Blog Assignment 4

Eagle Nest Radio
The one thing I have become accustomed to in EDM310 is total shock at what a group of children can accomplish. In this podcast a group of third graders are doing things that I never would have thought they were capable of. The topic they were discussing was age appropriate and would be useful to other third graders as a learning tool. Kids love to learn from other kids. Perhaps it is because they don't feel so intimidated, but podcasts are a great way to allow that learning process to develop.
I loved the fact that they had "mood" music in the background and that is something that I would consider doing in my podcast. They also used inflection in their voices which made it more interesting. The tempo and rhythm of the podcast changed as each different topic was discussed, just like watching the evening news. It is so impressive what this group of students have done and podcasts are something I feel like I could really incorporate in my classroom.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
There were many benefits of podcasting discussed in this article and video. I think one of the most important is that children are encouraged to think for themselves and engage in a higher system of learning. A podcasting assignment is more than just a research paper. It involves more of the senses and therefore requires more creativity, preparation, and thought. Students will also learn more from each other and important interaction and communication skills that will carry them through life regardless of what career they choose.
Another important key to podcasting is that it allows the parents to be more involved in their child's school experience. As a mother myself, I want to know everything I possibly can about what my child is doing during the day. Unfortunately, it's impossible for teachers to give that kind of information on a consistent basis. This would give parents one more way to be involved. There is so much talk now about reforming education but very little of that talk ever speaks about the fact that parents are not as involved as they used to be. Some parents seem to think that sending their kids to school is a free babysitting service so they can go to work. Podcasting provides an easy solution to being more involved.

The Education Podcast Network
This website provides invaluable information on how to podcast and also serves as a directory of podcasts for a wide range of educational purposes. From this site, I learned how easy podcasting really is and how if used correctly it can be a continued source of information. As I said earlier, parental involvement is a child's education is incredibly important. Podcast feeds can be updated every time new content is added. This could be a way for teachers to let parents know what is going on in the classroom, what assignments are due and many other things. It could be considered like a mass voice mail message sent out.