Final Reflection on SHSU course Digital Technology for the School Librarian

 Podcast: Great Library Services and Programs with your hosts Brenda, Heather, and Gilbert

https://youtu.be/HLrevQJXKCM?si=ABv69iSgYDeWbMOx

Podcasting for School Librarians

            Like so many things, podcasting has a complicated history, but many sources agree that podcasting got its start in the early 21^st century. It was a technological extension of radio talk shows and news programs that had been broadcasting since the 1930’s, with the difference being the medium, going from radio airwaves to the internet. Podcasting has become part of countless industries, including the education industry. Many school libraries produce podcasts for their patrons and communities. The podcasters include both librarians and students.

            As a student of library science, I had not delved much into the whole podcasting thing, but a recent assignment allowed me the opportunity to explore podcasting and ultimately make a podcast with two of my classmates. The first step to making this podcast was researching various podcasting apps to see which one we would ultimately choose.

The first platform that I looked into was Zoom. Since I had been part of many Zoom meetings in my library science studies, I thought that this could be a relatively easy way to make a podcast. Long story short, I was wrong. The steps to making a Zoom podcast are much more numerous and complicated than merely setting up and conducting a Zoom meeting. After realizing how complicated the process is, and how little I understood the entire Zoom podcast process, I discarded it as a potential option.

The second app that I looked into was Audacity. The problems with Audacity included all the same ones I had with Zoom – difficulty with understanding the instructions (they were too complicated), and the app is not user-friendly (at least not for me.) To top it off, Audacity does not offer an option for video podcasting. It is audio only. Nor does it offer a remote option. 

I ended up going with an app I had never heard of before - Riverside.fm. It turned out to be quite user-friendly. Following is a table summarizine the key differences between the three podcasting services.

	Zoom	Audacity	Riverside.fm
Website	https://zoom.us/	https://www.audacityteam.org/	https://riverside.fm/
Cost	Free or Subscription	Free	Free Trial or Subscription
Designed Specifically for Podcasting	NO	Yes	Yes
Remote Podcasting	Yes	NO	Yes
Audio/Video	Yes	Audio Only	Yes
Automatic Transcriptions	YES W/ Subscription	NO	Yes For Free
Reduced Glitches and Dropped Signals	NO	Yes	Yes
Audio / Sound Quality	POOR	Great	Great

        All things considered, for the purposes of this assignment (working with multiple partners at different/remote locations), riverside.fm offered the best bang for the buck, with the caveat that we used a free trial subscription that doesn’t last forever. Also, we had difficulty embedding our podcast into our Blogger blogs. We ended up posting a link to the podcast located on YouTube.

    Here is the final end result of our podcast. We discussed library programs and services that we had found being offered by libraries throughout the United States. 

https://youtu.be/HLrevQJXKCM?si=ABv69iSgYDeWbMOx

          

    Educational podcasts are very popular, and there are a lot of them out there. The following is a list of just some of the many educational podcasts available. Coincidentally, these podcasts are all available for free through public radio. My two go-to public radio providers are National Public Radio (NPR) and Texas Public Radio (TPR).

     https://radiolab.org/ - Radiolab - Get your mind thinking with this podcast about curiosity and the cross between science, philosophy, and human experience.

• ~ 1 hour
• Science / Philosophy

I have listened to this podcast hundreds of times, and it has never failed to teach me something new. I often listen to it in my vehicle whilst driving down the road. It is a feature of public radio broadcasting (NPR, etc.) This would be a great podcast to share with school students.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/money/ - Planet Money - This podcast explains the economy with stories, and in a way that you think you're sitting and chatting with a friend.

• ~ 30 minutes
• Economics / Business

Planet Money is another regular podcast on public radio that I’ve listened to countless times. I wish I had acted on all the great information they had shared with the audience. I’m sure I would be much more financially well off if I had. LOL!

    https://freakonomics.com/ - Freakonomics Radio -This award-winning podcast is a spin-off of the book, Freakonomics, and explores the nuances of everyday life and human nature.

• ~ 1 hour
• Society / Culture

Another in a long list of outstanding podcasts available on public radio that I’ve listened to a bazillion times.  

    https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5057 – TED Radio Hour – Yes, once again, I’ve listened to this podcast a bajillion times (a slightly different amount than a bazillion) on public radio. These podcasts are inspirational in their scope. They appeal to the finest motivations in humans. Highly recommended for high school students and students of any age with sufficient maturity of thought.  

     https://storycorps.org/podcast/ - What can I say? I just love public radio podcasts. This one shares stories of compassion and understanding found everywhere in the world we live in.

    https://www.thisamericanlife.org/ - This American Life – If you haven’t listened to this podcast, do yourself a favor and give it a try. The originator, Ira Glass, has created something special among podcasting. This may be my overall favorite in the long line of public radio podcasts that I love. One caveat for this podcast is to preview the episode you are planning on presenting to students. Occasionally, the topics are mature. Make sure the episode is suitable for your audience.

    www.sciencefriday.com - Science Friday – It comes on one day a week, every week, and I’ll let you guess which day. It’s hosted by Ira Flatow. He sounds so friendly and happy to be sharing and finding out about new science concepts, or old science concepts presented in a new and interesting way. I don’t know what it is about podcasters named Ira, but they’re simply awesome! If I ever have my own podcast, I may just adopt the nickname Ira in homage to Ira Flatow and Ira Glass! 

    Well, those are some of my favorite podcasts. I think they’re very educational. I hope you give them a try; and, if you do, I hope you enjoy them!