Podcasts & Education
Podcasts have recently come to the greater attention of students, including even the younger elementary students. I recently found my fifth grader listening intently to a mobile device through headphones while kicked back on the sofa; when I asked what intrigued her so, she paused it to tell me enthusiastically about the new mystery chronicles she was listening to through a podcast her teacher had recommended. As educators, we are often looking to meet students where they are and appeal to all of their learning styles or modalities. If we want to reach them through their various senses, podcasts are excellent in that they are not only auditory, but can be utilized on the go, incorporating kinesthetic and tactile styles as well. Students can be listening, moving, and doing, all while learning about any variety of subjects, or just increasing their love of fiction storytelling.
Podcasts can be accessed anywhere students have a mobile device, so educators can direct students to content that can be used remotely, outside of the school walls--something that we have really come to value even more in the current educational climate. Further, data shows that consumers of podcasts are more likely to be active users of social media, indicating a high appeal to students. With podcast episodes up from 18.5 million to 30 million in just the last two years, it’s only logical that teachers and teacher librarians would want to get in on this information trend. But where to begin?
Podbean is a free and easy app that I have utilized before when comparing different podcasting platforms. I like to go into my dashboard on my desktop so I can work with my profile and recordings more easily, though I use the app on my mobile device to record and add music. One thing I really like about it is that I can select my background music from a handful of choices and then manually raise or lower the volume on my phone as I speak. The free plan offers five hours of storage, which is quite a bit when measured in podcasts that range from five to ten minutes each. I’m pleased with my current theme, and counted nearly twenty different “free themes” offered. It is very user-friendly, and a great choice for someone just dipping his or her toe into the podcasting waters.
Moving on to my exploration of Audioboom, I would first note that there is no app for this platform. Right away that is a difficulty for me as someone who doesn’t have a handy mic or headset mic to get a clear recording at home; I really just prefer speaking into my smartphone. What’s more, I found that I couldn’t join for less than $9.99 per month, although this includes unlimited episodes, and advanced analytics to understand your active audience. I signed up easily enough, but after exploring the site and its many customization options, I tried to create a podcast, only to be told that I would need to “activate” my subscription at the paid rate. Overall this seems to be a platform better suited to frequent and experienced podcasters, possibly even those interested in turning their brand into income, which the site offers to help with.
Soundcloud is, in many ways, not unlike Podbean, in regards to both recording original content, or listening to the content of others. It has more of a social aspect than most platforms, with the intent of helping users connect to desirable content, such as “trending playlists.” It also hosts quite a bit of musical content, and appears to be geared toward this audience. This is one of those “free” platforms that users soon realize is withholding many features--unless you’re willing to pay for them. Although I only began using it and looking at features and options, I also found it to be ad-heavy, though it promised to remove ads if I upgraded. However, the paid options are less expensive than Audioboom (which doesn’t even advertise their “pro” pricing), with the highest level maxing out at about ten dollars per month. As such, it seems the more moderate of these three, possibly best suited to the podcaster gaining a little experience and wanting to venture into the area at a level above beginner. It may not be a great choice for educators wanting to reach students, because like all of these, it hosts original content geared at a young adult to adult audience--and unlike some others, promotes it to users.
Ultimately if I am looking for a platform to host a regular and ongoing podcast, I’m going to go with Podbean, and might even consider the bottom plan at nine dollars per month. It’s easy to use, I feel it’s a personalized channel I could share with students or adults, and it allows users to have your RSS feed and share it with other podcasting platforms. Like the others it can be embedded in pages such as my blog posts, and there are enough customization options to get started out in the podcasting world. We also used this platform for our group’s podcast, found here:
Podcasts can be accessed anywhere students have a mobile device, so educators can direct students to content that can be used remotely, outside of the school walls--something that we have really come to value even more in the current educational climate. Further, data shows that consumers of podcasts are more likely to be active users of social media, indicating a high appeal to students. With podcast episodes up from 18.5 million to 30 million in just the last two years, it’s only logical that teachers and teacher librarians would want to get in on this information trend. But where to begin?
Podbean is a free and easy app that I have utilized before when comparing different podcasting platforms. I like to go into my dashboard on my desktop so I can work with my profile and recordings more easily, though I use the app on my mobile device to record and add music. One thing I really like about it is that I can select my background music from a handful of choices and then manually raise or lower the volume on my phone as I speak. The free plan offers five hours of storage, which is quite a bit when measured in podcasts that range from five to ten minutes each. I’m pleased with my current theme, and counted nearly twenty different “free themes” offered. It is very user-friendly, and a great choice for someone just dipping his or her toe into the podcasting waters.
Moving on to my exploration of Audioboom, I would first note that there is no app for this platform. Right away that is a difficulty for me as someone who doesn’t have a handy mic or headset mic to get a clear recording at home; I really just prefer speaking into my smartphone. What’s more, I found that I couldn’t join for less than $9.99 per month, although this includes unlimited episodes, and advanced analytics to understand your active audience. I signed up easily enough, but after exploring the site and its many customization options, I tried to create a podcast, only to be told that I would need to “activate” my subscription at the paid rate. Overall this seems to be a platform better suited to frequent and experienced podcasters, possibly even those interested in turning their brand into income, which the site offers to help with.
Soundcloud is, in many ways, not unlike Podbean, in regards to both recording original content, or listening to the content of others. It has more of a social aspect than most platforms, with the intent of helping users connect to desirable content, such as “trending playlists.” It also hosts quite a bit of musical content, and appears to be geared toward this audience. This is one of those “free” platforms that users soon realize is withholding many features--unless you’re willing to pay for them. Although I only began using it and looking at features and options, I also found it to be ad-heavy, though it promised to remove ads if I upgraded. However, the paid options are less expensive than Audioboom (which doesn’t even advertise their “pro” pricing), with the highest level maxing out at about ten dollars per month. As such, it seems the more moderate of these three, possibly best suited to the podcaster gaining a little experience and wanting to venture into the area at a level above beginner. It may not be a great choice for educators wanting to reach students, because like all of these, it hosts original content geared at a young adult to adult audience--and unlike some others, promotes it to users.
Ultimately if I am looking for a platform to host a regular and ongoing podcast, I’m going to go with Podbean, and might even consider the bottom plan at nine dollars per month. It’s easy to use, I feel it’s a personalized channel I could share with students or adults, and it allows users to have your RSS feed and share it with other podcasting platforms. Like the others it can be embedded in pages such as my blog posts, and there are enough customization options to get started out in the podcasting world. We also used this platform for our group’s podcast, found here:
Fantastic job on your podcast! I found it to be very informative. I felt Audioboom was a bit disappointing. I would like to try it out before I commit to making a purchase. Like you, I really enjoy using Podbean. Podbean is my go to app when creating a podcast.
ReplyDeleteYour podcast was super informative! I also used PodBean and thought it was SUPER easy to navigate. While I was reading your post, I found that most of our findings were very similar :) I think that when incorporating this into a school setting, the easier the program, the better (especially when trying to get teachers to "buy in").
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