This is going to sound weird, but I never knew how easy and difficult creating a podcast was. Like, the act itself is really simple, all you need is a microphone, but the preparation, figuring out what you want to talk about, finding a quiet place to record, that was much, much harder, and I tip my hat to those who do it regularly, and those who do it effortlessly well. I had a bit of trouble with recording on the PodOmatic site, but downloaded Audacity and everything worked out splendidly(speaking of, I'm looking forward to playing around with that a bit more, looks like good times). I definitely had more problems with figuring out what to talk about, jumping from subject to subject, writing a bit, starting over, and then changing subjects again. I finally settled on sharing my views on the characterization of Odysseus from The Odyssey, as it was my favorite thing to teach last year, and I think there's room to grow.
I can definitely see the benefit and potential Podcasting has in the classroom. It's a great tool for projects, and again makes students' work more public, so there's more at stake than just the teacher reading or listening. It would also be great for teachers to use. While I don't think lecturing in the classroom is the best way to impart knowledge, having a podcast version of short lectures could be beneficial, allowing students to download and listen as they need to, giving the option of rewinding and pausing. It's putting the teacher's knowledge into the students' hands, which is empowering, and could be especially helpful to homebound students that can't make it to the school for one reason or another. I'm quickly figuring out that embedding technology like podcasting into the classroom is the real way to make sure that no child is left behind.
First, Your Podcasting is so clear~~The same to you, I didn't know what to say at first.LOL
ReplyDeleteCharacterization of Odysseus from The Odyssey, intersting and truly speaking, I couldn't understand totally at first so I listened to you twice which I think is also the advatnage of podcasting: allowing students to download and listen as they need to, giving the option of rewinding and pausing. The process is not that difficult but experience is important for I really didn't where to go and felt nervous, espeically when posing on wiki page, there are different html codes.LOL
I love this new method for teaching and learning and I think it will be very popular and it really helps a lot.
Brittnay, after much "agony" you selected an excellent topic on which to create a podcast! Your voice is very clear and as Weiwei mentioned, this form of instruction can be downloaded and listened to at students' convenience. Kudos on a job well done!
ReplyDeleteYou best put into words how I felt, "easy and difficult". The taping was the most challenging part for myself too. I recorded myself, so being on camera was a little wierd for me. I commend the teachers who do this regularly. However, I assume the more it's done the easier it will become.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea you gave about putting a shorter version of the lecture on a podcast. I didn't even think of how helpful that would be. Students who didn't catch all the information in class could use this. I did my Podcast on "Community Events" students could attend. This was to give them other options then getting into trouble over the weekend, ect. However, I do like your ideas of using it for lectures. Now being introduced to this form of technology there are going to be so many unique ways we will be able to incorporate this as teachers. Kudos to us!!