Podcasting is still a great tool to use in the classroom. Podcasting has been around for a while now, and I never thought much of the tool until recently. Because making videos is now simpler and more appealing, I dismissed it as outliving its usefulness. I was wrong!
According to Oxford English Dictionary, a podcast is
a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar programme, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.
In his article How to Podcast, Jason Van Orden lists the following characteristics of a podcast:
- An easy way to share your own audio content on the internet with a focused audience
A media that can be created with equipment you probably already own, for little cost and in as little as a day
A way to become a recognized expert or celebrity in your niche
A powerful way to connect with your customers and promote your business to them on regular basis.
A few cloud-based platforms for podcasting are Vocaroo, Sound Cloud, Record MP3 and Audioboo. For more elaborate podcasts which may include uploaded pictures, documents, and recorded accompanying audio or video commentary, VoiceThread is a great web-based digital storytelling program.
Here is my podcast talking about some ways podcasting can be integrated in the classroom lessons.
