Creation Activity ~ Podcasts

As a society we have come to expect technologically advanced, on-demand products; the field of education is not exempt from change and innovation. With low cost, ease-of-entry, podcasts ride on the existing infrastructure of the web. The ability to create or access a podcast repeatedly, at any hour, fits a 21st century lifestyle. Podcasts may be played on an increasingly large number of devices: computers, laptops, netbooks, iPods, to name a few. Although these devices have not saturated all households, the price of technology tends to decrease and such technologies are becoming increasingly available. For example, flip video cameras and webcams may be purchased for well under $150.00, many laptops come with webcams installed, and editing programs such as Windows Movie Maker and Audacity are available for free.

Is Podcasting merely another toy or can it advance learning? Again, let’s refer to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and note that creativity is a higher level thinking skill; podcasts may engage students in ways that handouts and worksheets cannot. Podcasts address many educational problems today including: student absenteeism, slower learners, and bored learners. They are great for classroom review, further study by slower learners, and a supplement to note-taking. Recently, with concerns over the H1N1 virus schools are encouraging students to take an extended period of time to recover at home and are encouraging teachers to place as much educational classroom content as possible on the web; podcasting may offer one solution.

The November 2nd entry (below) contains a discussion about getting started in podcasting. The blog entry also contains a link to download “The Benefits of Podcasting” podcast.