Today was a great day. We have been running a Kids Conference in Dunedin over the last two days. 100 students from all around Otago come to the Otago University College of Education to take part in a two day conference. These students sign up for four different workshops ranging from Google Sketchup, animations, movie making, podcasting, digital photography, microscopic investigations and green screening. It is a fantastic two days with students buzzing with enthusiasm.
But this is the reason why it was so special for me. My students ran a workshop on podcasting. They were the only students to run a workshop in the entire conference. The greatest thing about this is that these students are not the gifted and talented ones, they weren't chosen for their confidence. However, they stepped up and ran the workshop and did an amazing job. This once again shows the value in a podcasting programme. These students had language difficulties ranging from a speech impediment, lack of confidence and lack of volume. This was not an issue though, as they have been practicing using their voice for the last two terms and know how to speak to an audience. These workshops have shown that the skills these students learnt through podcasting are transferred to speaking in front of an audience.
In this image above two of my students are instructing the three teachers who came to their workshop.
But this is the reason why it was so special for me. My students ran a workshop on podcasting. They were the only students to run a workshop in the entire conference. The greatest thing about this is that these students are not the gifted and talented ones, they weren't chosen for their confidence. However, they stepped up and ran the workshop and did an amazing job. This once again shows the value in a podcasting programme. These students had language difficulties ranging from a speech impediment, lack of confidence and lack of volume. This was not an issue though, as they have been practicing using their voice for the last two terms and know how to speak to an audience. These workshops have shown that the skills these students learnt through podcasting are transferred to speaking in front of an audience.
In this image above two of my students are instructing the three teachers who came to their workshop.
2 comments:
I was so inspired by your breakout on podcasting at uLearn! Since getting back I've started my students off on all sorts of interesting projects and podcasting is next on the list. I am astounded at how intuitive the kids are, and how easily they learn! What a great idea to use kids to teach the teachers. I find that some of my colleagues are a bit overwhelmed by the Web 2.0 tools, and think it's harder that it is. The kids will show 'em!
Wow, thanks for your comment Raenette. You are so right, the kids take to this stuff like fish to water !! I would love you to come back and post a link to your podcast for me to check out, or even better, add your podcast link to the database at http://nzedublogs.wikispaces.com.
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