I have to admit I knew very little about Podcasts until this assignment except what my husband had told me about public radio casts he listens to. After looking at the pods for this assignment I understand why they are so popular, the sheer availability of topics to explore is amazing in itself. The Pros of having a wealth of resources available to you any time and any place is extremely valuable for those who use it for entertainment and for educational purposes. The range of resources available from education to politics and even broader to national events expand the information that someone can explore at their finger tips helps to expand their knowledge astronomically. This resource and others like it allow those who are students, educators or simply those who desire to expand their knowledge the ability to learn when and as much as they desire possible. For those in education it allows them. Pod casts allow those who have a talent that they would like to share with other the ability to share them with the world. Pod casts could be looked at as the ultimate teaching tool, the creator has the ability to teach far more than they could imagine.
I feel that the Pros out weigh the cons and yes there are those who will abuse this source as with anything. There will be those who will create environments that should be sensored or banned for those of certain ages. Because of that there should be parent involvement into what their children are doing on line, however that being said this is necessary with all web sites. If used properly and carefully monitored the benefits far outweigh any negatives and these sites will not require anymore scrutiny than any other public website.
Pamela,
ReplyDeleteI can completely agree with you that I didn't really know much at all about Podcasting prior to this assignment. I am very glad that this door has been opened because I can see myself using something like this for sure. With the many pro's this will add to the adult education classroom. You mentioned the con's and how others could take this technology and exploit it. Besides this what other areas do you think could be drawbacks to podcasting?
Andrew
It was fascinating to me when I first discovered podcasting and their usefulness for my life. Now since you've discovered them, you'll have to investigate topics you like to listen about. iTunes has a great library of podcasts that you can download to your ipod and listen on the go. iTunes U has podcasts from many universities around the country. There are even newsstand magazines that publish podcasts online, even Oprah has podcasts. The possibilities are endless!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to technologies, I'm more curious about the cons than the pros because people tend to pick up pros very quickly. This is particularly the case with technology. The iPhone 5 video shared on the discussion board is a good example. I see that different learner populations look at the same technology quite differently. Do you think your adult students will like podcast?
ReplyDeletePamela,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your blog. I knew about podcast but didn't "know" them until this assignment. I am actually now considering purchasing an ITunes gift card so that I can download some books or podcast or movies. I am so amazed at this technology.
I like your visual representation of endless possibilities with pod casts.