Art Collection Podcast (LS-FI-432)

You can visit virtual art collections right from your computer at home or at school! In this learning scenario, Krista Kindt-Sarajärvi, an English teacher from Finland, used online exhibitions from Europeana as an inspiration for podcasts. While creating podcasts, students improve their foreign language skills and get familiar with cultural heritage.

Students choose an artwork from a selection of Europeana Art Collections as their homework (or in the classroom, depending on time restrictions). Then, they create podcasts individually or in small groups.

Digital tools used

A podcast can be created by using any voice recording app on a smartphone, from where it can be shared through Soundcloud, Google Drive, or Whatsapp, for example. When using laptops, one could also use Vocaroo.

Learning outcomes

Students will learn culture-related vocabulary. This LS is adaptable for different skill levels, even within the same class.

Final results

Of Krista’s group of 30, 10 students handed in a 1-2-minute podcast, 12 students handed in a 3-5-minute podcast, and 8 students talked for 6-10 minutes. None of the students used a browser-based recorder. Everybody used a recording app on their phone. Some students worked together and used a friend’s phone if their own phone was broken or had an empty battery.

List of Activities

• Preliminary work at home (30 min): This section can be done beforehand at home, or can be done in class, depending on time restrictions.
• Preparation in class (10 min), group work: This is a preparation for the podcast, a kind of test run.
• Creating a podcast (50-60 min), individual work: This is the actual assignment, which can also be continued as homework.

All related links, teacher’s instruction sheet and apps to use can be found in the downloadable LS attached below.

Would you like to know more about this learning scenario? You can download it below:

Did you find this learning scenario interesting? You might also like:

• Black and White in Colour-Industrial Heritage
• AR Portraits
• Books Unchained: The Spread of Literacy in Europe

CC BY-NC 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Göteborgs konstmuseum.