Podcast research and background

From the feedback provided on my first assignment, I have been encouraged to look into the history and background of podcasts. I did not know that the name podcast represents the acronym portable-on-demand broadcast. I think it is interesting to explore the possibilities that could happen in a classroom when using podcasts to document a series of episodes. I have never used software that has a timeline feature, such as podcasts do.

One possibility of using this timeline feature of the podcast would be to trace the progression of student knowledge on a topic as a unit of study progresses. It might also be interesting to use podcasts to monitor student reading progress. A student could use the timeline feature and record themselves reading aloud a book at their level. As the year progressed, the student could continue reading texts at their level and publishing them as podcasts. This could be an auditory documentation of the students' progress, which they could go back and listen to. I am going to continue to read about podcasts so that can learn more ways to take advantage of the timeline aspect of this software.

Beginning the Journey

I have decided to create this blog to document my adventure learning how to create a podcast. I am taking a course, EPSY 5235, in which I am required to learn a new technology to incorporate into my classroom instruction. I have decided to use podcasts because I believe they can be used cross-cirrucular. I see ways to incorporate podcasts into language arts instruction, as well as science and social studies. I think podcasts are simple enough to create that my third grade students would be able to create them. I also think that they will promote critical literacy skills, such as summarizing, synthezing and analyzing information.

I began searching the web today to find resources to learn about how podcasts are used in elementary classrooms. Here are a few websites I have found useful thus far:

http://fcit.usf.edu/podcasts

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/nshelley/