Contemporary Issue Podcast

Making this podcast was an interesting experience for me.  I wasn't sure how to put it all together once I had it recorded and my music and sound effect imported.  I used Audacity because I have a PC at home, but from what Professor Boyer showed us in class, I wish I had a Mac.  The Garageband program seemed like it was easier to use than Audacity.  I couldn't remember exactly how to use the program so I ended up doing a lot of cutting and pasting to get my tracks to all line up and flow smoothly.  I thought there was an easier way to do that, but I couldn't remember what that was.  It took me about an hour to complete the whole production of making the podcast.  That included writing my script, recording, and putting it all together so it flowed smoothly.  I'm glad I wrote out my script before hand because that took probably the most time.  Once I started recording it was easier to not get so caught up in the uhms and likes that seem to plague most of us when speaking in public.  I think making a podcast is a good way to present information without having to stand up in front of people.  Personally, I get a little afraid to stand in front of people and talk.  Doing a podcast is like giving a presentation without having to stand up in front of people, if you mess up no one can see you so its less embarrassing.  I think this would be a good way to get students used to talking and giving a presentation without the pressure of standing in front of their peers.  Since you are able to upload it to the internet it is a great way for students to get feedback from people other than their teacher or classmates.   I think this was a good project to do because it introduced me to a new technology that I haven't used before and I could see using this in my future classroom.  In the classroom I'm observing in now, the teacher made making a podcast an option for a project the kids are doing.  Doing a podcast myself prepares me to answer questions for my future students if I decided to do a project like this.  The only thing I would personally do different is to use a Mac because I think the program is easier to use and it has a library of music and sound effects.  I think that would have also made things easier because I wouldn't have had to go looking for music and effects and wouldn't have had to worry about copyright issues.

Podcast music by Kevin MacLeod

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