LEA) that the authors discuss is becoming exponentially more important to our younger students now than it was when I was in elementary school, and teachers must continue to find ways of integrating the newest technology software into their classrooms so our children can become literate both in print and digital avenues. Also, the article by Figg & McCartney (2010) provided what I thought was a framework similar to my personal learning experience as well. The idea of students teaching the teachers and parents using these digital stories while at the same time enhancing both digital literacy and writing skills is a very powerful tool. When students of the ages used in the study can take ownership of work and then be the expert to their parent (or VIP in this case) and teacher, students internalize that what they have created is legitimate and their own.

Robert Kennedy MLK Speech CLICK ON IT!


          "Podcasts offer opportunities to introduce or reinforce information from the classroom, to remediate students who need additional instruction or access to content discussed in the classroom, or to feature content experts or guest speakers under the guidance of a teacher external to the actual school building," (Putnam & Kingsley, 2009, pg 101). I wanted to start with this quote because I feel that speechs made throughout history, such as the poweful one delivered by Robert Kennedy linked here, as well as other content that teachers do not have the ability to change (and should not change) to fit into the curriculum can be accessed by podcasts like the one above. The site I found this at is the Educational Podcast Network, which offers podcasts in all content areas. I picked this podcast specifically because despite it not being student created, it is one that I believe reiterates the power of using the internet for content and literacy learning. I think that teachers can use these resources as examples of podcasts, and get students to possibly write their own speechs and mock lectures, which again would combine both their digital literacies with their content knowledge and writing and language development.

I don't think I will ask many of my future students to make posters anymore....