There are just so many uses for podcasting in my science classrooom. I feel like science is the perfect subject for podcasts--it is interesting, hands-on, and involves lots of technology!
Podcasts would be perfect for a distance learning science class (obviously). I would then be able to serve students better if they are absent, and they could use it as a review. Podcasting would be an excellent tool for explaining or demonstrating science labs or other hands-on activites for students. They would understand a lab much more by watching and listening to a podcast than by assigning them to read a lab manual.
I could also assign podcasting as an assignment. Students can create them to share learning experiences and this gives students a world audience, so learning is meaningful and important to them. Plus, middle school kids LOVE hearing and/or seeing themselves on the web. In fact, other students would probably learn more from their peers than from me!
Podcasting could also be used for teacher, staff, and corporation collaboration. Parent-teacher communication and education would also be a benefit of podcasting.
Here are some podcasts that I thought were wonderful for my science classroom:
Long, but a great biology one:
http://biologyoracle.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2009-06-16T19_00_35-07_00
Animal Planet has great podcasts (I discovered these when my one-year-old woke up crying one night and was only comforted by Animal Planet.):
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Biology/Animal-Planet-Podcast/23091#plink
Very interesting science one from NPR:
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Biology/NPR-On-Science-Podcast/30398#plink
Awesome video podcast from Cousteau about oceans:
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/
It doesn’t get much better than National Geographic when looking for great science podcasts:
http://podcast.nationalgeographic.com/wild-chronicles
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I like your idea of using podcast as assignments. The students could be the teachers and record a podcast explaing how to do an assignment or showing what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas about Podcasting in the classroom. I think they would be very beneficial for students. I really like the idea of having a podcast be the assessment when students record what they have learned and reflect back on the material/topic. I also think the links you provided would be great for a science or even geography class.
ReplyDeleteLovely selections! I was thinking as I listened to the NPR podcast, that students could do a weekly review of Science in the News via podcast. I vividly remember doing a weekly assignment with pen and paper and feeling desperate for new science materials to review in English after I'd exhausted that month's Reader's Digest and Time Magazine articles. (I lived abroad in days before the internet.) I think students would be pumped to record their assignment and include a link to the original material (kind of like a Reading Rainbow review).
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