Carol A. Brown

Instructional Uses of Podcasting in Online Learning Environments: A Cooperative Inquiry Study

A report on the results of a year-long cooperative inquiry study in which 11 faculty members at a southeastern university examined their various uses of podcasting for instruction. Through participation in the study, members developed insights into what technologies are most commonly applied to the task of podcast production and dissemination as well as instructional purposes and tasks commonly addressed when using podcasting as a teaching strategy. The benefits of using podcasting instead of traditional text-based media were explored. The group discovered the faculty members involved were making use of 4 distinct podcasting technologies to apply 8 discrete instructional strategies.

Connecting Media Specialists, Students, and Standards Through Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is more than an Internet buzzword. This new platform provides transition from static informational pages to dynamic portals for connecting and sharing of information. School library media specialists can use the read/write tools to ensure students are prepared to work in digital environments that are already commonplace. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking sites, and virtual worlds make it possible for readers to also become authors and publishers. Following a review of over 130 school websites, the authors describe common uses by media specialists and make recommendations in how Web 2.0 can be used to support the Library and Learning Standards published by the American Association of School Librarians.