Podcast Possibilities

~ Image from zoomar's flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoomar/2265202595/ ~

Today I cam across a forum entry on Classroom2.0 entitled "Audacity and Oral Administration of Test". The post had been made by Julie sharing an idea she'd gotten from some recent PD.

Here's the big idea:

The plan is to record the test in audacity, download the test to an MP3 player to hand to the student and allow the student to control the pace of the test (repeating a question, pausing, etc).

Now, I'm just starting to delve into the area of podcasting. I've done a lot of video work and a lot of blogging, but somehow I skipped over the podcasting side of things. Then I got asked to do the Speaking and Listening component of the Year 8 English for this term for half the classes (the others are assigned a different teacher) and one of the middle school teacher's I'm working with suggested podcasts. I naturally jumped on board - a new tech toy to master...bring it on!

Actually, I've just spent a few hours editting the first contributions of two of my classes and uploading them within the walled garden, in the process figuring out Audacity as I went.

With the podcast project fresh in my mind and Jodie's fantastic idea I've just added a new thing to my to do list over the weekend - create a podcast of the terms for our current Year 10 English unit to help students prepare for their coming exam.

This is what I love about making connections with teachers from around the world - there's always a new idea to try, a new project to celebrate, a new application to play with, new possibilities. Love it.