Sunday, May 4, 2008

Thing 12

OK, a little about podcasting. I've been a fan of podcasting for a couple of years. So much so, that I started a podcast (Middle School Matters). The idea was to provide for professional development while also providing a forum for middle school teachers to discuss what's going on. I'd love to get more feedback on it.

The podcasts that I enjoy mostly tend to be focused around the Mac. This Week in Tech is one of my favorites (not Mac centered), as well as MacBreak Weekly, the MacGeek Gab and more.

Podcasting has an easy place in education. Teachers can use it to provide a deeper experience for students. Teachers could also use it to differentiate. For example, instead of trying to be in three places in the classroom, a teacher could pre-record a couple of different lessons. Then certain students could be assigned different tasks. Each podcast could include the "lecture" (which could be listened to more than once if needed) and the assignment.

Students could use podcasts to show what they know. They could create a podcast to explain a topic that they've learned about. Podcasts could also be used in jigsaw fashion. This way, students could "teach" the rest of the class about a specific topic.

These can also help students who miss out on a day. While it's not the same as being there, a podcast of what happened can help for review and is certainly better than nothing.


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