HOW TO USE PODCASTS IN THE K12 CLASSROOM

Purpose: Providing creative ideas for podcasts in the classroom

Podcast Audience: K12 Classroom Teachers

Tools used to create Podcast: I used Audacity to create the podcast.  I was able to combine the music and the poem in this podcast and convert it to an MP3.  Once completed I used Archive.org to upload the project and then add it to the blog.  I found this link to provide the most assistance in instruction on how to add a podcast to a blog (How to Add Podcasts to your Blog).

Brief Reflection:  Podcasts can provide a creative addition to the classroom experience.  Teachers can record their instruction and then make this available to students when they are absent. Students can also use it to review instruction for that day or when they are unable to attend class but they are still interested in participating.

Teachers can also use this as a collaborative tool for their students to create podcasts on literature of all kinds.  This can be especially helpful for our ESL students.  This provides an opportunity for them to collect their thoughts and practice their English before making a presentation. Students can also design podcasts in honor of a particular author.

 LibriVox is a site of recordings made by a community of volunteers from all over the world.  This site includes public domain audio books such as Pride and Prejudice, Uncle Tom's Cabin and A Children's Book of Virtues.  With this in mind, I recruited my family to assist me in recording Spaghetti by Shel Silverstein in the podcast below.