last semesters podcasts

The first of the podcasts I watched was Blogging and Teaching, by Rachel Davis, Justin Tullis, and Myrenda Howze. This blog told listeners about the benefits blogging can offer for teachers in the classroom. It told teachers about how they could list their homwork assignments and lesson plans on these blogs so parents can log on with their children. It also talked about how the students could benefit from providing one another with feedback about the blogs they post and collaborate together on things.

All together I enjoyed this blog and thought the three creators did a great job. A few tips probably couldn't hurt though, right? One thing is when your talking it's important to keep your audience engaged. In doing that, you should watch out for verbal fillers, in this case the word "um" is used a lot. Since you are over the air with no visual feed to look at, your relying on your voice to keep attention on the material your presenting. The material it's self in this podcast however was great in my opinion! If I had never used a blog this would have been a huge help on some pros to beginning one.





The second podcast I listened to was titled Possibilities for using Facebook in an Educational Setting and was authored by Allison Midget and Shaundretta Bethel. This podcast explained to the audience reasons for the social network Facebook to be helpful to students. It gave a quick overview of all the applications Facebook offers like ones that enable you to rate your college professors for other students to see. The podcast is pro-facebook use by students and offers a very valid arguement for that case.


I enjoyed the Facebook podcast and think it was very informative. A huge tip that I would offer goes back to the way the information is presented. With only your voice to offer for those listening, you have to make sure you can keep their attention. Being too monotoned can make it too easy for a listener to tune you out and miss your information, which might be extremely important. Being a substitute teacher has already shown me how hard it can be to capture teenagers attention sometimes. So if you had studetns listening to a podcast, it would be important to keep that attention so that the full benefits of the podcast can get across.