Recently discovered iPod prototype

After reading this article, I was thinking of suggesting to John to start a podcast for students. Sort of a TWiTs (s=student) for the classroom. Then I realized given how connected to tech kids are these days, they probably know more than he does.

Podcasts Catch On As Tool For Schools

Seventh-graders in Shaunna Buck’s English class used to see their own writing on the wall.

The words of the best student writers were turned into posters that lined the hallways of Durham Middle School in the Lewisville district.

Now those stories aren’t just wall-worthy. They’re Web-worthy.

Buck’s students are using their own words — and now their own voices — to share their tales on the Internet.

It’s part of a growing technological trend called podcasting — creating audio files that can be played on the Internet or downloaded to iPods and other portable audio players. Sometimes, videos and pictures accompany the audio.

School districts are using podcasts for everything from honoring student work to offering parents information about lessons and construction projects.

“Kids today are coming from a digital age, and teachers who do not acknowledge that are going to be quickly left behind,” Buck said. “Kids are spending their free time playing with iPods and video games. We have to find more ways to keep their attention. We’re still giving them the same information. It’s just in an enjoyable format.”