Week #6

Podcasts: Where's the Learning?

Deubel06/07/07, By Patricia. "Podcasts: Where's the Learning? -- THE Journal." THE Journal: Technological Horizons in Education -- THE Journal. 07 June 2007. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. .

Summary:
What the heck is a podcast? A podcast stands for playable on demand mixed in with a little bit of broadcasting as well. Basically what it breaks down to is an audio file on the internet. You can think of a podcast more so like a radio program. You can selectively listen to one podcast on the internet or download them to your ipod and listen to them later. Podcasts can range from a college lecture to last Sundays sermon. According to Wikipedia, what makes podcasts different from other digital media formats is that they can be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats, such as RSS. A podcast is intended only for one-way interaction. A podcast is not an interactive program. The user downloads and listens to a speaker. So where is the learning then? Students develop literacy skills as they create podcasts. They become more engaged with their learning, or at least with the uniqueness of the technology itself. There seems to be no limit to ideas for learning with podcasts. In makin podcasts, students become drawn in with the project technique, which is a real-world experience. Many different classrooms are creating podcasts for various reasons such as students at Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha (NE) created Radio WillowWeb, a podcast series for kids. Third-grade students recently posted what they learned about the ear and the world of sound in Willowcast #26. Grade 5 students at Tovashal Elementary School (CA) post what they are learning to ColeyCast, named for their teacher. Their recent podcasts address interesting facts about the United States, Puritan life in New England, weather, inside the human body, and the solar system.

Reaction:

Podcasts are a great Web 2.0 feature teachers are implementing into their classrooms. This gives students a chance to have an audience. In turn, this will raise the bar for the level of work they complete and the satisfaction created by it. This will also produce work that is of greater quality. When students have an audience, especially public, they tend to become more immersed in the project itself. Although, there are a great deal of benefits as always there are downsides to podcasts as well. Many of the audio files are not complete or are of poor quality. Accessibility can be an issue too when trying to get a podcast online. Also, everyone cannot hear podcasts. Someone who is deaf and is asked to retrieve the podcast offline for a lecture will not be able to do so. I believe that the positives out way the negatives and podcasts are only becoming more and more implemented in our classrooms especially at the secondary level.