Using podcasting to support language and communication

A lot of schools are making really good use of podcasting to help develop speaking and listening skills. These are some of our favourites:

Our Lady of Victories RC Primary School.

John Devlin, headteacher at OLV explains that:

We set up our radio station for a number of reasons: to have fun and to be creative; to raise standards in oracy and ICT; to build confidence in our children and to create a real sense of pride in our school.

It looks as though they’ve succeeded in achieving these aims. The areas covered are often topical, such as the recent tsunami in Japan, and pupils are clearly considering the purpose and audience of their broadcasts. The school have now created a large archive of these broadcasts which are a great example of some of the work that they do with local community groups and are also a useful way of engaging parents and the local community.

Great Bentley Primary School’s Radio Station is another fantastic example of how well pupils respond to the use of podcasting. Pupils from across the age range are involved and the positive impact of the use of podcasting equipment is really obvious from the quality of their broadcasts – listen to the Year 1 reading of The Gruffalo for an example of just how good it can be!

These schools have created the radio station themselves using podcasting equipment provided by webanywhere.

There are a number of initiatives run by local radio stations that encourage learners to participate in creating radio programmes. These are an excellent way of extending your pupils use of podcasting into the wider community. See this site for some examples of ongoing projects.

Tags:

Primary

Radioanywhere