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Podcasting in school websites
There is no mystery to the recent boom in podcasting: it's a technology - and an activity - that speaks to the desire that all people have to communicate and connect with others. Podcasting gives one the ability to make this communication both intimate, as the timbre and cadence of the voice are used in addition to the literal meaning of the words, and global, since podcasting makes it possible to reach an unimaginably large audience.
Until you use it to engage your students, however, it's hard to fathom how powerful podcasting really is. It is a way to encourage students to use their creative talents for practical purposes - such as in the podcast promoting the chocolate sale at St. Genevieve's Elementary School. In expressing and recording them, podcasting may bring students like those in from Kelley Elementary School a step closer to achieving their dreams. It can help students communicate with their school community about issues that affect them all, such as the Tiger Topics presented by students at South Pasadena High School. Making their own podcasts, like the sixth graders of Huntington Middle School, forces students to take responsibility not only for their own preparation and presentation, but also for the learning of others. Schools can also put podcasting to good use when students are not participating in the creation of podcasts: for example, by posting podcasts that contain lessons for students to review at home, like this lesson for second grade math students at Norwood Elementary School in El Monte City School District. Districts can also use podcasting to keep community members who are not able to attend board meetings abreast of the activities of the Board of Education, like the Beverly Hills Board of Education has done. Podcasting is a particularly powerful tool because it is audiovisual content that is highly accessible over the Internet. What is remarkable about Educational Networks' podcasting module is that it publishes audio and video content directly on the website as well as making it available via podcasting on portable devices. All of this requires only one upload of the audio or video file using Eduational Networks' Multimedia Package. Above all, educators are communicators of the highest degree - they impart to their students new insights and understandings each day. These insights are gained not only from what is communicated but from how it is communicated. Podcasting is a powerful tool to help us facilitate the dissemination not only of our own message, but of our students' as well. The examples below are just a small sampling of the podcasts that have been uploaded using Educational Networks' quick and easy podcast publishing software.
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