1) ... At this point I wish I was stranded in a desert roaming aimlessly, that may be more enjoyable then watching myself continuously fail to convert my audacity files to a MP3 format. I've downloaded LAME, I put it in my Audacity file and yet as of 10:00 this morning I'm still fighting with it!
As far as the initial exposure, I knew less about Podcasting then I did about Social Bookmarking. So SB was 0 that would put my Podcasting knowledge at about negative 3. After going through the trailfire help from Common Craft, Podcasting looked like a great tool both personally but more so educationally. So ignoring the current state of headache that I am in, I will take an open minded approach to this web 2.0 tool. My initial exposure to podcasting was Joannes podcast from the beginning of the course, I found it enjoyable to have an actual voice going over the course. However I found it difficult to make notes and listen intently at the same time, perhaps because I am a man and have yet to develop the underrated skill of multi-tasking! As I made notes I felt that I was missing some of the information. That scares me because perhaps the informtion I missed may have been the part that explains how easy it is to convert your audacity files to MP3. Sorry a bit snarky there, I know it is my own fault so I am really only making fun of myself I assure all of you. Due to this course I have become acutely aware of the podcast world that is out there, in iTunes and all over talk radio. A friend of mine called me last Sunday to tell me that there was an interview on Spark about Web 2.0, I was playing hockey and missed the telecast. Thanks to the podcast I was able to go back and listen to the whole thing, very enjoyable I've included a link for you all as well.
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/spark-103-february-21-23-2010/
I found Will Richardson's book to be a good source, but again I struggled with all the converting, I have fixed the issue, I think. (By that I mean a friend at work came over and walked me through the conversion tasks, it really seemed quite elaborate, compared to other tasks we've done) So I will try and drop in some tidbits from my interview with my five year old daughter on emotions. I don't have all the files together so its choppy at best right now, but I'll take whatever I can get at this point. I believe that the latest version of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts... will be an even more valuabe resource as it will perhaps even have step by step procedures that even I can handle.
2) On a personal note, I'm not sold on this tool as something that I would use to create podcasts and post them. Partially because I am not comfortable yet and I don't see the need for myself to create and use this tool in that manner. Now when you begin talking about subscribing to podcasts like iTunes as alluded to in the trailfire video, that is different. I enjoyed the idea of subscribing to some podcasts like Spark and then having them automatically downloaded to my ipod or mp3 player. This aspect is great for anyone on the go, during exercise lying in bed not disturbing anyone else. This is something I will explore more when I get the chance. By the way I'm still struggling to get my MP3 into my blog, I'm in the midst of trying podbean after seeing it on Nicola's blog, fingers crossed again!
3) As far as an educational tool I can see the benefits of podcasts. As mentioned earlier with Joanne's podcast it was nice to have, and if you wanted you can go and listen to it again to get what you may have missed. In an article taken from ScienceDirect - Computers and Education, they did a poll on the role of podcasts in education. What they found is that students used the podcasts mainly as a study tool while they were on the computer, the next most frequent used times was during commutes to and from school. Most of the students polled found the podcasts useful in some way. I think that a podcast prior to exams as a general review of where to concentrate their studies or one in which you go over the heavier subjects, for me that would be the liver and kidneys. Something different for them to use. I think this would be very valuable to most. Everyone learns in different ways and this would give you one more approach to try and reach at least one other student, and that is a benefit. Another approach for me would be to have a podcast assembled for each module and they can use it as a review at the end of each module, then again when it is exam time. Definitely a benefit from the educational side of things, of course I am by no means even grasping the tool fully yet, as I have yet to get my podcast in this blog, GRRRRRRRRRR!!! Knowledge coming in vs. knowledge now is still substantial so I've got that to keep this glass half full, instead you know...throwing it against the wall!
I'm not giving up yet, just like all those fantastic Canadian Olympians who did us so proud over the past couple of weeks, I will continue to fight.
Okay the podbean site worked out fairly well, here are a couple a snippits of my interview. I would like to explore this tool more from an educational aspect as there are some aspects that could be beneficial.
Updated, whewwwww, not perfect but it worked sort of......sweet relief until next week. There was actually about three minutes of recording but I'm not getting picky right now.
references
Richardson, W. (2005) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.
http://www.commoncraft.com/podcasting
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/podcasting-101.htm
Walls, S., Kucsera, J., et al. (2010). Podcasting in Education: Are students really as ready and eager as we think they are? ScienceDirect - Computers and Education 54, 371-378.
Numerous websites on encoding, and embedding, but I couldn't get that to work, so not included here.
Back in the air
14 years ago
Thanks, Tom. You have highlighted some of the pros and cons (highlights and lowlights?) of recording and sharing podcasts. I'm glad that even if the actual creation of a podcast wasn't entirely a positive experience, you have discovered the joys of subscribing to podcasts through iTunes. I love listening to podcasts (like Spark, among others) as I clean the house or cook in the kitchen. I don't even really use an iPod, just listen to most of them through the computer.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if I'll ever have time for all this great "stuff" you have introduced to me!? There is so much out there, I really had no idea. Kind of sad I know.
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