PodCast: Health Education

     I used PodOmatic to create a series of podcasts about major body systems, the muscular and skeletal systems, and ways to strengthen the muscular and skeletal systems. I can use this tool to create podcasts that my students can listen to at home with the use of a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. My students can listen to podcasts while doing other homework or housework, giving them the ability to multitask.
     I liked how easy it was to upload and title a podcast, as well as adding cover art for it. I like that it also has podcasts by other people that are available to me, which would allow me to choose podcasts to share with my students while we are doing work in class. I can also access podcasts for personal use as a teacher for suggestions on how to teach different subjects. The only thing that I didn't like was that this tool did not offer a way to record a podcast on the website. It requires that the user record audio outside of the website, and then uploading it from there. That was my only complaint, because I could not do the whole project in one place.
     My students can use this as a form of nontraditional book report, a study guide for themselves that they can listen to while they do other work, or to talk about different subjects. I can have my students create a podcast about a topic (i.e. history) and have each student create a series of short podcasts about a historical figure. Or, I can have students create one podcast for a couple of different historical figures.

Standards:
ISTE: Creative Communicator: "I communicate effectively and express myself creatively using different tools, styles, formats and digital media".
EdTech: Standard 5: "Use technology tools (e.g. multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)".
UEN Content: Standard 3, Objective 1a. "Name the major body systems and their basic functions". b. "Describe the skeletal and muscular systems". c. "Demonstrate ways to strengthen the skeletal and muscular systems".