Podcasts for Primary Schools

A tool such as podcasting is useful within the classroom and in many ways. Although I am new to this tool I have been asking a few friends if they use it in their planning. One friend said she has used it and found that it took the topic to a new level (higher order thinking) of thinking. It surprised her to see how much the children already knew about podcasts. Another friend said she planned to use the tool but ran out of time. However, she is planning on doing more research herself next time before incorporating it into her lessons.
I feel that this is a general consensis with a lot of teachers, where their knowledge and confidence of using such tools is not of standard and, as time is everything in the classroom ICT's are often left for another time. This is such a shame as these tools can take all students to a new level of thinking, learning and reflecting.

Here are some idea's I have found for using podcasts within the classroom. I highly recommend playing with podcasts/vodcasts before incorporating it into your planning, but most of all avoid putting such great tools into the too hard basket.


1. Encourage students to review a book they've read in an informal chat session.
2. Let students read a play with sound effects (e.g. door closing, footsteps).
3. Let them interview someone, like a television reporter with breaking news.
4. Do a running commentary on school activities or news. (Daily or weekly, as is convenient for your situation)
5. As a link, discussing a Science experiment or Social Studies project they may have blogged about. (To go into more detail or maybe to clarify an issue)
6. As a public speaking forum, where students give speeches on topics.
7. To keep the school community updated on upcoming events.
8. To listen to and talk to students from another school, perhaps even in another country.
9. To insert excerpts from school concerts etc. on a website or blog.

I don't believe in the saying 'the sky's the limit' because as a teacher we can take our students so much further than that, and ICT's are a perfect guide through their journey of learning.

Podcasts for Primary Schools

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References:
Learning to teach.(2009).Using podcasts in the classroom retrieved 2 August 2009 from:
http://learning-to-teach.blogspot.com/2006/07/using-podcasts-in-classroom.html