So we finally get a chapter about podcasting! I haven't stopped talking about podcasting throughout my reviews of these chapters. Well... as we all know (since I haven't stopped talking about it), I used to podcast my lectures for my students. It was a great tool for those students who wanted more time for note-taking or for those students who weren't in class and needed to catch up. However, in keeping with my changing educational philosophies, I have gotten away from lecturing. While it may be the norm in a college class, I don't think it has a place in a high school classroom with so many different learning types and abilities. So, with those changes, I have really stopped my "talking at the kids" type of lectures and I tend to focus on short bursts of information, followed by short activities that help students process and remember the information. So there went my podcasts.
However, after reading this chapter, it has re-sparked my interest in doing them... although I would like to think about how to use them with my students. What could my students broadcast? My first thoughts about it are centering around a debate-type podcast. One side records its argument and the other records its. Then they get played for the class and the class can vote for the group with the most effective argument. Or it could get put on a wiki and a voting widget could be used. Still thinking about the possibilities, but there are definitely many!
While video publishing seems like it could be great, my thought is that it would be much more difficult to manage in my English classroom. Getting equipment and finding time to teach its use would be very difficult. There's also the problem of editing. Although there are good possibilities here, I just don't see the practicality. I do use Youtube all the time to show related content videos to my classes. There are so many wonderful videos that can be used in class. :)
Now to my favorite part: screencasting! I have never done any screencasting before last Thursday's class, but I can already tell that it's going to become something I do a lot. In fact, I've already decided I'm going to incorporate it into my lesson re-design assignment. There are so many possibilities here- especially with my interactive whiteboard. I can see doing a poetry explication on the board, while recording it, and then having it play back on my wiki for anyone who missed it (or who wants to see it again). I can also see students screencasting their own assignments for me to watch. So many possibilities.
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