Educational Podcasting — The Future, Today…
As someone relatively new to the media industry, I am excited by the latest trends on the internet. Social networks, wikis, blogs and podcasts are now all the rage, but have a long way to go before they form part of day to day life for the man on the street. I see massive opportunities for podcast media in particular to support children in learning. Our research has found that parents are interested too!
Looking around the internet at what is available online there are an increasing number of resources being made available.
Most notably:
- Teacher-based sites. There is an excellent site which includes a series of podcasts for history. Mr Alsopp is a teacher at King College for the Arts and Technology at Guildford, and has produced (to date) 17 podcasts covering a range of subjects from revision skills to Weimar Germany.
- There is also a podcast directory with 440 educational podcasts — albeit with a fair amount of US material.
There has been a greater take-up by teachers in the US — but quantity hasn’t necessarily been matched by quality.
Wouldn’t it be great if:
- There was a much greater range of UK-based educational podcast material available on the internet;
- They were easily findable in a UK educational podcast network linked to the National Curriculum;
- Teachers could find a place where they could learn how to podcast;
- Someone stepped up to the plate, put their money where their mouth was, and paid for some podcasts to be produced, to show teachers what could be done and to spur on others to do the same!
Well, we have decided to put our money on the line, and sponsor a short series of podcasts. We have arranged for an experienced television producer to work hand-in-hand with teachers to create something special. If you are a teacher, or know of one, who would love to work with us on this, email me direct on jon@jivatechnology.com.
Oh and by the way, we will create a National Curriculum linked educational podcast network too!!
Tags: podcasting