Saturday, September 25, 2010

Blog Assignment #5

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Podcasts in the Classroom
After listening to the Eagle Nest Radio and reading the class blog, I have a few things to say.  First of all, I think it is a great idea to create a podcast in the classroom for your students.  I think it is a great way to get them involved in the learning process.  It can also be a great resource for studying, and the students will want to hear themselves and will learn while listening.  I love the way they made it sound like a radio show.  It makes listening and learning more fun.  The way they used sound effects and music to contribute made it sound more professional, as well.  I plan on doing an audio podcast for my project, and this gave me some great ideas. 


Some Benefits of Classroom Podcasts


In Joe Dale's video, he brings up many of the benefits of teachers and students using podcasts or "vodcasts" in the classroom.  He mentions that teachers can podcast lectures and information for students that have to miss school for whatever reason.  This is a great way to keep the student informed and caught up.  He also brings up the idea that students could create their own podcasts.  This is a great way to get kids involved, to get them working together, and to get them to learn the material in an exciting new way.  Dale also brings up the point that creating a podcast is a part of higher learning.  It makes children use the knowledge they have in a way that makes them have to extract it.  It really makes them think.  Also, with podcasts, parents can easily track what their children are doing at school.  It keeps them actively involved.  Podcasts are a great addition to classroom learning.


Getting Started 


Judy Scharf's article about podcasting is very helpful in many ways.  While working on my own podcast, I thought a lot of the tips she had were useful.  She also mentioned several ways to use them in the classroom.  She tells the reader to be sure that they give their students plenty of time to complete the projects.  In her article, Scharf also gives a list of topics that kids can use.  I love this list!  It's got so many fun and educational topics that I'm sure kids would love to choose from.  Overall, podcasts are a great way to get kids involved, interested, and active in their education.  Children will be proud of their finished products and will have fun in the process.    



2 comments:

  1. I like when you talked about how the podcasts help the children think. I think you are right on this because there are so many lessons out there that the children just read......then they answer some questions.......then they take a test on it. I really think that this is what Dr. Strange is saying about "Burp Back Education" and podcast can help get rid of that.

    It's awesome that you found these videos helpful with your podcast!

    Good post Kathryn,

    Stephen Akins

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  2. I also think podcasts are a great way to help students learn. Students research the information that they will be talking about in their podcast, and because they have to tell others about the information, they remember what they learned a lot better than if they just read a chapter in a book for a test. Podcasts are fun, and because they are fun students are more passionate about doing the work and learning the information. Great post Kathryn!

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