Case Story: PodcastYI

Summary	Creating a podcast...
Group / workshop	Architecture for Participatory Learning	Status	seed
Project details...

Situation

What was the setting in which this case study occurred?

This case study involved Secondary 1 Express and Normal (Academic) stream students from Yusof Ishak Secondary School, which has a Media Literacy through Experience program. The original intent was for pupils to develop skills in situational writing through authentic learning tasks. They had to learn how to use language which is suitable for different contexts, for example, if doing a live broadcast or an interview, which tone and register is appropriate.

Task

What was the problem to be solved, or the intended effect?

To document the school's celebration of International Friendship Day on 11th April 2008. Pupils had to present their documentation in a medium that can be shared with the public.

Actions

What was done to fulfil the task?

In the week prior to International Friendship Day, students completed the introductory part of the podcast. They came up with an introductory jingle and a short description of what International Friendship Day is about. They also gave a brief preview of how the school was going to celebrate it.

On 11th April, students brought their Macbooks down to the foyer where the International Friendship Day celebrations took place. They did a live commentary and recording of what they saw. They also interviewed three students to find out how they felt about the celebrations and about the meaning of International Friendship Day. A lesson was set aside after the event for students to edit their podcast before submission.

The software that the pupils used was Garage Band on their MacBooks.

Results

What happened? Was is a success? What contributed to the outcomes?

Students enjoyed looking for music to add to their podcasts, even though what was required was a very short introductory jingle. Some spent an inordinate amount of time selecting the right kind of music. This required a certain amount of reflection and discussion.

Students were engaged in the creating the podcast, but needed a lot of time to get used to the software as well as to explore its possibilities. The time line of one week given to complete the podcast extended to two weeks for some classes. However, pupils demonstrated their creativity in exploiting the versatility of the software.

Through this project, pupils developed skills in oracy. They gained confidence in public speking and interacting with others.

Lessons Learned

What did you learn from the experience?

Podcasts are products which facilitates collaborative learning. The authenticity of podcasting makes the learning process enjoyable to the students.

Licensing

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.