The Use of Podcasts in the Classroom

In my Instructional Technology class we were required to make podcasts (which you can hear if you view my older posts). Podcasting is the streaming of audio files through the internet to subscribers. Podcasting, fortunately, provides another means of communication with students. Since I'm planning on teaching math, at first I couldn't see the benefit, since learning math is very visual. However, I realized that there are uses. I can have podcasts every so often presenting problems and riddles for the students to solve. I can use them for posting homework and test reminders (which is easy to do since using iPadio requires simply a phone call). The best use I can see for podcasting is to post podcasts periodically for the parents. This way, I could inform the parents of what is happening in the classroom, what material is being covered, what they should expect their child to be doing at home, and so on. This enables the parents to hear my voice as I discuss these things instead of possibly being confused over meaning due to the lack of voice inflection in an email. The benefit of podcasting is that I can set it up to be easy for myself to send out podcasts. iPadio requires a simple phone call, whereas other forms of communication through the internet would require access to a computer. However, the disadvantage is that once I say whatever I say, I can't revise it. It isn't like an email in which I can review what I write to ensure I have said what I needed to say. Podcasts are a beneficial tool of which teachers should be aware. They can be used in a variety of ways in various subjects, even math.