Podcasts

Podcasting is a creative way to record just about anything you want to redeliver.  A podcast is an audio file recorded on the computer and later shared with others.  Podcasting can be used to record and redeliver notes for an absent student, to share a favorite book with others, or to present information to a large audience online.  Podcasting has become a very useful and valuable tool for educators everywhere.  My first run-in with podcasting began a few years ago when I stumbled upon a teacher's blog.  The teacher (British Literature teacher in New Jersey) posted tons of lectures about the material I was teaching along with lesson plans and student activities.  These podcasts were posted for his students in case they were absent or wanted to review for upcoming tests.  I thought to myself, what a wonderful learning tool.  Plus, I learned new ways to present material to my own students.

I have to admit, I've never enjoyed the recorded sound of my voice; however, I've grown to like the ability to record class lectures and discussions to share with students who are not present in class.  Although never completely perfect, a recorded class meeting is much better than missing the meeting altogether.  With podcasting, I can ensure that my students are receiving their course material and not missing out on valuable classroom discussions.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe in recording every single class meeting (I'm sure my seniors wish I would because they would probably be absent on purpose), but I can see recording those meetings where missing the material and the discussion that follows would be detrimental to the learning of the student.  Also, I've recently considered different project ideas for my students to complete as podcasts.  My thoughts are to post the podcasts for students to listen to on their own time in order to prevent using class time for presentations.  Of course, presentations are valuable in their own right, but what a time saver!