Students learning with podcasting

Podcasting has enormous potential for use in the classroom. When students create podcasts, their work could be heard by real-world, authentic audiences, which would be motivational for students. Conversely, podcasts open up a classroom's doors. Students can hear podcasts from all over the world. Through research for CED 534, I found podcasts from famed young adult author Lois Lowry that could be useful in language arts, podcasts from a veterinarian that could be used in biology, or a Kurdish student's podcasts about his life and culture that could be relevant in social studies. These are three quick examples I found easily; there are so many more possibilities. I also think that the format is so different from the traditional essay that students, who are used to a Web 2.0 world, would be very interested in working with this format.