Podcast Review
For my very first podcast, I chose to listen to Book Club for Masochists (Ferrara, A., Murray, M., Whyte, M., & Edwards, R.J., 2016-present). I loved the idea of having great book recommendations without the unattainable requirement of reading every book. I was able to easily choose a genre I was interested in and play it on my iPhone. This podcast, by four librarians, was absolutely amazing! They paid close attention to diversity, and they didn’t hold anything back. Often, I have seen reviews that don’t give all the gritty details of how a book may fall short, but Book Club for Masochists remained honest, even calling out a book for not being racially appropriate. Not only were the speakers very knowledgeable, but I was able to find and purchase two books that peaked my interest. I can see myself listening to this to find appropriate booklists and to improve my RA. The reviews are extremely effective, without giving too much away. It can be hard to keep my attention through informative talk or audiobooks, but they nailed it!
Tools
Each time I tried to follow the tutorial and embed the audio, I was given an error message, due to security reasons. I did go ahead and include a link to my Voki recording, but overall, I was disappointed I couldn’t add the audio appropriately.
Voki
Overall, I really liked Voki. I loved being able to choose a “speaker” to go along with my voice. Choosing the options was difficult at times, as there was no undo button or quick way to find something you liked previously, but it was definitely fun to play around with. I think this would be an excellent tool to use with younger students. They could do their own book reviews, summaries, or recommendations.
Vocaroo
I found Vocaroo to be the easiest tool to use. I didn’t have to sign up for anything. The tool immediately popped up and allowed me to begin. I think its simplicity makes it extremely desirable for students attending short class periods. I thought it might be great as an exit ticket or even a daily check in. Students could quickly record their feelings or any content questions and upload the link to a Google Form. This would be my pick to use in the classroom, where time restraints are short and students have limited use of email at a younger age.
Clyp
I was not able to access Clyp. It required a paid subscription.
AudioPal
AudioPal was another easy to use tool; however, I did knock it down a few ratings just because of all the ads. I continued to get popup ads and the ad space on the page was overwhelming at times. It was full of those tricky button advertisements that make me worry about viruses. I did like that it was easy to record your message, type in your email, and immediately receive the product. It did not require a password or “sign up”, but students would need to have an email they are able to easily check. I think this would be a tool I would use for my own recordings and share it with the students. It was very easy to use, and the link was very convenient.
Speak Pipe
I liked Speak Pipe for all the response options, but simple recording was a bit of a pain to find. The voicemail page would be extremely helpful for recording a short tutorial or lesson for students, and then receiving quick feedback on how they understood the task.
Online Voice Recorder
I really liked the appearance and layout of Online Voice Recorder. I just thought the platform of the tool looked extremely cool. I was also able to easily click on different parts of my recording, based on the soundwaves displayed. Though I was not able to embed the code successfully, it saved to my downloads and immediately opened on my computer. It was very simple. I think this would be really neat to have students record a message and allow them to see the actual soundwaves they created.
Chrome Music Lab
This was an amazing music tool. This is a perfect tool to use in a music class or to tie into curriculum. I believe students of all ages would be excited to create their own songs and share them.
Pixabay Music
On the top 10 list, I checked out the Pixabay options for music. This tool is just as amazing as its image search. The music was easily shareable. This would be a great addition to a podcast for sound effects and more!
References
Ferrara, A., Murray, M., Whyte, M., & Edwards, R.J. (Hosts). (2016-present). Contemporary fantasy (No. 147) [Audio podcast]. Book club for masochists. https://bookclub4m.tumblr.com/post/680917663623577600/episode-147-contemporary-fantasy
Thanks for the info on the podcast you listened to. Podcasts are definitely going to be super helpful for me when selecting books in the future and as a librarian.
I purposely looked for your voki post. I absolutely loved using this website. Liked your cute and dog and how you changed the voice!
I’ll have to check out that podcast. I was intrigued already! If you want full disclosure you might check out Drunk Librarians. They hold nothing back! NSFW, though. I like the dog you chose for Voki!
That Book Club for Masochists and Drunk Librarians were two I plan to check out too, lol. They sound like they’ll be entertaining.
I almost chose to explore the Bookclub for Masochists podcast, but ultimately went with something else. It sounds really fantastic, so I’m going to put it on my podcast list and check it out!
Awesome job looking at all the tools! I am impressed. I liked your review of the podcast. Makes me want to check it out.
That is good information! With the topics that we are discussing in 608, I need to check out this podcast! I feel like it really fits with what we are learning about and would be informative. Thank you for posting about it! You did an amazing job with all of the tools. I also liked Voki and Vocaroo and could see myself using this the classroom.
The podcast sounds like a good one. I will need to remember it. It sounds very useful for helping make decisions on which books to select for the library, classroom or personal use.