Podcast - explanation

Week 6: explanation of podcast exercise

In preparation for developing my podcast, I listened to two podcasts, the first from my work, developed nationally, that served to discuss the use of social media and the value of PLN's in the work of Cooperative Extension.  The person interviewed, Anne Adrian, is a Social Media Strategist for the Miltary Families Network, using social media to reach professionals working with military families before, during and after deployment.  This group of Extension professionals is providing educational resources and support to other professionals and directly to military families through financial education, childcare provider education, caregiver education and other programs that address the many needs of these families. Anne Adrian discussed the challenges of getting Extension and other professionals to use social media and personal learning networks as tools to enhance our work.  The link is here: link.

The second was a podcast from NPR's Fresh Air, in which Michael Feinstein was interviewed about his book "The Gershwins and Me."  Feinstein worked for Ira Gershwin during the last 6 years of Gershwin's life as an archivist, among other assignments. He tells the stories behind some of the Gershwins' songs and talked in the interview about his personal favorite renditions, such as Peggy Lee singing "The Man I Love" in 1956, which NPR played during the interview.  It was a fascinating discussion that I would not have heard if it weren't a podcast.  The link below goes to a list of NPR Fresh Air Podcast links. The link to this interview is number 6 on the list.  The podcast takes a few seconds to load. 

A link to my podcast is below. I selected a topic that is an interest I have through my work, and one with which I have had some recent experience in a class I'm teaching. I also think this is a podcast I would be able to use in my work.  


I found the experience somewhat frustrating to do. I tried to use Audioboo, but it would not load for a new recording (I'm using a Mac?). After 3 tries I switched to GarageBand on my Mac, used that to record (quite easily), convert to an MP3 file, import to iTunes, drag and drop to my desktop (all as instructed in the tutorials I watched) and then was unable to figure out how to upload to Blogger.  So, at that point, I switched back to Audioboo, and very easily uploaded the existing MP3 file made in GarageBand to Audioboo, and with some false starts, was able to embed the podcast into my blog (after watching Kim's helpful Jing lesson).  The first time I did it I realized it was too long (3.5 minutes), and Audioboo cut me off after 3 minutes. I cut and re-recorded, and what had originally taken a couple of hours to research and figure out, took me 10-15 minutes the second time. Hurrah!  

I would definitely use a podcast again, and see it as a great tool for my work.  A podcast could be posted as an additional resource on our website to explain or enhance printed fact sheets.  I think the shorter time (2-3 minutes) rather than the 30 minute podcast I listened to, makes the format more flexible for learners and easier to use. The interview/dialogue format of the two I listened to in preparation was easier to listen to than the format I used, in which there was only me, reading a script.  I also think the NPR podcast use of music also successfully added more variety, which made it better.