Podcasts

My experience with podcasts includes one podcast that I made during an earlier grad school class where I discussed a pioneer in the world of library science and a couple where I had to interview students about library usage. Outside of school, my husband subscribes to a few sports related podcasts that I only listen to on long road trips so like comics, this is not a medium I have a lot of experience with.

My podcasts were all done through the website podbean.com and I have found the site to be very user friendly. It offers many features that go way beyond my needs including analysis tools, crowdfunding options, and iTunes support.

In my research on the use of podcasts in the classroom I came across some great websites with a variety of ideas on how to incorporate the media into an educational setting. This Scholastic article (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/9-podcasts-teachers-and-kids) features a list of podcasts that students can listen to in order to learn about topics such as animals, languages, books, science and poetry.

This We Are Teachers website http://www.weareteachers.com/10-podcasting-projects-teachers-should-try-in-the-classroom-2/  features projects for students and I chose one of these for my sample podcast. I love the idea of allowing students to create a podcast as a way to demonstrate understanding. If I needed to share information with students, especially information from the library, then I would either make a video or a screencast. I am having trouble imagining a scenario where students would benefit from listening to a podcast by me, but I like the idea of students using them to share information with each other. One of the ideas on this website is to have students create a reading radio. I recruited help from my son who is a reluctant reader and up until recently, had never been excited about a fiction book. Here is a book tease by my son for the book The Terrible Two.

Sources:
Macpherson, Erin. (2014, August 7). "10 Podcasting Projects Teachers Should Try in the Classroom -       WeAreTeachers." WeAreTeachers. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Richards, Emily. "9 Podcasts for Teachers and Kids | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers.                      Scholastic, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.