Podcasting

You will hear us say this again and again...Podcasts are an inexpensive way to use technology for teaching. Kids are doing it at home. They all have iPods or MP3 players. Why not take advantage of this? The purpose of this course is to really get you, the teacher who has this generation of new, media enhanced learners in your classroom, to take advantage of this fun and easy way to engage your students.

Podcasting is a way to automatically download digital audio files from the Internet to iPods, Palm OS handhelds, Pocket PCs, or other devices that play digital audio files. These audio files are usually in MP3 format and can be recorded and distributed by anyone. Podcasts are free of charge, though you may need to purchase some software to make the download and synchronization process work seamlessly. There are podcasts recorded by educators for educators. There are also podcasts recorded specifically for students. And best yet—there are podcasts made //**by**// students!

Imagine students being able to subscribe to a Podcast and have recordings of classroom content automatically stored on their hard drive or MP3 Player for review. How about putting remedial content available for students? What about enrichment content? How about having students produce Podcasts instead of producing book reports or even in place of PowerPoint presentations? What about doing a weekly Podcast for parents? How about the following?
 * Weekly classroom news broadcast
 * Document a field trip
 * Record a class discussion
 * Share book reviews
 * Conduct interviews
 * Review curricular content

Podcasting is so new that educators and students are essentially writing the book on bringing the technology to teaching and learning. Current applications range from placing audio updates from administrators on district Web sites, recording class presentations for later review, uploading interviews of community leaders and producing online school radio broadcasts. Duke University distributed iPods with school-related information and instructional content to all of its first-year students this year, and similar applications are being discussed at K-12 levels, too. Podcasts are popping up everywhere. There are growing numbers of online examples of podcasts in schools and resources for getting started, including those listed below. Several online directories are also available, such as Podcast.net, to bring significant programs to the attention of your staff and students. However, keep in mind the content of podcasts is unregulated, which is both refreshing and alarming. It is essential to supervise and establish policies for its use in schools. Podcasting didn't even exist five months ago, and it is already pioneering powerful new forms of online communications that you need to explore.

There are tons of places nowadays to find Podcasts but here are some the innovative ways that they are being used.
 * **[|**Radio WillowWeb**]** is a podcast for kids and by kids from the students at Willowdale Elemetary School in Omaha, Nebraska.
 * [|**Podcasts for Educators**] is a UK directory of educational Podcasts.
 * **[|**Yahoo! Podcasts**]** is Yahoo!'s directory. This link will take you to the Education section of the site. These are examples but not all may be applicable to the K-12 environment.
 * **[|**Podcast Central**]** is one of my favorites! These middle school kids are VERY talented!
 * [|**Kidcast**] focusses on teaching and learning with Podcasts.
 * **[|**Education Podcast Network**]** is a directory of Podcasts ranging from K-12 to higher education.
 * [|**Podcast Alley**] is an extensive listing of podcasts on the Web. It ranks podcasts based on the number of votes they receive each month. Don't limit yourself to the education category. Many applicable podcasts can be found in other categories! You can also perform a search.

You can always go out and Google "[|student podcasts]" and see what comes up! Now that you've seen (more like heard) some of the innovative ways that this technology is being used, you've probably got a better understanding of how you can use it.

I've also attached a PDF above that highlights how the Radio WillowWeb folks have truly streamlined the process. I highly recommend taking a look at this document and maybe applying its suggestions towards your own Podcast project.