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Many moons ago I started my own podcast. It was called Terry Freedman’s Education Technology podcast, and it consisted of useful hints and tips for teachers of Computing and related subjects. I have to say that I found it hard going for several reasons.
Firstly, podcasts were a relatively new development. That meant there was little advice available. About the only thing anyone said was “buy a good microphone”.
Moreover, not many people had what I would call a podcast mindset, by which I mean that it didn’t come naturally to them to check if a writer they liked also had a podcast.
Also, being new, the wider infrastructure was lacking. These days, producing a podcast on your phone, and distributing it, are relatively easy, and one can be being optimistic that people will find your podcast and listen to it.
However, although it makes sense for teachers to use audio, whether it’s to “write” notes for pupils, or make feedback available in audio format for pupils should they prefer it, or even start their own podcast (perhaps for school use only), the question is: where to start? Fortunately, Joanna Penn’s book is, in effect, a one-stop shop. It covers audiobooks, podcasting, speech-to-text, text-to-speech and much else. If only this had been available in 2006!
Some of the applications mentioned in the book are a little on the expensive side if you’re only just starting to explore the world of audio, but others are cheap or even free.
As with any book of this nature, there are new applications, and new versions of old applications, appearing all the time. Nevertheless, this book is a brilliant starting point.
The list of writing-related podcasts towards the back of the book is also very good, although I found one or two of them somewhat annoying. If a podcaster spends more than five minutes talking about themselves and their achievements I find that rather tedious. Still, at least you can fast forward if you have as little patience as I do! Also, bear in mind that as this book is intended for authors rather than teachers, the podcast list will only be relevant for you if you’re a teacher who also happens to be a writer.
Another useful part of the book is the question list, which is meant to help you think about using audio in your work, whether in terms of shifting your mindset or considering rights issues. This, along with a few other resources, is available online. There is even a Word version so that you can insert your answers into the sheet and, if you wish, customise the list to your own set of circumstances.
My only small quibble with the book is the account of a typical day in Joanna Penn’s household. It reminds me of those descriptions and videos depicting how the student of the future will be using technology, from waking them up with a list of today’s lessons to monitoring their sleep patterns. Whenever I read or watch these things I wonder if the child concerned ever gets any fresh air — in other words, if they have a life. I have to say I felt something of the same while reading this “typical day” account. It was useful from the point of view of showing what a large part audio can play in our lives nowadays, and a flavour of some of the technologies available at our fingertips, but I also couldn’t help wondering if she and her husband ever actually talk to each other!
To conclude, although the target audience for this book is (obviously) not teachers, I do think that teachers interested in using audio in their work will find it very helpful.
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