Podcasts, Vidcasts, and Digital Story 1

What? Today in class we learned about how to make podcasts and vidcasts and how they can be used in the classroom. We also started learning about digital stories and the different ways we can create them.

So What? I think knowing how to create podcasts and vidcasts is a very good thing to know how to do. When I am creating assignments for other classes, they would be helpful to add into a powerpoint if I was doing a presentation about something. It would help the presentation no be so boring for those listening. They could actually hear and see something other than just the words on the powerpoint. The vidcast would be an easy way to show a step by step process that I might not be able to show in the classroom (for example, something that is done outdoors).

Digital stories are also a good thing to do how to create for a lot of the same reasons as the podcasts and vidcasts. I could use them in a powerpoint to give a presentation in one of my classes to add variety. Having classmates to work on the project with is very helpful because if I get stuck and don't know how to do something they might know the answer or I might know the answer to a question they have. This makes it so we don't have to ask the teacher for help as often.

Now What? I think I will use digital stories in my classroom when I'm a teacher to engage my students in the topic we are covering and get them interested and wanting to know more about it. If we are going to be talking about ancient Greece I could create a digital story using pictures and music that would interest the students. I could show pictures of modern architecture from local buildings that they would recognize and compare it to ancient architecture so they could see how much influence ancient Greece still has on their lives today. I could use a vidcast in the classroom to show the students how to do a process. I could post podcasts of class lectures on the classroom google site so that students who were absent that day could listen to it so they wouldn't get behind in class.

Video I thought the NASA digital story was interesting to me, but I think students would find it kind of boring and I don't think they would pay attention. I think it would be better than just lecturing to them because they have the visual images to go with what they are hearing, but I don't think they would find the information interesting because of the way it was presented. I think by using more interesting music and a better narration would make students more interested in learning about outer space.