Podcasts and Digital Stories in the Classroom

I have to admit that I have never had any interest in podcasts before this week. I have heard of a lot of people listening to them on long drives, but to me that just sounded boring! I thought that listening to someone talk would put me right to sleep, but I did not know how many different options there are when it comes to podcasts and the variety of genres that are available to listen to.

The first podcast I listened to was #edchat radio which was about education, as you can see from the title! It was definitely interesting, but it kind of felt like I was in a class listening to a lecture. I enjoyed the tips that were given and I would definitely recommend this podcast to other educators or future educators, but I would definitely prefer to listen to a more exciting podcast, which is why I loved the crime-filled ones!

When I went to iTunes to try and find a podcast that I could listen to while I was driving, I clicked on “Top Podcasts”. The number one podcast was called Felonious Florida, and it was about the murder of a bar owner and two women that were with him in Florida and the murder of a mother and her child in the back of their car. What made this podcast so scary was that the murderers were never found, which means that they could still be out walking among us. I was so interested in this podcast, so I looked at a few of them that were related to it. I listened to two more that were about crime and murder, and each one was just as intriguing as the last. I have now found myself to be searching through crime podcasts and reading up on them because I am so interested in hearing about them!

I think that using podcasts and digital stories in the classroom is a great idea. I had much more fun exploring these than I thought I would, and I know that my students would too. Podcasts and digital stories provide a new way of learning information. Students are used to PowerPoints and lectures, so having a new way to learn would be exciting for them. There are a few disadvantages to using these tools in the classroom, though. I think digital stories are fun, but sometimes they veer away from the point at hand. If someone is skilled with technology, it is probably a lot easier to find the right words, visuals, music, editing software, etc. to present their point, but for the people who do not know how to manipulate technology with ease, it will be difficult to be as thorough as they should be when presenting information through a digital story. When I use podcasts in my classroom someday, I hope to find powerful and engaging examples to present to my students. The goal is for them to be stimulated and to want to learn, and I think that if I do my research well enough, podcasts and digital stories will be the perfect way to motivate them.

Thanks for reading,

Kayla