We are a very fancy type of ape, you and I. All this flitting about in the sky in giant metal birds powered by explosive dinosaur juice and defying the laws of gravity like we were meant to do just feels so...pedestrian. Every day we edge the frontier of technology further and further into "holy crap" territory. Yet we seem to forget that we still have a few little quirks that could be settled with the proper application of this new-fangled space tech. I'm not even referring to some bleeding edge science here, I'm talking about podcasting.
What has alien science wrought!?
Earlier I spoke on the uses of web 2.0 tools to aid education all over the world. Podcasting is a simple tool that doesn't require a vast economic or time investment. All it takes is a digital audio player, and some one with access to a cheap microphone and the internet. In an age where kindergartners are marching around with $500 iPods like we used to do with PEZ dispensers, there is really no excuse as to why educators haven't been given the greenlight to provide these aids for their students. Missed lectures become something to listen to on a commute, study groups have the entire audio notes at a buttons touch, able to be edited, paused, and re-listened to for easy access review. Can you imagine the margin these things could provide for public education? Home-schooling parents would have access to a database of lessons for their child at the price of an audiobook.
"Mommy doesn't think you need part three of World History. That $3.99
Is going to mommy's Mary-Kay wish list."
Granted, not everyone has access to the interwebs, but that shouldn't stop us from making these things available. Education is struggling enough without intentional hamstringing. Everyone can have easy access to cheap digital audio players, and lessons can be combined with e-activities. As a young student, I missed a great deal of school due to a surgery. If I had access to the myriad of tools available to the student today... I wouldn't have had to play catch-up... I could have gotten ahead.
I see the green light flashing! I remember trying to shove my large brick of a walkman into my pocket when I was younger. Looking back now, our teachers could have recorded some of their lessons and passed them out to us in casset tape form. Maybe I would have been better in algebra if I could have listened to the agony through my headphones. I am thinking podcast would be a great way to get lessons out to students who are constantly sick and missing school or for the parents who are having trouble understanding elementary lessons. Also a great way to keep parents and fellow teachers up to date on what is going on in your classroom. Happy birthday wishes maybe? I have plenty of new ideas now. Ill be a really cool teacher if I brought podcast into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the school should supply some of these electronics, for in school use. Since this is such a tech savvy generation, and these types of technology is a way of the teacher to teach, it would be very beneficial. I didn't even think of people that are home schooled using the technology that we have learned about to help them out as well. I guess since I am going for education to teach at a public school, I have always just put my focus on that. I made a post about students being to use this to catch up on a lesson if they missed a class. Overall, I agree with what you put. I had a lot of the same ideas.... Great minds think alike.
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