Monday, March 14, 2011

Podcasts

Apple invited some teachers from my school to participate in a workshop to create podcasts using a Macbook (I love my Macbook!) and an ipod touch, both of which they supplied for use. The workshop was very well run, they distributed headphones w/mic to each participant, and everyone got to keep theirs. We worked with a partner to create a podcast using "Garage band," a program that comes installed on the Macbook, (and now the ipad 2).



I went on to create another podcast for pre-k students, but I can really see how podcasting can be utilized with older students as well, to teach and/or reinforce information literacy. 


Important to note that iTunes (iTunesU) has a large bank of podcasts produced by the University of South Florida, as well as many other universities. Check out Lit2go by USF. There are many options to assist students, either finding a published podcast on iTunes (many of them are free!) or to create a podcast for a specific need. Podcasting is certainly a useful feature of the Web 2.0 family.