Brodcast Projects Promote Literacy


Some students may not be interested in reading books or writing reports, but one teacher at Christiansburg Elementary School in Virginia has found a way to motivate them: podcasting. In Angela Williams' summer class, elementary students have been creating podcasts, and it's been a really good "incentive" for those who struggle with literacy, The Roanoke Times reports.

Williams is using podcasts — audio or video programs delivered through computers and MP3 players — as part of a program offered by the Montgomery County schools' office of gifted education. She is one of two teachers at the elementary school who piloted the state's Learning without Boundaries program last year. The project, organized in part by Radford University, Virginia Tech and Apple, put the iPod Touch and other wireless electronics devices in students' hands to find out how effective they are as teaching tools.

She said some students didn't want to write scripts for podcasts, but instead choose to help find audio to go with the words. After seeing how it worked, reluctant students quickly became motivated and wanted to write their own. She plans to keep the podcasting lessons going this fall, and she said she views the audio-editing software as an alternative form for students' book reports and projects.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NASA Launches Students into Orbit

Image
In a 20-foot vertical spin tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center, aerospace technologist Steve Riddick tests free-flying models of fighter aircraft, transport vehicles and capsule vehicles to see how they perform under different conditions. “It’s one of the better places to give a tour because there’s a lot of visual stimulation with that tunnel,” Riddick said. “You get to actually see something going on, as opposed to some computer collecting data.” And that’s what STEM is all about. As the United States focuses more on these academic subjects, NASA is on a mission to engage students, educators and families in STEM fields, as well as to strengthen the future workforce of the organization and the nation. Almost half of NASA’s current workforce consists of baby boomers, and by the end of fiscal year 2010, more than 20 percent of the organization’s workers will be eligible to retire, according to a 2008 presentation by Toni Dawsey, assistant administrator for human capital manage
Read more

Grant Attracts Minorities to STEM Fields

Image
The University of Texas at El Paso has received a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for nearly $2.9 million. The “Science for a Sustainable Future: Developing the Next Generation of Diverse Scientists” award will provide fellowships to minority graduate students in NSF-supported disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The doctoral students will build their science and teaching portfolios and bring their leading research findings into K-12 learning settings in an effort to inspire the next generation of scientists. The fellows will serve as a STEM resource for El Paso’s Early College High School (ECHS) science teachers and as mentors for the students, helping them build practical understandings of science. “This success in securing federal funding from the National Science Foundation is a good example of the quality of competitive proposals UTEP faculty generate, integrating education and research benefiting our students an
Read more

Bahauddin Zakariya University(Punjab)

Image
About BZ University The University is located at a distance of 10 km from the city centre. The University Campus is spread over 960 acres of land. The University has a fleet of buses and coaches which operate regularly in order to provide transport facilities to students and staff. The University started functioning in 1975 in rented buildings with 8 departments. Presently University has 20 departments and 3 constituent colleges namely; University Gilani Law College, University College of Agriculture and University College of Engineering and Technology. The University is providing the maximum possible residential facilities to the students and staff. The Bahauddin Zakariya University is a general University, providing instruction in both Arts and Science subjects. However, keeping in view the fact that agriculture is the mainstay of this region, (the place and its environs can boast of producing the country’s best silver crop (Cotton) and fruit crops (Mangoes, Citru
Read more