Podcasts on iPad

More on my sort of iPad apps.

I discovered the joy of podcasts not too long after we got our first iPod Touch. What is a podcast? A podcast is basically a audio or video file containing the stuff you want to listen to. I'll leave the technical jargon out of this cos there's always Wiki to refer and it does a far better job at defining than me.

Anyway, podcasts are fun mainly because you get to choose what you want to see or listen. I've found them to be educational as well as entertaining.... good 'makan' companion. I've this habit that I must read or watch something when I am eating alone. So this podcast thingy is a nice companion to have. My favourite podcast is TED Talks which is basically made up of talks. They get all these different people with great ideas to come share what they've done or are doing... for example in one of the talks, I learned that oysters make very good natural filters.. they can filter something like 50 gallons of water or 190 litres of water a day! And in New York they are trying to create walls of oysters to purify their rivers!!! Cool! You get yummy food as well as a natural filter! Or that a guy managed to turn the ecology around naturally by turning to natural fish farming instead of using conventional fish farming methods in one European country.

Podcast is light and easy on you cos you chose when you want to listen to them. What I'd do is I'd pick out the podcasts before I go sleep and download them. Downloading is easy. Just click whatever you want and leave your iPad. When morn comes, the podcast downloads are all done. And off I go to school with my iPad. These talks come on when I take my meals in between lessons sometimes. Multi-tasking, no time wasted. Actually, the reason is because I don't have much time to listen when I am at home. Eating and not doing anything else seems such a waste. So, enter the podcasts. I might want to get a speaker to make it clearer. Ravaged by the tick-tock of time, my eardrums have lost a little of their elasticity....

Another favourite is RSA Animate. I simply love the way they animate the talks. It keeps you riveted to the screen cos you want to see how the artist will illustrate the concepts and ideas. Very humourous and funny sometimes. And again, I've learned so much from them. Makes me wish that I can draw. Imagine how much fun that would be for my students. I can imagine the rapt attention students will give if a History teacher were to 'animate' his lessons this way. Totally awesome and cool!

My girl's flavour of the day... Sesame Street Podcasts. She has been going on a download frenzy. Every time she gets her hands on the iPad, downloading Sesame Street Podcasts would be one of the things she'd do.... Word on the Street series are rather interesting. One of the first we listened to was the world 'Arachnid'. This is one series that need no introduction. Children love 'em, adults find them entertaining too!

There are many podcasts out there, from sermons to silly cartoons. You are spoilt for choice. The only limit is your iPad storage capacity and your time. You can spend the whole day listening to them if you can stand it.

Other Half is into MacBreaks at the moment. It is informative and brings you to par with the latest but it's too long for me. Each podcast can be as long as one and a half hours.

Audio podcasts are also available but I'm not into that at the moment. There's a good app for Sermon Audio but I have that on my iPod Touch.