The What, Why and How of Podcasts

It's easier than it's ever been to make information come to you.
Missed a TV show? Just use catch-up or on demand services.
Missed a gig? Someone will have recorded it and put it online.

Very little media is now gone forever and radio shows can be caught up with via Soundcloud or Podcasts.

This post is just looking at Podcasts and how you can use and reference them effectively.
You can find Podcasts in every corner of the web and if you're unsure of what they actually are then it's simply a digital recording of a radio show which is converted into an MP3 format, so it can easily be downloaded. Podcasting is easy and all you need is a mic and a web-enabled device.

There's a lot of Podcasts out there (both on itunes and elsewhere)  that are certainly broadly relevant to the social sciences so you'll need to explore, but I'm going to suggest five specific Casts that I think are worth a listen.

1) Thinking Allowed is a Podcast covering the Sociology radio show on radio 4.

2) Digital Human is a show debating different psychological/sociological aspects of our relationship with the Web.

3) British Psychological Society (BPS) Podcasts page is a list of psychology-related programmes, some of which cover topics of interest to anyone studying criminology, child-related topics or mental health.

4) More or Less is a good listen for anyone trying to get their head around statistics and research-it's much more interesting than it sounds!

5) Podology is a general resource for sociological-related Podcasts. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but certainly worth an explore.

Finally, remember you can reference Podcasts. If you need help with that bit then use your unit handbook or contact me and I'll show you the format.

Happy listening.

Is the Internet making us dumber?

Or should that be dumberer? Sorry Couldn't help myself. Not funny, I know.

In previous teaching sessions I may have mentioned a book that has had quite a big impact on my thinking and learning in recent years. It's called The Shallows by an author called Nicholas Carr and looks at how Internet use can change our brain physiology.

It was in my mind again today because of a news story I'd seen on how kids prefer to read from screens than via paper resources. The methodology could charitably be described as shaky, but I thought I'd share it, if for no other reason than to give you the opportunity to look at its flaws. The BBC reported the study like this.


I also wanted to guide you towards the video I've posted here though. It's Nicholas Carr talking about the issues in his book, such as how the Internet fractures our attention, how Google ranks its results but also how it can improve hand/eye coordination.

I'm always keen to talk with students concerning the arguments surrounding attention, access and how you can make researching online less problematic, so contact me if you want to discuss any of these issues.

I spend all day using technology I don't understand.

I was talking to a friend of mine recently about the Wonders of the Universe programmes that have been on the BBC recently and he was saying you can watch them, enjoy them, feel inspired by them and then remember absolutely no relevant details about them whatsoever 24 hours later.

I confessed the same thing happens to me.

This then lead to a larger confession of all the other things we're surrounded by on a daily basis and don't fully understand.

The list included radio waves, electricity, video game technology, text messaging services and TV; things I use pretty much every day.

So my somewhat rambling point is this: being unsure of how databases, The Web, e-books and all the rest of the stuff that is fired at you through a computer screen works, isn't a barrier to using it effectively.

Ultimately, what you need is the end product - information/data you can use for your reading and assignments.
So for the self-confessed technophobes amongst you don't worry about the details and try to enjoy the benefits of more information being at your fingertips than at any point in human history.

And even though I have no idea how it all works, I certainly consider that a wonder of my universe.