Arts High Instructor Embraces Podcasting to Promote Student Achievement and Enrich Lessons

As a history teacher at Arts High School, I have the privilege of working with some of the best, brightest and most academically and artistically talented students that Newark has to offer. My students are motivated and extremely busy, and I have a tremendous amount of material to impart to them. In the past, for any teacher, this brought on challenges. Last summer I thought very hard on how I could use ready technology to reach them, to continue to improve instruction and the transmission of knowledge. Sure, the kids can like me, can turn to me for advice on issues or ask me to cheer them on in games and performances, but the bottom line is what it is. If I’m not getting my message through, I’m not doing a good job by them. Period.

Then it dawned on me. I remember the moment well. It was one of the last days of school, last year. And it was a hot day, one of those Newark mornings when it was already in the low 90’s and you could fry an egg on the sidewalks of Market Street. I was sitting outside a few minutes before school began, enjoying whatever breeze there was, and it hit me. I can’t believe it took so long to do so, because it was always there, right in front of my face. These two facts stood out:

First, that almost every secondary student at Arts High, and perhaps in all of Newark, has a smartphone of some kind; and secondly, they all have these new kinds of earphones that stick directly in their ears, into their heads(!). I knew right away, I could do a great amount of good by them if I could get my lessons, my observations, my voice into those smartphones and into those minds. To do that, I knew right way, I’d have to embrace podcasting. And I would have to begood at it.

Podcasting is a recent phenomenon that was born out of the Internet. A podcast is a short recording, usually less than a half hour, which is sort of a mix between a radio show and a lecture. These short recordings are made by artists, instructors, really anyone, and are stored in small sound files (usually .mp3’s). The .mp3 is the most common sound format in computers; these files can be opened by any smartphone or personal computer. They can also be ‘burned’ to CD’s and saved on portable USB sticks. But most importantly, small files like .mp3’s can be sent over email, or better, mass emailed.

Now I was on to something! What I would do, starting in September of 2012, was compile all of my students’ email addresses in a master list. That’s easy; teachers frequently use the first day to gather updated information from students on addresses and parent contact numbers. So for them to provide me their emails, it was no problem. Then I compiled the emails into a “blast list” on AOL; to send a mass email to all of my students instantly all I’d have to do is use a single list name. Easy, easy, easy. So now announcements and questions could be handled instantly over the web, with everything documented and delivered right to my students’ PC’s and phones.

And thus, so could podcasts. My podcasts would be about 10 to 20 minutes each on concepts and facts that I covered in a specific lesson. I would make them after class, after I’ve taught the same lesson a few times, so I could really get the facts and style down right to maximize learning. Each podcast would be like a rich mini-lesson, infused with my own personality, humor, and style. I’d make them with the low-cost software provided by Apple called Garage Band. Then, once completed, each podcast would be mass emailed to my students who would be required to listen to them…as homework! (Yikes).

My first few tries weren’t so good, but after a week or two I really got the swing of it and was able to make my podcasts in a single take, or recording session. Each class would go like this: Say I would be going over the Battle of Gettysburg. I would assign reading, teach the lesson, then send out a podcast on the battle, it’s causes and brutality and include some (dramatically read) primary sources about it. I’d even include some comments and observations on my past visits to the battlefield. Then it would be mass emailed, so students could listen to the lesson again on their own time and on their own device. Little did I know how impactful this new practice would be…

The results were almost immediate. First, I had to make sure that each student actually received and could listen to their podcasts on their own devices. About 95 percent could, with the rest having some problems that would eventually be cleared up. I kept track of the students who actually listened to the podcasts and found that their grades had improved across the board: retention, critical thinking, vocabulary…it all improved. But additionally, students who had missed a class for whatever reason (illness, an off-campus performance, etc.) would now for the most part never miss out again. They would simply pick up the lesson online, and they could listen to it whenever they wanted.

I remember it clearly. It was the second faculty meeting of the year. My principal, after going over the regular business, made it a point to say to the faculty that several students had actually approached her and mentioned how the podcasting had enriched their studies, especially relating to knowledge retention. I got a few minutes of fame that afternoon, which was more than cool. But there would be more.

When one of my students, let’s call her Maria, moved out of the district around Halloween, I forgot to take her off the mass email list. She kept getting mypodcasts. I saw her just a few weeks ago when she visited campus and she thanked me for “remembering” her. Maria went on to say that as soon as she would get my podcasts she would forward them to all of her new classmates, who greatly appreciated them for their detail and clarity. Now I was really getting famous!

So as the year went on I sent out more and more…never less than one a week but sometimes three if I really wanted to expand upon a point I didn’t have time to get to in class. And it continued to work. Kids listened to them on the bus, on vacation, if they couldn’t sleep at night, or if they were home sick. It was now possible to reach the kids where they were…and that was, almost always, between those headphones. And the best part about it was, aside from my own effort, it was free. Free to make, free to send, free to listen to, free to share. And the podcasts never went away. Students stored them to help prepare for midterms and finals. It’s a whole new way to reach them…it’s like an express lane into their minds.

Now don’t get me wrong, podcasts are not a cure all. Podcasts are not the answer to all problems of instruction. If a student cannot or is simply not willing to listen to them, then podcasting won’t make much of a difference (any more than books not read or documentaries not watched). But I have found them to be tremendously effective for the students who do listen to them. It’s a straightforward way to disseminate knowledge, to reach them, if they are willing to be reached.

If you read my first blog, you would know that podcasting is just one of the ways that teachers are adopting new modes of instruction and reinforcement here at Arts High. We are fortunate to have an administration that encourages us to experiment and implement these new methods in our efforts to reach the kids, to enable them as they enter one of the most competitive job and college admission markets in decades. And we won’t stop…stay tuned for more…