The Podcast Experience

Podcasting is a relatively new concept and resource for me.  I have friends to listen/watch them on their way to work, but I had never thought about using them as a tool in class.  Now as I work on recording my own I can see the many benefits they would bring a classroom.

I would use podcasts in a variety of ways.  The one I'm working on is a virtual tour of Madrid.  If I were to take students on a trip to Spain, this type of photo podcast would be a way for them to share their experiences, new knowledge on a country, and photographs with the whole classroom, school, or community. 
Also, the ESL classroom would benefit from having audio examples of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.  A podcast is a perfect way for students to hear all these things if another native speaker is not present.  Once they master a concept, students could even record their own podcast as an assessment.  Not to mention having podcasts on file gives future students a richer pool of resources for years to come.
I also like the idea of using a podcast as a summary of each week's work.  Students would have a delegated week in which they have to record everything the class learned in new creative ways.  Maybe by writing and recording a story about they they will do this summer with their grandparents using vocabulary learned in a lesson about family and how to use the future tense.  It may be a good idea to choose students at random so that they are always on top of their game.

I have found my personal experience with podcasting frustrating due to computer malfunctions and my tendency as a perfectionist to over work things.  I hope to have my podcast up by the end of the evening, but if this microphone keeps stalling 1 minute each time I hit record I may be in trouble.

Wish me luck!