Standage, Social Media, and Podcast Part 2
Before I read Tom Standage’s book if you had asked me what social media is, I would have said, the internet, websites, and apps that allow us to create and share information all around us. Now after reading his book, I agree with Standage, social media is not limited to the current technology, but instead is a means of communication and connect. Standage’s definition of social media is, “ an environment in which information was passed from one person to another along social connections, to create a distributed discussion or community.” (pg 3) It has nothing to do with our current technology and Standage makes a point to demonstrate how social media back then has come full circle to what we consider social media.
As I read throughout the book I kept thinking what does this have to do with podcasts, the topic I will be discussing in this blog. Then it dawned on me that Standage talks about social media, our constant need for social interaction and for sharing information and content. All things podcasts are doing for our society today. Podcasts should not be compared to radio broadcasts, because like Standage said in his book, the radio era caused a decline in social media interaction. The radio, known as mass media was controlled by a small group and was put through censorship. While podcasts do not follow the same criteria of control and censorship.
Podcasts can be created by anyone and posted online for anyone to listen and share. This makes them useful in many different settings. My main focus is podcasts in education and how they are useful and how they are used. In a classroom podcast can be used for several purposes:
- Students who need reinforcement or extra support on a particular subject can listen to a podcast on that subject or topic.
- Since they are simple to make, students can create their own podcast on a learning topic to share with their class.
- Teachers can create podcasts for students to listen to before a lesson, as a way to “flip” the classroom
- It can help students that learn better through auditory skills.
- These are just of few examples of how podcasts can be used in the classroom.
When students are creating they are using several skills, such as researching, writing, speaking, problem-solving, managing time and creativity to build a podcast. Podcast also allow for collaboration among students. I can see the benefits of podcasts in schools and as a Spanish teacher, I can see how effective podcast would be for understanding, listening and speaking in Spanish. I’m eager to learn more about podcasts and how to use them in the classroom as well as share my findings with you.
Mel, I am interested to see what else you find out about podcasting. After working on Podcast in class for the last 2 weeks and Reading Richardson's book. I am interested in trying them out in my classroom next year. I agree with your thoughts about using it Spanish class. I think podcasts would be a great way to check in on their speaking.
ReplyDeleteI really like Standage's take on what social media is. After all, were prehistoric cave paintings a type of social media? They were created to allow individuals a method of communicating important information between individuals separated by great distances or even long spans of time. The phrase "did you see what I wrote on your wall?" seems funny to me when I consider that Paleolithic people were literally writing on each other's walls. Nothing in humans' impulse to communicate and socialize has changed, only the technology has changed!
ReplyDeleteI have been interested in podcasting for a while, ever since I recorded my first podcast in college. I'm working on one now, and trying to get it off the ground. I think it's a really great medium for the reasons your mentioned - podcasting democratizes broadcasting. One no longer needs the support and resources of a radio station or television network to put out a regular program on any subject they wish. This is open source media, in the best possible way. There's no censorship, so rules and no limits to how many people one's message will reach. In my humble opinion, it represents the best of what the Internet can and should be. I think it can be a really empowering thing for students to take on. Let their voices be heard!
Isn't his take on social media great! I read some reviews on him and this book before I started reading (the avid amazon shopper in me) and he had several reviews where people did not like his idea that social media has been around always. I was surprised at how negative they were to his ideas.
DeleteYou have answered my previous question here. It's so funny that you had such a different take on the book than I did! I'm glad you got a lot of out it!
ReplyDeleteI read your entries and I thought the same. How we each got something different. After reading your entry I could see your point about communication over media, but I still feel like his view really stuck out to me and I liked the idea that we have always been social and crave that social life.
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