Lessons in Podcasts!

Through this assignment, I experienced a new type of technology. I listened to my first podcast. I have heard about podcasts, but I never gave listening to podcasts a chance. After listening to six different podcasts, I feel as if I understand how the majority of podcasts work and how they are produced. Some podcasts are more helpful than others, and some podcasts are more boring than others. I listened to all of the suggested podcasts except one. I substituted the ConncectLearning podcast for Teachers Teaching Teachers podcast. Teachers Teaching Teachers podcast can be found at the iTunes store under audio podcasts for K-12 education.

My favorite podcast that I listened to was the SmartBoard Lessons. I learned a lot of helpful information and actually enjoyed listening to this podcast. My favorite part that I listened to during this podcast was the mentioning of the math video link. They brought up some very popular movies that contained math in them, and I enjoyed knowing that because we tend to not think math is popular outside the classroom. I learned a lot from this podcast as a student as well as a future teacher. This podcast was like a morning radio show for me. I could listen to this podcast on my way to class, where as some of the other podcasts were much less interesting to listen to.

The KidCast podcast was helpful in understanding the differences between video and audio podcasting. This podcast was helpful, but this podcast was not as interesting as SmartBoard Lessons. During this podcast, Dan mentioned why and when people should use video podcasts over audio podcasts. Dan made the point that audio podcasting has much less pressure than video podcasting because it is "easier to slice and dice" in an audio podcast.

The two podcasts I enjoyed the least were MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography. These two podcasts were pretty much about features on Mac computers and features on different types of cameras. The one thing I did like about This Week in Photography was the realization of how far our camera technology has developed. I did not care for these two particular podcasts because it was basically a show about people advertising and speaking on behalf of their products. Although the podcast information can be helpful if you own a Mac or certain type of camera, they do not help every person.

The structures of the podcasts were built around the topics of that week. Each show had more than one host except for KidCast, with the host being Dan. The majority of the podcasts included personal stories and/or experiences from the hosts. As I mentioned earlier, I think I get the idea of how podcasts are done. I also noticed and noted that most of the podcasts had hosts or guests that were not in the studio. The feature mentioned most was that of Skype.

During all six of these podcasts, I heard different vocabulary mentioned that I would like to explore to find out more about them. I am just now becoming familiar with iTunes besides downloading music. I enjoyed this week's posts because it made me explore the other things iTunes offers. All of the podcasts had good audio except EdTechTalk. Pretty much all of the podcasts were sponsored by the same company as well. All of the podcasts were educational in some way. Some podcasts are for everybody while others are for a more specific audience. It is interesting to see how far we have come in today's technological world. I think it is great that we have a feature like the podcast to share different teaching techniques with each other. Podcasts make it much easier to share with others around the country and world. I also think it is very beneficial to students because it gives another way to create ideas.