Podcasting Advantages: The Way I See It

Using Podcasting in high schools is a great way to introduce students to appropriate use of media. Many times students have a difficult time filtering their personal life with their cyber life, and because this is such an issue throughout the world, even with adults posting too much personal information and getting fired for what they have said or posted on places such as Facebook, schools need to take the responsibility to teach students what is appropriate and innappropriate for the web. Just like English teachers do when they teach students the difference between formal writing and slang, classroom teachers need to take advantage of the opportunity to model appropriate use of technology; we can only do this if we teach, use, and follow up with our students. Students are motivated when learning involves technology and communication, so educators need to take every opportunity to use the technology available to increase the desire to learn. If podcasts make students feel like they have some freedom with how they accomplish their learning goals, then by all means a teacher should use it. If podcasting helps students get ideas from others to complete their learning goals, then by all means media specialists should make this available and a priority. We all know that the use of technology helps increase learning and test scores, and we should never forget that sometimes students learn better from their peers or other adults in the community.

I believe that podcassting can be a great tool to motivate and teach responsible use of technology. If I were a media specialist and a teacher approached me and was having difficulty getting her students to meet certain standards, I would most certainly suggest podcasting. There are so many different forms that podcasting can take, so it helps with differentiation and motivation. Students like the feeling of responsibilty and I believe that most of them would use it appropriately, especially if consequences are set upfront.

Some ways that I imagine that podcasting can be used have already been described in other postings, but the ones I really liked were the ones that let the students learn from each other: Group Research, Group projects, Communication with Community leaders or even professionals, evaluating different careers through podcasts, and students being able to see and communicate with real people doing great things (like scientists on location).

Needless to say, I believe that while podcsating is "hot," educators need to take the opportunity to teach internet responsibility and appropriate usage.