7 Deadly Podcasting Fears

Lewis'(2011) October 31 podcast episode, Top 7 Deadly Fears of Podcasting lists reasons why some people hesitate to try podcasting or blogging. I admit that a few of these have crossed my mind but now my podcasts are finished and posted I have developed some confidence in my efforts. Lewis' list might help my students overcome their fears as well. He debunks each fear with logical explanations including; there is a listener for every voice and every idea and confidence will help you overcome your fears.

1. not worth the time
2. don't have enough to say
3. no one will listen
4. people won't like me
5. too hard
6. costs too much
7. I hate the sound of my voice

Following links to access the original source of this podcast I was overjoyed to find Lewis' site included notes for archived episodes. I am beginning to realize just how small my piece of auditory learner is.

My 3 Podcasting Hats

My Learning:

-follow episodes of TED Education, The Audacity to Podcast, and Clever Sheep
-unlimited possibilities for professional development (if I only had an ipod)

Teaching:
-engage auditory learners

-alternate presentation task

-read aloud books for English Language Learners and add to library blog
-enlist students to read aloud for school library podcasts

-engaging students in learning through use of Web 2.0 audio files

-sharing with parents
-presently collaborating with a grade 8 teacher to produce podcasts for water issues project (6 more microphones are on my shopping list)

Personal:
-send audio messages to friends and family

-promote my storytelling as a business

-add 'think aloud' podcasts to my artist website

-blog posts as audio files

Promoting Podcasts: Step Four

Online comment regarding podcasts reflects the ability to subscribe and share these free prerecorded (usually not professionally edited) audio files. Fryer (2010) posted on his wiki, Teach Digital: Curriculum: Introduction to Educational Podcasting, "Feeds let you pull information when you want it, rather than having it pushed to you like spam. Podcasts use feeds so people can SUBSCRIBE to them with podcatching software like iTunes or Juice."(para 5)
I like accessing podcasts on Google reader and will use iTunes to catch TED talks, Clever Sheep, TVO's Big Ideas and CBC's Writers and Company.
Subscriptions are an integral part of podcasting. The Wizzard Media podcasting network celebrated "15,000 shows (which) encompass approximately 1 million audio and video episodes, downloaded over 1.4 billion times in 2009."

Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/internet-www/14548404-1.html#ixzz1bqtRFsuH

This post will illustrate some of the podOmatic tools used to promote and share podcasts.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

The above link was added to this blog using the podOmatic share link designated for Blogger. 

When users click on a podcast listed in their profile the following episode screen shows what other podOmatic users see. The site allows social networking and comments for each podcast as well as the ability to share, embed, email and link to Facebook.

PodOmatic includes other tools for promoting podcasts.
My podcast URL is:    http://holwerda.podomatic.com

The RSS feed is: http://holwerda.podomatic.com/rss2.xml


I was able to add a podOmatic badge similar to the one below at the bottom of this blog which links to my podcast library. 

I enjoyed working with podOmatic to create and publish podcasts. I like the multi-track player and the ease of recording and playing episodes. I look forward to podcasting with my students. I anticipate being able to use podcasts/screencasts for staff professional development when introducing new technology. It will be far easier to email a link for a screen capture or a podcast  than to encourage staff to attend an after school session.

Preparing to Podcast-Speaking:Step Three

"Just because you or your students can create a podcast doesn't mean you should." (Williams, 2007. p.12) Consideration of the content for my podcast lead me to try to meet the need for audio texts for our ELL students and to record some of the stories in my repertoire.

Multitrack player option

To create my podcasts, two dual language books were chosen from the school library.  I chose to read the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt and made the recording using the Audacity program . After many attempts including deleting and rerecording sections of the tracks and cutting to correct timing errors,  I was finally satisfied with the results. I added a public domain music prelude and conclusion to the Audacity recording.

In order to provide a host for my Audacity recording I registered for a PodOmatic.com account and was able to upload my mp3 audacity file.
Upon closer inspection I found that I could record directly to PodOmatic with one button recording. Using the site's recording feature I created a podcast of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,  selected a photo for the podcast and promoted my podcasts by tagging, labeling them Education K-12 and embedding the codes in this post.

Note: PodOmatic does not allow access to the tracks for editing. I needed to record the story twice to correct miscues. 

Single-track player option

When I was prepared to add my podcast to the iTunes library I found that I was expected to register a credit card with the site. My hesitation to do so will limit my access to uploading to iTunes. I will depend on the PodOmatic site and this blog for promotion.

I recorded a telling of The Tailor using PodOmatic and was instantly successful completing the process and preparing to embed the podcast in this post.


PodOmatic allows users to select and embed either a multi-track player or single-track player. Listeners are able to scroll through seeing the photo representations and selecting the podcast of their choice.

I have added a page to the school library blog and embedded two of the podcasts for student access. The simplicity of accessing these podcasts does not require a screencast for student instruction. Instead I have created a jing.com screen capture to show how to use PodOmatic.
The jing.com screen cast is limited to five minutes and I found running both PodOmatic and Jing during the screen capture slowed down the internet connection considerably. Rerecording the jing screencast with all other windows closed allowed me to finish the screencast with time to spare.
I am proud of myself for being able to reduce the size of the jing image in the html embed code in order for the screencast to fit more neatly within the post. I will keep jing.com available on my desktop for future use.

 
In addition to creating podcasts for student projects, books for ELL learners, storytelling and teacher PD, Stodt (2009) suggests librarians can introduce podcasts
of "audio walking tours...to advertise new books and resources or to provide
information and news about the library." (p.104)

Preparing to Podcast-Listening: Step Two

I am not an MP3 owner, nor an iTunes user although I have purchased many iTunes cards for consumption by my nieces. 

There are many podcast hosting sites online. Most can be searched and podcasts selected for immediate listening, downloading or can be subscribed to using an RSS feed.
PodcastAlley.com, Education Podcast Network, Fairy Tale Corner, Podomatic.com, and Podbean.com are some sites where a variety of podcasts can be accessed.


Richardson (2009) wrote of the ease of `locating and subscribing to recent educational podcasts using iTunes. Simply put, ``Once you have it up and running, just go...and click.`` (p. 112)

Through iTunes I began by subscribing to:

• Two Tech Chicks       
• Writers and Company from CBC Radio       
• The Clever Sheep       
• Teachers Teaching Teachers #267                  
• EdTechTalk    
• Book Review  Podcast                      
• TEDTalks Education                         
• Storynory - Stories For Kids                         
• TVO Big Ideas (Video) and (Audio)                        
• K-12 Greatest Hits: The Best Ideas in Education 
• Teachers Teaching Teachers

Some of the podcasts are interesting, educational and will draw me back to listen again. Others I find are not very professional and lacking in content. Selective listening for  professional development, personal learning and entertainment will limit my use to easily accessible, clearly described podcasts.

A Google search for podcasts lead me to PodCast Awards.com and I identified interesting podcast sites amoung the Education, People's Choice, Best Video, Best Produced and Technology nominees which I subscribed to using Google Reader.

• Caustic Soda
• Kid Friday
• Quirks and Quarks 
• Tekzilla
• This Week in Tech
• The Audacity to Podcast 

Because podcasts can be created by anyone, evaluation is important. Criteria for website evaluation should be extended to podcasts. In addition to authenticity, credibility, and currency podcast evaluation should include "technical qualities, subscription availability and availability of additional support materials."(Berger, 2010,p.133)

 

Podcasting Possibilities: Step One

Wikipedia defines podcasting as “a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication.” I was mistaken in thinking podcasts were audio only and have found after searching Twitter, Diigo groups and Google Reader that video is also a part of podcasting. Casel (2011) writes in 7 Tips for Launching a Successful Podcast ,

          Podcasts are among the oldest types of syndicated content on the web.
          Yet the format remains a popular choice among content producers looking
          to connect with a wide audience. Audio podcasts were the norm for many
          years, but video has taken the podcasting world to new heights. (para 2)

Richardson (2009), Berger and Trexler (2010) explain that podcasting includes audio, screencasting and video. I feel it is important to my inquiry into podcasting to include the creation of screen, video and audio podcasts.

Possibilities:
1. Recording of readings of books in the school library for our English Language Learners (ELL).

2. Storytelling of some of my favourite folktales using both audio and video podcasts to evaluate the impact of each media

3. Screencast showing how to use PodOmatic hosting site to create a podcast.

4."Since many of the most prolific podcasters are educators,"(Williams, 2007) it makes sense to access a variety of audio and video podcasts for professional development as well as entertainment.

5.Why not get the students to create podcasts.."Podcasting provides students with new ways of knowing and problem solving and enables them to demonstrate their newfound understanding in compelling and significant ways." (Ishizuka, 2005, p.57)

Audacity: Third of 6 Web 2.0 Tools

 Audacity is a tool I would like to use to record and edit audio files. I would share these podcasts on the internet and use the iTunes site to select and subscribe to download from a selection of free podcasts in a variety of genres. Not all students appreciate the opportunity to perform their own work in front of the class. This tool will allow an alternate to a face to face oral presentation style for some and an interesting connection to the iPods and MP3 players that most students own. Richardson writes, “These kids are really motivated to write and think and prepare these podcasts because they know they are going to be published, that others will hear them”. (para. 2) In my attempt to engage in more online professional development I would like to explore podcasts for teachers. Berger (2010) lists a number of podcast directories as well as instructions to search using the word podcast as a search term. I will demonstrate the use of podcasting by creating a podcast and a playlist of my favourites. I wonder if our teacher of English Language Learners (ELL) would be interested in posting the recorded books her Book Club produced last year with a link to the podcasts on the library blog. Because I have only once created a Voicethread podcast myself I remain a novice podcaster even though I have worked with a number of classes to use the Audacity program. 

Goals of Steps to Web 2.0

1.  I will endeavour to understand the uses of the tools and improve my ability to use each one, seek sources of support and evaluate each technology as a personal and professional tool. Over time I will continue to add new technologies to my repertoire. Will I be able to increase my comfort level with the selected Web 2.0 technologies.
   
   
2. I will create an expression of my interest in watercolour painting by creating an online gallery using a media sharing tool. In the future I will add these galleries to a blog showcasing my painting and passion for watercolour. How can I make authentic personal use of my web 2.0 learning?
    
3. I will tag, sticky note and highlight my online bookmarks to better access information         about topics of interest. Perhaps my future in social bookmarking will include creating a group to meet some specific personal or professional need. How will I organize my professional development through RSS feeds using Google reader and Diigo?
   
   
4. I will read and respond to blogs as well as contribute weekly to the blogs I have created. I will use a variety of embedded links to content created with Web 2.0 tools to enhance my posts and comments. In the future I will create a blog to showcase my art and to share and teach others about watercolour painting. How can I interact with a larger learning community through blogging?
   
   
5. I will offer training to staff or their classes in the use of media sharing, image interaction tools, podcasting, video editing, social bookmarking, blogging, and web-based aggregators with RSS feeds. I hope to keep up with the changes in Web 2.0 and explore more tools which will enhance the education of my students and my own personal internet experiences. How can my personal learning include sharing Web 2.0 tools with the staff at my school and colleagues in other school libraries? Will there be opportunities to model the use of Web 2.0 tools and provide training for the staff and students at my school?