Podcasting, Video and Screen Casting, and Live Streaming

Chapter eight in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms got in depth with the topics of Podcasts, Video and Screen Casting and Live Streaming. Before reading this chapter I was familiar with podcasts but have never used them before. While reading, I thought of the TV station my high school had that broadcasted the morning announcements everyday. I then wondered if podcasts were being used today to document the events of the school year. If you were an athlete it would be really cool to be able to keep all the broadcasts for your team; especially if it was a winning team. On pg. 113, the chapter discussed having an aggregator to upload new podcasts; this is something I did not previously know about. I think that this makes having listening to podcasts easier because you do not have to look through lists and lists and lists of podcasts. Video is something I am also familiar with. I remember one year in high school we had to make a video for my Spanish class. It was a lot of fun and interesting because it was something that we did not get to do before. I am also very familiar with Windows Movie Maker. Last year I went to Scotland to visit my best friend, when I got home I took all the pictures and videos from my trip and using Movie Maker I created a movie. I taught myself how to use the program and was able to include pictures, videos, text and music. I felt that it was a very user friendly program to use. Screen casting is something that is new to me but it seems that it would be very helpful in a classroom setting.

Podcasting in the Classroom: A Sound Success and The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling were both really good articles. Here are some things that these articles brought to my attention:

• Having students using iPods appropriately in the classroom can be a huge success
• Using Podcasts in the classroom can reach out and help ELL learners
• Technology and podcasts can be an attention grabber for all types of students
• Digital storytelling is much more than just a simple PowerPoint
• Reminds me of "mini movies"
• Opens several doors for new literacies and skills