This article focused on a school that promoted reading by using technology. In this elementary school, students competed in the “Race to 500” which was a challenge for every student in the school to record a podcast about a favorite book. Students used flip cameras, purchased through a grant, to create their podcasts. They also incorporate the use of Audacity, an audio recording program, and Movie Maker to finalize the product. These are all available for PC users, and for Mac users, all of these thing can be completed in Garageband or iMovie. Flip cameras aren’t always necessarily needed either because many computers already come equipped with a built in web camera.
Most students love to record themselves on the computer, or create some sort of product that they can call their own, and show to others. By creating podcasts, students are able to practice presenting, reading fluency, and so many other skills, and will have a final product to show for all of their hard work.
Podcasts can be used for several things in the classroom. Creating a podcast about a book is one of several ideas. Students can create podcasts about current events in the world or classroom, final projects for a unit. In the past I have had students create podcasts advertising their own business they created while studying economics, to create a radio or television talk show to show their understanding of critiquing art, and to create an advertisement about a specific artist they have studied explaining that their most famous works of art will be on display for a limited time at their local art museum. This year I hope to incorporate podcasts into student Glogs as well. The options are endless when creating podcasts in the classroom.
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