Podcasting for ESL

In the past week, I was able to learn a little more about podcasting. I've never used podcasting before and it's rather new for me. I had really enjoyed being able to look through some of the sites and see the different subjects that were available for anyone to listen to. Lee Lefever's Podcasting in Plain English gives some good background and ideas on how Podcasting works and can become beneficial use for any classroom. For anyone who doesn't know what Podcasting is, it's a form of digital media used in an form of audio or video, similar to listening to the radio with having episodes based on specific topics.Podcasting is great for anyone to be able to listen to on the go. Weather it's for a topic of interest or a class assignment; it provides anyone to learn. Essentially anyone is able to create a podcast and share ideas and information. I had been able to listen to several Podcasts over the past week and one of the Podcasting sites that I liked was ESL Podcast. This site had several Podcasts based on specific topics on Daily life, Business, Health/Medicine, Travel etc. I think it can be useful for adult or high school ESL learners. I liked that everything when listening to the podcast was clear and specific for students to be able to understand. One of the Podcasts I listened to was English Cafe 373 which discussed topics such as the Chicago seven, and American authors etc. with several vocabulary words displayed while students would be listening to it. I can see how I would be able to use this Podcasting site for my own ESL classroom. I would have students listen to a specific subject and have them write about what was discussed in a podcast. I would also have discuss their own ideas and be able to ask questions if they didn't understand a particular topic. ESL students will be able to work on their listening,comprehension skills, and speaking skills. It would be useful to make it a classroom discussion for students to able to express what their reactions were to a particular Podcasting. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to be able to break students into groups and create a project where students would have to be able to create a podcast and discuss any topic that interests them, to be able to practice their speaking skills. Overall I really love the idea of using podcasting in class. I would even use it for my own learning, and the fact that I can use it through my ipod, phone, or mp3 is a plus for anyone that wants to learn on the go! It's a great way for global learning and be able to connect with other students and educators around the globe and exchange ideas.