Digital Technology - Podcasts

My week of digital technology adventures consisted of podcasts. This included everything from creating one to publishing it, as well as discovering ways to use them in a library. I also discovered some interesting educational podcasts that I will share with you as well. Through my adventures, looked at three different podcast webapps including Soundcloud, Audioboom and Podbean. I must admit I was already a little biased before beginning my journey of discovery and creation since I had used Podbean before, but I tried my best to keep an open mind.

With Soundcloud, reviews that I looked at raved about it. I was excited to try it but found myself disappointed. It was easy to set up an account but once there, I had some difficulty in figuring out what to do next.  I clicked on the support tab for assistance, but it wasn’t very helpful. So, I went on YouTube to find a video on how to create a podcast on Soundcloud. I was not impressed with it. I didn’t find it to be as user friendly as Audioboom and Podbean. I figure if I am struggling with use it, then it would also be challenging for teachers and students, at least at the beginner level.

Audioboom was easier for me to navigate. It was simple to create an account and once it was set up, it takes you to your dashboard where you can start creating your podcast. You must activate your account before you can upload your first episode. There are two different plans available, the standard plan and the plus plan. Both offer the option to pay monthly or yearly. It also gives you the option to connect your podcast to your social media account and share immediately.

Podbean is the one I prefer to use. It is very easy to set up an account and you can use it for free, up to a certain number of minutes. It is easy to upload and publish a podcast. I was able to do it in minutes. You can also share it on your social media accounts, as well as email it, copy and paste the link, and be able to embed it in a website or blog. I would recommend Podbean over the other two podcast apps. With Podbean being more user friendly, I believe students and teachers would be able to utilize it more. Feel free to listen to my podcast created using Podbean below. 

I can see using podcasts in a library for both teachers and students. You can create a podcast that includes a book reading, information about upcoming events or programs, or be used by students where they can create their own. They can also include information about math, science, history, or any other topic and keep students actively engaged and listening.  Another great way to use them if for professional development purposes. It would be a convenient way for staff to earn professional development hours. It would awesome if teachers could pick and choose which educational podcasts they want to listen to.

There are also a lot of great podcasts for both educators and students out there and they’re free. The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast, https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pod/, is a great one for teachers to listen to. The podcast covers topics such as classroom management, education reform, educational technology, and teaching strategies. The Modern Learners Podcast, https://modernlearners.com/podcasts/, sounded interesting. It is an interview-style podcast that looks at ways to effect change in schools including the culture and dynamic of the school system. Ditch That Textbook Podcast, https://anchor.fm/ditch/, is another great podcast for educators that explores ways to stop relying so much on the textbook and focus on using technology instead. They explain ways that technology can be incorporated into lessons and how it engages and expands on student learning.

There are also some wonderful and fun educational podcasts for kids. One of the most popular podcasts for elementary kids right now is The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplify, https://whyy.org/programs/eleanor-amplified/. It is a fun adventure series that follows a radio reporter that is determined to get her story. In the pursuit of journalism, she shares all kinds of information and stops the villain in the end. Storynory, https://www.storynory.com/, is another wonderful collection of stories. You can choose which reading grade level you want to search through to find a story to listen to. It’s a great podcast for grades 1^st – 8^th and includes fairytales, original titles, history, myths, and poetry. Grammar Girl, https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl/, is an excellent podcast for high school students. It puts a spin on the rules of grammar and makes it kind of entertaining. Transcripts of the podcast can also be printed out.

There are many more educational podcasts for students and teachers available. You can search for ones geared more towards your own interests such as educational technology, classroom instruction, or motivational topics. There is so much we can learn from listening to podcasts and the uses for them in education and a library setting are more than I can count. I want to look into finding some podcasts that I can incorporate into my own lessons. I think my students would enjoy that a lot more than listening to me.

I can see myself listening to podcasts and using them in the classroom and library, but I am not comfortable with creating them myself, at least not yet. With more practice, I would like to get to the point where I can create them and publish them in a timely manner. As a librarian I would want to use them to share information about what is happening in the library and upcoming events on campus. I could then share the link through different social media outlets that student, staff, parents and the community utilize to reach my audience.  There are so many possibilities!