Journal 5

“Making Field Trips Podtastic”
by Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, and Paul McGuinness
Learning & Leading with Technology, March/April 2008

The use of podcasts during field trips not only shrinks alone time, it encourages participation! This article features an interactive field trip at the Boston Museum of Science to show how a mix of podcasts, student multimedia creation, Web research, and interviewing increases the amount of time students spend observing exhibits and the deeper level of engagement they experience with each exhibit. Thus far, in education, podcasts have been considered a “push” technology; simply feeding information instead of also encouraging interaction. However, in a museum environment, the author shows that podcasts can “alleviate isolation by encouraging collaboration and interaction with others…and customizes their learning experiences at the museum,” (p.19-20).

Rather than using the limited features of an MP3 player on which to play the podcast, a better-suited handheld computer (such as the Toshiba Pocket PC model e750 ) with additional features of taking digital photos, recording audio interviews, recording notes in text formats, and accessing the Internet (Wi-Fi access was available at the museum) was chosen. Using easily accessible technology, teachers are able to create and customize the content of the podcasts, design quizzes, and remind students of their responsibilities during the visits to each exhibit.

What are the most attractive features of podcasting highlighted in the article?

From a student’s standpoint, the best features are that every child is interactive yet independent, and that podcasting is multi-sensory, i.e. it serves the auditory, visual, and the kinesthetic learner. From an educator’s standpoint, the ability to customize information to state curriculum standards and assess the student with short quizzes is both time-saving and efficient.

How might podcasting not work for every student?

Although using podcasts for field trips is certainly more exciting than taking a ‘virtual field trip’ while remaining in the classroom, and makes a real field trip more fun, the article does not address the cost feasibility, availability, and accessibility by every child to a pocket PC or MP3 player on which to play the podcast. Even though the technology to create the information is free, the technology on which to portray the information is not. If the site of the field trip provides them, then every student would have equal opportunity with this sort of technology.