Podcasts

Podcasting is a great resource for second language classes. I am always looking for good resources of input for my students. As a teacher of Spanish I, I am constantly seeking comprehensible input for my students. There is a lot of music, literature, and podcasts out there, however if it is too advanced students will not get any meaning. As I was searching for podcasts I found many of them for beginning language students; however they were not exactly what I wanted students to focus on. I would like students to create their own podcasts for their fellow classmates.

• Students receive quality comprehensible input in Spanish
• Podcasting allows students to hear their own language production
• Podcasts can be made to emphasize specific grammar or vocabulary concepts
• Creating podcasts can be difficult if there is a lack of equipment at school

In language learning speaking is one of the last things that students are able to do. They need to receive lots of input before they can produce correct output in the forms of speaking and writing. Podcasting will provide a meaningful way for students to practice their speech as well. I learn a lot when I hear myself speak in English or Spanish. I have posted a couple of podcasts on our class Moodle site for students who miss listening exercises due to travel or illness and for students to hear Spanish when they are outside of the classroom too.

The one frustration that I have found with podcasts at school is that we do not have to equipment to record podcasts for an entire class, even if students work in groups. I have students record their podcasts on my computer and I post them, but I would like students to learn how to do it themselves so they are not dependant on me or restricted to only working during their time at school to complete their assignments or listen to their fellow students. Another obstacle that I have encountered is there is limited storage space on students’ H drives. If they save many audio or video files they run out of room quickly.

There is lots of free software to record audio files. I like working with Audacity, a free down load, and then use Prism Media Converter to convert the audio AVI file to an MP3 file.