Welcome back to another blog!
Today’s topic is discussing the benefits and limitations involved in using digital media in the classroom to facilitate student learning and engagement. Feel free to listen to my recent podcast discussing this topic.
The topic of digital media is very relevant to my everyday life, as I use some form of digital media every single day. It is readily available through my phone, laptop, TV, camera and many other forms. There are endless usages of digital media. I don’t always support digital media, as I am very aware of some of the consequences, which can cause social isolation, mental health issues, and even lack of sleep and physical inactivity to result in obesity. But there is a large part of it, which creates a lot of positivity and creativity. Using digital media in the classroom is a great way to make students interact with teachers and each other. I have experienced teaching classes myself, through a volunteering trip to Zambia. As a group, we were designated to teach a lesson about women’s health to a specific age group. The students were disengaged when we were speaking to them and asking question. It was very difficult to engage them. When we introduced a laptop and showed an interesting slideshow on the particular topic, the class were engaged and they understood. It was a very interesting experience, and it made me think, how much would this have helped the rest of the classrooms engage.
To create my podcast, I found it quite difficult to find particular sources that were specific to digital media in classrooms. Once I found the article ‘A theory of learning for the mobile age,’ everything started to unfold. I mostly tried to relate the topic to myself, and then my ideas began to make sense. It was very interesting reading about digital media used in classrooms, so I quite enjoyed the research. I then wanted to make the podcast sound professional and interesting, so I thought I would use a study as an example. I found the article by Kerawalla to be very informative and detailed for a research example. ‘Preparing students for their future president, international center for leadership in education’ presented a diverse way of education for my digital media research.
Using copyright free content was important for my podcast, as I wanted to use intro and outro music to set the scene. My voice is present the whole time and the track was titled easier to Fade (feat. Madi Larson) by A Himitsu.
I feared hearing the sound of my voice, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of making it. The topic was interesting, the research was enjoyable and editing was exciting. I was proud to see the final result, as I’ve never used a podcast editing program before, or recorded myself for more than 30 seconds. I recorded myself on my android with voice recorder, and it was difficult at first to make sure there was no background noise, or fumbling over words, but I got there eventually and I’m very pleased with the end result. I learnt a new way of editing, as I’ve only ever edited videos, and I’ve learnt how to use sound cloud more efficiently.
Thank you for taking the time to read and listen.
Hannah xx
References:
Music (Podcast start and end): Himitsu – ‘Easier To Fade’ (feat. Madi Larson) https://soundcloud.com/argofox/a-himitsu-easier-to-fade Author: Argofox
Daggett, W R, 2005, ‘Preparing Students for Their Future President, International Center for Leadership in Education’, Presented at June 2005 Model Schools Conference.
Kerawalla, L, Luckin, R, Selijefot, S & Woolard, A, 2006. Making it real: Exploring the potential of augmented reality for teaching primary school science. Virtual Reality, 10(3-4), 163-174.
Sharples, M, Taylor, J & Vavoula, G, 2007, A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. In R. Andrews and C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.) The Sage Handbook of Elearning Research (pp. 221-47). London: Sage.
Hannah Catherine 