What are your thoughts on the future
of podcasting in education?
| cs.sru.edu |
I believe
that podcasting has strong future in the field of education. Teachers on my campus are recording lessons
to be accessed on the school’s webpage so kids can review lessons at home as a
refresher or view for the first time if
they were at home sick and missed the initial lesson. This ability really helps those students who
are absent from school quite often for various reasons to stay current with the
rest of their classmates. It also
benefits those students who need a review of the lesson (from their actual teacher)
when they get ready to do their homework.
We have also had a teacher record her lesson when she knew she was going
to be out for an extended time. That way
her students would not miss out on valuable instruction while the substitute
was there. The only problem we have encountered is that there are many students who do not have access to the internet at home and cannot make use of this extra resource. As the article mentioned, teachers could use only an audio podcast which would allow more students accessibility since iPods and mp3 players are much less expensive and consequently more available to some students than computers are.
This
application of podcasts does not have the negative aspect of contributing to
students cutting class. In middle
school, our students are still required to be present a certain percentage of
class time. Our educational podcasts
fall more into the categorization of supplemental or review material. “Supplemental materials have a much better
track record of positively influencing learning outcomes and student
performance” (Deal, 2007, p. 8).
How will you integrate podcasting in
your current classroom?
I must admit that I am not one of the technological leaders within my campus yet. I stress yet, because my lack of technology knowledge is one of the reasons I am taking this class. I am
all for making podcasts of English and Reading classroom lessons for my
students who are absent. I also plan on
using podcasts with students as a cross curricular activity with the computer
teacher. She has the capability for students
to create their own podcasts of characters and books they have read while in my
class. This would be a great alternative
to the traditional written book report.
This idea will also help with some of my students that are limited
English proficient. Having them turn their work in as an audio
podcast would allow for easier sharing with and translation by bilingual faculty
members.
Deal, A. (2007). Podcasting. Teaching With Technology, June, 1-15.
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