Blog Assignment #4

Why Podcast?

Before this blog post assignment I had never been aware of Podcasting. But after reading several pages from Langwitches blog, I became very interested. I think that it is very important to be involved with your students. The first post I read, Podcasting with First grade, showed that children as young as six years old were enthusiastic and eager to record their own voices. Not only were the first graders eager to record, they were eager for a crowd. They wanted their recordings on other people's computers and ipods, which caught my attention. The students wanted to be heard and this method broke a lot of them out of their shells. It also said the first graders were more attentive an cooperative during the recordings, even when it wasn't their turn.Podcasting can be so engaging for students that it will make them put more effort into their work/recordings. Students were also eager to take part in the editing process of the prodcasting. Blog post, First Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audio Book, explained students learning how to read by using podcasting. The class created a read-along audio book and followed along with their fingers moving across their booklets from word to word. The first graders experimented with the frequencies, pitches,emotions, and volume of their voices during the recordings. It was amazing how the students were so engaged in recording an wanting to perfect their work. Listening- Comprehension-Podcasting discussed the importance of hearing. Hearing the context of a word, the melody of a sentence, and the sounds of the letters, embraces the word. It showed me that the recording and editing process of prodcasting are great tools for language learners. The second grade students in this blog post used prodcasting to help them learn the hebrew language for a class assignment. As a student I know that podcasting can be very helpful when learning a different language, it gives you the abiltiy to correct yourself on mispronouncing words and makes you more comfortable using them. I think prodcasting is a very positive resource in education. Not only can podcasting help a student who's stuggling in reading, it can improve their speech, and work effort. I hope to one day use podcasting in my classroom of elementary students.