Thing 19

I checked out your wikispace under 10 Podcast For Teachers and Kids Solastic.com and listened to some podcast under 60 second science. These podcast included:
Short Sleeves in Hospitals Don't Beat Bacteria
Ancient People Played Lots of Games
Babies Think Large Means Dominant
Teaching Bankers About Climate Change

I tried downloading iTunes twice from the link you provided on Thing 19 on my home computer. Even though it said that it downloaded successfully both times, a message comes up that said some files were missing. My husband also tried with the same results. Do you have any idea why this message gets popping up? I will try to load iTunes up on my school computer and check out some podcast then. Hopefully I will be successful.

I liked the fact that the podcasts were short and to the point. This makes it easier to capture the full attention of the audience. I also like the fact that for my convenience, I can listen to podcast whenever I choose.

I let my students listen to the podcasts I mentioned above. They had never listened to one before and didn't seem particularily interested in them. I think if video had been included, they might have liked them more. When I asked them if they would prefer making a podcast as a means of assessment or a written assignment, they seemed a bit more interested. I'm sure if students were allowed to use video and images of themselves, they would enjoy creating a podcasts. Students at this age love seeing images of themselves at this stage in their life. Podcasts could also bring out their creativity.

As far as making my students aware of high quality podcast, I guess the best way would be for the teacher to search ahead of time. I googled for high quality podcast and found Apple's iTunes and Education.Podcast.com. Both had an education link to choose. There were good podcast under Steve Spangler Science and PBS American Experience.

Even though podcast without video may not be as entertaining to students, listening to them could help improve their listening skills. I could have students do podcast of books they have read. Listening to these podcast may encourage other students to read the book. We are always looking for ways to encourage the students to read more. Since I teach mostly science, I could look for topics related to what I'm taching and use them in class. Maybe I could put a podcast on my wiki for students who are absent. They could listened to what they missed in class that day.

There are some issues we will have to deal with. Although most students have the internet at home, some do not. This would may it difficult to give an assignment on a podcast. A podcast would also be a problem for hearing impaired students. Another issue is that podcast are not designed for two way interaction or audience interaction. I guess students could listen to the podcast and then have a class discussion or write s paper voicing their opinions of the podcast. The quality of the speakers voice, speech patterns, and intonation may not be the same. This is a very important issues as students do not like to listen to unclear speech and the same monotone throughout the lecture.