Podcasting

Looking at podcasting has been a very interesting experience. I’ve had to wade through many different sites to find ones that I can use in class. I find that I get off track fairly regularly as I enjoy listening to many different podcasts and what they have to offer not only my class but for me personally.

We’ve used Audacity to create a short enhanced podcast and will be using GarageBand to create podcasts also. Both programs have been fairly easy for my students to use, though GarageBand is more fun!

Podcasts:
•are easy and fun to create.
•are found everywhere.
•are made by everyone, all ages.
•can be downloaded.
•can be listened to at anytime.

Like many tools on the Web, podcasts are abundant and available for me as an educator. They are easy to find but must be sifted through and listened to before using in the classroom. There is so much out there in the world of podcasting and I’ve only touched the surface. I look forward to the day when more of my students have MP3 players to be able to use this resource even more!


Podcasts for educators, schools and colleges:
The first site I looked at, besides some of the ones everyone else has mentioned, was a site from the UK. I used a podcast once in my class from England. The kids loved listening to someone else's English. This was a good find for me. This site has all kinds of podcasts from different schools in the UK, from elementary to college level. There are also links to resources and to how-tos on creating podcasts.

Smithsonian Global Sound Podcasts
One of my interests is exposing my students to music from around the world. The Smithsonian has a collection of podcasts or rather vodcasts as they include video and a short interview. I might use this as a start to our morning to get the kids focused and ready for the day as something different than the regular morning work.

The third place I went to was a site recommended last week on the NASA Website. My next science unit will be on astronomy so it was a good place for me to look for some new things to add to the curriculum. There are a variety of topics and I'd link it on our class Wiki for the students to use.

I think that podcasts have their place in a classroom just as textbooks and other resources! My goal would be to use more of them in my class and integrate them into what I do already.