Well, it did scare me until I got the opportunity to really check it out. I read about podcasting in my class text and I was thoroughly overwhelmed! There seemed to be a lot of steps and a lot of things mentioned that I didn't know about, but I think that was just my initial reaction.
After getting on iTunes, determined to calm my fears and get some understanding, I'm feeling a lot better. I guess I should be a little embarrassed that I'm in graduate school getting an Instructional TECHNOLOGY degree and I have never listened to a podcast before. I don't know why I haven't. I use iTunes. I always saw the section about podcasts, but I never took my own initiative to take it any further than that. Thank goodness I was forced to check out podcasting for class, or I may have never learned about it!
First things first, there are A LOT of podcasts out there! On a personal level, I can easily find podcasts to listen to (I'm an entertainment news junkie), but, on a professional level, I found it a little harder to find something meaningful. Definitely not impossible, just a little more difficult. I found the Education Podcast Network to be really helpful in finding podcasts that related specifically to my field or the subject I wanted to focus on. You will not believe the excitement I had when I found a podcast that focuses on Teaching with SmartBoard. I have a SmartBoard in my classroom and I am always looking for ways to extend my knowledge in that area. You can find the podcast here: Teaching with Smartboard. I also followed the NPR News Education Podcast. I thought that would just be a great way to stay on top of education news in general. Overall, finding podcasts on iTunes was really simple to do. I'm already an iTunes user so I felt comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to seeing my podcasts on my iPhone the next time I sync up.
Now that I've taken a little time to figure it all out, I'm not so scared. I feel like I get it! Podcasting is a little bit like my DVR. It allows me to listen to what I want to, when I want to.
I had a similar experience. I had a hard time finding something that I would want to listen to. I don't spend a lot of time anywhere that I would or could appreciate some "talk radio". I'm more of a music kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I love the morning shows I listen to on my way in to work some times, but I think it's because I'm familiar with them and know I'm going to get an entertainment buzz update soon. I'm going to give some of the podcasts a try and see if they change my mind. I think the Smartboard one would definitely be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both...talk radio not really my thing... however I like the shorter podcast that are like 5 minutes that I can go look up more on the topic later. I would much rather make podcast than actually listen to them!
ReplyDelete