Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Article 6: Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom

 Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom

Podcasts reminds me of the First Nations culture. For them, Oral Storytelling is how they share their history and their culture. This aspect of their life was taken away from them once they were forced into residential schools. To think that decades later, podcasting is the new wave when it was always a tool used by many cultures. It's engaging and it helps people learn.

The best part about podcasting is the ability to be heard worldwide. The students of this generation are not satisfied with their small audience, they want to reach out and share their work with the entire world. This gives them the ability to do that,

"I've received emails from teachers all over the country who have found the site in a link and listened to it," Coley says. "I pass the messages on to the kids, and it keeps them motivated to do their best work."

The students feel the urge to perform their best because anyone and everyone could be listening and giving feedback on their work...


The same is true with Youtube. Chris Anderson in Ted Talks referred to how dance was evolving because of Youtube! It's interesting to see how people from all over the world are motivating each other to do better and challenging one another to improve.





Even though this video may have been more appropriate for the video day, I certainly think it can apply to Podcasts as well. The important message is that Podcasts are a great tool for students to use in various subject areas. In the L2 place, it can help them improve on their oral skills and accents. In other subject areas, it gives students an opportunity to go beyond what is asked of them. Rather than just saying the answer, Podcasts can give them the freedom to explore and go beyond the question being asked. This is also true for L2. I think it will also push students to want to speak more and further develop their skills so that they can carry a conversation.

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