Class Week 6

I'm not sure how I feel about podcasts. I definitely would not use them to comment on papers because of the privacy issue. To comment on papers I would make tapes or cds. Then only the person the comments are for would hear them.

I can see using podcasts to make recordings of lectures that you do often, or a big idea that you want to make sure everyone has access to (in the case of an absence). I had a student with CVS (Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome) which meant he had to miss a lot of class. However, he could use the internet at home and if I would've had the ability to make podcasts of class it would really have helped this boy keep up with his class.

Growing up we had reading lessons that were individualized. You would get a story from a file (the files were coded by level) read it and answer questions. As you improved you would move up. I can see using podcasting in a similar way. Not as a "move up the ladder" tool, but one that could be used to let students review material, or get explanations of common issues as they need them. Some examples: review differences in sound (minimal pairs), lesson on third person singular -s, prepositions.

I think the GLL was a difficult place to make the recordings, because in order to hear what I was saying I could hear what everyone in the room was sayig. I found it very distracting and hard to focus on the words coming out of my mouth. It was necessary to do it in there, becasue many of us do not have microphones at home...so it was a useful learning experience.

I did like that I could edit my recording in audacity. I took about ten seconds out of the middle of my recording, because it sounded terrible. I had hesitation, ums and silence (background noise had distracted me). My recording was shorter, but it flowed a lot better. So I found that to be an advantage over the easier to do phone recording.