Podcasting

Whew, my first podcasting experience is over and done with! Let me just start of by saying I am an avid podcast listener but I have never made my own…this project has definitely made me appreciate how much all of those podcasters out there put into their craft just so that I can have some free entertainment!

The mini-lesson I developed is for use in a fourth grade classroom and focuses on a Market Economics benchmark, “Students will use fundamental principles and concepts of economics to understand economic activity in a market economy”. I focused on bartering and how these monetary transactions have changed over time. Here are the links to my audio and video podcasts.

Besides a teacher creating his/her own podcast for instructional purposes, I really like the collaboration with students that Bob Sprankle uses in his class’s “Room 208” podcast. Although some of the technical/formatting aspects of podcasting may take a bit of getting used to, the idea of students contributing to a class podcast is really appealing to me. Mr. Sprankle discusses how his students are more motivated and confident in their own writing because they know that it will be shared with a wide audience of listeners. Additionally, many of my TE classes have discussed the benefits of students writing for a range of purposes, and writing to contribute to a podcast does just that. In addition providing an innovative new outlet for writing, podcasting will allow students an opportunity to practice skills associated with spoken discourse, which is another main area emphasized in Language Arts instruction.

I know that I am still getting a feel for it, but I can definitely see myself ncorporating podcasting into my future instruction. After all, Audacity is free, a microphone is cheap, and most computers come equipped with some sort of program that will help you turn your podcast into a vidcast…you just can’t beat that!