As with most of these other technologies, it's not hard to see how podcasts might make inroads in schools. One way to get into the flow of education related podcasting is to visit the Education Podcast Network (http://epnweb.org/) which was started in May of 2005. Not only is there a growing directory of educators who are doing personal podcasts, there are links to uses in the classroom broken down both by grade level and subject.
And remember that the underlying technology here is digital recording and the idea that it is now very easy to create and publish these recordings. You and your students may not have iPods or MP3 players, and the good news is you don’t need them to start using audio in this way. As long as you have a way to make the recording, and as long as your students have access to the Internet, you can make this work. More about that in a minute.
http://www.techsmith.com/community/articles/schoolpodcasts.asp?DCMP=NLC-edunews30&ATT=podcast
Summary
Richardson's, "How to Use Podcasts at Your School," is very effective in presenting information pertinent to using podcasts in education. Richardson touches on http://epnweb.org/ which is a website providing information regarding the usage of podcasts in the classroom and links to specific examples. The article also touches on the positives of integrating podcasts and radios in the classroom. An important noted positive is that it is fairly simple to create and publish digital recordings. Also, one does not require all of the modern technology, like MP3s and ipods, to create a Podcast. In addition to noting positives of podcasting, Richardson gives great examples of how different teachers use radio technology, internet, computer software and podcasts in their classroom and in education. Podcasting can also be effective in education without focusing solely on radio. Using radio technology for world language, communication translation, interviews, and narration purposes is also another positive utilization. The most effective statement regarding the usage of podcasts and radio technology is which Richardson states, "the possibilities are only limited by your imagination." Radio technology and podcasts offer endless possibilities in creative learning, thinking, and creating.
Great for further research! Check it out... http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0561.pdf
Examples: http://www.podcastforteachers.org/Who
By: Amy Lovett
Thoughts & Reflections
I believe that podcasts could help out the classroom greatly. They might one day even become the classroom. These days technology is taking over our lives. People are getting more and more comfortable with technology and the things they can do with it.Although the social aspect of schools are great, podcasts could save money for the government and school districts. They engage students without actually having to be in the classroom. Podcasts are also benifical if students could download their podcast on to an MP3. The students could then listen to it, when homework time comes around, or while studing for a test. Podcasts are a great tool for teachers and educators and are very beneficial for students.
By: Laura Kvaley
Ideas Regarding the Topic
Some ideas for podcasts in the classrooms are that it allows students the ability to be a part of the class if they are absent for some reason. Podcasts also allow teachers to be able to teach lessons where they can be viewable at all times to a student in case they have a question or don't understand something. Podcasts seem to be a great tool where teachers and students can some what always be linked. Many other ideas are out there with podcasts such as an open house where families that can no attend open house can go online and see everything there is to see. Podcasts are a great form of technology and can be used in many ways throughout school systems.
By: Christina Dunlop
There are many ideas that can go along with podcasting. As Christina said, and I believe she is correct is that when parents have missed something that was in the classroom the podcast could be used for the parents to go online and see what they missed. Personally I think it is a great way for students and also parents to stay in tune with what is going on. I think that having podcasts in the classroom for students to use would be a great idea for schools everywhere to start using. It would be a good way for students to learn how to use them and teach other people how to use them as well. Although, I don't think that podcasts should be used to take over classrooms. I think they should be a tool that should be used for whenever students are in need and they could use that, but to take over the classroom, no. We wouldn't have teachers then and isn't that what most of us are studying to be??
By: Courtney Thomas
Opinions on the Topic
This article does an amazing job of descriping how podcasting can be used to promote interest in learning and how to use it not only as a news type show but as an actual learning tool for lessons. It talks about different schools that use podcasting within their curriculum and I love the Willowdale Elementary School example. They break it up into segments that are entertaining for the children but can be used to teach things such as history and doing a role play. In general it appears that this is mostly an inexpensive way of incorporating technology into the schools. One of the more realistic ways I think of using technology on a national base in the public school systems.
By: Sarah Cappel
I think that Podcasts are a great tool to use in the classroom. They are easy to create and publish. Plus, you don't even need an Ipod or MP3 player to use them. Which makes it an affordable tool. All you need is access to the internet. Podcasts are great because you are no limited to just your school and community as an audience. Podcasts are able to be heard by anyone anywhere. They also can have contributing ideas and a large conversion from many people. You can do archives which allows for future audience use. Podcasts have many uses in many subjects like, Science, Social Studies and Music and many more. They are a very useful tool in the classroom.
By: Katherine Eastham
Expansion of Information & Further Research
Looking into some of the pod casts talked about in this week's article, I was able to discover some important aspects of what makes a great podcast. An example is a podcast created by Kyle Butler called Brain Food. http://brainfoodpodcast.libsyn.com// From a teacher's perspective, the Brain Food Podcast is useful in many ways.
•Easy and enjoyable way to brush up on subject matter content
•An example of how to explain complex ideas in a simple, easy-to-understand manner
•Excellent ideas for topics
From a student's perspective the Brain Food Podcasts are a casual, non-intimidating way to learn about science. It is always important as a teacher to continually find ways to get the students excited about learning. New technologies like podcasts fall into that category and can be really useful if you use them correctly.
By: Mark Stuckey
9 comments:
I thought you all did a great job with your inputs on this. I had one thing i didn't agree with I feel that podcasts shouldn't take over the classroom because then what would teachers do if the podcasts did all the teaching?
i really liked how your group split up all the different sections. this is a good idea so that way you get more useful information in your summaries instead of people repeating the same things. great post, lots of good information!
I liked how you incorporated links into the article. I also liked how you had each section stating who it was by made it feel more personal wish I had done that with my blog. I l liked how you gave information on why podcasts are important. I agree great way for teachers to explain content further or for a student to access if he/she is absent.
Well written summary. I like how you mentioned what technology is needed to create a podcast, it is more than just an MP3 player. Also, the article makes a great point when discussing that, 'possibilities are only limited by imagination'.
Good job group six. I liked how you broke up the article into different sections and each person from your group did a different section. That was a good idea, it gave everyone a particular roll. You guys put quite a bit of work into this, good job.
I really like the way that you set up this blog. The one thing that sticks out to me is using podcasts for students to have lessons availiable to them at all times. It reminds me of how I would take a tape recorder to some of my lectures. This is a much more advanced way to beable to access prior lessons! Good job!
Awesome job group six. Your blog was very thourough. I also liked the way you added other group members thoughts and comments as well. Good job
Good job everyone. I really liked how you each wrote a seperate part of the blog, that really showed great team work and collaboration. Ur article wasvery interesting and full of good, usefel information
The separate ideas on the article was cool. I want to take the time to comment on one thing i read - I liked when it was mentioned that podcasts allow students who were absent or did not understand to view the lesson. This way they get a chance to catch up and to understand.
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