Using Podcasts

Podcasts offer another interesting addition to the 21st Century classroom. In a recent exploration of the Education Podcast Network, I found a great number of resources that offer students an enhanced opportunity to experience information and ideas. I can really see myself using podcasts to provide students with the opportunity to hear great speeches or tales from some of our country's greatest storytellers that can serve as exellent prompts for discussion and activity. I can also see students utilizing the creation of their own podcasts, especially in cross-curricular projects. This past year my sociology class hooked up with an advanced art class to explore social commentary in art and I can really see how the use of podcasts would have enhanced these presentations. These applications would certainly help satisfy NETS-S standards 5 and 6, but most especially standards 1 and 2 (creativity and innovation, and creativity and collaboration).

Along with other Web 2.0 technologies, podcasts have the ability to change the structure of schools. As more and more students go to "online" schools, I see podcasts (along with wikis and blogs) becoming the primary structures of these "cyber schools". As they move from being "new" technologies to becoming part of the norm, I think they have the capability to really form the framework for a whole new structure to our educational system. I've created a podcast that discusses some of this and you can listen to it at http://sthorn.podbean.com/ or click on the link I've posted as "21st Century Educational Technology Literacy"