Podcasting in ESL classroom

I used to be a radio listener. I not only listen to the Chinese radio programs but also English news programs like VOA and BBC when I was a college student. Every morning, I turned on my radio at 7:00 to listen to the special English program offered by VOA. That's the only time that I can listen to the program. It's kind of inconvenient for me because of this fixed time for getting the program. Podcasting is a great idea that to let the radio listeners get the programs they like whenever you want to. This technology makes the life much more easier for radio listeners by letting the programs come to listeners instead of letting listeners run after the programs. I can imagine how wonderful my life will be, when I wake up in the morning, put on my MP3 player which already received the programs that I like during the night. ESL teachers can take the advantage of these programs in their English classrooms. Tons of ESL podcasts are offered on the internet. For example, ESL Pod is one of the website that offer various kinds of ESL podcasts.

First, teachers can subscribe to the Podcast. After receiving these programs they can choose some related to their teaching contents.

Second, Taking one episode from ESL Pod as an example. Teachers can broadcast the program about Dinning at Restaurant when they teach the topic of dining. Let the students listen to it first.

Third, teachers can group students into smaller groups and let them talk about what they listened from the podcast and discuss the differences between the Chinese dining culture and American dining culture.

Finally, teachers can also ask student to listen to the podcast by themselves when they go back home and let them choose one of the podcasts they like and then broadcast to the class one by one in classes.