Educational podcasting

When searching for a podcast to listen in on, I was unsure of where to go. I thought that an ESL podcast would be fabulous but what I found wasn't what I thought it would be so I headed over to edtechtalk.com, assuming that I would be able to find some good teacher ideas there.
I imagine that podcasts could also be used for students to give them access to increased exposure with the target language, but I was most interested in teacher tips so that is what I settled on!

I poked into a podcast with professor Jay Wilson about creating authentic learning communities for students. The podcast was about an hour long conversation so it was pretty thorough but I thought that it was fascinating in that it used technology (podcasting) to discuss the value of learning without technology. This podcast is about the value of authentic environments for learning rather than traditional learning or technology-based learning.

I absolutely support authentic learning for all levels and I have personally had a lot of success learning in authentic contexts. When I took an indigenous cultures course in Peru, we went on field trips to an animal sanctuary where we learned about different animals important in peruvian culture, to a museum about coca leaves and their cultural significance, and to a musical instrument museum where we got to see the very instruments we were learning about. These contexts and the interaction I had with the people at each location were much more significant for my learning than any of the lectures I attended and for that I am grateful. Furthermore, I am in the process of completing my observation hours at the school where I will student teach and being in the school and sitting in on the classes has taught me everything I know about ESL education.

This podcast was useful to me in that it was a valuable conversation between two individuals that gave me access to current thoughts in the field and new ideas for my future classroom!