Article #2: The Atoms Family: Using Podcasts to Enhance the Development of Science Vocabulary

I was fortunate to find another article on podcasting and this time it is at the elementary level, 5th grade. I found the article in the October, 2009 issue of "The Reading Teacher." The title of the article is..."The Atoms Family: Using Podcasts to Enhance the Development of Science Vocabulary," by S. Michael Putman and Tara Kingsley.

I realize that the topic of the article is not to use the podcast directly in the literacy part of the day, but it is used to teach vocabulary which is of course a huge part of literacy.

The researchers for this study intended to provide research in the area of podcasts, due to the lack of current research on the topic. They also wanted to help students having difficulties with the increasing demands associated with reading informational texts in the content areas. The two research questions for the study were:
1. How does access to weekly podcasts of science-specific vocabulary affect 5th grade students' vocabulary development compared to those who receive only regular instruction?
2. Do 5th grade students given access to podcasts view them as effective in enhancing their vocabulary development?

The authors first discussed what podcasts are and the potential benefits they have in schools. They describe podcasts as taking the traditional audio broadcast and transforming it into a portable, digital media that is similar to a radio show, but one that people can subscribe to over the internet to receive "shows" directly on their computer. The first benefits that they discussed are that the information presented in a podcast is inexpensive to produce, simple to use, portable, reusable, and beneficial to auditory learners. Podcasts also offer opportunities to reinforce ideas that were already taught in the classroom. They state that ultimately, the content in a podcast is designed to reach students in their "zone of proximal development," to scaffold learning and support emerging capabilities (Vygotsky, 1978).

The article then goes on to discuss vocabulary instruction, which I will leave out of this summary just to avoid making this entry too long! However, if you are unfamiliar with the research on vocabulary instruction there is a brief overview in the article.

This study took place in a suburban school, serving primarily middle to upper-middle class families; fewer than 12% of the students received free or reduced lunch. All 58 5th graders in the study indicated that they had access to a computer or digital media player in their home or at school. Half of the 58 students received access to the podcasts, while the other half received the classroom instruction only.

The podcasts were created by the instructors, including an introduction to "grab" the students attention. They then included a review of the words from the previous podcast, requiring the students to mentally recall the definitions of previous words. Then, there was a review of the current vocab. words. In order to avoid "passive" listening, after the presentation of definitions, the students were to complete mental and active response activities. The podcasts were posted weekly on the class blog, which was created specifically for the purposes of this study. There was also a written reminder sent home with the students, so that parents were aware there was a new podcast to study from. In order to be sure that the students received the chance to listen to the podcasts, they were given at least one time per week to listen to the podcast at school.

The results showed that there was definitely a higher increase from the pretest to the posttest in the group that used the podcast versus the group that received the classroom instruction only. Also, 86% of the students agreed that the podcasts helped them learn their science vocabulary.

In the article, there are also helpful tables. I highly suggest you read this article not only to read about the study, but to learn about how podcasts can be used in classrooms in general. One table offers examples of educational poscasts and resources. Another table offers considerations for teaching vocabulary using podcasts.

I think this was a great article and I suggest you all try and find some time to read it. It's a quick read and won't take up too much of your time!! Let me know if you have trouble finding it, but I accessed it through the ISU library e-Journals and went to "The Reading Teacher" October, 2009. Enjoy!!