Podcasts: Making Education Fun!

Here's a novel idea having fun with your students! That's right education can be more than textbook lectures and discipinary action. It can be about having fun, and podcasts can make the learning process and fresh and fun one. In the article "Sound of! The Possibilities of Podcasting" talks about what podcasting is, and how it can be used. In the article, it says that "a podcast is any audio recording that is linked to the web, that can be downloaded to a personal MP3 player". They can be used in any content areas for instruction and review, and they can be used to asses what students have learned. For instance, in the article a group of second graders did a project on "Holiday's around the world" using podcasts. The article talkes about how easy podcasts can be. All you need is a microphone and some inexpensive technology.



Podcasts can be used as apart of learning centers. Learning centers are defined as "a self-contained enviroment designed to promote individual or small group learning focused on a particular topic." Students can work together in a hands on group activity to create a podcast discussing the solar system, or they can renact a scene from Hamlet. Podcasts can also be used by teachers to create lectures that students can review outside of the classroom. This can help students review for tests, and those students that are absent will not fall behind in material being learned. They can view it at home on their computer.


I feel that podcasts are beneficial to learning. Podcasts are great for extending learning outside the classroom. In the article it states, "Podcasts can also reach a much larger audience outside the boundaries of the ordinary school day." Teachers can use podcasts to stimulate lectures that they would not ordinaryily be able to give in being absent from school. Also, podcasts can reach students who missed a day's lecture. Allowing the students to create podcasts offers invaluable learning experiences. It benifits students in two ways. First, it allows learners to work with technology making them more technologically proficient. Secondly, podcasts allow students to practice public speaking skills in recording the podcasts. They work on rate, volume, and diction three important aspects in good public speaking. It also helps make learners more confident public speakers.


More research in the success rate of podcasts in classrooms is needed. Also, it is important to learn if the podcasts are more distracting than helpful. Do students focus more on the recording part than the actual content that they need to incorporate in the podcast?

If you would like to read the article "Sound of! The possibilities of podcasting follow this link:http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=117&sid=b0c46210-c894-4958-b8c2-1af7f58188d0%40sessionmgr102