Thing 19: Podcasts

Before exploring this "Thing," in the interest of full-disclosure, I have played with podcasts to some extent, including downloading Audacity and creating a couple brief examples to promote books. Although podcasts are easy to make (with lots of free support materials on the Web) my impression of them is that they are a transitional online tool. Given the heavy saturation of graphics on the Web--and even in these "Things"--I think today's students will become bored with the audio-only character of most podcasts, preferring to rely on video or animation instead. Podcasts can still serve a powerful role in learning, however. Information or lectures can be downloaded and listened to while a person is out for a walk or doing something else that doesn't require concentration; podcasts can also be a resource for the visually impaired and others, such as students who are unable to attend a presentation or discussion.

Reference:

• Gcast


• School Media Podcast


• Minnesota Podcast Directory


• Podcast


• Podcastalley


• Educational Podcast Network
  

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Visit my podcast.

See my list of podcast resources.

To explore podcasts, I visited the Education Podcast Network and was impressed by the sheer volume of podcasts, categorized by grade level and subject. I began by going to the elementary grades, then to the subject specific podcasts involving computer/tech skills. The Digital Media Dude Daily Tip podcast was my first selection: It required downloading an 18.5 MB file, which took a bit of time. Then when I tried to open it with the Windows Media player, I found out the M4V file was not playable. Response: Aaaaaaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! What are these M4V files? What happened to MP3? How are people playing them? I tried my Yahoo! media player, with the same result. Now, I can hear everyone shouting, "Use iTunes, dummy!" Well, I don't have it on this computer, at least not for another 40 minutes until it's done downloading. One thing about these "Things": They require downloads, sometimes a lot of downloads. Time-consuming downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (indicating a long wait) . . . . . . . . . . . . . (I go do laundry) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Now with iTunes on my desktop, I continued perusing through podcast titles, only to find that many of them simply don't have podcasts, or they're unavailable. Finally, I found one from Poem Present: Finally, it worked--and without iTunes. It played through the player on Mozilla Foxfire. So the waiting was for not. At least now I have iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Yahoo! Music Jukebox.

Bottom line: Podcasts offer a means for accessing insights, ideas, perspectives that can serve to enrich a person's life. Librarians have a responsibility to share information about the opportunities of this format with their patrons.

Beneath the bottom line: Podcasts offer students a chance to collaborate, organize, and present their ideas in this nontraditional format. Here's a quote from the directory: "RADIO ON THE EDGE - Edgewood's Podcasting Station: Students at Edgewood are learning how to create podcasts in order to share information about exciting things students are learning at Edgewood. Stay tuned for new episodes each month." An experience such as this could help improve student motivation and attitude toward learning. Of the many claims made by technologists, this one I tend to believe.