Whole Task, Scaffolding and Mathemagenic Methods to Promote Learning

Whole Task Approach to Podcasting

According to the Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology website http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Scaffolding, the whole task approach is defined as ...” the task is learned as a whole instead of a set of individual sub-skills. Each feature of the lesson is learned as it relates to the whole task.”. I believe creating and publishing a podcast is an appropriate example of this method. There are many sub-skills which are involved in creating and publishing a podcast. While many students know how to use GarageBand to record their own voice as well as add graphics, there are other subtleties one needs to know when producing a podcast, such as how to set chapters, how to share to iTunes and even publish a podcast so that others can subscribe to the podcast and receive updates. These subskills are not taught separately; rather, they are incorporated into the entire process of producing and sharing a podcast.

Scaffolding and Podcasting

One form of scaffolding is that of modeling. There are three types of modeling; think-aloud, talk-aloud, and performance modeling (from the site Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology). All forms of modeling could be used in creating a podcast. For the think-aloud section, the instructor could give a brief description of podcasting as well as a broad and brief outline for the project. Talk-aloud and performance could both be utilized through a screencast in which the teacher both models and talks about the skills involved in the creation of a podcast. The nice thing about a screencast is that it can be uploaded to a course management site or student common drive for repeated viewings.

Mathemagenic Methods--i.e., TRANSFER and Podcasting

One way of promoting transfer is through metacognition. Vehicles such as blogs, threaded discussions, or back channeling regarding what was learned through the creation of a podcast could help promote transfer. Giving students the opportunity to reflect with a purpose (i.e., publish the reflection) could provide deeper metacognition, hopefully yielding a higher level of transfer. Not only could the transfer reflect the technical end of the assignment but could also reflect the content matter, thus killing two birds with one stone.