Podcasting 101

Podcasts
Podcasting can be a great way to reach a larger audience and expose your students to new media in their learning experiences. Simply put, podcasting is audio, text, video or any mixture of the three that is created and broadcast via the Web. Generally if a person is going to podcast, they are saying, "here is something I think you should know...so subscribe to me, because I'm going to post more in the future." Here is a video that explains this visually from the Common Craft Show.


Blogs
This week, I learned that podcasting can also be text-centric. An example of this would be a blog. A blog to me means a broadcast log. It's a place to "podcast" ideas that you think others may be interested in.

Uses
There are many classroom uses for podcasting. I have seen podcasts from classrooms around the world. Some examples of uses include:

1. book reviews
2. news reports
3. special event reporting
4. analyzing text
5. movie reviews
6. reflections
7. journal entries
8. storytelling

The list could continue as far as the imagination could take it. It's really up to the creativity of the user. Podcasting has opened up a new arena for creative expression. I know what you are thinking, "So what would it look like in my classroom?"

Here are a couple of links to schools that are using podcasts successfully.

• Mrs. Thornton's 6th grade Podcasts
• http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/wdmontm/Thornton/pod.asp
• Allanah's Appleby Showcase (I embedded their podcast on the sidebar)
• http://allanah.podomatic.com/