Ariel Green puts high school journalism on the cutting edge
Hazelwood East High School senior Ariel Green is a pioneer. She is the first student at the school to create a podcast, which is a way to publish audio programs via the internet.
“Think of it as internet radio,” said her communication skills teacher, Bill Bass.
“You have always been able to download a lot of audio files off of the internet, but a podcast lets you subscribe to a specific audio file.”
Seated at a computer, Green wears headphones and works diligently in Bass’ classroom while other students work at standard desks or on the room’s other computers.
“It’s something different,” Green said. “When he (Bass) first approached me about it, none of the other students seemed interested. Or if they were interested, they didn’t have the time to do it. He said it had never been done here before, and I have always liked doing new things.”
While a podcast can be any length desired, bandwidth (or lack of it) can be a possible barrier, Bass added. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted during a fixed amount of time and is usually expressed in bits or bytes per second (bps) for digital devices and hertz (Hz) for analog devices. Bass said he would like to keep the school’s podcasts to around 20 minutes long.
“Podcasting just came about in September 2004. I discovered it this past January. I heard about it and began thinking about it,” Bass said.
“I’m always looking for ways to include technology in my class. I wanted to communicate to parents about what we do and to let people know about the good things we are doing, and podcasting is a good way to do that.”
Bass said podcasting can be made as simple or as complex as one wants. Equipment needed includes an audio recorder, a converter for changing audio files to MP3 files (so the files can be posted on a blog) and an internet connection.
“I really didn’t know what to think,” Green said as she took a break from making the school’s second podcast. “It has been difficult, but I’m getting the hang of it as I go along.”
She has been traveling around Hazelwood East, interviewing principal Mark Martin, several of the school’s new teachers as well as gathering information on new programs within the building.
“I want it all to be student-produced,” Bass said. “I will help them do it. I will take care of things, but if it’s just me doing the podcasting I don’t think it means as much.” (He made the school’s first podcast, a five-minute piece that came as an outgrowth of one of his creative writing classes.)
At least one other high school keeps an eye on East’s progress: a teacher in Denver, Colorado will use the podcasts as a model for his school, Bass said.
Green spent time on a recent morning merging her interviews with background music she had selected. “Before I graduate,” she said, “I hope to cover more events and features and information to parents so they know more about what’s going on here at Hazelwood East.”
To listen to the first Hazelwood East podcast, visit spartancast.blogspot.com.
