Podcasts and Digital Stories in the Classroom

Using podcasts and digital stories is a very new idea to me. I have never experienced them being used, seen them being used, let alone heard of them being used. I was really surprised when I first started reading Teacher’s Guide to Digital Storytelling because I thought to myself, “why have I never seen this anymore because it seems like such a great idea”?!

Podcasts in the classroom are something I could have loved in school. Everything seems to have more meaning, is more credible, and is more interesting when it is coming to a professional. With today’s technology, we can have that with just a click of a button.  I downloaded the app Stitcher and was very surprised that pretty much anything you wanted to listen to, you could find. I personally think that Stitcher would be such a good resource in a classroom, especially when you are talking about world news. This would be a way to get more accurate information that is up to date because you cannot possibly keep up with every single thing that is happening in the world.

Digital storytelling in the classroom is also something that I was very fond of the idea. It would give students a lot of freedom within reason. It would allow them to express themselves. I also think it would also keep them very engaged; passive learning would be switched to active learning when using digital storytelling. It is a fun way to use technology and increase students’ fluency when using technology as well as their writing, speaking, and whatever else you want to add. It would just depend on what you chose specifically.

Both of these ideas are something new that you do not see often in classrooms. That alone is a huge advantage because students love doing new things. They both use technology, and today students are very technologically inclined, so it would really peak their interest to be doing things using technology. I think that both using podcasts and digital stories in the classroom have major benefits and would be a really good idea. I do not see really any disadvantages, besides if students checked out and became passive learners during listening to podcasts, or if teachers checked out thinking these things would do the teaching for them.

I would love to try to use both of these in my classroom. Why not try it out?