A podcast is an audio episode you can subscribe to through a computer or mobile device. You can upload an episode to itunes. Itunes will also check for new content and download it for you. I also learned how to create a RSS feed of my podcast created through a resource called Gabcast. Gabcast allows you to create five minutes of audio through the telephone. I found this software very easy to use and a great tool as a teacher. We also learned how to copy and paste the gabcast URL into our wordpress blog. I thought this was a fabulous feature!
Some of the ideas our grade level (3) came up with for using podcasts in our classroom include the following:
- Directions
- Book reviews
- Discussions
- Reports or field trips
- Autobiography
- EOG prep
- recorded reading (compare Monday to Friday)
I will use podcasts as a book review project with my kids. I also found a project on the Internet while researching podcasts. It is available at learninginhand.com. The project is titled Our city podcast. This is a single episode (as a class) where students from around the globe are invited to produce an episode all about their hometown. I will definitely use this project while learning about communities this year! This is a great way to have students tell others about our community and for students to learn more about other communities.
