The first podcast I listened to was Tracy Traylor, Tyler Tuveson, and Ashlyn Wilcox discussing Shift Happens. I thought this would be interesting to listen to as I did my podcast on the same topic and wanted to see how another group approached it. There were several good things that I found in this podcast. The segment where everyone gave their first impression of the video was interesting. I also liked some of the suggestions, such as once a year technology classes for teachers. I loved how they analyzed the video from their respective teaching fields. However, I felt this podcast went off on tangents (especially about other Karl Fisch quotes) quite a bit without really dealing with the content of the presentation itself. They didn't really talk about the presentation other than saying it had amazing statistics. Only one of those statistics were actually discussed in the podcast. Sound was also an issue with the first girl too close to the microphone, and the last girl too far away. A lot of the segments sounded too rehearsed, like they were obviously reading from a sheet of paper. There was a long definition of special education that especially sounded like it was being read.
The next podcast I listened to was Nikki Hunter, Christi Turner, and Tiffany Blocker discussing Burp Back education. The first thing I noticed about this podcast is that the girls talked extremely fast. I thought it was cool that they did some research and found a pertinent outside quote. I also enjoyed the suggestions of activities for elementary school kids. However, there was still quite a bit of obvious reading from notes. The unrehearsed parts were better and far more interesting. I also thought the recommendation to take breaks after two or three MINUTES of teaching was a bit drastic. I would have also like to seen a discussion on whether or not there are any benefits to Burp Back education.
I then listened to April Griffin and Jeremy Harvey discuss the last lecture of Randy Pausch. I was a bit distracted by the background noise. Were there other students talking during their podcast? The podcast contained good background information on Mr. Pausch. However, it was primarily just a synopsis of the lecture. April and Jeremy did not discuss their personal opinions about the lecture until the very end and very briefly. Having already watched the lecture, I did not really learn anything new from the podcast. I would have loved to hear some back-and-forth conversation. I also thought the segways between speakers were awkward and the podcast suffered from microphone volume issues.
I was a bit leery to listen to my podcast again. I am a perfectionist and quite a bit critical of myself. I really think it turned out well though. Jessica, Christie, and I were a bit nervous at first, probably because we were the first group to go. I think we found a nice groove and were able to have an effective conversation. The fact that our podcast was unscripted made it flow a lot better. I deliberately tried to UNDER-prepare my group to achieve this end, but we would have definitely benefited from a run-through or two. I also think that I should have found a smoother way to end the podcast. All in all, it was an interesting experience and not nearly as painful as I thought it would be.
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The three "outside podcasts" were from Mr. Wakeman's class (first and last) and Mr. Sullivan's class (middle). Interesting comments. I will listen to them. Maybe I can help them do better next semester. This was the first semester that either of them had done podcasts in their course. But Mr. Sullivan did assist me last semester when i did it for the first time. Thanks for your good analysis and critiques!
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