These podcasts made by Italian language students are just an example of how podcasting can be a fun and an innovative way of presenting information researched by the language students. The two podcasts that I looked at, North Italian Plain and South Italian migration, are specifically related to Italian, but would work for any other language. These podcasts show students’ understanding and interpretation of Italian culture, economy and history and even though they are not using the target language, they are still making cultural connections which are equally important.
Podcasting can be very useful in a language classroom, because it is a great way to get students to practice using the language, e.g. the language based targets such as listening, reading, talking and writing, while doing the research and through the production phase. Also, besides reviewing topic related knowledge, students would also be working on their pronunciation and fluency.
The Sandaig Primary School podcast gives a great suggestion of using podcasting to research and give instruction on how to prepare a meal, which in a language classroom can be done in the target language. This cooking activity is related to the topic of meal times, but the choice of activity would offcourse depend on the topic. Besides getting students actively involved in learning, this type of collaboration gives students the opportunity to work with other classmates, encourage each other and it gives them a sense of importance and connection with a world wide audience.
Be Vary Afraid http://www.heppell.net/bva/bva3/sandaigschool.htm
Image: http://images.apple.com/au/education/resources/podcastingvideos/images/podcasting-part2.jpg
