Out of One Box, Into Another

Follow the print news link (bottom of post) to an embedded video from broadcast news...

From: Tampa Bays 10.com
"Students learn to podcast for a grade"
"Dade City, Florida - In Abigail Kennedy's multimedia class at Pasco High School, podcasting has become a learning tool.
Abigail Kennedy, Teacher at Pasco High School:
“ I allow kids to get on and create it themselves. They see the whole process it takes to have an idea — they think, 'Boom it's done.' They learn to go through the process of revision. They revise the words, the pictures, sometimes the pictures go too long or the video is too long.”
Students learn how to lay down voice track, create their own music, drag pictures or video and then post their work on iTunes..."
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=63230

Notice that in their headline (above), these 'journalists' choose to add " ... for a grade " Do they mean to imply that in our current climate of serious education, giving a grade for fun tech things like podcasting is frivolous?
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More to the point though, while this program might be paradigm busting IF podcasting were seen as a platform on which serious, core currilum learning was made to happen (better than in a print-dominant class), this school has placed this initiative in the "media class", contextualizing it as learning ABOUT technology, not learning WITH technology. UGH!

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Thank heavens this teacher manages to sneak some real 21st Century learning in there anyway.