"..coming to you from the off ramp, near my home.." says Bud. He has recorded it while driving home, on a mobile, non specialised recorder (probably an iPhone or similar). There is road noise. There are pauses. It is technically imperfect, overlong, sure. We can pick holes in it, if we like. Let's not.
What it really has going for it though, is that it exists, which beats the socks off most of the great podcast ideas in my head, and yours.
He isn't hung on on quality. There is no jingle at the start, he hasn't done a noise removal. There is no fancy recorder or expensive microphone. The segment is thought through, but not scripted. Things could be done to improve it, but the key thing is that it's good enough to communicate the message effectively.
He hasn't gotten stuck into technicalities of podcasting distribution. The link on the web is just a regular link to a html file, no different from how you would link to a word document or a powerpoint file. Forget about RSS, iTunes, streaming servers, and all the paraphanalia of formal podcasts. He just put the audio file up there, where you can get it, play it, download it, hear it.
Quality, in the end, is not an absolute thing. Quality is fitness for purpose. Don't let technical factors be an excuse for you in creating material. Just get the minimum you need and do it. That's a computer, a microphone, and someplace on the web or Blackboard to put the files. Don't let time be an excuse - Bud recorded his file on the drive home. Buy a cheap clip on mike and it's hand free. There is no legitimate excuse here.
We are, in the end, what we create and produce. The greatness in our minds (such as it is) is of no use to anyone unless we can get it out there. Tools like this quick podcast are a fast means of doing that, and capturing valuable content for your students. You have all summer long to capture some for next term. Get to it!
No comments:
Post a Comment