Andrew Miller

Upper Arlington students won a national video podcasting contest which asked the question of how German culture has helped to shape American culture. The prize is a 3 week immersion program in which the 2 students who produced the podcast will get to live and study in Germany. Upper Arlington Newspaper (SNP) has the full article here.

I found a few things fascinating about this article. First is the fact that social media/new media is being used in so many ways in our schools. Podcasting is merely a tool to communicate a message. Language courses such as this German course are often tied to traditional study which would exclude using these alternate mediums. With the reach of the internet however foriegn language studies students now have the ability to immerse themselves into another culture without leaving their home.

When I studied German in high school, prior to the internet opening up, it was difficult to find opportunities to use the German I was learning outside of the classroom. Now, with only basic browser access, students are able to join foriegn language chat rooms and listserves, read foriegn language blogs and articles, and participate in foriegn language broadcast media streamed online as well as audio and video podcasts. Video conferencing via online connectivity could allow students in different countries to collaborate on learning each others language, culture and happiness. This is not only a conduit to education but to understanding.

The other obvious item I took note of after reading the article was the fact that there are no “links” or pointers to where we might view this podcast. Traditional media does a terrible job of this still because many of the writers and editors see the internet as both competition and as a lesser form of information. Looking at the state of affairs on the SNP website you can get a clear idea of how little the paper is embracing its online presence.