If a teacher comes to you and says, "I would like to make a podcast", then you should say, "Let's make one together". Podcast can be utilized to do many things. They are a great way for every subject area to display projects that students are creating. This technology allows students to show the things that they are learning and cover the Georgia Performance Standards in a fun way. Once teachers realize how easy it is to create a podcast they will encourage other teachers to create them as well. As a media specialist you could also do an in-service on the steps of creating a podcast and explain to the teachers the benefits of doing so.
Each grade level could create their own podcast and then they could link these to their web page and all stakeholders would have the opportunity to view them. What a terrific way for parents to see and hear what their students are creating.
On the media center website you could have a podcast in which you introduce yourself to students and parents and you could put some details on the podcast about the media center (Hours of operation, upcoming events, "Thank yous" to volunteers, introduce one section of the Dewey Decimal Classification System at a time). The possibilities are endless.
From the media center website you could have a page in which students can post podcast book reviews by grade level that other students could access and listen to. As a media specialist you could also post book reviews of books that are rarely or never checked out and this could encourage students to read them and increase their circulation.
There are many fun and exciting projects that you can create through doing a podcast. So go out there and create on today!
A resource:
digitalpodcast.com tells you 5 steps to create a free podcast
Http://www.digitalpodcast.com/podcastnews/2006/05/19/five-steps-to-free-podcasting/
Learning at school should be fun. I agree that Podcasts are fun and engaging. I teach reading, so to build fuency in my struggling readers, I have them listen to the "Story Nory" Podcast. This also develops listening and technology skills. As a media specialist, I plan to use Podcasts for "Book Talks" and "Book Reviews." I think this is a wonderful way of promoting reading. Also, I like the point about getting parents involved in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteI plan to put together a Podcast for my class by the end of the semester. I want to create a study guide or review notes for the final exam.
This will be the first Podcast that I've created for my class, and I'm looking forward to putting it together.
Your post got me thinking about all of the possibilities of podcasting in a media center. The media specialist could give book talks about books that correlate with units the students are currently learning about in their classes. Turning these into a podcast makes the media specialist available to the entire school at any time. Students then would be eager to check out books that would reinforce their learning.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of students creating podcasts about books that would be posted on the media center website. This would be like a miniature "Reading Rainbow" database catered to the school's media center collection. By allowing students to create podcasts for the media center, they will feel more ownership of the media center and will be more likely to use it.
Podcasts are a great Web 2.0 tool for use in schools. The possibilities are there for every subject and all grades. Here is just one idea - instead of writing a paper after conducting research, students can record a "talk" and tell what they've learned. These presentations can then become teaching tools as other students view (if video or pictures included) or listened to and information/recording sheets completed.
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of sharing the podcasts with parents by posting them on the teacher's website.
As a media specialist, it is important to collaborate with teachers and plan lessons that incorporate the use of podcasts. Providing a short training session for teachers so that they know the whys and hows of podcasting is also key to getting teachers to use this tool.
As I am reading blogs, I am seeing more creative uses for podcasts including instruction. The idea of displaying current projects by students would be a great way to showcase vocational classes as well as academic. Conducting professional development via podcasting would be great for faculty unable to attend the meeting. I think making introductions by way of podcasts is good not only for the library media specialist but for any teacher and/or administrator. I think asking students to make a podcast to review a book is a really good way to get the word out about how good the book it. I think more students would read the book just to do a podcast. What an incentive!
ReplyDeleteTechno Time gave several ideas for the media specialist to collaborate with the teachers. The media specialist introducing yourself on the web page with podcasting is very creative and let the parents feel welcomed. Also, showing activities and some of the areas of the media center, will help parents look forward to coming into the media center. The podcast will be a fun and an adventure for the teacher, students, and the media specialist.
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