3 February - Podcasting!

I had no idea I had ever personally viewed a podcast until class this week! Apparently its something I have used on a regular basis since the day I got my first Ipod (aw)! I didn't know listening to a song in the Itunes store or watching a video or listening to a clip of news on the internet was a podcast.  I've been using podcasts for a long time  now!  Now I know how to create my own and post it to the internet! This is going to be very useful.

I will use podcasting in my future classroom as a communication tool.  It will be a great benefit for long weekend vacations to be a resource for my students if they forget certain information on a topic we discussed in class. I can even record my lessons during class and post them for later use! How incredibly helpful this will be to my students in any situation! If they didn't get all the information in class, or they were sick, or a family emergency occurred, they will be able to refer to my podcasts for instruction and direction.  I can also make quick announcements.  This is also a great resource as an accommodation for students with sight limitations.  They may not be able to read my announcements, and have to rely on their parents or a peer to read it to them, but with podcasting they can be independent and have a sense of autonomy in their own education! That is something I am truly excited about.  My little sister is partially blind in her left eye, and majorly deaf in her left ear, and wears hearing aids for both ears.  Accommodations mean all the world in a situation where limitations are involved.  Podcasting can be a great help and one of which I'm very grateful for. 

I still keep in contact with some of the teachers I worked with last semester for field work for elementary education.  I can create podcasts for these teachers and help them with whatever they would like me to create with a podcast.  One of the teachers doesn't use technology very often, so I could even create a podcast explaining how to do things on the computer, where she can listen and try it out as the podcast plays along.  It will also be useful in helping out her students and keeping them posted on certain information.  I can create my own podcasts just for fun for my friends and family, or to communicate with my cohort!