Over the years BlendedEdu has been an advocate for the use of podcasts to enrich learning. As we know people learn in a variety of ways, not just from reading, nor do we all ‘see’ words put together in sentences in the same order. Listening, in itself, is a skill to be learned as well. Students, young and old, can greatly benefit from listening to podcasts in class and out, and on their mobile devices too.
For instance, podcasts can be used in any setting, for any educational purpose, for formal learning as well as informally. Podcasts can enrich learning in any subject area. English teachers can use podcasts for helping students develop their English language skills. For example, students can listen to Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing then use the tip with a homework assignment. That is one way to extend learning beyond the classroom walls while tapping into audio technology.
Podcasts can be very useful for online learning or distance learning classes as well as for face-to-face classes. Student can listen to a variety of teacher-made podcasts or teacher-selected podcasts to enforce a topic studied. For example, a distance learning class on Creative Writing could listen to one of “Rick Steve’s Audio Europe” podcasts and then write an essay from a ‘first-person” point of view. A graduate-level Communications Class could listen to The Hobson & Holtz Report: For Immediate Release podcast "Interviewing Robin Black and David Ferrabee on the Future of Social Media within Internal Communications" and then create a video on internal communications where they work. Now that would be quite an authentic task.
Listening to podcasts are helpful not only for older students but for any ages. Older students could listen to The History Chicks give their perspective on historical characters or listen to the Norman Centuries by Lars Brownworth, while early years learners could listen to a selection of Aesop’s Fables on Librivox benefiting each age group from a listening activity.
These are just a few thoughts to get your ideas flowing as to how you could use podcasts in your classroom. Try searching Podcast Alley or Podscope, a podcast search engine, to locate podcasts. Once you start using "listening activities" in your classroom you will discover many more ways to fit podcasts into your curriculum to reach the audio learners and to enrich student learning.
Be sure to share your ideas with us.....
Audio on the Internet is reshaping the way English teachers think about their curriculum and the resources they use. Back in the pre-digital kid days English teachers bought sets of books, including sets of novels they would read in class for the year. Today’s English teachers have a whole new set of tools to use on the Internet.
Audiobooks are a great resource for English and ESL teachers. Students now can listen to literary works in English, not only read them in print. This is great resource especially for learners of English as a Second Language.
LibriVox provides audiobooks from the public domain for students to listen to that are read in English; students can listen to the literature or poetry while also hearing the correct pronunciation.
According to a recent article in the New York Times, Public Domain Books, Ready for Your iPod, “LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.”
Today LibraVox has over 200 recordings of books, poetry and speeches with another 100 in development. Think of the uses of these audio recordings in your English, Literature, ESL or Social Study classes for students in all grades. Now think of the quiet in your classes as your students listen to this new medium – a medium of their generation.
Web Resources
"Only students and teachers from member schools can enter this password-protected learning community. Once inside, members use websites and interactive tools to publish their ideas, collaborate on projects, and build knowledge together."Thanks to Wesley Fryer for the tip! He has a terrific podcast featuring Cheryl Oaks on "using the Think.com environment to help students learn about Internet safety and appropriate digital discourse."
