Podcasts, How they're done.

The post I'm going to do today is all about podcasts and how a few that I listened to seem to be done. Podcasts are a very interesting subject, once again the advances that have been made in technology is just amazing. Well to start off, I listened to the following podcasts and I'll just comment on them as I go through them all.

First off I listened to the podcast SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. I listened to Episode #125 called Learning to Fly. The podcast was hosted by Ben and Joan, from what I gathered it seems that all of the podcasts are hosted by them. The podcast sounded somewhat like it was recorded in a radio station. It just came off as a radio talk show vibe, which makes it much more casual and easy to listen to. The two hosts just started off having a casual conversation and gradually worked their way into the topic. From the part I listened to, they just seem to take questions (more than likely from e-mail) and answered them on air, talking in detail about it. Also, they had little segments of just music clips, possibly to signal a small break or pause in the conversation. It seems this podcast was pretty up on the technology possible for it.

The next podcast I listened to was KidCast. I listened to Episode #58 called The Medium is NOT the Message. This podcast was hosted by Dan from his living room. It was pretty casual, no special effects or anything, just him sitting their a sharing his knowledge. It sounded like he just had a computer and was just basically recording the podcast. He talked about how he had been looking up different projects such as podcasts that were being created by the kids in schools. He felt that the kids were just being taught how to basically use the software but weren't being taught how to communicate and the value of it. He saw this as a real problem. The podcast continued on similar to that. Another podcast that seemed similar to this one was EdTechTalk. I listened to Episode #19 of this podcast which was hosted by Matt Montaine. He had other guests there with him such as Lorna Constantini, and a couple of other ladies. Also, he had various parents from around the country connected in with the podcast. This podcast also seemed to be simply done. Just recorded basic with the other people connecting in. All those involved with this podcast are volunteers who work within or have children in the schools. They just come together and discuss various aspects of technology within the schools. These two podcasts were well done, they just seemed similar with no advanced additions, just a normal podcast.

The next podcast I listened to was ConnectLearning, and I listend to Episode #91 called A conversation about Podcasting with Media Coordinators. This podcast was hosted by David Warlick and was actually a Podcasting Workshop. He was at the North Carolina School Library Media Association with 9,000 library/media specialists from around the state of North Carolina. This was a very interesting podcast to me because it ws more like a conference, but when he would talk to the various people there he would have to go up to them with a microphone and they would talk into so you could hear them on the podcast. It was more like something you would think of as watching a video, but it was just a podcast. The talked about various issues with creating podcasts within the schools, for instance the security of the students with posting podcasts online and such. The library/media specialists seemed to up-to-date with their technology and really liked using podcasts in the schools.

The last two podcasts I listened to were very similar. The first was MacBreak Weekly, I listened to Episode #124. This was another podcast that very much sounded like a radio show. It sounds like various people just sitting around having casual conversations with each other. Like I said before, this makes it much easier to listen and be interested in the podcast to me. The main speaker was Leo, but there was also Alex, Andy, Scott, Lisa, and Frederick. All of which were not actually in the same place. I think three or four of them were connecting in from another place. In fact, I know Lisa was actually in Vancouver during the podcast. They all seemed to be of some kind of techonoloical profession and talked about various updates to do with Mac and cameras and such. The other podcast I listened to that was very similar to the one before was This Week in Photography, I listened to Episode #60 of this podcast. It was actually hosted by two of the people that were apart of the previous podcast mentioned, Alex Lindsay and Schoot Bourne. Also, as in the one before, they had various people connecting in from other locations. The format was similar, also sounded like a radio show, with them just sitting around talking casually. They talked about different photography software that was coming out and being updated.

I really enjoyed listening to these podcasts. The technology involved is really amazing and I think this is a great tool to use within education. It makes things more interesting and involved for the students. Well, that's all for this post. Hope you all are having a great day!