Podcasting

Podcasting is an area I had not explored. I had the best luck finding & listening to podcasts from podcast.com. I tried mediafly.com and couldn't get the search box to work--at least not the way I thought it should. At podcastalley.com I found something I thought would be interesting, but it took me to a software download page. Finally (I'm thinking about the 3 Bears story here), podcast.com was just right. It had a simple tutorial and was intuitive for me to use. I added Transformation Education to my blog feed, and listened to a podcast called "Skyrocketing Learning: The Hidden Power of Informal Learning - Aug 05,2008 ."

I was unsure about how long any of these podcasts lasted, as I couldn't see any indicator until I hit the Play button. Also, some voices are more pleasing to hear than others.

Podcasts would be great resources for auditory learners and the visually impaired, whether young or old persons. Podcasts from conference sessions would be a wonderful way to "attend" a conference from home--or anywhere else. Schools could post lessons on their web sites. Libraries could record event speakers and post podcasts (with the speaker's permission). They could podcast storytimes, book reviews, "commercials" for future events and meetings. If the library is facing a controversial issue in the community, board members and the library director could address it in a podcast (as well as other means). Libraries could also host appropriate podcasts found on the web.

When I left my previous library, the generous staff gave me an ipod. With everything else that's been going on, the ipod is still in the box. This session empowers me to take it out of the box and get going!