Podcasts

What makes a great podcast?  That seems to be the main question.   In class we are beginning to learn about podcasts and will soon make one of our own.  To help us learn about them we were given about six different podcasts to go and listen to.  Some were for teachers and others were about new technology coming out soon. 

            Many of the podcasts had one main speaker and would then have 2-3 quests to discuss the day’s topic.  I enjoyed this type of podcast the most as long as the speakers would not interrupt each other.  When there are several speakers speaking at the same time it becomes very difficult to follow the conversation.   There was one podcast that had only one speaker and I did enjoy that one because it was easy to follow.  There was another podcast that had co-hosts and I did not like that podcast because they constantly interrupting each other.

            When it comes to learning I like to get straight to the topic and not beat around the bush.  Most of the podcasts had a few minutes of just talking in the beginning, which was fine for me.   Then there were some that took 5-8 minutes to finally even state the main topic and get the discussion going.  I also did not like how some the speakers would joke about things only they knew about, alienating their audience.

            I enjoyed listening to podcasts for the first time and I will definitely be listening to more for personal enjoyment.  Through the podcasts we were assigned I learned what made a good podcast that I would enjoy.  I like podcasts that are clear and easy to understand and do not have speakers talking over each other.  I also want a podcast that does a little talking but gets to the topic for the day quickly.  I look forward to learning even more about what makes a podcast great.  I think podcast will make a great companion to my classes one day.