Podcasts

The Wonderful World of Podcasts
Hello everyone.  I am sure many of you have listened to a podcast once or twice, and I am sure some of you are avid listeners. On a different note, have you ever tried creating one yourself?  I created one today and one about six months ago.  It is pretty neat and fairly easy to do.  There are many podcast creation apps and websites out there.  It can be quite overwhelming.  Let me critique a few for you.  All are pretty easy to use, so that is a plus.  Some just have more options on what you can do.  The last one I critiqued is the one my partner and I decided to use.  I was pretty impressed!   

Podbean

Podbean is a simple tool for creating, promoting, and monetizing your podcast.

Currently, there are over 600,000 podcasters who use Podbean. You’ll find a huge

variety of podcasters, anywhere from newbies to professionals, so even if you are

new to the podcast world, the tools provided will help you create a

professional-quality podcast that is sure to wow your listeners!


Advantages

  • Basic package gree
  • easy to publish podcast
  • publish episodes at designated times set by user
  • embeddable players
  • own domain integration
  • no limits on downloads, episodes, or recording time
  • user friendly
  • monetization options (ability to get paid)
  • professional podcast website with every account

Disadvantages

  • No recording options
  • 3 other package options starting at $14/month

Buzzsprout
            Buzzsprout is a podcast option that is great for inexperienced users because it
            provides free learning materials and customer service. With over 100,000
            podcasters using Buzzsprout, you have the ability to be heard by millions of
            listeners within the platform and beyond.

Advantages
  • User friendly
  • Integrates with a large network of podcast directories including Spotify and Apple
  • Can upload 2 hours of content each month
  • Has an audio mastering filter
  • Able to embed a blog with a podcast
  • How-to blog posts on the website
  • Numerous how-to videos on the website
  • Podcasting Q&A
  • Schedule publishing
  • Monetization options
Disadvantages
  • No recoding options
  • Upload limits
  • 3 hours or more starts at $12/month
  • Basic plan expires in 90 days so any existing podcasts will be deleted

Anchor

Anchor is a podcast app owned by Spotify that allows users to create,

distribute, and monetize podcasts for free. This is the app we chose because

it allowed us to do everything we needed using one platform - built-in

uploading, recording, and editing tools. The best part? It is free! It is hard to

find the ability to have several people podcast together, especially when not

in the same location, unless you buy expensive equipment. This app made

it easy to invite others using one link and create professional-sounding

podcasts from the comfort of our own homes. 


Advantages
  • Free

  • Ability to record and edit in one platform

  • Multiple options to add music or sounds, without having to do a lot of editing to make it sound professional

  • Unlimited hosting

  • Ability to invite other to join your podcast

  • One tap to publish to Spotify

  • Distribution to all major listening apps

  • Performance tools to help grow your audience

  • Monetization options


Disadvantages
    • Inserts ads into your podcast in order to keep it free
    • Can only host one show
    • Editing the podcast on a desktop was not as easy as on a mobile device and had limited options
    • Recording could not be edited as you went, so you had to start over if mistakes were made
    Check out my podcast with Brianne Sonnier:
    P.S. (She is a natural!)


    How Librarians Can Use Podcasts:

    • Introduce new digital tools for teachers

    • Give book reviews

    • Talk about important events coming up in the library or promote an upcoming program

    • Communicate with parents and the community

    • Provide professional development for teachers


    How Students Can Use Podcasts:

    • Document research process along the way

    • Present a final research project

    • Oral reading, dramatizations, or interviews


    Where can you find educational podcasts?

    A quick Google search for “top educational podcasts” yields a plethora of results

    that may seem overwhelming at first. A great starting point would be this blog that

    provides details and rankings for the top 50 educational podcasts available: https://blog.feedspot.com/educational_podcasts/. This particular blog gives readers

    a summary of each podcast, as well as details on the physical location of the

    podcast, number of Facebook followers, number of Twitter followers, how many

    new episodes are released each week/month, how long the podcast has been

    broadcasting, and the average length of an episode. Additionally, many of the

    podcasts listed have websites and ways to contact the podcasts via email available

    right from the blog. 

    Personally, we like to browse the Podcast App available on Apple devices.

    Two educational favorites include: The Literacy Dive Podcast with Megan Polk,

    Confetti Moments with Courtney Hinshaw. The Literacy Dive Podcast “offers

    actionable steps and information for ELA teachers” with new episodes released

    every Monday and Confetti Moments highlights all things picture books from new

    releases and reading tips to special interviews with picture book authors and

    illustrators. Check them out today!



    References


    Mabee, M. (2020, October 26). How to genrefy a library: A beginner's guide to getting started.

        BOOK RIOT. Retrieved July 8, 2022, from https://bookriot.com/how-to-genrefy-a-library/ 


    Sultanik, A.G. (2020, July). Genrefying the children's fiction collection.

        Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians.

         Retrieved July 8, 2022, from                   https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aas/files/content/pubs/slr/vol23/SLR_Genrefying_ChildrensCollection_V23.pd





    Comments

    1. Thank you for sharing your podcast about genrefying your libraries. I really like the calmness in your voices when explaining what you are doing in your libraries. I also had an opportunity to explore the same podcasts you picked. I have used Podbean before, and I like the simplicity it offers. I learned about the audio correction in Buzzsprout and that was a feature I had not seen in a free subscription. The free features were really easy to use. My partner picked Anchor for us and it was fun to record together. Thank you for sharing.

      ReplyDelete
    2. You did a great job of clearly explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each podcast platform, and your blog is easy to read. I had not thought about using Podcast to share information with parents and the community, but that is a great idea!

      ReplyDelete

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