I think the most practical application for me using a podcast will be the ease of leaving a lesson with a sub. So often in Math class, my students get mixed up on a simple concept just because another teacher used terminology not familiar to them. If I could leave a podcast with notes or other visuals to go with it, I think it would be easy for the sub, less stress for the students, and effective teaching for me. I am excited to get back to school and show some of my collegues this technology.
I think that I would also be able to use podcasting to make at least an initial contact with parents. At the start of the year parents and students are usually willing to make an extra effort to try a new technology to get information. I think that it will also be a way to continue communication with parents who often feel like now that their child is in high school they don't hear from the teachers quite as much.
Another thing that I would like to do on a volunteer basis is to allow my students to post podcasts on a class wiki that allows me to get to know them a little bit. I have already suggested to the english teacher that I work with that we might be able to do some collaborative projects using podcasting. I was thinking specifically of students explaining how to complete a certain math problem using a podcast graded both for their ability to give the "speech" and the correctness of the students completing the problem.
Sometimes I have also noticed if I have to give the same directions 6 times they get less clear. In the past I have written the main points of the instruction on the board as well as explain the instructions. Instead of giving the instructions myself each time, I could record them and podcast them for the students to listen to so that I still sound enthusiastic 7th period! Also, students who needed to finish the project at home, or were absent would get the same set of instructions as the class. This will be particularly helpful when we work on semester projects. I recognized that my explanations were not as clear to absent students 2 days later as they were the first day.
I have completed my regular podcast with audio only. I have begun one with picture clips on it as well, however, I have not yet figured out how to play/export it to contain the photos. I will continue working on this in the days ahead.
I spent some time searching for sites specifically related to podcasting in the classroom and have found several which I will list below.
http://www.intelligenic.com/blog/ -"Kidcast" is all about using podcasting in the classroom. Many ideas for all grade levels.
http://www.epnweb.org/ - The Educators Podcasting Network is for teachers with a slew of information on podcasting including how to's. There are also examples for different grade levels
http://www.podcastforteachers.org/ -"Podcasts for teachers" provides a lot of technology related to education not just podcasting. They even review new technology.
http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better -100 ways to use your ipod to learn and study better
Pretty cool. I believe hat some of your ideas will definitely work. Podcasting is a good tool for k-12 students. In my own realm I believe that my students could use it for back up redundancy. I remember when I was a student it was sometimes so hard to understand subjects, and wanted it to be respelled. Podcasting will totally eliminate this block.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea about sub plans. Most of the time subs don't teach that subject, nevertheless, teach it the way you do. I feel like I spend the next day when I return trying to figure out what was done/not done, reteaching what the sub taught, etc.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the collaborative project/cross curriculum project ideas.
I had to laugh when I read about not being as enthusiastic 7th period as at the beginning of the day. I'm sure most of us feel the same way.
The only suggestion that I have, which isn't podcasting related at all, is to make the websites you referenced to actually links that you could access right from the blog. I think that it would make it more easily accesible to those using your blog.
Otherwise, I like your ideas.
I really like your ideas! I checked out a couple of the sites you list and the "Kidcast" one seems really useful.
ReplyDeleteLindsey,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea about having students post podcast bios on a wiki page; that is an awesome idea.
I stole the four links you offered and pasted them onto a word document I'm using to house good links. I'll check them out tomorrow. I also sent you the links I've gathered so far, but I posted them as a comment on your previous post by accident.
Shane
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the collaboration aspect of the student podcasts. At my school, we English teachers don't collaborate with the Math department as much as we should. Your project would be an intriguing and organic way to fulfill interdisciplinary (Quadrant D) requirements.
Travis