Podcasts can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom and honestly, I am unaware of many of these uses! However, I have come up with a few uses. While researching podcasts I came upon The Math Dude's Quick and Dirty Tips to Make Math Easier (which I posted for the discussion section because I liked it!) which could be a really great resource to send students to. Sometimes when students get home and start their homework, they forget what a teacher said, the steps they said to use, or maybe the students just don't understand what the teacher said. Podcasts made by a third party could be beneficial because they may explain a topic in a different way which the student can relate to better, as well as review the steps needed in order to solve certain Math problems.
I could create my own podcasts to use in and out of the classroom. I could record myself walking the students through the steps to complete problems, but more entertaining, create songs from the methods needed. For my Differentiating Instruction class, my group and I created a YouTube video from a song we recorded (my groupmate actually wrote the song - she's very creative!). The song was based on a learning strategy to help students solve word problems -- check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEIlwVkFGck (yes those are my hands, but no, not my voice). Using this idea, the podcasts wouldn't need to just be audio, they could be video too. This could be very helpful for those moments mentioned above when students don't remember how a problem was solved, they could log onto their computer and search through my vodcasts and find the one that is relevant to the current subject.
As for my students creating their own podcasts, I'm a little stumped. It seems like it should be a no brainer - students could create their own podcasts about math, similar to the ones that I created. Or maybe instead of testing/quizzing students with paper and pencil, I have them create a podcast, through audio and/or video describing the steps involved in solving problems. Perhaps this could turn into an interview process where students quiz each other or help each other through the steps involved. This idea needs a little work...
Some times I struggle with ways to make Math more creative. However, I feel like with the help of this class, I have been brainstorming more and more ideas on how to Math more technologically interactive! Score!
You could have the students explain how they solved some of the math problems. I also had a student make podcasts connecting some of the real like math skills that they use on a daily basis. Math is all around us and so having students make those connections and share them with others whether it be sharing shapes in nature or problem solving such as planning for the homecoming dance and how many chairs will be needed and how they could be set up or how many refreshments will be needed based on the number of people who bought tickets, etc. We made our own instruments in class and used so much math on measuring and angles and costs.
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