Podcasting in Primary Schools
I have just listened to a radio interview about pod casts used in English classrooms. The interview was done by ABC Breakfast Radio (Adelaide 30/01/2008) by John Keneally and Tony McCarthy. They interviewed an IT teacher, Michael Cowling, about how he uses pod casts in his lessons and why. As Cowling said in the interview the most dominate technology being used outside of schools by the younger age groups are i-pods and mobile phones. Cowling believes that this form of technology should be used alongside the students’ education. Cowling shared an example of how he used this form of technology with the students whilst learning about poetry. Once the students had written their own poem he would get them to put it on their phones. The students would record themselves and add in special effects. Cowling states that this engages the students and gets them excited about their work. I believe this would be a very successful way to use technology in the classroom as it allows the students to share, interact and overall make the experience more enjoyable. I believe this would also be very beneficial for students who find a particular task challenging as it makes the task more exciting.
Cowlings raised an important point in that all students may not have access to an i-pod or mobile phone, however, the school has their own pod casts site that the students can use. I believe this would be great for all schools to have. This way it would allow students to access their pod cast outside the school environment where they can share their learning with their family and friends. I believe pod casting would be very beneficial to use in the classroom lessons to increase learning and engagement.
