Marian Faulkner

RSS and Podcasting

Real Simple Syndication and Podcasting

In Will Richardson's article, The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web, he offers ideas for RSS and Podcasting that would be wonderful in a foreign language classroom.  RSS is Really Simple Syndication in which subscribers can order specific types of information, which is collected by an aggregator and stored until the subscriber is ready to read it.  Podcasting is described as taping a radio show and airing it on the Web (Richardson, 2006).  He says that students can use RSS to filter and store information on topics of interest as soon as they are available.  Podcasting on the other hand, would then be used to share information from the student's perspective with the teacher, classmates and others on the Web. 

Each of my classes will do some project which they must collect information on another country or culture.  I think it will be an excellent use of RSS for students to set up a feed early on in the semester on a country or culture of their interest and then during our computer lab time they would have materials ready to read on the subject of their choosing with little effort in the collecting process.  Depending on the type of project, I would have them collect certain information from the RSS and use it for writing, reading and speaking practice.  I think the podcast could be used in conjunction with the RSS by having students do initial research with the RSS and then share their findings in the form of a broadcast.  They could create a newsprogram, a radio show, a political speech, a poetic reading, etc.  Students could do additional podcasts in lieu of pronunciation practice and submit it online to me.  They could also listen to each others podcasts and offer suggestions.

I found it helpful to read in Richardson's article they way he describes the shifting role of teacher in the age of the Read/Write Web.  He describes us as facilitators putting our students in touch with experts, teaching them methods for collecting and sharing information, and fostering an environment of collaboration and global connectedness (Richardson, 2006).  I am not a native Spanish speaker, but by using RSS, podcasting and other Read/Write Web tools, I can put my students in contact with native speakers.  I know a great deal more about Mexico, Costa Rica, and Ecuador than Spain, but my students can be exposed to Spain and other countries more easily using these new tools and in the process I can learn as they learn.  He also shares risks with his readers and anyone who has seen any crime drama television show recently or listened to the news know exactly
what he means.  As the technological climate changes, we as educators need to know the risks, but not shy away from technology because they exist.  We can use these resources to help our student understand the dangers and take precautions to protect them as we employ these valuable learning resources.  I think it is even more important for those of us in low-resource counties to work with our students to not only see the Internet as music sites, email, and encyclopedias, but to see it as information when and how we want it and an opportunity and vehicle to communicate with others.   

Posted at 09:21PM Jun 19, 2006 by mrfaulkn in General  |  Comments[0]