Chapter 8 Response

Before taking this class or ever reading chapter 8 in the book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, I was aware of what podcasting was, but had no idea that it was called a, podcast. When I began to read chapter 8 I read that, "it's video in the form of screencasting as in capturing what happens on a computer screen, adding a bit of audio narrative, and publishing it as mutilmedia Web tours or stories" (pg. 111). After reading this statement I was ready to listen to hear live examples of podcasts, because I was so intrigued with this idea. There have been so many different examples of podcasts I had heard on the radio, probably everyday, but was unaware of the name of them, and also unaware of how useful they could be used in any school setting or classroom. There are several ways any aged students could use this type of technology in the classroom to learn or also for a teacher to teach, during a lesson or even for fun. Students could create podcasts to do book reports, interviews or certain people, or even radio shows just for fun. Another fun example I thought that the students could do was to create an overview of what the new incoming class could expect for the year to come, and allow the new students to listen to it at the beginning of the year. This podcast could be played at open house for the parents also. A teacher could create a podcast for the students or parents themselves to give each of them an idea of what to expect in his/her classroom, and what the plan is for the year to come. There are several ways to create a podcast, but after playing around with several different types of programs, I felt as if Audacity was a simple and free way to go about creating your own at home or school. Any age students should be able to create their own podcast with a little training, which would then be useful for both the students and the faculty.