Thing #15

Podcasts can be a great tool for learning in the classroom. I think elementary students enjoy listening to a different voice other than mine at times. I think I would be competing with those that produce ones with catchy music and funny voices, which would be optimal for younger students' learning. I found the podcatcher, Juice, easy to use. However, I found wading through and trying to find useful podcasts really time consuming, even on Podcast Alley. I do not agree that younger students can do this as they would be open to inappropriate content in some cases. If this was used too much in the classroom, I can see some administrators thinking that the classroom teacher was not doing his or her job...but I can see that a variety of tools, voices, and techniques are necessary to teach today students.