Podcasting

I can definitely see the different uses for podcasting in education. The main thing that I can think of it really being good for is an easy way to get information across to parents and students. If you create a podcast as a school or a teacher that tells what is going on around campus and in the classroom, parents and students can log on at their leisure to listen to these announcements. All it takes is a few minutes of recording and then you can share it with anyone you need to. Another thing I could see being beneficial from podcasting in the classroom is if you have a call in podcast and students can listen to you answer questions. This could be a new kind of tutoring where you set up a time where you will be going over things they need to know and students can listen and call in with their questions.

When selecting a platform for my podcast, ease of access was the most important thing to me because I have never done a podcast before. I immediately scratched of the possibility of using Podcast Generator because you have to download it to your computer instead of just simply using an online platform. Poderator did not have a friendly website to use in figuring out which platform to use. After eliminating these two options, I was left with three to chose from: PodBean, PodOmatic, and Blog Talk Radio.

The one that I found the most beneficial was Blog Talk Radio. I liked this option because I can see the benefits of having it in the education world. You could even have students create their own radio show that discusses what they are learning right now. People can actually call in during live broadcasts and talk to you about what you are discussing. This is a great platform for educational uses, in my opinion, however, most of the great features with it are ones that you have to pay for. PodBean and PodOmatic were very user friendly platforms and easy to use. I ended up picking PodBean for this assignment because of the blog-like atmosphere that it has created into it.

My personal podcast (http://laragon12.podbean.com/) dealt with the benefits of personalized learning. I discussed my own personal experiences this past year that have led me to the opportunity to implement personalized learning this next year. I also talked about what exactly I think are some of the best reasons for being a part of the personalized learning program.