The benefits of "podcasting" as my students know it lies in inspiration. The kids just cannot wait to use any type of technology. The promise of using the laptop to produce a "podcast" inspires the students to research the topic and use writing skills to create the script. Even the aspect of recording their own voices has some positive affects. Students strive for better enunciation and grammar so they can sound their very best.
The main detraction from podcasting is in it's pure audio nature. It seems there is a greater percentage of visual over audio learners. Visual learners are disadvantaged and at times may lose their train of thought or understanding. This can be very detrimental if audio is the only source of learning for a particular topic.
