So what do you think the children get from podcasting? is a thought-provoking post written by primary ICT coordinator and star of Teachers TV Simon Mills.
In his article, he suggest that the most important thing that pupils gain from podcasting is writing for a purpose. He also describes how pupils need to own their own work, be allowed to be creative and learn how to learn. He feels that podcasting helps to achieve all of these outcomes and more. He also finds that the process of scripting and recording engages pupils to think very carefully about their intended audience and how they can tailor their text and delivery to achieve the desired effect.
Simon gives examples of how his pupils profit from the 'rehearsal and playback' nature of podcasting, stating that it:
- motivates reluctant learners
- creates opportunities for peer assessment
- associates text with images
- helps pupils identify the importance of punctuation and intonation to convey meaning
I'm grateful to Simon for sharing his thoughts on the learning benefits of podcasting with his pupils. I've found similar outcomes in my own experiments and it is interesting to compare notes, so to speak. In my opinion, the reward of podcasting for language learning is the way in which it blends the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in an engaging and purposeful way. Anything that can do that has got to be a winner, right?
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