Today's Vodcast: Sunny and Clear, with an Increased Chance of Learning

Eighth grade student attitudes toward learning change significantly when a savvy language arts teacher employs technology and collaboration to transform a traditional assignment. "I have never seen the students more engaged in the classroom. My students have been begging me to let them make another vodcast! The assignment has also inspired other teachers beyond ELA. Amazing experience all the way around. "-Ms. Kendall , 8th grade language arts teacher"Making a vodcast is so much fun! I read a novel by Jack London called Call of the Wild. When my teacher told us that we were doing book reports in class, I was like, Ugh! BOR-ing! But then she said we could make vodcasts. So cool and fun! Vodcasts are a blast to make, and I loved seeing everyone else's videos. I'm hoping we do this project again. In other classes too. "-Rodney, 8th grade student"I never made no vodcast before, so I's scared at first, but we all helped each other out in class, and I end up loving this. It was real fun! It was cool showing my video in class and to friends and stuff. My mom thinks I gonna be a movie director or actress now. (laugh) I learned a lot . can't wait to read a new book and make another [vodcast]. "-Jennifer, 8th grade studentRodney and Jennifer (all participants have been given pseudonyms) experience the same eighth grade, 90-minute block language arts class in a suburban middle school in the Southeastern United States. Both of these young adolescents dread hearing the words "book report. " Rodney explained, "I hate reading, and I can't begin to tell you how many boring book reports I've done in school. I'm so sick of doing book reports. " Jennifer agreed with Rodney. She noted, "I got a bunch of zeroes in reading last year because I didn't do them stupid, boring book reports. " To reiterate just how much she detests book reports, Jennifer added, "Seriously, I'd rather eat me a bowl of spiders. And I be so scared of spiders, like, I really, really hate them! " The majority of the middle school students in this class also concurred. Several students shared negative feelings about reading and book reports. When their teacher, Ms. Kendall, mentioned the words book reports, she had something totally different in mind.Their teacher understood that putting technology at the center of learning can play a significant positive role in the cognitive, social, and emotional development processes of today's young adolescents. She understood that she needed to find new ways to engage her students in class while still assessing essential language arts skills such as reading comprehension and summarization. In place of a traditional paper book report, Ms. Kendall integrated video podcasting or "vodcasting" in her eighth grade classroom. A 21st century informationsharing platform, these digital video media files can be downloaded or watched on demand. This study examines vodcasting as an effective instructional activity that can transform students' negative feelings about reading and book reports into more positive experiences.Research designThe present study employed a qualitative research paradigm (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and single-case study research design to investigate the impact of using vodcasting in a middle grades language arts classroom. Selecting a qualitative case study research design allowed for research to occur within a real-life context and provided a means to deeply understand the situation through the research participants' experiences and perspectives (Merriam, 2001; Yin, 2003). The study is grounded in constructivist and sociocultural perspectives (Gee, 2005; Kukla, 2000; Vygotsky, 1978), which recognize knowledge as a product of the joint negotiation of meaning between participants and as a socially-mediated process. The following question guided this qualitative research study: What is the impact of using vodcasting in a middle grades classroom? This study used method triangulation to facilitate cross-verification of data and to best represent the participants in this study, which included one middle grades educator and 25 middle grades students. …