Blog Assignment #5

Langwitches blog Podcasting With the First Grade really opened my eyes to how great of an idea this was that he did. He began reading to them Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. The purpose of the podcast was to let the students act as though they were interviewing the main characters Jack and Annie. I thought this was very useful in many ways. It not only allowed them to be creative, but also encouraged them to pay more attention to the book so they could know about the characters and what to ask them.The blog told about how shy and quiet students were coming out of their shells during the pod cast. I liked how it also encouraged them to speak to other students and be creative. They also were very attentive with the videoing Langswitch claims. I thought it was amazing that first graders were so into pod casting and also editing the podcast. When I am a future teacher, I want to do a podcast with my students because I feel like it not only helps incorporate technology but social skills.

Langwitches blog Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting was very interesting to read. It was impressive that children who did not speak Hebrew learned how to speak a sentence of it. I thought it was a great idea to give each a student a sentence and then to add everyone's together to tell the story. It was a good way for everyone to contribute and work together. I liked how they did not put them in order so the students had to pay attention and learn where to put their sentence. I also liked how they could play, pause, or edit there sentence because this incorporated the use of a smartboard. It taught them numerous things and uses of different technology tools just by recording a sentence. The project was not about producing a podcast but about teaching the students how to collaborate,listen, and speak a new language. I think that this was a great activity.

Joe Dale's blog post The Benefits of PodCasting in the Classroom was very informal. It provided numerous benefits to prove how useful podcasting is: its an effective way of interacting with students outside of the classroom,its a form of learning students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to them, it allows for differentiation and project based learning,students can access the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's taxonomy, it promotes creativity and innovation, it can offer distance learning opportunities for absent students,the process of creating and uploading audio files is easy,students can record role plays in character making their learning more memorable, and parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school. I liked how he put students in the video showing first hand how they are benefiting and using it. The podcasting allows students to learn and go back to rewatch what they learned whenever they need or want too, which I really liked most. Joe also included two useful links into the blog to visit. He provided links that help you podcast using GarageBand and links that show you how to podcast.