Hi, I'm Dr. Gary Ackerman, the Director of the

Teaching and Learning Innovation Center here

at Greenfield Community College. And today I'm

here with. Hi, everybody. My name's Alyssa Arnell.

I am the chair of the history program here at

GCC. Great. And my understanding is that you've

been using podcasts in your classes for the last

couple of semesters. Yes, actually, the new podcasting

station that we. received here, we got here,

was part of that development of the podcasting

in our classes, in the history courses, I believe.

So it was like an outcome of COVID when we came

back. Prior to 2020, the students were engaging

in group activities, group projects where they

created a physical. public history project. So

it was like a museum exhibit. But afterwards,

we relied a lot during COVID on podcasts that

were online and digital history websites. And

with the expansion of that media and those new

types of public history sources, that's part

of the COVID, it seemed like a great time to

begin that. Also, NPR, or PBS, I think it's NPR

actually, they have a student contest for podcasting.

And so they have a great online resource that

walks students through how to do podcasting.

So once we started doing that, and then GCC got

their podcasting station, it just seemed like

a really good fit. That's great. So have any

of your students made a podcast with something

other than the podcasting studio? I mean, do

they like take their phones out to record or

they pretty much use the facilities that we have

here? The majority of them, I think, really utilize

the resources that GCC offers. There are some

students who already are proficient with sound

recording. And so I'd say one in five will work

independently. They'll use their own computer

technology and then their phones to create the

podcasts. But those who utilize the resources

in the media center here really create more developed

products, meaning usually there's better sound

effects and the experience of learning from the

techs here prepares them more for when they actually

create the final product. It's great. So can

you tell, I mean, you've talked a little bit

about the changes that you have seen, but I mean,

from an instructor's point of view, can you talk

a little bit about kind of the differences between

the products that you saw before and the products

that you see now? Yeah. So, you know, any group

project, you know, depends on the students, of

course. And so prior to... utilizing digital

media as an offer or an opportunity for the students

in their group projects. there were some really

wonderful detailed physical exhibits. There was

one group that did exhibit on voodoo, and it

was all kinds of different elements and physical

pieces to that. But when you're creating a museum

exhibit as a group, it's just gonna be a few

poster boards, maybe a few physical items, but

it's a space of two by three. podcast, right,

that affords students the opportunity to explore

history, bring in different voices, recordings,

and spend more time in its presentation, if that

makes sense. So you've got five minutes, 10 minutes,

some of them are 20 minutes long, and they can

tell a deeper and richer story than what really

can be presented in just a few physical pieces

without like a whole room of museum -based know

informational way sides. So you know we've seen

a deeper connection with the students with the

with the with the history because they also have

so many podcasts in the class that they listen

to they're inspired as well and and This past

semester specifically, we spent time at the end

of the semester talking about their journey.

And it's really sweet when one of the group members

talks about all the time they spent in finding

just the right music, or just the right sound

bite, and talking about learning a script and

thinking about what it means to... create public

history through podcasting where you're not using

your academic voice, but you're trying to create

an environment where it sounds natural, you're

having a conversation. And so that does force

students also to get to a point where they feel

more comfortable with the content. That's really

interesting. So I'm curious, when these podcasts

are done, I mean, do you listen to them in class?

Do they go out into the world? If I wanted to

go and find one of your students' podcasts, is

that possible? Yeah, the library has posted those

for us. We have a student symposium at the end

of the academic year, usually in May, and so

students present to the college their work, and

at that point it's housed on the library website.

The history website also is being revamped right

now. We're going to have a page where the products

that our students have created, both podcasts

and documentaries and now short informationals,

will be available for everyone to access. But

yeah, we hope to be able to preserve those long

term. Beyond that, I always encourage our students

to upload for themselves their products to YouTube

or some easily accessible point so they can embed

that into their CVs for when they are applying

for a four -year college I tell them you know

think about this project as something that's

a stepping stone for the next you know the next

stage of your education because you can you know

show to the universities and colleges what you're

capable of doing in a group right and and what

you've done when it comes to utilizing media.

Yeah, that's great that idea of persistence to

you know, I I would imagine if students put together

a museum piece for a symposium It's ephemeral,

right? I mean, it's there during the event, but

then it comes down But now if these podcasts

they live forever theoretically out on the web

so anybody can go and listen to them at any time

That's a really interesting thing from my perspective

as somebody who's interested in digital media

and digital sources, that it's there forever

now, right? As long as nobody deletes it. Right,

exactly. And also, it helps to inspire the next

group, right? When you have really clean, well

-produced podcasts and documentaries, then the

next class that comes through and I say, here's

your assignment, here's some great examples,

right? So they can lead by that. example. Yeah,

that's great. Can you talk for a minute or two?

I know obviously you don't want to be telling

students stories for them, but can you just,

from your point of view, is there anything that

students have said to you about the podcast that

have kind of stuck with you and motivate you

to continue to want to include these? We were

working in the US history class, US history from

1865, and there was conversations around the

conservative movement in the 1980s, which kind

of like propelled the war on crime into a different

stratosphere really. And being able to utilize

the interviews with some of the major players

during that period. being able to utilize some

of the actual interviews where some of these

conservative leaders were laying out how these

tactics in the 80s impacted the black communities.

It's the first time that some of our students

have been introduced to these truths that are

so blatant. In this past semester, they were

talking about how the podcasting gave them an

opportunity to kind of analyze. and synthesize

what they learned and then create something they

felt proud of as well when it comes to social

justice actions. So yes, here's a chance for

us to tell other people what we've learned that

we think is really important for our societies

to know and share. That's great. So the audience

for this presentation is going to be practitioners,

teachers in higher education, teachers in K -12

environments. Is there one last parting word?

I mean, if they were going to go and they're

thinking about using podcasts in their class,

is there some wisdom that you would give them

in just a few seconds? Absolutely. I think the

first thing is scaffolding the assignment into

your class over time. So we begin discussing

what their groups will look like. in the first

few weeks of class, and this is a product that's

due the very last week of class. So there's two

months there, and so a few weeks in, they get

time every couple weeks that's just theirs to

work. They have to report back what's happening.

There's a deadline for the script. There's a

deadline for the research part. There's a deadline

on making sure that they've actually made their

appointments with the media center, and they've

come prior to their record date familiarize themselves.

So making sure that they're not dragging their

free feet, because I mean, I'm a procrastinator.

And so I can empathize with that, right? So making

sure I've given them the deadlines so that they

have everything they need to be as successful

as they want to be. That's great. Well, Alyssa,

that was wonderful. Thanks for sharing your experiences

with us. Thanks for inviting me in. And I wish

everyone out there who's thinking about podcasting,

great journey in it.