The Next Level of Classroom Podcasting and Vlogging?

With tools that such as Audacity, Pinnacle and iMovie that have become available over the last few years, podcasting and vlogging are not technically difficult things to do. Certainly there are technical skills to be learned, and a great difference can easily emerge between a good podcast and a great one, but the technical skills are within the reach of many students.

So as we move into the fifth week of our podcasting and vlogging journey, we are wondering in our classroom about what the next level is that we need to be reaching towards and striving for. Granted, we have much to still learn that is basic. We critiqued recent episodes as a class on Monday and we discovered that much of our opening music was too long, we still have a lot of background noise to deal with and some of our editing leaves something to be desired, but  the products have definitely improved; but what is the next level of excellence?

Like trying to improve and polish any type of product, whether it be a piece of writing, a painting, or the ability to read, improvements takes practice, critique, and study. You need to know that your piece is important to someone, it has to be important to you personally, and you need to be able to educate yourself about what the next steps of increasing ability look or sound like. This is the debate about expertise and about becoming an expert. 

Yesterday, I heard for the first time in five weeks, "when are we going to be done doing this?" This was important to me. It let me know that the newness is wearing off. It let me know that we have reached a plateau and it is time to move forward in the evolution of the process. When the kids who are the experts have gained all they can from the experience as it stands, we need to move forward.

But......where........is.......forward?

Like other classrooms, many of my kids know at least as much, if not more, about technology then I do. We may have different uses, and different types of experience and expertise, but they have certainly have great ability. So for the first time in history, the students and the teacher have similar abilities and neither of us knows where to turn to improve the products we are making, or how to further our expertise. Our next moves need to be collaborative. This is a powerful realization and it changes my role completely. I do not have either the technical expertise or expertise with the subject matter the kids are pursuing to push them any further. but what I do have is expertise in helping people learn. I know how people learn. I know how to motivate learners, and I know how to help people advance their knowledge.

This is not "regular" teaching or "regular" territory and I believe it is an important change and advancement. It cannot be about me; it has to be about us. Thinking again of the power of the network, we all have a role to play. I can help the kids learn. I can push them to see things, to listen closely, to pry into corners and investigate ideas they may not have thought about otherwise. This is my role. It is not even the "guide on the side" that we have heard so much about.

If I'm looking for a new title other then teacher, I think it should be "network administrator."  I start the network, I keep it running, fine - tuning it as it evolves and changes. I examine its power and its ability, making changes as needed to ensure that the network runs efficiently, effectively, and with as much power as is possible. I support, maintain, and empower the network, but I am not the network.

 As I think about it, this role probably has much in common with a director or a producer. These people push others to perform to the best of their ability, giving them suggestions and direction, working together to find a pathway to success. So with that one comment, "when are we going to be done," I see that my role needs to change from helping kids work with the abilities and skills they have, and move more towards helping kids find the next level of excellence in their practice.

technorati tags: podcasting, classroom, knowledge, network

Comments

[Darren Kuropatwa]

As I read your post it immediately brought to mind a post by Kathy Sierra called How to be an Expert (http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/03/how_to_be_an_ex.html). I was thinking it might be interesting to be a fly on the wall of your classroom and listen to your kids discuss where each of them thought they were on the graph in Kathy's post. I suspect they would all have different positions depending on what "issue" you were looking at: podcasting - voice, production, music integration, vocal presence; vlogging - visual impact, production, effectiveness in conveying a message, etc.

Just a thought. ;-)