Podcasts

I am not a fan of podcasts. It is because I have a hearing impairment. Anytime things are audio based- I freak out. I know I won't be able to hear and understand what is being said. It takes time to process what I am hearing, so to follow a podcast, I have to listen to it over and over and over again. It's frustrating and overwhelming. I have always been a visual learner even before I started losing my hearing, so I always choose something that has video or closed captions. 

When I started doing this assignment, it made me start thinking about my students and how they learn. I do have several students with hearing impairments, who wear hearing aids- so I've always tried to make my lessons accessible and easy for them. But I am sure I have students who are more of an audio learner. Although I have tried to make sure I have a variety of learning styles in my lessons: visual, audio, movement, etc. I have never really thought about the audio learners. 

Since I'm not really into listening to podcasts, all of this was very new to me. I made a podcast in another class, but I couldn't remember how I did it. So I felt like I was doing this for the first time.  I looked at and tried out several different programs: AudioBoom, PodOmatic, and Soundcloud. At first, I couldn't remember if you could record in the different apps and programs or if you had to just upload.  Each of the programs were easy to use and publish podcasts, once I figured out the recording/uploading of the files. 

AudioBoom

I liked that you can record your podcast in AudioBoom. The podcasts are in categories such as business, comedy, entertainment, etc. You can also use the search button at the top to search for topics you are interested in hearing. You can follow certain people, create playlists, and even personalize your radio, which is a mix of your followed podcasts. I signed up for a free account on my iphone. I did not find a place that offered upgrades, but I was pretty satisfied with what is offered. I was able to easily record a podcast of a read-aloud of a picture book. But... once I published it, I couldn't find it. I finally found it in my profile- which seemed a little strange. Overall, it was really easy to create and publish a podcast using AudioBoom. 

PodOmatic

With PodOmatic, you can find what's trending now, create a list to people to follow, as well as create a playlist. They offer a free basic account, which is what I signed up for. They also offer an upgrade which gives you more bandwidth and larger storage among other perks. This one seemed the easiest to me to publish a podcast. Although I had to record the audio using my voice recorder and save it, I like how it walks you through each step of posting and publishing your podcast. I also like that you can add pictures to your podcast. I did mine on our Spring Book Fair with a few book talks. 

My Podcast



SoundCloud

SoundCloud also lets you create playlists, follow others, see the most recent podcasts you have listened to, as well as posts your "likes". You have the basic option or you can upgrade for about $10.00 a month, which allows you to listen offline and has no ads. You can record in Soundcloud but I couldn't get it to work with my Flash Player. I had to upload a file, which was easy enough. 

I think if I were to create podcasts for my students or teachers, I would choose either PodOmatic or SoundCloud because they can be used on the computer. AudioBoom is an app that is on my phone and iPad, which I think I would use more for informal use. 

I can see the benefit for using podcasts in education and have several ideas on how they can be used in the library.

Podcasts in the library:

• Book talks of Award winning books
• Students can share book recommendations
• Share new books that have arrived in the library
• Share what is happening in the library
• Promote the library (such as the Book Fair)
• Students can make up alternate endings for stories or books
• Share opinions about current events

There are actually endless ideas on how to use of podcasts in the classroom or library. I am sure students can come up with some unique ideas we haven't even thought of.