A class podcast project The pros and cons

Technology = Motivation? Introducing technology as a motivating factor: we can’t simply rely on the “novel” or “new” aspect of technology in itself to achieve long term student motivation or classroom participation. We must think of how we can use the technology in integrative ways to achieve our goals for the particular student group in question.

Why a podcast project? Growing popularity of podcasting at the time – thought it would spark interest and motivation. (But actually most students were unaware of podcasting) Personal interest in podcasting/radio The belief that recording can be used for motivational and conscious raising purposes. The belief that digital recording technology/podcasting can be used for both extensive listening AND for working on students’ spoken language skills.

Philosophies behind the project A semester long digital radio/podcast project Student-led group project orientated course To motivate students to “continue talking” in class, to keep on-task and in the target language. Digital recording technology as a motivational factor To encourage students to be more conscious of their spoken language (“capturing spoken language”) and “edit/revise”. To encourage students to bring their own lives and interests into the classroom To encourage students to creatively work together towards a final goal.

The project: details of classroom work 3 rd year students (non-English majors, non-compulsory class) 12 weeks First half: examining radio programs: features, differences across genres, language of the radio Last half: formation of groups, working to plan, script, practice and record programs. Last class: playing of all programs and class-level feedback

How successful was the class? All students made and recorded a program All reported the experience to be rewarding Each group/individual’s program was creative, well-prepared, and unique to their own worries and personalities It allowed stronger students to be creative and help weaker students 

Their programs: Makiko’s hot love counseling show Leave it to Yukari (love counseling show) Ask Ayano (love counseling show) The Movie Studio (an interview with the anime director “Miyazaki”) S & K Radio (interviews with foreigners about their lives in Japan) Hot Teenage Radio (introduces young people with guts and hot beats) A current affairs program with Yuki

Was it a success? No significant increase in the use of the target language More instances of being “off-task”, no real increase in the amount of talking in class. Change in language skills? In class preparation time… a waste of time? No feedback on spoken English throughout the semester No exchange at a class level

Issue 1: Student related “issues” Job hunting & Absenteeism Lateness to class Rare for all group members to be in class together  Decision to allow class time for preparation  Decision to make it a long-term project culminating at the end of the semester  Trialability, feasibility, relevance, ownership

Student voices: end of semester evaluation Wanting greater interaction at a class level I liked the idea of making a radio program as a project, but the thing I didn’t like is we haven’t got all together. That was the only problem. – Hiroko – If it might be an improper expression, I want to more talk and communicate each person in this class and Kris. I want some more class plan which allow close contact between class mates and Kris. – Yukari –

Class level sharing & feedback I want to enjoy English class, but I couldn’t enjoy the class as long as I worked alone. There was not communication. I really like the last lesson because we sat around a table and we shared our opinion. I really want to do something like that. –Masanori –

Cross-group collaboration I could enjoy making radio program!! I want to make more CM which be helped other group person because recording with another group person is very fun for me. – Ayako –

Use of Japanese when planning the project About the question “Did you think the class was useful for improving your English?” I think so-so. Because the beginning of this semester was I have chance to speak another student with English, but latter was I spend lots of time with Kazuma (another student) by Japanese. – Seiki – ☆ This is often mentioned in the literature on long-term group projects (see Debski, R. (2000). Exploring the Re- creation of a CALL Innovation. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 13(4-5), )

Preparation: outside of class The only thing I want to suggest is that this project should not be done during the class. It should be done as a homework. By this way we could listen to much more radio programs and could prepare a more interesting radio program. – Mustafa – I had too much time to make the radio program, and I prefer to prepare in my own time. Because, the latter of this semester, we often wasted time in the classroom. We should have usual class and a little bit time spare to the making radio project. – Seiki –

The conclusion from student evaluations Most students said they enjoyed the project. Most students said that the experience of recording, of listening to their own voices, having a copy of their and their classmate’s programs was great. But, many wanted more communication and cooperation between all class members. (Also note that some students were happier to work by themselves though). They wanted more short-term projects with different group members and multiple chances for evaluation & feedback rather than one final long term project. Split opinions about time for preparation. Interesting that many students apologized for missing classes and coming unprepared for classes.

Lessons learnt from student evaluation and personal reflection Return to the “true philosophy” behind podcasting/radio and spoken language.  Focus on the message/interlanguage improvement over final product slickness. Using the technology in ways which will truly address the language needs of the students.  Short-term projects, numerous chances for feedback  Giving students as much access to the technology as possible. “The effectiveness of CALL [or technological developments in general] cannot reside in the medium itself but only in how it is put to use.” - Mark Warschauer (1996) Computer-assisted language learning: An introduction. In, S. Fotos (Ed.) Multimedia Language Teaching (pp. 3-20). Tokyo: LogosInternational.

Innovations in the classroom Avoid over excitement/attachment to the project/technology.  Need to adapt the technology to the needs of the individual students/the class situation. The teacher must adapt the innovation not only to the class (context) in question, but also as issues arise throughout the project. Teachers must identify constraints and new issues as they become evident during the process of implementation. However, achieving flexibility is more difficult than it sounds. Particularly for teachers working alone. There is a need for continual evaluation throughout the life of the project and continual adaptation of the innovation as appropriate in light of the newly understood situation. No matter how much we try to foresee possible constraints, some issues will always be unidentifiable until after the initial implementation.

This year’s class Individual IC recorders instead of the one computer managed by the teacher Adlib/speaking from notes Prepared for and recorded in the one class Changing groups members/formations Continuous student-led feedback Combined with an extensive listening/feedback activity

Other effective ways to integrate digital recording technology into the classroom Encouraging students to be more conscious of and to revise their spoken language ( 放送事故 ) Giving students feedback Encouraging students to engage in self-/group-feedback Text analysis Chances for revision/make up classes for absent students Students bringing their own world into the classroom A good way to identify student language needs for future classes.