As a member of Team 5, we decided to venture into the World of Podcasts as our choice of technology to explore. We selected the CBC’s podcast, The Secret Life of Canada, as it offers a diverse range of subjects and topics to appeal to each of our own individual interests. As of today, I have listened to two podcast episodes; each one varied in length and content and did not experience any challenges. I was able to listen to the podcast on my mobile device as well as my laptop. While listening to the podcasts, I made the conscious decision to sit down and actively listen to the podcast to ensure that I was fully immersed in the experience. I enjoyed listening to the engaging hosts share bite-sized snippets of information about Canada’s history that curiosity got the better of me and I felt the need to search the Internet for more information about the content I had just listened about.
From my experience, I agree with some of the points made by Maiorca (2021) about the popularity of podcasts. I can see how it is convenient to listen to a podcast while driving, taking the bus or doing some other activity and use that time to learn something new. I liked how the episodes varied in length making it easy for someone to justify fitting 10-15 minutes of listening and learning into their busy schedule. As well, the hosts were entertaining and welcoming listeners to engage with them via social media, email or regular mail to offer their comments and suggestions. By doing this, I can see how easy it is for listeners to connect to like-minded communities based on personal interests via podcasts.
However, as I was listening to the podcasts, I was curious to know more about the education and background of the hosts; were they historians, educators? Did they have expertise in this area? Where did they get their information or research from for each episode? After some searching, I found out that the hosts are playwrights and that much of their research came from the CBC Archives. This led me to think about the credibility of content being shared on podcasts, specifically public health issues such as vaccines, COVID-19 and water fluoridation, especially if the hosts are not an authority figure in the field they are speaking about. As well, I had questions about equity and representation in podcasts; does everyone have the same ability and opportunity to be heard? Do podcasts have the capability to reach everyone with public health messaging that is respectful of different cultures and beliefs? Do listeners have the ability to evaluate the “claims” and if not what may be the reasons or barriers? Selwyn (2010) points out the need for a critical approach towards educational technology highlighting equality and social justice concerns. Taking this approach, I would like to further explore this equity piece in relation to podcasts using a public health lens to answer some of my questions.
References
Maiorca, D. (2021. May 22). Why podcasts are growing in popularity. MUO. https://www.makeuseof.com/why-podcasts-are-so-popular/#:~:text=One%20reason%20that%20podcasts%20are,information%20while%20doing%20something%20else
Rodriguez, L. (2022. April 15). Team 5’s venture into the world of podcasts. WordPress. https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0216/team-5s-venture-into-the-world-of-podcasts/
Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: Notes towards the critical study of educational technology: looking beyond learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x
Gail, you’ve raised some excellent questions related to who is actually talking on podcasts, where their information comes from and the overall credibility of the information being shared. The equity piece is critical, as is the related question of critical digital literacies and how they are distributed throughout society.