Last week in class I got some ideas of how to use wikis and podcasts in the classroom.  They were both pretty foreign to me, but since then I can see how they can be helpful.  I liked some of the ideas we got on how to use wikis such as to collaborate with another class on a project without everyone having to be in the same room.  Wikis would also be useful in working with other teachers to create lesson plans.

After talking about podcasts, I asked my practicum teacher if she uses them in her classroom.  She replied that she didn't, but that there is a teacher in the school that uses them a ton.  Each of his students have an ipod and he is doing a study on how they can be effectively used in the classroom.  I am interested to find out more about it.  I haven't had a chance to meet him yet, but hopefully will soon.  I think podcasts would be useful in demonstrating tasks or assignments for students, so they'll be able to see it at home as well as in the classroom.  With this kind of tools learning doesn't necessarily have to take place in a classroom.  Lectures can be recorded and watched at home, especially for kids who miss class.  I think that I could use these materials as a means to helping my students study another subject, and make a project out of it using podcasts or wikis.  

I am still uncertain of how exactly I will use these in my classroom, but my mind and eyes have been opened and now I am looking for ways that they are being used now., and getting ideas for how I can use them.