The first example that I thought was rather valuable was the idea of the study. I thought it was very interesting to discover what they thought the outcome of podcasting might be. I agree with the authors that by listening to a podcast prior to the lecture it helps prepare students more for the lecture because they have already heard the terminology, and this would also aid them in being prepared to participate in the class. The authors also pointout that students might not be as anxious about participating in class because they would have prepared themselves for the class by listening to the podcast. But on the other hand, listening to a podcast before class the the students might be more confident and motivated to participate in class. I agree with the authors on all of these levels. I think if I could have listened to a podcast before my college classes I would have been more likley to participate in class because I would have had prior knowledge of what was going to be discussed. Also I could use these ideas to improve my instruction by learning to prepare my students better before we discuss a new topic. Showing a video or giving good background knowledge on a subject would better prepare the students to learn, and they might be more likley to participate in class if they felt comfortable with the material prior to starting the lesson.
The second example that caught my attention was how much podcasting is being used in higher education. When I attended Penn State I never used podcasting or even heard of podcasting. I've been taking classes at ESU for two years, but did not hear about podcasting before entering this class. From reading over the article it seems that many universities are using podcasting to get information to the students, and so that students have the lecture on their ipods. If more universities are using podcasting I believe it would be very important for teachers at the middle school and high school levels to try to use it more. Hopefully teachers at the middle school and high school levels will try to incorperate podcasting more into their lessons if they know the students will be using it when they go on to college. This would give the students a headstart on podcasting before they go off to college.
The third example that I thought was very interesting was how the study put students into a podcasting production team. I think this is a great idea because it gives students a chance to work with one another and also be involved in a project with a student who they might not have chosen to work with. It also gives the students an opportunity to work through any problems that might arise through the podcasting process. I could use the idea of working in teams to improve my instruction because it will give the students another way to learn and obtain information. It would be beneficial to the students to work in groups so they learn how to work together and appreciate their classmates' points of view. It would also give them a chance to see what it is like working side by side with their peers solving problems that might arise. This will prepare them for college as well as work in the real world. Hopefully if students were exposed to group work in middle and high school they would feel very comfortable in a group setting in college, and this would allow them to be more prepared to take on a leadership roll in the future.
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