Podcasts

Podcasting to me is a new idea, and one that I need to learn more about as far as its uses in the classroom. The idea of audio in the classroom is not a new one, just the concept of actually creating audio for students. I can see this being a positive thing in the classroom because students can listen to you explain something outside the classroom. They can also go home and create their own podcasts for their own projects, and that student-centered learning is always a good thing. Any kind of media that kids can learn from, when used appropriately can be effective. The negative thing to podcasting is probably finding enough uses for it, but again I need to learn more about that. My own experience is that podcasting is just audio, but that's not probably the case. I can imagine that you can hook up a podcast to a power point, especially if it's loaded as an mp3. If this is the case, I can see a lot more use with podcasting.

In the Media class, a podcast has been used as an instructional tool outside the classroom - learning how to do something while you're sitting at home. So that was really nice, and I could see that being used in my own classroom. For example, I might assign students a project for the evening, but instead of having it in paper, it's in a demonstrative podcast/tutorial that they can follow along with. For my own podcast assignment I had students in the classroom creating their own podcasts that they would eventually share with the entire classroom. The benefit of this would be allowing students to create and share, therefore expanding the possibilities of their interest and their learning.

I could create a podcast about something that seems a little menial to English students such as grammar or something small, and instead of having them review in the classroom, where they may be bored or distrated, they can simply go home and get a lesson in their own bedroom. The benefit of this would be the lack of distraction, and the ability to start and stop whenever they choose, and to go along with the podcast as they do assignments. I'm interested in learning how this tool will be more beneficial in the classroom and I imagine as we go over the enhanced podcast, I'll be able to see further how I can use this to enhance the curriculum.