Benefits of Students Podcasting Beyond the Classroom

Credit: Courtesy of Brent Coley

I really enjoyed this article about Mr. Coley, a fifth grade teacher, that podcasts his student's work so that people around the world can listen to it. I learned that this can benefit students in numerous ways such as: motivating them to do their best work since lots of people will see it, giving them a chance to work on their speaking and writing skills, allowing parents to see what their child is doing in class, reinforcing course material, and giving students the chance to listen to themselves talking which helps them improve their speaking skills. It is exciting for the students because Mr. Coley shares with them the comments that people write. People from all 50 states have viewed Mr. Coley's class podcasts and people from eighty-seven foreign countries! At the end of a unit Mr. Coley has the students write scripts about what they have learned and then assists them with recording their scripts on the classroom computer. I think this would be a good way for teachers that are unsure about trying technology to start with podcasting their students work because I learned that you only need a computer, a microphone, free audio software, such as Garageband, and internet. It seems like it is pretty simple to do and that it gives the students authentic opportunities and keeps them motivated/engaged which is very critical. Now that I know how much podcasting is benefiting some students I really would like to learn more about how to put the students works on the web after they record it.