ELL+and+Podcasts

ELL Students and Podcasts

There are many uses of Web 2.0 techniques in the classroom. One technique in particular is podcasting. Podcasting is a powerful tool which gives a teacher another medium to engage their students. A podcast can be created a posted to the Internet to be accessed by all students. This podcast can be something as simple a nightly homework or as complex as a college lecture. The beauty of a podcast is that it is always accessible and can be played and replayed as often as needed.

One group that can benefit from podcasting is ELL students. As a teacher, I can think of many uses of podcasts to help these students. ELL students would benefit from a podcast containing vocabulary words with their spelling/meaning. Also, a teacher can create a podcast to accompany a reading in a text book. An ELL student could read along while listening to the podcast.

Another use of podcasting is to develop oral presentation skills. An ELL student may be more comfortable with spoken English than written English. This student would benefit from creating a podcast for assessment in a subject. This student would gain confidence in their academic abilities that would result in a greater self-esteem and higher achievement.

As an ELL student, there are sometimes barriers to using Web 2.0 techniques. For example, the student must know how to access and play the podcast. This would be difficult if reading was a challenge – the student would not be able to access the correct website. To overcome this challenge, the teacher or a fellow student would need to assist.