The first podcast to which I subscribed was the Whitehorse Inn. The website provided the following description: “The White Horse Inn (named after the pub in Cambridge, England, where the Reformation came to the English-speaking world), is a nationally syndicated broadcast featuring regular round-table discussions on faith, culture and apologetics. The broadcast regularly features interviews with leading thinkers, “on the street interviews” that help show popular convictions among either Christians on non-Christian groups, creative music segments and frequent interaction with quotes from movies or music lyrics as a way to analyze modern American culture.” This is a podcast that I particularly enjoy and listen to on a regular basis. The format is typically a panel discussion and appears to be professionally done. The panelists are very articulate and easy to follow.
The next podcast I listened to was on the Education Podcast Network. The name of the program was Speaken Sie Deutsch? It was designed for beginning German language learners and included a number of podcasts that were completely in German. I found this an interesting site since I took two years of German as an undergraduate, but was never comfortable with my proficiency. I was amazed how much I was able to understand as this person spoke very basic German. However, his topics may have been a bit too technical as there was quite a lot of computer language interspersed throughout the podcast. Hugh (the host) started his podcast with some background music (Beethoven’s Fifth) and ended with the same. He would read some scripted text and it may have been helpful if that text appeared on the screen. It also may have been helpful to provide the listener with some of the vocabulary that was going to be used. The podcasts tended to have some volume issues as the speaker’s voice went from loud to soft. It seemed that he often forgot he was speaking into a microphone. This would be a wonderful tool to help students who are learning a second language to become careful listeners. I think I would search for a different podcaster though.
My third podcast was also found in the EPN and was titled LD Podcast. This one captured my interest since I am a school psychologist and spend a considerable amount of my time indentifying students with learning disabilities. The podcast I listened to was hosted by Whitney Hoffman and discussed the topics of RTI (response to intervention) and the IEP (individual education plan). The information was very basic, but very informative and filled with detailed information. This would be a great source for parents who are new to this area and have recently been involved in the process of navigating through the maze of special education services and jargon. In this program, Whitney interviewed a speech pathologist who provided the information. The podcast was very well done and gave the listener lots of good tips and resources to explore.
Actually, my name is Whitney Hoffman, and I produce the LD Podcast; Sharon is my frequent guest who is a speech-language pathologist in the georgia public schools.
I have an interview coming up in the next few weeks with Dr. Russell Barkley (it’s done but in the process of editing) which you might like as well. You can get the shows through itunes for your mobile device or directly from the website- let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see on the show.