ABSTRACT
While online media education occurred before the pandemic, the usage increased daily to meet the needs of all students (remote, in-person, hybrid, or hyflex). Over the past year, as the home-school divide has narrowed, both teachers and parents have shared their experiences of looking for “off-screen” digital learning tools and interdisciplinary, multimedia learning that connects reading, writing, and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) resources. In classrooms, to combat the challenges of remote, hybrid, and in-person learning, teachers utilized free technological platforms in conjunction with free, easily accessible, possibly transformable ready-made lessons. These tools serve as stimuli for lessons to keep courses relevant and meaningful. One such tool has been audio, and specifically podcasts, whose listenership increased significantly in 2020. In this article, a teacher and a children’s media producer use a case study on the use of The Story Seeds Podcast in a classroom to propose that podcasts and audio can be used as a powerful tool to build stronger readers, writers, and speakers—and propose the importance of incorporating creativity into pedagogy in post-pandemic educational environments to support the 4Cs and keep the arts alive.
