Podcasting

I think podcasting can be very useful in education. The teacher must be careful, however, to screen the content before giving the podcast to the class. It can be easy for the instructor to find a good series of podcasts and fall into the habit of having students listen to every episode, but when the podcast goes off topic, explains something differently than the instructor wants, or doesn't go deep enough into a topic, the instructor must be aware of this and make the corrections neccessary for that podcast. Poscasting is a great way to get information to students becuase most of the time it can be listened to on any electronic device and is ready when the student is. The student doesn't have to listen at a specific time, rather, they can listen when they have a free moment.  The articles presented in Moodle mention that many colleges and universities are giving their incoming freshmen ipods to be used for educational purposes. I don't think it is neccessary to hand out the devices because it seems that every person from the age of junior high, now has some sort of device that will play podcasts, either a phone, ipod, or computer. The article from the Fresno Bee quotes Scott Sailor as saying that professors need to start speaking the language of their students. I agree with that. How does an instructor expect to impart any piece of information to a student when they are speaking a language the student doesn't understand? It is important to teach the student in a way that they understand.