Podcasting.....iPod broadcasting

The students today in our classrooms are all 21st century learners. A majority of these learners are media savvy and digital natives (Pesce, 2008). Podcasting is a resource, which can be used to help these learners. Podcasting gives everyone a voice to share their ideas. It can be used by students as they will be able to share their thoughts and opinions across a variety of different subject areas.

Podcasting is a great tool for virtual classrooms. Instructions can be repeated using podcasts and the students can download them to listen to at home. By recording Podcasts in the classroom it will include students who are absent for the day and also give students a chance to reflect on the lesson for the day. It can help students out with their homework or assignments, if they were distracted when something was being explained at school. The students can download the Podcast and listen to it in a place they can concentrate and take the information in.

I had no idea what a Podcast was and now have a bit of an understanding. I have had iTunes on my computer for about 4 years now and have only ever used it for music. I was unaware it could be used for Podcasting. After researching for educational Podcasts on iTunes, I have found, subscribed and viewed a few Podcasts which I have found interesting and would like to share with my students. They include; Early Years Learning Environment by Anthony Barnett (2009) and Teachers Teaching Teachers by Paul Allison and Susan Ettenheim (2009).

The Early Years Learning Environment (Barnett, 2009) Podcast discusses how a behaviour displayed by the students can be seen in many different ways. Close observation of this, can come up with many possible answers as to the reason behind the behaviour. It will show students that things can be seen in many different ways and that sometimes we need to look at the picture a little closer to understand what is going on.

Teachers Teaching Teachers (Allison & Ettenheim, 2009) is a Podcast I found very interesting. This podcast is a discussion of how traditional teachers from all different curriculum areas across the United States, are coping using technology in their classroom. They share their opinions about how they have found using technology and the positive and negative experiences they have had when using it. It shows that we are lifelong learners (Queensland Studies Authority, 2006) and sometimes the teachers need to be the students to learn this new information.

- Natalie

Reference List

Allison, P. & Ettenheim, S. (2009). Teachers Teaching Teachers. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://edtechtalk.com/audio/download/3826/Teachers160-2009-07-15.mp3

Barnett, A. (2009). The Early Years Learning Environment. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://earlyyearslearningenvironment.blogspot.com/

Pesce, M. (2008). Those Wacky Kids. Retrieved August 12,2009, from http://www.viddler.com/explore/mpesce/videos/14/3.926/

Queensland Studies Authority. (2006). Attributes of a lifelong learner. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/research_qsa_lifelong_learner.pdf