Digital Imagery in the Classroom

In researching the use of digital imagery in the classroom, it quickly became very apparent that there are endless amounts of activities and opportunities that use such technology within the learning environment. Although many websites outline things that the teacher can do with digital photography, there are also many opportunities for the students themselves to have hands-on experience with this. I am a strong believer in experiential learning, and many children learn better by doing. So, what better way to teach any subject, than with first hand experience using a digital camera? The following are a few ways that digital imagery can be used within regular and special needs classrooms.
One application of using digital photography in the classroom is within the Health and Physical Education strand. In grade five, one of the specific expectations for physical fitness is to be able to describe the components of physical fitness and relate each component to an appropriate physical activity. These categories include cardiorespiratory, muscle endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility. The teacher would divide the class up into four different groups, and have them come up with different activities they could do for each type of physical fitness. For example, one group would be the ‘flexibility’ group, and it would be their task to come up with 3-5 appropriate exercises or activities we should do daily that fall into that group.
Once every group has had a chance to establish their activities and practice, the teacher will give them a digital camera and they are to take still photos as well as video footage of what each activity looks like as the students perform them. Once every group has taken their photos, they can print them out and make captions for them. The students must then put these photographs on display in the school hallway in a pyramid format, showing the entire school which physical activity should be done the most to the least, and what each one could look like. At the end you will have a photo collage, created completely by the students, of the different physical activities you should do daily, as well as captions explaining each one.
Other classes can be invited to join the “Physical Fitness Photo Wall” by adding their own photographs of other physical activities you could do. As an extension of this, the photographs that the students take can then be added to the school’s website for parents and other community members to see. The teacher can also post the video footage online so that parents and other students can click on it to see what the exercises will look like from start to finish. This assignment would not only link to the Health and Physical Education curriculum, but it would also integrate well with the Human Body science curriculum, as well as the Visual Arts strand.
A second idea that incorporates digital imagery in the special needs classroom includes having a student study local landmarks. In the grade five social studies curriculum, Canadian Landmarks is a subject that is taught. Since the concept of Canadian landmarks may be overwhelming or intimidating for a student with special needs, the teacher can accommodate to his/her needs by making it local landmarks. It is the student’s task to drive (or walk if it is a smaller town) around the city with an adult helper, and take pictures of different places the student considers to be local landmarks. Such places may include his neighbourhood grocery store, the town hall, the local beach, and the school. The places the student considers to be local landmarks may be special to the student, or they can be places the student can relate to. For example, he may take a picture of the building where his dad works. If possible, the student with special needs is encouraged to be the one who takes the photos, as this will allow him to have ownership in his work. The student may need a reminder of what a ‘landmark’ is, and the definition should be established prior to the photo-taking extravaganza. While taking these photos, the student should also try to focus on different photo techniques and use different camera angles, etc. This of course can be incorporated into the arts curriculum.
After the photos are taken, it is the student’s task to arrange them in a presentation of some sort. If the student is able to manipulate a presentation software program such as Microsoft PowerPoint, then he can be asked to make a slide show with the digital images he took, with captions under each photo. If the student is working at a lower primary level, have him print the photos out, and arrange them on a presentation board, along with captions for each. As an extension of this task, the teacher can ask the student to create a large to-scale map of the hometown. On that map he is to place the pictures where they belong respectively. This will encourage the student to develop his mapping skills. Furthermore, if the map were created on grid paper, he could also be asked to give the coordinates of each location, which would concur with mathematics curriculum.
Once the entire project is finished, the teacher may have the student present his project orally in front of the class. If he created his presentation on PowerPoint, he could also record himself reading the information, and then play the slideshow in front of the class using the LCD projector.
The following is another example of a lesson that incorporates digital photography in the primary grades. At the beginning of the year, the teacher will explain to the class that each child is to choose a living thing outdoors that is special to them. This can be a tree, a flower, a pond, etc. In the fall, the students will go on a fall walk and (with help from the teacher, parent volunteers, or EAs) each student will take a photograph of their special item using a digital camera. The students will then print their photos out on coloured paper twice. With one set of photos they will create a wall or bulletin board with all of their pictures. The pictures can be labeled with the student’s name, as well as why that item is special to them. With the second set of photos, they will create their very own photo journal. This could be done using a simple notebook that has half the page blank for a picture and the other half with lines. If it is a more advanced class, the photo journal can be created online using a free photo journal website, or even in a folder on the computer that belongs to that one student.
This will be an ongoing task throughout the year, because as each new season presents itself, the students will venture outside and take a photograph of that same item. As the year progresses they will continue to go outside and take photos of their special item. Every time they do, they will add to their photo journals, and write a reflection each time a new picture is taken. This is a good way for students to have first-hand learning of the seasons, or life cycles in the environment. Throughout the year the students will begin to notice changes in the environment and to their special item in particular. They will be able to state their findings, as well as reflect and ask questions as to why certain things happened. What’s great about this assignment is the fact that each child should be encouraged to choose his own item, something that is unique and different from everyone else’s. This way, each student has ownership of his own special item, and that item can become “theirs”.
Young students will look forward to many things in this task; they will look forward to the next season or anytime their item changes, and they will look forward to using and manipulating a digital camera, since many of their parents may not let them use theirs at home. This is also a great literacy lesson because it encourages students to make predictions and write using descriptive language. This is a very well-rounded lesson that both the teacher and students will benefit from greatly.
As stated above, there are so many things students can do with digital imagery inside and outside of the classroom. It was very difficult to choose just three lessons, as there are so many that exist. However, I chose these three for a couple different reasons. First of all, each lesson I discussed had the student as the hands-on learner; the one manipulating the digital camera and other technologies. I also chose these lessons because each of them had so many cross-curricular integrations and extensions, which is always something teachers are looking for. Lastly, I included them because they show a range of different ages and abilities, from the junior grades, to students with special needs, right down to the primary grades.
It is very apparent that digital imagery is a concept that can be used in any classroom, and at any age or grade. It is something that is so easily at our finger tips that we would be doing ourselves and our students a disservice if we didn’t allow them to explore with digital cameras.

"Teacher to Teacher"

In response to David's find: http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/lon/lonlinks/digicam/teacher/home.html

This looks like a really good site, David. Although Peter would like us to focus moreso on the students having the camera, it's still a great site that gives tips and ideas to teachers like who are trying to do various things with digital cameras in their classrooms. I especially like the idea the first grade teacher had where she took pictures around the classroom and them put them into KidPix where the kids would have to draw the shapes that they saw. This is a great activity as it not only introduces shapes in the environment, it also touches upon perspective taking and seeing things that may not be blatent or obvious. I'll be sure to use some of these ideas when I'm looking to incorporate digital imagery in my classroom. Great find, David!

Google Earth?

Response to Vanessa's Google Earth posting...

Vanessa - I've heard so much about Google Earth but have never ventured onto the site. Now that I've read your submission, I am on it as we speak and it is downloading! Can't wait to see what opportunities this will present. Thanks for the tip!

Differentiated Instruction and the Auditory Learner

Response to Dave's differentiated instruction posting in regards to using audio technology software programs such as Kurzweil and Dragon Naturally Speaking.

I think you are so right, David. You definitely touched upon some poignant issues. I have a student in my class who uses both those software programs many times throughout the week and sometimes daily. The one thing that I have trouble with though is the fact that other students still say "why does HE get to use that and we don`t". On one hand I explain that we all learn differently and these types of software will help the student to perform and reach his highest potential. On the other hand, I hear what the other kids are saying and wish that we did have access to this software for the whole class. Although I understand that only a few students may need this type of software assistance, that`s not to say that other students wouldn`t benefit from using it as well. I guess it just comes down to the availability of technology in your school...which is frustrating to some!

Digital Storytelling and Podcasting in the Classroom

In researching the effects of digital storytelling and podcasting in the classroom, I came across many useful articles and helpful links. These links and articles helped to be gain a better understanding of what, in fact, digital storytelling and podcasting are, and really allowed me to start thinking of how I can use these within my own classroom.
An activity I currently use in my grade four classroom is called Circle News. This is an Oral Language activity that encourages the children to listen actively to what others say, and then be able to retell their account back to the class. Students are placed into groups and one is assigned the ‘manager’ for that day. Each student is to take a turn and tell a news story about something that has happened in the recent past. The teacher will usually set the guidelines for this and ask for specific stories such as what the child did over the weekend. Each child must include the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’ details in a natural way when they tell their story, and the other children are listening attentively so they are able to pick those out. At the end once everyone has shared, the ‘manager’ is to choose one news story he/she liked the most, and that student is to explain the story orally back to the class in a retell fashion.
The way that podcasting can fit into this is instead of having the student retell the story in front of the class, why not have them do it as a podcast? Each manager would record it online, and then you would have a podcast of a series of five Circle News stories that could stream over the internet or over the board’s intranet system. It could be a “Grade Four Weekly News Podcast” that would focus on details of the children’s lives. Each week would feature five new students telling their news, and you would continue on in this manner so that everyone has had a chance to create part of the podcast. This would still be considered an Oral Language activity, but now you’ve also incorporated the Computer Technology aspect as well. The students would find this very interesting, and they would feel a sense of importance or accomplishment, knowing that people can go online and listen to their podcasts.
Digital Storytelling in the junior grades does not have to be intimidating. It can be a tool to help students learn more about their past and heritage. I teach in a very northern board, and the majority of people who populate my town are Natives. Even if the students are not of Native descent, the following digital storytelling task can help them understand how traditions and storytelling drive Native culture. I would explain to my class that many cultures, including Native cultures, value oral storytelling as a means of passing on traditions and stories from generation to generation. Then I would say that we would be doing the same, only we are going to use technology to help us along.
Currently in my class we are learning about the six traits of writing, and we are on the ‘Ideas’ trait. This trait discusses how authors have one main idea in their story that always teaches a lesson in the end. For example, the big idea in the Three Little Pigs is that in the end, hard work always pays off. I would incorporate this into my Language Arts lesson on digital storytelling using Native myths and legends. In order to activate prior knowledge, I would discuss Native culture and traditional storytelling, and have the students tell me what they already know. Then I would read them a few stories from anthologies or picture books that might help them understand. Appropriate story books to use include All the Stars in the Sky: Native Stories from the Heavens by C.J. Taylor, or Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie Depaola. One useful anthology is The Storytelling Stone: Traditional Native American Myths and Tales by Susan Feldmann. As you read these stories to your class, discuss what makes them unique, and have the students pick out the main idea and the lesson learned in the end.
It is very important as a teacher, to be able to show a completed product to your students in order for them to learn the expectations for their own work. Thus, the first thing I would do is show a model of what I would want to see all my students produce. This would be a completed digital story created on Movie Maker or iMovie (if your board has Mac) that tells a Native myth or legend that I created.
Once the students become comfortable with this, it is time for them to create their own Native story. Using various outlines and pre-writing organizers, I would have them draft a copy of their very own Native legend or myth; something that incorporates the Ideas Trait of Writing. The natural story writing process would proceed, including teacher conferences and peer editing. At this point, it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand that everyone works at a different pace, and if someone is finished their rough draft quicker than everyone else, they should be encouraged to get started using Movie Maker. Once a student is finished his story, he would be able to work with the designated program and begin to create his story digitally. As a teacher, one should encourage the students to explore and manipulate the different features of the program being used, and it should be a requirement for your students to incorporate imported music, pictures (drawn and scanned or found on the internet), etc. The students also need to consider their tone of voice, volume, and other factors that will effect how they record their story. Depending on the amount of space on your hard drive at school, I would put a time limit on the digital story for each student, such as a maximum of three minutes.
If you do not feel like your students are able to navigate through Movie Maker or iMovie with little assistance to create their digital story, a suggestion would be to first create a collective digital story with the class, and go through each step and each fundamental feature of the program together. This way, you can troubleshoot possible problems, and cover some of the things that could possibly go wrong during their digital story creations.
The time it takes your class to complete their digital stories would depend on many things. In one article I researched, there was a teacher who had his students create digital stories and it took them six months. However, his class only had access to five computers at a time, so that would invariably affect the amount of time it took to complete the assignment. Firstly it would depend on the amount of time you have access to computers in your classroom. It would also depend on how flexible the teacher is when organizing and scheduling time. It is very important to understand that teachers may not be able to set strict guidelines when it comes to due dates for digital stories because of these reasons.
In the end, you will have an entire class set of digital stories, retelling or recreating a traditional Native myth or legend. What a great way to introduce and teach such an integral part of Canadian history and culture.
I think digital storytelling and podcasting are tools that every teacher should become familiar with. As I have learned, these tools can turn something ordinary such as everyday storytelling or oral language activities, into something extraordinary. I am very excited to put my newly acquired knowledge into experience!

Check It Out!

It's funny how much information you can obtain just by discussing best practices and observing what other teachers do in my classroom. I sometimes find that my best 'research' information comes from such occasions.

Another thing you can do with digital photography in the classroom is have digital photos from various perspectives and camera angles. One example would be to have a very tight close up of a gorilla's fur - something to make it look like a giant. The teacher would show this extreme close-up to the class and ask what it is. Then you would show them the exact same photo only a full-body shot and they would be surprised to see that it is a tiny baby chimpanzee. The students are shocked to see that their guesses were wrong, but it introduces the idea that there are different perspectives that can be taken with digital photos. It would also review different camera angles, different types of photos, and other curriculum criteria.

One idea my friend is using in her classroom is that she is having a digital scrapbook. All throughout the year she takes pictures of her students almost daily, doing different tasks, on field trips, during gym, etc. Then at the end of the year she posts these pictures on a free online photo album site (with the appropriate written consent) and allows access to her students and parents. This gives everyone the chance to see what went on throughout the year, and serves as a nice memory or keep-sake once the year is over.

More Digital Photography Ideas...

One thing I do in my classroom at the beginning of the year is take an individual photo of each student with my digital camera. I then cut those pictures out so it is just a close-up of their face and shoulders and paste them onto construction paper. Once I cut those out into funky shapes (stars), I laminate them and put a self-adhesive magnet strip on the back. Now I have individual magnets for each child, and I keep them on the front chalkboard. I use these magnets for many things throughout the year. When I want to make groups I just place the magnets in different groups and the students can have a visual of which group they are in. I also use them to show who my monitors are for the week (for example, on the "Grade 4B Monitors" section of the chalkboard - beside 'milk monitor' would be one student's picture magnet, etc.). The students love seeing their faces on the chalkboard all day - and there are so many uses for this concept.

Another thing my school did recently during Literacy Week was have a "WALL OF FAME". Students were invited to have their photo taken with their favourite book/author/series. These photos were then printed on photo paper and place on the wall of fame in the lobby of the school. This was great because it got kids motivated and interested in reading. It also gave the parents and community members a visual of our students and how we're such great readers!

Science and Digital Photography

http://primary-school-curriculum.suite101.com/article.cfm/a_digital_camera_in_science_class

I think one subject that often gets missed when considering how to use digital imagery in the classroom is science. However, there are lots of things you can do as a class to use photography and cover the science curriculum as well.

The above site seems like an amazing resources as it has a lot of great ideas for lessons using digital photography. A couple of the ideas include creating the life cycle of the butterfly (grade two curriculum) using digital photography by taking pictures of caterpillars and butterflies in different stages of their lives. You could easily place these digital photos on a bulletin board, and it would be a first-hand visual representation that the students can refer to throughout the unit.

Another suggestion was to take pictures of the students doing a science experiment. Once all the pictures have been taken, have the students put them back into sequential order, all the while reviewing the scientific method (as seen in each photo). If you are not one for still photography, you could easily create a video of the students doing the science experiment, and then post that video on the school's website. The kids would love that!

I think it's important for us to remember that digital photography is a technology that can be easily integrated into every subject, including math and science.

Peter's Cutting and Pasting

Oh my goodness Peter, that would be so time consuming! Did that professor mean to have a picture collection for every subject taught so that you can always have a visual representation? I realize that was a while ago, but it seems very partial to the visual learner. I guess there wasn't that big of a push for differentiated instruction back then? Plus - with all that cutting and pasting, when did you have time for anything else?

Whole-word vs. Phonics?

This posting is in response to Shane's thoughts on how audio learners will learn spelling using phonics and sounding-out strategies, whereas visual learners will use whole-word strategies.

Shane - I think it's really interesting that you mentioned that visual learners will spell using the whole word versus phonics and sounding-out strategies. Teachers in the primary division will know that there has been great debate in the last decade or so about the benefits of phonics versus whole-word spelling. It's interesting to consider that once again, we need to cater to every student's needs and instruct them based on this thought. I guess it all comes down to Differentiated Instruction.

But it's so true - if you think about audio learners, they may try to spell words based on what the letter sounds 'say', whereas the visual learner will just read the entire word. We all know that there are many different types of learners in our classrooms, so how do we go about teaching spelling if there are such differences that exist. Some boards have 'solved' that problem by doing away with the phonics programs that they previously used and adoped whole-word spelling strategies instead. While this will cater to the visual learners, where does that leave the audio learners who understand words when they are chunked and broken down into sounds?

This is definitely something to consider, and it's something that reminds me that I need to reconsider how I teach spelling. I need to teach different strategies that cater to the needs of both audio and visual learners.

Assessment and the Visual Learner

A response to David and Peter's posting...

I completely agree with both of you - I think teachers (especially those who have been teaching for many years and perhaps it's all they know) tend to teach in content in order to have tests and exams as assessment tools. Teachers are often very reluctant to assess using anything but tests and exams because they are tangible, paper and pencil tasks that are "easy" to assess because they can be seen with the eye and decided whether it's the right or wrong answer.

I think a lot of teachers tend to avoid teaching in other fashions, because they are unsure of what to do to assess. I think there should be more PD on assessment in areas that are more abstract - such as oral language. Some teachers often assess the process rather than the product, and that might be a solution - but how many times can you do that?

I would be interested to find out more about this subject - as I completely agree with you. Is there some way we can cater to the students who do not learn well using the traditional model of teaching?

A Little Off Topic...

Although this posting (well, more like a rant) h$as nothing to do with digital photography, it does have to do with technology in general. I am currently applying to many boards in the southern Ontario region and the majority of them use www.applytoeducation.ca as their means of applying. Today I spent the entire day at my school scanning all of my documents (teaching reports, transcripts, police check, etc.) one by one, for every board. For some reason, I figured that having a brand new scanner at the school, things would go pretty quickly - but honestly, to scan one page, it took an average of about 2-3 minutes. Now when you think about it, I had about 7-10 pages to scan per board, and there are 9 boards that use applytoeducation.ca - that's a LONG time to be scanning. Once I was finally done scanning, I then had to upload said scans onto the actual website, which took another 2 minutes per page. Sometimes I get so frustrated with technology, and it really seems like a ironic paradox to me. We use technology because it is supposed to be so much quicker and reduces paper, etc., and yet it often takes a very long time to even scan and upload documents. Doesn't that defeat the purpose??

Lesson Ideas for Digital Photography

While researching digital imagery in the classroom, I came across the site that had many different lesson ideas that incorporated digital photography.

One lesson idea I liked in particular was the idea of giving your students only a portion of a digital photo - and as a writing activity, you can use it as a writing prompt - what's happening in the photo? What is missing in the photo? What happened before, during, after the photo was taken, etc. Picture prompts are awesome to use as a writing tool in the classroom. An alternate lesson idea or extension of this would be to have the students go around and take the digital photos and distort them in some way or cut parts of them off. Then they could trade with other students and they would use that as a writing prompt.

You could also take the photos that the students took and have your class try to put them together in some sequential way. It wouldn't have to make sense at first because ideally you would have students taking pictures of completely different things/places. However, you could put all the photos in some sort of order, and as a class you could write a story using those as your pictures.

This topic of digital imagery is so broad - lots of things you can do. I'm excited to learn more!
http://www.wacona.com/digicam/digicam.html#Lesson

Digital Photography and Special Needs

This is a posting that responded to a post from Michael regarding digital photography and special needs students.

Michael - that is such a great idea. It actually reminds me of what the grade five teacher did at my school. During the Canadian Landmark unit in Social Studies, she made a modified assignment for her very high needs student. Instead of getting him to focus on Canadian landmarks the teacher adapted it to local Sioux Lookout landmarks. What he did was drive around with an EA and take pictures of what he thought were important Sioux Lookout landmarks. Then he printed those digital photos and added captions to them, labelling what each 'landmark' was, and giving a little bit of information about each. These were typed responses completely typed by himself (big step). He put this all on a bristol board and presented it to the class orally. As an extension, the teacher had him create a large map of Sioux Lookout and he placed each digital photo (scaled down) on the map in its respective place. I really like how the teacher in your school created it like a game with velcro. That would really help the student to learn the names of important places in his city. I'll be sure to pass along that great idea to the grade five teacher in my school. Thanks!

Digital Photography and iMath

David - it's so true that mathematics is the subject that gets the short end of the stick when it comes to innovative lesson plans. I have to admit, I fall into that trap almost daily. Since I wasn't a very mathematically-minded student as a child, I find it difficult to come up with lesson plans that are fun and creative, and present different approaches to learning. Aside from using math manipulatives (which I do often as the students are more engaged), I definitely lack in the innovation aspect of math teaching.

This website looks great, and I especially like lesson plan idea about the math vocab photobook. Although this is a MAC site, it is also a lesson task that can easily be adapted to a program such as Microsoft Movie Maker.

I thought the lesson plan looked so good, and the site itself looks promising, that I joined! I hope the fact that I don't have a Mac doesn't have an effect on the amount of resources I can access! I look forward to using this website, thanks for the sharing the wealth!

In Response to KISS

This is a message that responds to David's posting on beginning with the end in mind...starting with an expectation and working your way backward from there.

It's so true, David. We sometimes really do need to learn how to crawl before we begin to run. Although it's sometimes difficult to do, I was first encouraged to put the 'start with the expectation first' concept into practice during my BEd year at Brock. However, sometimes it is difficult to work that way - but rewarding nonetheless.

One question though, I heard you refer that concept to KISS - what does that stand for?

Podcasting & Special Education

In response to Vanessa's find on Podcasting and Autism...

That looks like a great find, Vanessa. I found something similar about Learning Disabilities. I think it's really important that parents and other people in the field have different resources and outlets to consult when trying to learn more about what the child is going through. There are definitely more sites and podcasts needed about things like PDD and Learning Disabilities - the things that really matter when it comes to Special Education.

Learning Disabilities and Podcasts...

http://www.ldpodcast.com/

While researching podcasting and special education, I came across this website that offers podcasts on Learning Disabilities.

To quote the website:

The LD Podcast is a free weekly podcast/internet radio show about learning and learning disabilities. Our focus is on parenting children who are struggling in school, but you'll find many of the topics we discuss applicable to any child. You'll hear a lot about how to emphasize your child's strengths, while helping them find ways to minimize their deficits. Every child learns, but not all children learn the same way or at the same pace as others.
Topics include:

Dyslexia
ADHD
Central Auditory Processing Disorder
Asperger's and Autism Spectrum Disorders
Strategies to help your child succeed in school
Special Education
Therapy and therapists
Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities
Understanding How Your Child Learns Best and How You Can Help

This seems like a great website directed at parents or educators who would like to learn more about different disabilities that they may have to work with on a daily basis. So, I thought it was interesting because we have all been so busy researching the effects of podcasting on education directed at students - but what about the parents and educators who need to learn more? This just proves that podcasts are a great way to educate and inform people about topics that really matter.

Why So Strict??

Is anyone else frustrated by the amount of websites they are NOT allowed on by their board? I look forward to getting some course work done while on breaks at school and I get very frustrated when I realize that I am allowed on to absolutely no sites!! I'm completely blocked. No blogging, no podcasts...very frustrating!! I want to see what everyone else is seeing! Okay okay...I'll just have to wait until home time:)

Powerpoint or Podcasts?

This post is in response to a message by Christine - talking about the benefits of using Powerpoint as a stepping stone for creating podcasts.

Christine - I completely agree. Using Powerpoint as a stepping stone for creating Podcasts is a great idea. Everyone is always saying how teaching your students Powerpoint is useless because of all the new and exciting technologies out there such as podcasts, so why not Powerpoint useFUL instead? In my class the kids have a Powerpoint presentation assignment where they have to make up a children's story in at least 5 slides plus a title page. Most of them think that this is the end of the assignment. But wouldn't the students be surprised to find out that they are only half way there - that there is another component to the assignment; translating that Powerpoint presentation into a podcast?! That's a wonderful idea! And believe me, I am definitely one of those teachers who need to use a software "rough copy" first, before diving head-first into podcasting. It's nice to know that there is a stepping stone on which to base our knowledge of podcasts...great!

Podcasting & Student Achievement

http://www.etech.ohio.gov/programs/action/research/newark_english.jsp

While researching podcasting, I was trying to find things that people haven't come across yet. I have been seeing a lot of podcasting with subjects like science, but I haven't seen a lot with the arts. The arts are my passion - so I would like to learn more about how to use digital storytelling and podcasting in the arts classroom. Well, when searching for the 'arts' I came across podcasting and Language Arts. Also something that interests me!

This article discusses a study conducted to see if using podcasting in the English Language Arts classroom would improve student achievement. Although the conclusion of the study could not find a definitive correlation between podcasting and student achievement, the majority of participants reported that the audio podcast improved their skill development. I find it interesting that people would conduct studies to see how podcasting can directly and positively affect student achievement in children and I look forward to further researching this area!