There are three styles of podcasting commonly used by educators: Audio, Video, & an Album.

Audio podcasts are simply sound files. You can record your own voice using a computer microphone, or edit together sounds using GarageBand. When a student uses an audio podcast with an iPod, they listen to it with headphones. This allows the student to be interacting with something else like an accompanied paper activity, or taking notes. When no activities are provided distractions may become a problem. If the audio is entertaining enough this is not a worry, because students will listen to it repeatedly.

Gonna Name Our States

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SkyLab

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Video podcasts can be any kind of video, with or without sound. Video Podcasts that include sound can be used on an iPod with headphones. When a student plugs themselves in with the headphones and watches video on the screen, they are involving both their vision and hearing. Distractions are more easily ignored when they are involved at that level. You can create and edit your own videos using a video camera, iMovie, PowerPoint, or even GarageBand. You can get video media to use in your podcasts from may other sources, like Discovery Education Unitedstreaming. If you need help putting united streaming file onto iPods, read these instructions. Contact the technology specialist if you do not know your log in; our school has a license to this site. This is a sample video downloaded from Unitedstreaming:

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Images can be synchronized onto an iPod like Podcasts and music can. These images are organized into albums, and can be displayed on the iPod screen. Students can scroll through these images like a slideshow. These students work at their own pace, and are not rushed by the pace set by a video. These images were made in PowerPoint:

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