Podcasting...I can actually do that?

I was not looking forward to this week's class about Podcasting. Podcasting to me was something other people made and I used for my entertainment. Now, I would have to be a creator. However, the process of making a Podcast is complicated but not difficult.

The first thing I learned was the definition of a Podcast; it is "an audio file hosted on a server that is distributed to subscribers through a feed reader." Furthermore, I now know that a Podcast is composed of narration, a format, an audio file, a place to host your audio file, and a way to subscribe to it. There are different programs that aid in the accomplishment of these aspects of a Podcast. A Podcast can be used for more than entertainment. There are educational Podcasts that, for example, give different foreign language lessons. I found this very interesting.

This week we began group projects where we create our own Podcast. My fellow group member Stephanie explains what our group is doing in her blog.

I think a productive way of using Podcasts in the classroom is for auditory/speech comprehension. For instance, the alphabet could be recorded on a Podcast with adequate silence between letters for students to repeat the sounds of the letters. Also, I think Podcasts are a great way for students to portray work created by them. They could write a story then record it. Thus, they could acknowledge their story and hear how they read. Also, a Podcast could be created of a child reading at the beginning of a designated period and then another made at the end of the designated period. Concrete evidence of reading improvement could be heard. Furthermore, Podcasts are a great tool for blind children.

I wonder if Podcasting is monetarily feasible in most school systems?

Until next time...