Podcasts

The podcast is actually another form of broadcast that created by some people at home. The author can choose whether to publish it on the Internet or keep it as private. In this class, I have chance to create a podcast myself. From the process, I learn that in order to make it interesting and attracting, useful content, author's way of expressing and editing, and appropriate audio elements all matter.

Now the podcast is a convenient and time-efficient way to learn what you want to focus on. The users can select the stations they are interested in, and subscribe them, then new episodes will be downloaded to the devices once they are updated. What's more, the podcast is portable, which means that you can get your subscription wherever you log in with your usernames and passwords. Moreover, compared to the youtube or vblogs, the podcast frees the users from sitting by the computer. The users can listen to the podcast during the slices of time, such as when taking buses or subway.

In fact, I'm a fan of podcast. I have subscribed tons of stations focusing on TESOL, Foreign Language Learning, Various University's Open Courses, and Photography. It shows that the podcast is really a good way to learn after class. However, information explosion can be a problem based on my experience. Because you are free to subscribe tons of stations, you almost cannot complete every episode. This may make the users feel anxious sometimes, such as me. As users, you need to make sure that the stations are in real need. As teachers, we need to select appropriate stations for the students, in order not to overburden them.