I Columns Tech Talk Podcasts: Connections for students through listening and producing LuciusVon Joo Kanda University of International Studies, Japan Lucius Von Joo currently teaches at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. He holds an Ed.M. in Comparative and International Education and has teaching experience in deaf education, elementary education and EFL/ESL in California, Japan and New York. His research interests include computer assisted learning, film and documentary content-based learning, student educational backgrounds and learning approaches, video-cued multi-vocal ethnography, and family and communities as educators. E-mail: lucius-v@kanda.kuis.ac.jp
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odcasts are an enjoyable resource, covering as many topics as can be imagined. They have opened many doors of interest for my classes and me. Listening to podcasts can be soothingly informative or it can be actively engaging if follow-up activities are used. The world of podcasts has grown to become a collective resource that covers almost every topic imaginable and, unlike when accessing videos or online articles, users tend not to skip around as much. Podcasts are linear, much like a novel following the host's topic. My classes and I have listened to many different topics and have even produced our own podcasts to be listened to publicly. As with any extensive resource, getting started with podcasts can feel overwhelming; however, listening to a show is really easy once you press play. There are numerous applications that provide a user-friendly interface to find podcasts and play them . This Tech Talk aims to point out and give one way to access, share and produce podcasts, calling attention to a high functioning resource. It will be separated into 3 sections: 1)
Podcatchers; 2) Podcast production; and 3) Suggested Podcasts for language learners. Just as in former Tech Talks, the sections can be read independently or in order. For each section, I will be mentioning the best or the easiest applications I have found and ways in which they could be incorporated for individual and classroom settings.
1) Podcatcher A Podcatcher is an application that locates, downloads and organizes podcasts to your computer or device. Apple (!OS) and Android devices have many different types of applications that play podcasts at the free and pay level. Unlike other applications, Podcatchers will serve
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the basic purpose of playing and finding podcasts regardless of which one you use. This takes the pressure off trying to find the perfect application, because, though the interface can be different, they all do basically the same thing. Like video playing applications, there are several features that podcast players can offer, such as how the podcast application finds, saves and plays your podcast selections. IOS devices come with the iTunes podcast player, which works well for podcasts. Android also has a similar stock application called Google play. If you do not have time in a classroom to test out players, I would suggest using the stock applications as they are a very functional resource that is free and will always be on the device you and your students are using .
• ou can go to both Google Play and iTunes stores and type in a topic under the podcast search window. Finding specific podcasts should not be very difficult, as I mentioned before. However, a simple Google search may be useful to find a list ofpodcasts on a certain topic or style. For example, ifI wanted to find podcasts that talk about movies or perhaps the TOEFL test I would search Google for a top 10 or best podcast on that topic. You could also do the same thing with your Podcatcher, but I prefer reading through reviews from an outside reviewer. Also, if you like a particular podcast you could do a search for podcasts that are similar. Below is a simple walkthrough of how to look for a podcast using the Apple podcast application. This procedure will be similar for most podcatchers. 1.
Find and click on the Podcatcher application on your device .
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Next you can click on any of the featured podcasts on the screen or search for your own in the top corner under any subject.
=~::~~:~,~~: I ;;:~,:;~: :··:,:I?~:~ ll ■ IJ • ■ fl l 3. After you have found a podcast that suits your needs you can subscribe to it. This will automatically download current episodes or you can individually download any episode that sounds interesting to you.
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Lastly, go to 'my podcasts' and click 'play'. Once the podcast is playing you can slow down or speed up the rate of play or move forward or backward in the show.
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After you and your class find podcasts work, you can use these podcasts as a pre-class warm up for students to listen to and have a discussion in class. If you don't have time for this in class you could have students keep response journals to the podcast, which facilitates lifetime learning habits. These are just a few ideas on how to use this resource: as with any library of materials the possibilities are never-ending.
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own podcast, tap the red 'record' circle in the top right corner.
Podcast production Producing and publishing a podcast is a pretty simple task. For the sake of simplicity I am only going to reference one application for doing this. There are many other ways of producing podcasts: this section aims mainly to serve as the 'why' and 'how' of podcast production. The first reason for producing podcast applications is similar to the one I mentioned in my Tech Talks about digital publishing and video production: there is great motivation in producing a presentation that can be accessed by the public at large. When your audience changes from just a teacher and peers to the unknown public, you learn to communicate your ideas differently. Students may learn to focus on what a listener might not understand, thus helping them to communicate more thoroughly. Podcasts, unlike videos, rely exclusively on sound, which can add to the anonymity of students while allowing them to share ideas with the world. Another reason I use podcast production is that it is a simple way for students to store and share audio with me and their peers. If I have students record a dialogue to analyse, I often have them do it via podcast because they can share, re-listen, and edit at any location with an internet connection. Also, if these pod casts are published I can easily access the audio to give feedback.
Audioboom (IOS, Android, Online) is a simple application that allows you to record a 10minute recording that can be published with the click of a button.
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Click the 'record' button when you are ready. Remember you can publish a maximum of 10 minutes' for your podcast so if you are going to speak for longer you should divide the presentation into two or more episodes. After you are finished you can publish your recording. If you have recorded for more than ten minutes, you will be prompted to edit your recording to your favorite consecutive ten minutes.
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You must next type in a title description and category for your recording. After you have done this you can click 'publish'. The recording will now be added to your channel where it can be accessed to listen to, download or share.
If you are using a smartphone or tablet, download the application. When you are setting up an account you will be asked about your listening interests which will be used to suggest podcasts to listen to that other Audioboom users have produced. 2. After registering you will be brought to your home screen where you can listen to or record podcasts. To record your 1.
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If you would like to make multiple tracks of audio or sound effects you may want a different application such as Garage Band (!OS) or Stagelight (Android). You should use these applications if you would like a more professional and less candid recording. However, these applications are only audio recording and editing devices, they are not for publishing online. If you make a podcast with these applications you have to use a different application to upload and publish the finished recording for public access. Below is an example image of a multiple track podcast recording edited with Garage Band. If you and your class want to spend more time on production, fine tuning English and presentation skills this is a very worthwhile undertaking. However, if you just want to share single track audio recordings, Audio boom is a better app.
produced and shared, you can do a search for any topic. Please see an example of this in the Podcatcher section of this Tech Talk Every learner is different and the beauty of podcasts is their diversity. It does not take much time to trial a few to find what works best. To put this in perspective, imagine if you could walk into every class in any college and see which teacher and topic you liked best.
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The British Council is an excellent resource for both traditional and conversational podcasts. There are two great podcasts that come to mind. The first is called Elementary Podcasts, and has SOepisodes at around 25 minutes each, where everyday English is discussed and example scenarios are provided. The second is more content and subject based and is called "I wanna talk about ... " In this podcast different people talk about topics that interest them, from life in the UK to losing weight or having pet cats.
The Learning English Broadcast - Voice of America or VOA is the American English counterpart to the British Council podcasts. These podcasts are 30 minutes long and cover many different topics, using accessible vocabulary and shorter sentences, that are easier for language learners to follow.
Suggested podcasts There are many podcasts targeted towards language learners. The podcast medium is easy to produce and share. Because podcasts are audio based they are traditionally language based. Podcasts target language learners in their content, vocabulary, level, and pace. There are many different podcasts that can be subscribed to for free, so I suggest trying a search and trialing many different podcasts with a class. You could even have students write reviews on different podcasts and collect the reviews on a Google doc for the entire class to share.
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' ~¡-""'"' Business English Pod is designed for students who want to learn Business English. This is a great example of a podcast that is subject specific. There are many business focused podcasts such as 'Money Talk', however the vocabulary in this podcast is geared towards Ll English users, so the challenge could be too high. Business English Pod's episodes range from 5 to 30 minutes on average, depending on the topic, and there are hundreds of episodes.
I will list a few podcasts below that I have used with students. However, because podcasts are such an extensive resource that is easily Independence 68 IATEFLLearner Autonomy Special Interest Group Newsletter
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are downloading many episodes for your class. Ears English is another American English based podcast with over 600 episodes of about 15 minutes on average, covering a range of topics such as: idioms, everyday English, getting into a US college, TOEFL,IELTS, TOIECand many other topics. This is a conversation-based show on which the hosts will discuss the given topic at an easy-to-understand pace. Many of the more famous podcasts such as 'This American Life' or 'Stuff you should know' are not geared towards L2 English users; however on the shows' respective websites you can find a transcript and other supporting materials for the podcast episodes which are great scaffolding resources. Podcasts are made by both professional and amateurs so you may want to discuss this fact with your students.
Summing up Here are a few of the benefits and limitations for the 3 different types of podcast related applications I have discussed. Podcatchers As I mentioned before, the stock Podcatchers are a great place to start. After using these Podcatchers you may find that you want to try different interfaces that offer different options. Podcatchers will not find all podcasts available any more than a bookstore will have every book Therefore, if you would like to use this resource for a class, it is useful to pre-check if the pod cast is available for all your students. Podcatchers have become very simple to use, however like any new interface it will take time to learn. You may therefore ask students to have a look at the platform for homework and discuss it in class or set aside time to do a walk-through. Podcasts are online, so if you do not have access to the Internet to stream or if your students' service is slow you may want to have them download the podcast before class. An average hour-long podcast is about 25mb so make sure you teach students how to delete these files if you
Podcast production Podcast production is a fun way to validate student presentations by making them public. Audioboom is a great application for doing this, though some of my students noticed that the application records the name of the place where you made your podcast. This feature is on by default, so if someone accesses a podcast that a student recorded at home, their address may be present unless you turn off this feature. I like the 10 minute limit that Audioboom places on the recording, because that is usually a good length for me to listen through, especially ifmy classes are large. If you want to record anything longer or with multiple tracks I would suggest using a different app. If you use a multiple track recording application you will most likely have to guide students. To publish these podcasts you will need access to Internet and the upload process takes some time, so please be aware of this when using this resource. You may also wish to request that your students find a quiet place to make their podcasts as background noise can be very distracting. If the podcasts are being graded you may want to add technical clarity to your rubric. Suggested podcasts I have listened through all the podcasts I suggested but have not used all of them with students. Podcasts are usually subjective narratives, and it may be hard for some language learners to distinguish between fact and opinion in the episodes. It may be helpful for students to listen to a few podcasts in their native language to get an understanding of this. Podcasts are constantly updated, which is very exciting, but please keep track of all the episodes you start subscriptions to as the files can add up and fill up devices.
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Final thoughts Before using podcasts explicitly in my class I would often get ideas for content to discuss as a class. I would also have small snippets of an episode I found interesting that related to a topic that we would listen to as a class. However I realized that without extensive scaffolding most of my students would not continue to listen and be inspired by these podcasts. In one of my classes I dedicated a unit to lifetime learning resources and my students and I found many podcasts that were easy to understand and grow with as language learners. It was only recently that I had my students record their own discussions in pairs using Audioboom. Previous to this, I would have students capture conversation journals and share them with me locally, but when I switched to publicly producing this assignment I noticed a change in the professionalism of my students' recording. Producing and listening to podcasts is one of my favorite ways of sharing and hearing new information. Podcasts range from amateur to professional recordings, giving learners a vast range of topic, style and technique for sharing thoughts and ideas. This form of entertainment can easily become a part of a learner's daily routine for years to come.
Dear Readers,
If you have any requests for future Tech Talks, please feel free to contact me. Any request is greatly appreciated and can range from a specific program you want explained to a general lesson that you want to incorporate technology into. Thank you, lucius-v@kanda.kuis.ac.ip
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