The next winner in this round of awards is the Portable Radio Point of View podcast for their work in the “Editorial POV” genre.  This podcast comes from Nathan Toft and Jane Smith at A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School in Stittsville, Ontario in Canada.  

This podcast is produced by two classes of 5th and 6th graders.  The 15-20 minute variety show showcases a wide range of interests, but its strength lies in its use of ‘point of view’ episodes in which students react to news or issues of interest to them.  The students develop arguments and present them collaboratively.   

You can check out their website here and subscribe to their podcast here.

The next category we are recognizing is the educator created “Study Guide or Learning Scaffolds”  This award recognizes a series of podcasts that are focused on helping students learn and or review content.  Our winner in this category is Brent Coley’s StudyCast from Tovishal Elementary School in Murrieta, California.

Brent provides his students (and many others outside his classroom) with a great resource for guided study.  His series shows how podcasting can help extend the classday and support at home learning.  It is also a wonderful model for other educators who want to leverage the power of podcasting.

You can subscribe to his podcast here and visit his website here.

The next category we would like to recognize is Professional Perspectives.   This category is designed to highlight an educator’s podcast that is designed to share their professional knowledge, perspective and ideas with their colleagues around the world.

The winner of this category is Steven Katz, from Country Day School in San JoseEscazu, Costa Rica.
Steve Katz has a simple goal — “to help teachers integrate technology in their classes, especially digital video and podcasting.”  His podcast provides solutions to problems and provide a structure for technology integration that is easy to follow.  His podcast, Teach with Video is a great example and a great resource.

Steve also has a book on teaching with video that provides even more ideas. You can subscribe to his podcast here and visit his website here.

Today’s featured KidCast winner is the Elementary Spanish Podcasts from DVE sponsored by Leslie Davison in from Dillon Valley Elementary in Dillon, Colorado.  Their podcast is both a documentary of their growth in literacy and an outreach activity to help other kids expand their language skills.  One of my favorite things about this podcast is the way that both the teacher and students are involved in the conversation.  It is a valuable insight into the methodology in Leslie’s classroom and the amazing rapport she has with her students.  Their is a fun and authentic tone to the learning and I found myself picking up some new vocabulary and listening with great interest on every episode.  

Congratulations on a job well done!

You can subscribe to the Elementary Spanish Podcasts from DVE here and visit their website here.

Our next category is Sound Seeing or POV Video Tour.  The point of this category is to teach your audience by exploring a place or a space with them. Take them on a journey with you through a series of episodes that introduce them to an historical sites, or habitats, or unique community spaces, or anywhere you can dream up (large or small, even innerspaces or out spaces.)

The winner of this year’s category is Emily in the Outdoors, a podcast from O’Neil, Nebraska.  Katie Morrow is the sponsoring educator for this entry.  Emily takes guides us on adventures to get us off the couch and into the great outdoors.   This is a wonderful example of a student evaluating their experience and point of view in order to bring us something interesting and useful.  

This podcast has great potential and I look forward to many many more episodes.  The next time I hear a student say they’re bored, I’m pointing them to Emily’s podcast.

You can subscribe to Emily’s podcast here and visit her website here.

I’m going to be announcing the winners of the latest KidCast awards via blog entries and podcasts over the next week or so.  Keep tuning in for some great examples!

Our first category is Inquiry – An investigation with a clear and driving question that is explored through the podcast episodes. These are academic and guided by facts and evidence, rather than opinion.   

This year’s winner is Test Tube TV produced by Karen Bosch and her students at Southfield Christian School in Southfield, Michigan.  Their show is a great example of using podcasting to document and share a process that is clearly linked to understanding the world around you.  They create experiment podcasts that students in other schools could easily use to conduct their own experiments.  I really like their show because it isn’t just about passively watching or listening, it’s about doing…or more accurately…it’s about doing science and inquiry.  

Check out their show by subscribing via iTunes here or by visiting their website here. 

Congratulations and keep up the excellent work!