Thing 21 -- Podcasts

There are huge applications for podcast technology. I envision a daily/weekly podcast feed in a school library that promotes literature through booktalks. I see using podcasts as a way to explain certain procedures or talk a person through a process. Students could create podcasts in lieu of bookreports, as a way to share their own reviews of books they are reading. They can also be used to keep up with news and information updates.

I listened to a few different podcasts. The one I spent the most time listening to is Teacher Librarians, produced by Julie Darling. These started with a brief musical intro, followed by interviews with library media specialists or other experts in the profession. They ranged in length from 7 minutes to 30 minutes. The information was quite useful, but there were only 3 episodes. I'd like to see more episodes that are shorter in length. These podcasts were relevant and informative regarding the future of the school library profession, the application of Web 2.0 technology in schools, and the new AASL standards. The sound quality was in and out, and there was a lot of background noise during the interviews because of the conference setting.

I also listened to Booktalks Quick and Simple. These short clips give a sneak preview of new books by providing a very brief booktalk. This could be a great tool to use in the library to promote reading and literature. I will not subscribe to it, but I see a lot of great bookstalks in the archives.

The SLJ Podcast feed has tons of great episodes. They are like little mini articles that are read to you. The poetry series are fun, and the professional information can be quite useful. Once I am more comfortable with podcast technology, I might subscribe to this one.

At first I couldn't figure out how to listen to the podcast. It seems that iTunes is a necessary piece of software, and unless the user knows and is familiar with it, it is not intuitive to figure out how to listen to a podcast without having to download or subscribe.

I think I might try to discuss podcasting with one of the fifth grade teachers at my campus. I would be interested in collaborating with her to get the kids to create podcasts of the synthesis of their learning as a way to share out their research and recommend/review books they have read. I'm not sure if I'm up to the task, but it seems like a worthwhile project that could incorporate a lot of information literacy skills.