Journal 8

Making Field Trips Podtastic! Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, and Paul McGuinness

This was a very interesting article about using digital cameras and handheld computers to expand the learning experiences of field trips. The authors promote the use of a podcast, which can be specifically designed, and then downloaded onto a handheld computer. The use of podcasts brings an interactive dynamic to a field trip. The author suggests using the podcast to guide the student through exhibits, quizzing the student, allowing the student to take notes, record audio, conduct interviews and access other information from the Web. The student can also take digital pictures and then in a collaboration with other students, or individually, present what they learned to peers, teachers or even family.


1. Is this difficult for teachers to prepare for their students? The authors state that their design of this type of project was in thinking of the technologically average educator. They also state this requires a bigger time commitment from educators initially, but they feel the results are the bigger payoff.

2. Why would the results of a “Podtastic” field trip be such a big payoff? The authors state that an interactive field trip means students have “increased brain on exhibit.” In other words, students spend more time at the exhibits and have a higher engagement on each exhibit due to the quizzes and because they know they are gathering information for a future presentation.