Oh my goodness!! I just saw the most amazing podcast video! I found it under Elementary Podcasts. It's from Penn Manor School District entitled "Monster Exchange Video" created by a 6th grade teacher explaining how he and a 2nd grade teacher use a podcast between their classes. In case it cannot be found by a search: the 6th grade students draw a picture of a monster then write a story about it and read it into the computer to create their podcast. The 2nd grade students listen to the stories and try to draw the monster from the description by the 6th grade. They later meet in the library to compare drawings, trying to find their partner based on the pictures. They spend time reading the stories to each other, comparing and contrasting the pictures. Finally they go to the cafeteria for a demonstration of the different technology from early days [vinyl records] and today. They celebrate by making and eating monster cookies.

To further extend the project the 6th graders contact a school in another part of the state and those of 6th graders listen to the podcasts, draw monsters based on the descriptions, then upload their pictures to the web so the first group can see what they drew.

I got so excited about this project that I started trying to think of ways I could use this with my students. Instead, I plan to tell one of my colleagues about it and encourage her to try it with her homeroom. We have always had "reading buddies" between our 6th and 2nd grades. Imagine how the podcast experience would enrich both groups' learning!

I found the Educational Podcast Directory to be a little overwhelming. There was no search option so it was a little hit and miss trying to find anything specific. I just happened onto the podcast above.

I tried to find a podcast on scrapbooking using the other three sites, but the search options were limited. I did find one I sent to my Google Reader, however it is outdated by two years! Still the information is good and there are several episodes. I like the option of listening before subscribing. This was my first experience with podcasts. I really had no idea what they were or that you did not need an ipod to listen. I may explore them more in the future to see how else they can be used. But, I probably won't subscribe to one to listen to regularly due to time constraints.