Teachers are beginning to realize the potential of podcasting. At Fort Sumner High School in rural New Mexico, for example, students use time on the bus to reinforce lessons with Zune music players donated by Microsoft. In return, teachers are gathering data on how the tool is used.

An Associated Press article run by numerous newspapers around the country tells that teachers at Fort Sumner received a $400 bonus if they identified 20 podcast that supported their lessons and developed five podcast of their own.

Now, all teachers can more readily find relevant (and free) sound and video recordings via a K-12 portion of Apple's iTunes U. They can also share their creations.

The initiative, run with the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA), creates a destination where professional development, curricula resources, examples of best practices and student samples are easily accessible. Initial offerings include resources from Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Utah, along with school districts, museums and other educational institutions. 

"Maine has been working closely with partners statewide to bring together materials that foster a 21st century learning environment," stated Jeff Mao, Maine's Learning Technology Policy Director. "iTunes U is now an even better resource for K-12 educators, and we look forward to adding more content to enhance and extend teaching and learning."

Sources: AP article, In rural New Mexico, high school experiments with reaching students via podcast, by Felicia Fonseca

iTunes U

• ‹ previous
• 37 of 155
• next ›