Response to Podcast Project

• Implementing projects like this can be a real challenge for teachers. Based on your experience creating a group podcast, what do you perceive are the greatest challenges to successfully completing a project like this with students? After completing this group project, I can conclude that the greatest challenges to the success of the project with students would deal with group work, technical difficulties, and the teachers preparation. First of all, difficulties always arise with group work. For example, students could possibly not get along, group questions don't get answered because there are too many groups for the teacher to attend to, and students could argue over who gets what tasks/jobs in the assignment. As to technical difficulties, the biggest issue with using technology is that someone is probably going to have trouble with some aspect of the project, and creating a podcast requires some advanced technological skills, so problems are even more likely, and the teacher must answer all questions--which could prove to be difficult as one question could take a very long time to figure out. Finally, the teacher must prepare quite a bit in order to ensure the success of the project. If there are multiple groups presenting information, the information must first be presented to the groups by either the teacher or the internet, and if the teacher chooses to use the internet, he/she must find appropriate websites and make only them available to the students.
  
• What are some things a teacher could do ahead of time, during the project and after the students have recorded to make this process more efficient in class? As mentioned above, if the teacher prepares efficiently it will add to the success of the project. For example, he/she could teach the information to be presented to the students, or have them research on their own. Also, the process could be broken up, so that one entire day isn't spent on it--research one day, script writing the next, then recording and editing the next. The teacher could break the project up and divide the class to make it more efficient, that way everyone has a task and is doing something.
  
• If doing a podcast in class is not an option, what are some other ways you could give interested students the experience of making a podcast in school? Perhaps if they finish assignments early or if silent reading time is mandatory for that school interested students could do it then (and during silent reading report on a book). Or the teacher could start a podcast club for after school.