Podcasting in the Classroom

   

              Podcasting is very important to educators and learners in today's world.  Podcasting is a type of digital media that can be accessed with the use of a computer or any online device.  It is a series of episodes of the radio, a video, and PDF.  For this particular module this week, I have chosen to view the "ESL Pod" Podcast.  In this website, there are many podcasts and transcripts for English as a Second Language learners.  I chose to listen to this particular podcast because I am studying in school to become an English as a Second Language teacher, and this podcast website interests me the most from the others.  I selected the podcast episode, English Cafe 393  from this ESL podcasting website.  During this episode, the speaker discusses about a series on famous American movies.  For a specific example of how he discusses he movie, he would talk about the movie, "The Manchurian Candidate" and described the movie to his listeners as a "thriller".  After saying the word thriller, he would then spell the word slowly for the listener and then describe what the term means.  He did this method of teaching English words and told the story of the movie in great detail.  I thought this method of a lesson would be great for ESL leaners because it is engaging to the listener, new vocabulary learning occurs, and this use of podcasting is a great way to include a digital tool in the classroom. I also think it is interesting and great that this podcast can be accessed through the use of iTunes too.  The use of podcasting is very interesting and important to be as a learner and a future ESL educator.  I will most likely be using podcasting in my future classroom with ESL teaching!

My Photo Story Creation!

     

      I have created a photo story creation about a trip to London, England. Here is a link to my photo story about London, England: My Photo Story I will most likely be using this technology tool of creating a photo story in my classroom when I am an educator.  I would like to use this creative tool because it is fun and interactive for students to create a story and make a movie out of it with words to add to each picture.  In my example of a trip to London, England I chose to use the template of a scrapbook as my movie montage.  I want the audience to feel as if they are taking a tour to London, England for the first time by viewing this video.  I hope my students in my classroom someday will be as creative and can work in groups with their classmates to create stories based on any content material that they are learning during that particular school year/curriculum.  It is a great way to engage students in their learning. This tool would be a fun project for the students to work in the classroom and outside of the classroom!  I think this tool is great for children and educators to use for education.

Let's Explore Digital Storytelling

   Photo from flickr  

       Digital storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories.  A great resource website that describes digital storytelling is called, The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling.  This site has helped me learn more about digital storytelling and why it is useful in education.  I also encountered digital storytelling in my undergraduate classes in an education technology class that I took.  According to the resource website, "other terms used to describe this practice, such as digital documentaries , computer-based narratives, digital essays, electronic memoirs, interactive storytelling, etc." are helpful to new educators who are willing to learn about digital storytelling and using it in the classroom.  From a personal point of view, I really enjoyed working on a digital storytelling project with a partner in my undergraduate classes at SUNY Cortland and it helped us share a story to students in a technological and innovative way.  Digital storytelling is a great interactive tool to use as an educational resource because it connects educators with their students in a new digital way with storytelling and keeping up with technology.
       
        Most of the digital stories last anywhere from two minutes to ten minutes in length of time.  This particular resource, The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling is an excellent source of information for educators because it also includes educational materials such as: lesson plans, evaluation and assessment, copyright and educational fair use, digital storytelling workshop resources, and digital storytelling E-books.  I wanted to explore these resources myself, so I viewed each one and they led to me to some informational links that would help with my teaching.  They were very useful guides to help use digital storytelling in the classroom in different ways!  I really enjoyed using this resource website and I will most likely be using this source in my classroom with my students in the future.  It is important that we keep up with technology in the classrooms everyday and connect with our students in a digital manner.