The Education Podcast Network is a website where teachers can find programs that can bring them new or different ideas about education and teaching. Most of the podcasts are submitted by people from the education field, but there are also a good amount of podcasts done by students. To add more depth to the EPN, the podcasts cover a wide range of topics, from opinions of the 2008 presidential election to how Christianity made its way to England. Also, there are podcasts done for Spanish speaking people.
I really like the EPN, there are a lot of interesting topics to choose from. One drawback is that there are fair amount of the podcasts that are not working properly or may have been removed from the site. This can be of great use for teachers, and for any other person who want to gain insight on many different topics.
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This is a video by Joe Dale about how to use podcast in the classroom and the benefits that will come of it. Teachers can record class lectures and upload them as podcasts to the internet. Students may then use the podcast outside of class in the event they need better understanding of the lecture or if a student misses a class, they can access the podcast to get the information from that day's lecture. Teachers can also incorporate podcasts from an outside source into their lectures or lesson plans. A teacher may find a podcast that supports his or her lecture and give the students the opportunity to use it if need be.
One point that I would disagree with from the video is that podcasts allow for students to be more creative. I believe it is important for teachers, and all educators as well, to understand that they ultimately decide the degree of creativity a student is allowed to explore. When a lesson is planned, the requirements and specifications that must be met for student to achieve a passing grade will determine the amount of creativity that a student can display. It scares me that some educators see the tools that they use as the better factors of good education instead of the educators themselves.
100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better is an article by Valene, which lists one hundred different programs that can accessed through iTunes and many other internet websites. The lists includes many podcasts, study guides, tutorials, and applications that can be of great use. I think it can be very useful for anyone who would like to use the list. The Podcasts and More section features limks to websites to download and install podcasts amazing things, such as sound-journeys and English teaching podcasts.
I haven't done this assignment yet, but it sounds like you chose some interesting podcasting sites to review. The Education Podcast Network looks to be a site you could learn lots about podcasting, and it seems to cover a wide range of topics. In the video, "The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom," I think it would be very helpful for teachers to video lectures and allow students who missed the class to watch the podcasts. I am a classroom teacher and I always worry about the students who miss my class. So much instruction can be lost when a student misses school. Podcasts of teachers lectures would be great. The article entitled, "100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better" is one I definitely need to read. I have two children that are only using their iPods for music, movies, and making videos. They will be so excited (and I say this with a little sarcasm) to know there are podcasts out there that they can download to their iPods to help them learn. Seriously though, I will have to check that article out.
ReplyDeleteHey Jason,
ReplyDeleteI can see you really liked the EPN website. I too liked it. The fact that podcast topics are available for any lesson plan, is a good thing to rely on if at teacher needs help. Your statement about teachers deciding the creativity for students to learn, I completely agree with. With all the new technology coming out for teachers to use, this should help the teachers be creative in their teaching.
"It scares me that some educators see the tools that they use as the better factors of good education instead of the educators themselves." Awkward. Is this what you meant? It scares me that some educators think that technology is more important than the teacher in providing a good education.
ReplyDeleteI hope these assignments helped in your preparation for your podcast.
Yes, Dr. Strange that is what I meant. Thank you for clarifying that for me.
ReplyDelete