Podcasts are not a new Web 2.0 tool. Essentially, podcasts are audio recordings on topics from story books read aloud, lecturers on the effects of World War II on the American economy, and students' reflections of class trips to the State Capital. These recordings are made on software, such as Audacity, Quicktime, and Internet software such as Camtasia.
Once students complete their audio recordings, they can upload the files to social networking sites. These sites include wikis, Glogster, and Edmodo.
Podcasts are a very creative way to introduce books to students. A media specialist could use podcasts about book talks throughout the year by featuring a student's podcast on the media center website. This tool is definitely is not an exclusive classroom tool.
I really like the Book Fair and Podcast idea. I will have my book fair at the end of this month and I would love to try something like this with my older students because they are typically not as excited about the book fair as my younger students. I like the idea of Podcasting because it is often available free or at low cost and there are so many uses for it even at the elementary level. I have used podcast activities in my media center before for reading, speaking and listening literacy. I do like podcasting because the activities are quick and easy and the students really enjoy the activities.
ReplyDeletePodcasting is a wonderful way for students to share the books they enjoy over the Internet. I would really like to use this tool more with our book of the month selections as well as our Helen Ruffin Reading bowl team. After reading your blog, I am going to have a few of my students work on a book fair jingle to promote the book fair. I am excited about this idea!!!
I think that having the students create a Podcast about the books in the book fair is a great idea! I currently teach second grade, but can't wait to get into the media center! Students really enjoy hearing their peers opinions on books that they have read and a their recommendations. As a classroom teacher, I think I will use this idea to in my classroom library. I will have the students create a book talk on one to two of the books that they read, and attach the QR code to the back of the book. The students will then use the iPods from the media center to listen to the Podcast! I am very excited to get started on this activity:)
ReplyDeleteYou had me at your opening statement. Our book fair was last week and there were two emails to teachers. The first one was asking them to sign their classes up to visit the media center and the second one was to remind them because there were several classes that had not signed up. There were maybe three announcements for students made on the morning announcements by our administrative assistant. Clearly, the motivation for visiting the book fair in middle school is not as high as it is in elementary and advertisement that appeals to middle school students is a must. Getting students involved to take ownership of their school, media center, learning, is a great idea, not to mention really easy to do!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome. I just talked about that in another blog about doing the same thing with the QR codes. Did not even think about the upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. Thank you. That will be a great idea. The students will love the fact of trying something new at the book fair with and learning about the books.
ReplyDelete