One of the best things that I took out of my Digital Media class was how to make a podcast. I learned how to use a free program called Audacity. It was easy to use once I figured out what all the little buttons were. I started my graduate school experience with a fear of microphones (this Jersey Girl's voice is loud enough not to need one). Using Audacity helped me get over my fear since I had to take so many takes to get it just right. I admit I love making Podcasts...even though I haven't done one since that class.
Listening to them is a completely different story. I have tried the Podcasts from Podcast.com, but didn't really enjoy the experience because there was so much buffering that needed to be done to get the audio to play smoothly. I am also a visual person and prefer to have an image in front of me corresponding to what is being talked about. About the only ones that I enjoy are the ones that have the most impact for libraries- Storytelling. It would be great to have a link on the library website of librarians telling stories that young patrons can click on and listen. Of course, there is a catch. These stories must be in the public domain i.e Brother's Grimm, Aesop's Fables. Sorry, but as much as we might enjoy all those new and exciting stories out there, I can't see this falling under the Fair Use/Educator Copyright Law exceptions.
Thanks for a thoughtful post, JH. I am glad you had the experience of making a podcast -- any you can share with us?
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the copyright issue. It's something we have to be careful of!
You're right. I think the copyright issue is something that unfortunately a lot of people (even librarians) seem to ignore. I was just thinking about a conversation I had with someone recently about Google Books "sampling." This librarian seemed to think that it was perfectly acceptable for them to post brand new books almost in their entire state :(
ReplyDeleteAll my podcasts bit the dust when my computer crashed in August. However, for Teen Tech Week in March we will be doing a Mix and Mash-Up Bash where teens mashup their favorite story plots and create a video or podcast about it. I am thinking of making a podcast example to promote it.
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