Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Blog Post 4

Clipart of a RSS feed icon wearing headphones


The Education Podcast Network
The Education Podcast Network is a collaboration of ideas and opinions voiced by people from around the world. This is a great tool for teachers to utilize to gather lesson plan ideas and explore issues and concerns voiced by educators. The EPN can be described as the yellow pages for educators.

An educator may access subject specific podcasts based on their specific area of interest. I like the option of being able to subscribe to specific podcasts by establishing an RSS feed. Teachers are definitely without excuse when it comes to preparing 21st century lesson plans that are creative, innovative, and thoughtful.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This video classified anyone born after the 1980’s as “Millenials.” These are students who have never experienced life without technology. They have always had access to the digital age to include: instant messaging, gaming, phones, and television. Podcasting allows students to move beyond the traditional classroom and encourages creativity and innovation. This site tells of the excellent benefits of podcasting in the classroom. A school principal states that podcasting can be an effective classroom tool when utilized appropriately by the students.

Podcasting is an opportunity for project based learning and it allows students the ability to use the higher order thinking skills of blooms taxonomy such as synthesis, analysis, and application. Parents can stay informed and know what’s going on in their child’s classroom by listening to actual audio clips of class work. A student who is ill and unable to attend school can listen to classroom lectures or study test materials that have been uploaded to a website by their teacher. The benefits of podcasting in the classroom are endless. This is definitely a tool I see using in the very near future of my personal life


Eagles Nest Radio & Class Blog
Very impressive! I truly enjoyed the Roamin with the Ancient Romans podcast conducted by the 3rd graders of Eagles Nest Radio. They used clever phrases such as “do as the Romans do” and “Caesar is not just a salad.” Their podcast was well written and the organization of the piece was easy to follow and informative. The narration of the children was animated and enjoyable. You can definitely appreciate the benefits of podcasting.

The students incorporated all of the traditional classroom subjects as well as the Arts into a 7 minute podcast. I would venture to say that they will never forget the information spoken about the Ancient Romans…I’m not sure that I knew that Cleopatra VII was Greek. I truly enjoyed the Audacity techniques used such as the fading in-and-out as well as the background music. This is definitely a piece of work that the students can revisit and one day share with their children.

Curriki
Curriki is another site that expounds on the benefits of podcasting. There was a really cool virtual fieldtrip in which a student conducted an interview with author Dan Gutman. This podcast was produced entirely by a middle-school student. Information is available for K-12 instruction, including lesson plans.
This summer,

Curriki is now encouraging its visitors to post to the site by offering paid stipends to educators who post quality lesson plans in the areas of math, science, technology, and English. This is a great tool to have dynamic lesson plans posted in one location from around the globe while also allowing teachers who are less creative a library of resources!

A Look Into The World Of Podcasts
I definitely learned a lot about podcasting. Such as: podcast was first coined in 2004, by blending the words iPod and broadcast. A podcast is a radio-style talk show that you may also include music in your podcast. You can listen to podcasts on the computer an MP3 player, or downloaded from iTunes or a podcast website. Podcasting allows millions of people around the world the ability to share information using the internet. Podcasting is like a radio station that you are in total control of from producing to managing and hosting.

It is inexpensive to setup a podcast and you only need a microphone, computer, audio editing software (which can be downloaded for free), an RSS feed, and a website to upload the podcast to. Teachers may use podcasts to explore teaching ideas and gain insight into 21st century teaching techniques used by teachers around the globe. My favorite sites were definitely Eagle Nest Radio & The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom.


3 comments:

  1. Excellent post Gina! You covered a lot of information and I like the, "How to Create A Podcast" video cast at the end. Nice touch!

    I agree with you that allowing students to use pod-casts is a great way to foster creativity. Lets face it, most of these kids could run circles around us teachers on the latest and greatest technology. All of my children from age 7 to 14 are extremely tech. literate and I had very little to do with it, they just seem to know.

    Impressive blog. Keep up the good work Gina. SS

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  2. Podcasts are great and these are some of the best. Normally we would do a podcast in this class but the cramped summer schedule makes that impossible. I do hope you will be come a podcasting teacher!

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  3. Gina, Great video at the end of your post. I need to watch it about 4 times to absorb all that he said in 5 minutes, but it was very helpful.
    I really like the curriki site too. Did you become a member? One thing EDM310 has done for me is push me to join the free services offered on the internet. In the past, if a search led me to a site requiring a membership, I would immediately navigate away (some unfounded fear of giving away info on the web). So I am now no longer hesitant to sign up and explore. This one looks like a great resource for lesson plans.

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