Podcast as a Tool Critique

Overview:
Podcasts can be use as a tool in any number of envioronments.  Podcasts provide a way of communicating with a large group of people in an individual way.  The formats for podcasts are limited by the imagination of the person creating the podcast, but typically has some formulaic elements such as the podcaster's name, the date, and location of the podcaster in the intro.

Likes:
Podcasts are a great way to get information out to a large group of people.  What is nice is that you don't have to get that large goup of people together in one place in order to distribute said information.  Listeners can listen to the podcast from anywhere they have acess to the internet allowing a multitude of comfortable locations for listening in today's technological society.

Podcasts are extreemely diverse.  As said earlier, similar to formats for creating podcasts, the subjects those podcasts cover are as diverse as the human mind.

Dislikes:
In a world where we have been continuosly required to be visual people, it can be distracting for people who are required to listen to a particular podcast to actually listen to it without going off and stimulating their eyes elsewhere.  It is for that reason that I prever vlogs or enhanced podcasts.

In the Classroom:
Podcasts are great for getting additional information out to your students that they aren't necessarily going to be tested over, or that you think they may find interesting.  They are a great tool for students to listen to instructions and then attempt to work problems at home through step by step procedures where you expect your student to pause the podcast, then play again when they are ready for the next step.

Overall:
While podcasts are often entertaining, people can easily get distracted away from the podcast, especially if they are young and distractable.  Podcasts tend to focus on the topid at hand and do not stray, hence allowing a resource for direct, straightforward information.  However, this information may not be accurate.