I watched a session of the CAST UDL Symposium I didn’t get a chance to watch live. The presenters were Taylor Bousfield & Erika Moore. The topic interests me a lot: “Using Podcasting to Capture Students with Disabilities’ Voice in Transition.” Bousfield is a staffing specialist and adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida. Moore is a Ph.D. candidate and adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida. The presenters polled the audience using PollEverywhere to learn the states they joined from and their professions. Then they shared statistics on people with disabilities and employment. Bousfield defined transition as “secondary transition refers to the process a student with a disability goes through as they move from high school to whatever comes next, including postsecondary education.” Bousfield shared that they have wanted to start podcasting to create a means for learners with disabilities to have a voice. Moore added that they wanted to capture the student experience with a podcast. The presenters were inspired by the NPR Podcast Challenge in 2022. Most students already knew how to use Garage Band, mentioned Moore. They explored several apps and went for the simplest option. They shared examples of podcasts hosted on Soundcloud. The podcast is really nicely edited. Participating students also practiced communication skills. They partnered with the Special Education Department, and it wasn’t expensive what they did. We will try a podcast creation assignment again this fall. I enjoy listening to what students create, and it is becoming easier for students to create and share their podcasts.
