Podcast and Vodcast

Podcasting and Vodcasting are not new terms to me, however our classroom calibration has allowed me to refocus in on, just exactly what are these techie terms people are throwing around, and how are educators using them in their classroom to improve learning?

Podcasts are audio digital files that can be downloaded, streamed and subscribed to via the internet and applications like iTunes. This link is an example of a Podcast downloaded from Tech Teachers, http://ia331415.us.archive.org/0/items/RayTheTechTeachersShow90/TheTechTeachersShow90.mp3.

Vodcasts are basically a podcast with video that are viewed and downloaded in a similar manner. This link is a Vodcast from PBS Kids, http://feeds.pbs.org/pbskids/superwhy-video.

Here are a few ways my fellow educators are incorporating Podcasting and Vodcasting into their classrooms:

• "Producing an "Author's Purpose" series of podcasts, and then post them on iTunes as an educational resource for demonstrating: exposition, description, persuasion, and entertainment. "
• "I have used Garageband a little with my class to create casts. I mostly use it for reading fluency. I let the students choose a poem (or group poem) and record it with sound effects."
• "Ultimately, my goal in the classroom with podcasts is to use them as a final project or culmination to a learning unit. Over time, my students will be learning to use software in mini-lessons to voice record, take digital images, and work with Garageband."
• "I like to show current events about the regions we study in world geography class. Usually, there are three or four different topics in the fifteen minute CNN student news report. Sometimes I'll show all three segments, but often I will show just the current news
  that relates to our current area of study."
• "My class is working on a history project right now, and as a result of this assignment, I’ve discovered there many excellent audio/podcast resources. When I assigned the
  history project five weeks ago, I didn’t require them to find an audio resource, but after investigating this topic, I think we need to do an add-on to our original assignment."

Podcasting resource suggestions:

• Storynory
  
• Alaskool
• iTunes
• Learning in Hand
• PBS Podcasts
• LibriVox
• How Stuff Works

Podcasts and Vodcasts are a wonderful way to supplement classroom instruction. Not only can students listen to and watch them to reinforce key concepts and ideas, but students also have the ability to make their own, to show their content understanding. The students of the 21st Century are naturally aligned with technology to learn this way. I believe it is our job and duty to help them achieve the highest understanding, with these technological tools that they have inherently acquired.