Blog Post #4: Podcasting

What Do I Know About Podcasting?
Before exploring on the internet, I knew very little about podcasting. I had a pretty basic idea of what podcasting would be, but I definitely had no idea how I would incorporate it in my future classroom. After watching podcasting tutorials on YouTube and reading blog posts on how beneficial podcasting can be in the classroom, I am fascinated! After doing a lot of exploration, I found helpful tips for when I create my first podcast and ways in which I can incorporate podcasting in my future classroom.

What is a Podcast?
What is a Podcast? Good question! A podcast is a "radio-style" talk show that can be downloaded from iTunes or a podcast hosting service and listened to on a computer or an MP3 player. Podcasting costs very little and enables information to be shared with people all over the world via the internet. On this website, Judy Scharf shares the software needed for podcasting, how to create a podcast, and how to upload a podcast to iTunes. She also provides topics for podcasting projects in the classroom, a podcasting time schedule, a rubric and grading sheet for podcasts, and exemplary examples of podcasts. This web page really helped me to understand what exactly a podcast is, how to get one started, created, and uploaded to iTunes. This web page will be a great resource to refer to when creating my first podcast in EDM310 and in my future classroom when planning a podcasting project for my students.

Flat Stanley Podcast
A first grade class from Jacksonville, FL read Flat Stanley by Jim Brown and decided to create a Flat Stanley Podcast. The teacher and students collaboratively created the story line for their Flat Stanley Podcast. The students were assigned to pick a location they would individually be sent via the mail, borrow a book from the library that had information on the location, and audio record their each individual portion of the story to the podcast with the teacher's assistance. The podcast was created with Garageband. The Langwitches Blog post that told about the Flat Stanley project provided the podcast for me to listen to. The final product of the Flat Stanley Podcast was preciously fantastic! The students did an excellent job getting into character and acting out their parts using their voice. When creating my first podcast for EDM310, I need to remember how important it is to add excitement to my voice while recording. This podcast project allowed students to use their creativity in many ways. This podcast project also allowed students to learn many specific details about different places all over the world. I want to do this exact Flat Stanley Podcast in my future classroom!

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom blog post by Joe Dale provided reasons why podcasting is beneficial in the classroom. On this blog post, the video Podcasting in the Classroom by Doug Saunders gave great scenarios in which podcasting can be integrated in the classroom. The most interesting scenario I found in this video was a student that had to miss school because of an illness was able to review for an upcoming test by downloading her teacher's podcast audio recording of the study guide review on iTunes. How awesome is that? When I was in grade school, I hated missing class due to an illness when I knew a test was on the horizon because I knew I would not be prepared for the test. If teachers created podcasts reviewing material for tests in every subject, how beneficial would this be to the student? Creating podcasts with this information would give students a resource for studying outside of the classroom other than a textbook. And let's face it, textbooks can be boring! Putting podcasts of study guide reviews on iTunes for download is a great way to connect with the student outside of the classroom and also help prepare students for tests. I look forward to integrating this aspect of podcasting in my future classroom!

Concluding Thoughts on Podcasting
My eyes, ears, and brain have been fully exposed to the world of podcasting! Not only was I provided with ways to create my first podcast, but I was provided with beneficial ways to integrate podcasting into my future classroom. I look forward to becoming familiar with the software used to create podcasts so I can begin brainstorming podcasting projects for my future classroom.