🎬 Mic, Camera, Action: Multimedia Strategies for the 21st-Century Classroom
📅 Recorded June 25, 2025 | Presented by CRTLE
This post was co-authored by ChatGPT 🤖✍️
Are you looking to energize your classroom with creative, student-centered strategies that foster deeper learning and digital fluency? This CRTLE Summer Series webinar brings together UTA faculty and experts to explore how podcasting, video, and multimedia tools can prepare students for a media-driven world.
📺 Watch the full recording:
Slides: Click here
🎙️ Segment 1: Podcasting “Practical History”
👨🏫 Dr. Patryk Babiracki, Associate Professor of History, The University of Texas at Arlington
Dr. Babiracki shares the story of his podcast Practical History, a niche “narrowcast” designed to showcase how historical thinking can add value to careers in business and tech.
🎙️ Intro: Dr. Patryk Babiracki – Host of the Practical History Podcast
📚 According to the New Books Network, Practical History is a special podcast series that explores the practical uses of historical knowledge in all realms of life—especially business and tech.
🧠 The series highlights how historical understanding can solve real-world problems in the here and now.
👨🏫 Your host:
Dr. Patryk Babiracki is a historian, researcher, writer, and professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.
🎓 PhD in History from Johns Hopkins University
📘 Faculty advisor for MA students
🌍 Expert in Russian & East European history and politics
📰 His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Wilson Quarterly, and more.
📌 He is a leading voice in #AppliedHistory—applying historical frameworks to modern organizational challenges.
🎧 Explore the Podcast:
🔗 New Books Network Series
🔗 Podcast ToolKit + Episodes
🌐 Visit Dr. Babiracki’s Website:
🔗 patrykbabiracki.com
🔹 Podcasting connects academic work to real-world audiences
🔹 Minimal setup: He uses Riverside.fm + Buzzsprout
🔹 Supports student mentoring, classroom dialogue, and discipline advocacy
💡 Key Takeaway: Start small. Speak from your passion. Let the world see the value of your field.
🎧 Listen:
🎥 Segment 2: Video Projects for Connection
🎓 Ladonna Aiken, Multimedia Educator & Broadcast Specialist, The University of Texas at Arlington
📚 Bio:
LaDonna Aiken, M.A., is a distinguished Broadcast Specialist in UTA’s Department of Communication. A former Marine Corps broadcaster (honor graduate of DINFOS), she served as a military broadcast journalist for American Forces Radio & Television in Okinawa, Japan ratemyprofessors.com+9utsystem.edu+9uta.edu+9. After the military, she moved into award-winning corporate & event video production, earning top honors and speaking nationally on multimedia techniques utsystem.edu.
👩🎓 At UTA since 2013 (alumna, summa cum laude), she teaches broadcast and video production, advises student media, and champions experiential & service-learning projects—like producing training videos for the City of Arlington—through UTA’s ELF program uta.edu+3uta.edu+3utsystem.edu+3.
🎙️ Segment Theme: Audio & Video Projects to Create Connections
📌 Highlights:
- About Me Videos – strengthen classroom community
- Scavenger Hunt Projects – build media literacy and campus awareness
- Peer Mentor Interviews – enhance public speaking and connection
- Vox Pops – develop interviewing skills and evoke diverse perspectives
💡 Key Takeaway:
Focus on authenticity and connection—not polish. Personality and storytelling are the strongest media tools.
✅ Quick Links
- 🎨 Canva for Education
- 🎙️ Eleven Labs
- 🎧 Adobe Podcast
- 🧑🎨 Adobe Express
- 📹 Vimeo
Ladonna shares easy-to-implement, high-impact video assignments that build confidence and creativity—no experience required!
🎞️ Assignments Include:
- About Me Videos for classroom community
- Scavenger Hunts to teach composition/media literacy
- Peer Mentor Interviews for public speaking skills
- Vox Pops to analyze diverse perspectives
🧰 Tools to Try: Adobe Express, Canva, Vimeo, 11Labs, Adobe Podcast (Free or UTA-supported)
💡 Key Takeaway: Don’t focus on polish—authenticity is your greatest strength.
📚 Segment 3: Creative Curriculum from the Library
📘 Alessia Cavazos, Experiential Learning Librarian, The University of Texas at Arlington
📚 Meet Alessia Cavazos – Experiential Learning Librarian at UTA
🎓 Alessia Cavazos is the Experiential Learning Librarian at the UTA Libraries. As both a professional and UTA alumna (M.A. in English, 2019), Alessia brings deep campus knowledge and passion for supporting student success across disciplines.
🧑🏫 She works closely with faculty to co-design curriculum, support multimedia projects, and build engaging, AI-resistant assignments. Alessia also collaborates with the English Department to provide supplemental instruction and learning resources for students.
🎬 Segment Theme: Creative Curriculum Support from the Library
📌 Alessia spotlights the UTA Libraries’ powerful media and tech resources—and how YOU can access them for creative teaching.
🔧 What You Can Do Through the Library:
- 🧠 Partner with the ELF (Experiential Learning Faculty Facilitator) program
- 🖥️ Redesign assignments to include hands-on, low-barrier, AI-resistant projects
- 🧑🎓 Create interactive learning experiences—no tech expertise required!
- 🎓 Tap into workshops, curriculum design support, and learning studios
🎛️ Explore UTA Library Studios & Tools:
UTA Libraries offer more than books—they offer full creative production spaces and support for multimedia teaching.
🏛️ What You Can Access:
- Sound & recording studios, 3D printers, mocap labs
- ELF Program: Co-design experiential learning with librarians
- Workshops, assignment templates, and AI-resistant learning tools
💡 Key Takeaway: You don’t need to be a tech expert—just be open to experimenting. UTA Library staff will support you every step of the way.