Podcasts and Handouts

I wanted to wait until today to post my blog entry because I knew we were going to work on podcasts last night in class. It is a new technology experience for me and I wanted to reflect in my blog. To begin I was happy that we were given the tools and told to make a podcast. I am the type of person who has to be pushed to try something new with technology. If we had just been shown how to do it, I would never have been able to do it again on my own. The class environment is such that I felt comfortable asking questions. As usual if seemed as though I was just a few clicks away, but I still needed guidance. My classmate sitting next to me was very helpful. She chimed in at just the right time to keep me going. After downloading all the necessary software I actually created two 45 second podcasts. Once the software and the tools are in place it requires no more than talking into a microphone. After finding the files on my computer we inserted the podcasts into our wiki. I was happy with my overall experience. I am still pondering the value of a podcast as a training tool? For me personally, I need to SEE how to do it on a computer. Just listening to a voice tell me how to do it could be frustrating. What if I don't click the right button? What if I get behind and the voice goes on? Perhaps I need some exposure to a few well done training podcasts.
Just a quick note about handouts. Last night we were given two handouts explaining the steps to create a podcast. Creating a handout really is a tough thing to do. You have to make it clear and you have to put in all the steps. Many questions come up like, to include pictures or not, how much space between steps, how long should it be? Last night I caught myself skipping steps on the handout. Once I was lost I referred to the handout only to find out I had to go back and complete a step I had missed. When I am at work I often ponder if it would be helpful to create a handout for completing a task, but it ends up at the bottom of the priority list. I did take one SLIS class that required a handout and I remember it took more time than I had hoped. Handouts are wonderful to have as a reference guide, but a nightmare to put together!