Podcasting in the classroom is a very useful and innovative tool. Students are able to copy their teachers class lectures on their IPods from these podcasts and listen to them as they drive or while working out or watching television. Students can utilize podcasts on their computers, MP3 players, or their personal recorders. Just as Direct TV has On-Demand viewing so is Podcasting…or it’s called Personal On Demand broadCASTING. The television station saves particularly favorite shows of their viewers and the subscriber can go and watch the show at their convenience. So is the advantage the teacher has at their fingertips to put a podcast online for their students and this makes the learning experience very well rounded. Learning about other cultures or following certain topics or people and their podcasts is available now. This Web 2.0 tool may be the hottest instrument available going for classroom and personal use. You can subscribe to your teacher, another student, topic, culture, or even music and follow it anytime they post a new podcast. How awesome is this tool?!!!
I still enjoy the face-to-face contact of a classroom setting or visiting with my family and friends eye to eye. Nothing can compare to this communication style of life. Then there are times when you can’t be in a certain class you might need for your degree plan and having the option of an online class is quite the advantage. So often family members have to move out of town or state for a job or spouse and you can’t sit down at the kitchen table with them and talk over coffee. So thank God for podcasts and blogs and voice threads and email and text messaging. We have no excuse for not communicating with all the tools available to us today. Blogs and podcasts are very similar. Both are online for anyone to view or listen to as you see someone else’s view on a certain subject. But they differ in the fact that blogs are what someone has penned and podcasts are what someone has voiced audio wise and we can take this tool “to go” as we download it to our handheld device.
My brother has an IPod and uses it every day in his music classes where he has been teaching for 20 years in Mesquite at Rutherford Elementary school. He downloads his daily songs and has recorded his music that he’ll have his kids do for their next concert. My IPod is used right now just to listen to my music and since I have not had it very long I’m still learning how to use it. I think online communication has come a long way with emerging technology and tools used for more effective communication but the most aspect I find is with web classes. When there is a problem or situation where you cannot seek the teacher’s advice or correction immediately, it makes for a very stressful climate until the instructor can get the answer to the student in a timely manner hopefully. I would love to see a better balance of our wonderful emerging technology and our one to one time as we talk to each other.
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